AWD #144: Disturbing Meditations
Disturbing Meditations
Summary: Naomi and Jax take in the view of Piraeus from the Obs deck.
Date: 30/05/2013 (OOC Date)
Related Logs: None
Jax Naomi 
Obs Deck
The Obs Deck is one of the more quiet areas on the Orion where people can come to get away from the hustle and bustle that goes with of the rest of duty on the ship. The front of the room is a very large armored glass window to allow a dominating view of whatever is out ahead of the battlestar. Seats rise up at even levels, plush chairs and couches provided for the crew to relax in. During Condition One an armored plate is lowered down to cover the view and prevent the room from becoming a hazard and seal tight.
AWD #144

He's sprawled, all over a chair. For once, there's no one else here. The Marine's face is just sad. Not grieving or angry, just a kind of bone deep weariness, and he's turning something over in his fingertips, a coin, perhaps. In offduty garrison wear, the usual tank top and fatigue pants.

An unusual sight on the ship full of the drabness of greys and olives and blues, Naomi in her little red dress and stompy workboots drifts into the obs deck. She's clutching a few folders and a notebook to her chest, and the site of Piraeus on the other side of the thick glass seems to fill her with awe.

"Never gets old, does it?" He's got a crisp Caprican accent, upper-middle class. Jax's sat up, just a bit, but there's still a slouchy weariness there.

"No, it doesn't." says Naomi, rapt. Her own accent smacks of Libran. She crosses further into the room, offering the marine a sunny smile. "I'm not disturbing, am I? I didn't mean to disrupt your meditations." Her eyes fall upon the coin.

Black enamel, with little words on it in gold, too tiny to be read at that distance. He palms it and vanishesit, unthinkingly. "Nah. I'm just sittin'," he allows, with a lazy grin. "Take a seat."

Naomi obligingly does so, absently tugging the skirt down a little once there and crossing her legs at the ankles. "I still haven't been down to Piraeus yet, but I'm so looking forward to it. Have you? I'm Naomi."

"I'm Ajax. But generally called Jax," he says, more genially. She's a welcome distraction from whatever he was brooding over. "It's gorgeous. But then, anything's pretty after too long up here."

"I'm so used to seeing the same faces, variety is splendid." she says brightly. "Have you stayed in Sheridan, or did you go out into the wild?" She leans forward a bit, eagerly hoping he'll answer to the option she wants to hear about.

"Both," he says, laconically. But trying - the gray eyes are bright. Hey, she's a pretty girl. "Been training down there, you see."

"Did you see any of the wildlife?" Her eyes light up. "There's very limited documentation, but I've read about the shriekmunks and the direwolves."

Jax winces. "I ran into the munks. Godsdamn, those things are loud," he notes. Speaking from bitter experience, it seems.

Ohhh, her eyes go big. "Did you get a recording?" she asks earnestly. "I'd love to hear their cries. See if there's any nuances in the tones, if there's variation in the sound that means they can communicate different concepts." Then, by way of explanation, "I'm a scientist."

His smile is almost impish. "So I see. No. We were out there to train, not to research. Sorry."

"Well, sometimes they record training, don't they?" She sighs. "Ah well. That's still more vists than I've had. But as soon as my application to CIDSR goes through, hopefully I'll be allowed down on the planet."

There's sympathy. But also amusement. "It must be frustrating. To have wahtever you were working on cut so short by the war. Scientists……I don't imagine you all've been given much priority, since then."

"Oh, I - " she cuts off. "Well. Currently I work in Medical with Dr. Nadir. I'm on the Cylon project, on account of being a biologist." And a skinjob.

"What exactly are they trying, there?" he asks, slowly. HE, apparently, doesn't realize what she is. Not yet.

What they're attempting isn't a secret, so she gladly shares. "Well, for one thing, a more reliable and accurate method for skinjob detection." she says. "Right now the screening process takes too long, with too much margin for error. But the equipment we need isn't accessible, which is why those runs to the colonies are so important. And we're also trying to investigate these new…upgrades. The humans with jack implants."

That's dismaying. "Waht are they like? Some kind of way of turning born humans into erzatz Cylons?" Jax has gone pale. Previously, the worst they could do was kill you….

Naomi seems surprised he isn't briefed. "They're utilizing technology to take Cylon sentiences and upload them into human bodies." she explains, "With equipment that fastens here," she indicates her wrist, "And here." the back of her neck. "However, there's a certain type of personality that isn't compatible, and we're looking further into that. A lot of it is neurochemistry."

Sickening. But he nods at that, quietly. "I don't understand why they would. They hate us. You'd think they'd want to eradicate any trace of us. Engineer something better. Not sort of….jury rig like that."

"That's just it. It's not a jury rig." she shakes her head. "To them, it's an upgrade. They think they're the upgrade to humanity. Like replacing an old operating system with the new release." Her reaction is sad when she clarifies it.

"And if we don't want to be that? Hell, I'd rather die. Build new and start from scratch but at least let us die out as what we are." He waves a hand. "I'm sorry. I……I….it's still…..it never fails to amaze me. So like us, and yet not."

"From what I can see, if someone's will isn't weak enough to be bypassed, they've been executed." Naomi says frankly. "But you're right. It is an abomination."

"Defeat isn't the same as erasure. Even annihilation is different." He's shaken, it's clear.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you. Colonel Petra did include the details in his last report to the Fleet." Naomi says as gently as she can.

"I was out in the boonies," he says, ruefully. "Too long out in the woods."

Naomi looks faintly envious. "I do miss that. My continuance with the projects is essential though, so even if my CIDSR application is approved, a good bulk of my work will still be on Dr. Nadir's projects."

Jax snorts. "Makes me wish I could go back down, disappear, and not come out again. YOu'd think I'd be used to living in the fleet, but…"

Naomi frowns a little. "One of the former CAGs did that, as I understand it. But if everyone did so, who would be left to fight the enemy?"

"I won't," he says. "No. Not seriously. But…..stuff like that…." Jax shakes his head.

"Is horrible." she agrees. "And that's why it needs to be stopped." She rises to her feet. "I should be getting back." she says apologetically.

"Sorry to be a downer," he says, sheepishly. "I wish you luck. See you around, I'm sure."

"Oh, you're not a downer." she assures him brightly, dimples deepening in her cheeks. "You see that?" she points at the planet. "That's the biggest upper to be had, and it's surely bigger than any downer anyone can throw at me." Short of being executed, her situation in recent weeks. "It's nice to meet you, Jax." For a moment it looks like she might say something more, but instead she just smiles.

He smiles at her in return. Slow, wan, but increasing little by little. "A pleasure, Naomi," he says, rolling her name on his tongue.

"Oh, see, I knew you could do it." she says, tapping her own lips and their upward curve. With that, she gives him a tiny salute, and heads on out of the obs deck.

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