New(ish) Father Blues

[deadgirlslikeme]

Victor Brown (formerly Van Dort) looks a bit harried when he enters the Nexus -- or, perhaps more accurately, like he really needs a vacation. And about a full day's worth of sleep. He heads to a nearby plush sofa (apparently the place noted the darker-than-usual circles under his eyes and felt sorry for him) and collapses on it with a sigh. "Oh dear. . .does anyone have any tips on how to handle tantrums?" he asks, looking around with a grimace. "Because Chester. . .well, he's started getting grabby, and if you take whatever he's grabbed away from him, he just -- how do babies cry so loud?"

Comments

[deadgirlslikeme]

Oh -- yes, I know how that feels too. [knowing frown] Did yours like to berate you for not being the person they built up in their head?

[palmerthing]

Kinda, yeah. I wasn't supposed to have had these opinions, yeah?

[deadgirlslikeme]

Right. . .and when you try to express them, try to do anything except toe the line, you get slapped down. . .occasionally literally with that fan of hers. . . [sorry, Victor's feeling a bit bitter about his old parents]

[palmerthing]

*Palmer can tell, and he empathizes.* The army will make you a man, they said, and then they didn't like the man I became. I should've burned my draft card.

[deadgirlslikeme]

[he winces] Makes me glad there wasn't a war on in my world. . .though I think my father would have actually tried to buy my way out. We were rich enough.

[palmerthing]

Yeah, it's the poor who die in war.

[deadgirlslikeme]

[another wince] Right. . .I'm sorry. From what little you've said, it sounds -- absolutely awful.

[palmerthing]

As technology gets better, wars get worse. Although some people say it peaked around WWI, but if so then holy shit that must have been a horrific war.

[deadgirlslikeme]

I'm from before it happened, but from what I've heard, it was quite terrible. Mind you, I've heard and read a lot more on the horrors of the second one. . .

[palmerthing]

Yeah, but a lot of those horrors weren't on the battlefields. The trenches in the first were infamous.

Subject change?

[deadgirlslikeme]

That's true. They were both absolutely horrific in their own ways.

Yes, perhaps we can go back to talking about people who actually like us?

[palmerthing]

Your new family sounds nice . . .

[deadgirlslikeme]

[he smiles] They are nice. I couldn't have asked for better people to replace my biological family. Doc. . .he felt like my father long before I actually asked him to be.

[palmerthing]

That's very lucky of you, man. Wish I had that.

[deadgirlslikeme]

It is lucky. . .and you never know, you might get it! Everyone's welcome here, so -- odds are at least not zero?

[palmerthing]

Low odds are better than none, right? It does sound like it might be a while in my case, but I can wait.

[deadgirlslikeme]

Alice and I meeting was probably quite low odds too, so yes, very much so. And in the meantime, you'll at least have me to talk to. Probably Marty as well, and the rest of the family.

[palmerthing]

It's good to have people to talk to.

[deadgirlslikeme]

It is -- I grew up in a very sheltered village, with not very friendly people, so I was alone for a lot of my life. Making real friends here was -- nice.

[palmerthing]

It's gonna be hard for me. Either I lie or I scare people away.

[deadgirlslikeme]

[he frowns] True. . .but there must be some people out there who wouldn't be intimidated by your -- um -- nature. Like I said, there are some very human robots here, and they'd be safe. I assume.

[palmerthing]

I'll have to see if I can meet some. *He looks at Victor's flesh-and-blood self for a moment.* Does it get hard to stay how you are after a while? I feel like I'd start to miss my body.

[deadgirlslikeme]

[small smile] If you're here long enough, you should meet some. Along with everyone else under the sun.

[following Palmer's gaze] I don't feel like I need to go back just yet. . .I do eventually feel a pull, but it shouldn't be for a little while yet. [looking at his ghostly fingers] It was -- really strange, at first, but I've grown used to this form with time.

[palmerthing]

I bet it was about as weird as waking up one day and being me.

[deadgirlslikeme]

I don't know about that weird -- though it was quite a shock the first time it happened. Er, literally -- someone frightened me, and I sort of just -- popped out.