View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
Sue graduates from Tactical School a year early, he's barely fifteen. He's toned down the flirting - he treats Aegis completely platonically, in particular - and has cut down on the unhealthy amount of sleeping-with-everything-that-wants. And he's apparently, via his independent study, gotten far enough through the curriculum that they're nudging him along to Command.
They've given Sue a strange old man for a tutor, who appeared in his room and started a physical confrontation, which Sue won; Sue related this story to her with something between amusement and irritation.
And a quicker-than-average flurry of notes has been piling up in the psych data since about that time, according to the timestamps.
Aegis knows before they tell her that they're going to send her to Command early too. She's just barely fifteen herself when she gets another update of the psych files and sees that Sue's had - well, the files aren't terribly clear, some of the communication is happening via in-person conversation and memos that don't get stored in these folders, but Sue's had some kind of breakdown and the only things they can think of to get him out of it, get him back into shape to train and fight, are her friendship and Howlett. They have mixed feelings about both - Howlett's insubordination problem; their bewilderment that Aegis and Sue can be so close when "she's the one person he can't link!" - but they're desperate.
Bird? They don't talk as often over the long distance, just as there was a lull when he went to Tactical ahead of her; their schedules have nothing in common and their contexts less. But he knows her, and he can reach this far if he tries. And she wants to know what's wrong.
+ Show First Post
autokinetic
autokinetic
"It's worth trying, isn't it? What do you need to be able to find their minds if you can do it at all?" Aegis asks.
He frowns, rubbing his hands together distractedly.
"I don't know," he says. "I can link people I've linked before over... any distance, I think. I can find people I haven't linked before, if they're close by, and link them that way. What I don't know how to do is find people I've never linked light-years away."
"I don't know," he says. "I can link people I've linked before over... any distance, I think. I can find people I haven't linked before, if they're close by, and link them that way. What I don't know how to do is find people I've never linked light-years away."
autokinetic
"So basically I get to go have that argument I just had about whether we're allowed two-way communication with the fleets again?" Aegis says.
"I could maybe find them through the simulators?" he hazards. "I don't know, I haven't tried."
autokinetic
"Then they'll be surprised," says Aegis, "if you can do it - what's the adjustment period for new linkups usually like?"
"Depends on the person," he shrugs. "Not that long. It's not like it takes much time to explain."
autokinetic
"Okay. Today wasn't too hard. We could've gotten through with no damage if we'd known to take it seriously. Try through the sim, and if you don't get through then we'll ask again about talking to them before battles."
Sue nods.
"Yep," he agrees, sounding not particularly impressed about it. But he does hug back.
"Fine." Snuggle. "Hugs are nice. I like hugs."
autokinetic
"They are nice," she agrees. "Are you going to hold up okay, do I need to keep one finger hovering over that button now...?"
"...No...? I mean, yes I'm gonna hold up fine, no you don't need to be waiting to pounce if I suddenly crack."
My thoughts are I'm confused why you think I might go haywire over this, he sends back.
autokinetic
'Cause we're commanding soldiers lightyears away in an invasion we didn't know existed years before we're supposed to and I'm kinda surprised I'm not going haywire.
Sue hugs her.
autokinetic
Ah, hugs.
How leaky is the link when people are in it deeper than I go? Will the jeesh find out anyway if we don't tell them?
How leaky is the link when people are in it deeper than I go? Will the jeesh find out anyway if we don't tell them?
Nothing leaks unless I send it, but... I might slip up, he says. There's a lot to think about.
autokinetic
So... the obvious options are, tell them now, let them digest it and see who threatens to snap before we put them back in front of a simulator, or, tell them if and only if you can link up the fleet commanders and it's going to become obvious anyway.
You know most of these people better than me, he says. Who do you think will snap?
autokinetic
I think Blue Moon and Ahmed and Screwdriver are okay, I'm less sure about Qiaochu but I wouldn't put money on snapping unless I got damn good odds - what about yours?
Orion's fine, he says. I don't know about Henrik.
autokinetic
I think I know why Rackham was waking you up at night. They must be seriously limited in how they can schedule these battles; it'll be a miracle if we never have to split and do two at once. We're going to have to be up and at 'em on negligible notice whenever they run into the buggers they mean to fight. They needed to see how you'd take that. That's going to be hell on all of us. I think we should unilaterally give them days off so we're not dealing with sleep-deprived as well as overpressured soldiers. ...Can you relay in your sleep?