💣 001 | audio

[devoutish]

[There's the sound of fumbling and a little bit of unintelligible muttering before any real words are spoken - the communicator isn't hard to figure out, but it still takes some practice to get the hang of.]

-- this button here, and then-- oh, there we go. Have I got it? Hello.

[Alfie's voice is deep and rumbly, and very Cockney. He switches on the video next. It's zoomed in too close on him to give any real clues to his surroundings - there's just the back of a couch and a blank wall visible behind him - but his clothes are clearly old-fashioned.]

Fucking fantastic, these things. Looking at your little images on the screen, it's like you're really there. Yeah, wonderful picture quality. I'm very impressed. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, should I - bigger and bolder seems like something of a trend here. I discovered one of your supermarkets earlier this morning. Fucking hell, the size of that place. Entire aisles set aside for nothing but ketchup; for ice cream. Hats off to the future, eh?

[And since he's actually wearing a top hat, he goes ahead and tips it.

But despite his conversational tone, his eyes are deadly serious. He narrows them a little, as he peers closer at the screen. He seems calm and affable, sure - but if you look behind that front, it's clear that he is very much not happy with how his day is going.]

Right. How many people am I speaking to, right now? Is it just those who've been brought here like me, or do I also have the pleasure of the army's company?

[Because he would like to have words.]

Comments

video;

[redshoerevenge]

[Oh. It was his words then, the accent was not exactly what she'd been expecting. Actually, she hadn't heard that kind before.]

London? [Mako accidentally knocks into the figurine and it spins out of control. Mako turns just in time to catch it before it goes too far.] What is it like, the London you know?

video;

[devoutish]

That depends on the sort of things you're asking about, doesn't it. Yeah, it's a big fucking city.

video;

[redshoerevenge]

[Mako considers it.]

Your favorite part.

video;

[devoutish]

[There's a lot he could say to that. Not all of it is stuff he's going to tell a stranger, so he keeps it simple.]

My neighborhood. Camden Town. And my business.

video;

[redshoerevenge]

What do you do for business?

[She asks this curiously because he chooses his words and they are few save the ones he had to say earlier and it makes her curious. He hadn't said what year he came from, either, so she studies him further to see if she can figure it out another way.]

video;

[devoutish]

[In addition to the hat and the black felt yarmulke just barely visible underneath it, he's wearing an off-white cotton shirt, and a black vest. An exact decade might be hard to pick out, but his look as a whole is very early twentieth century.]

Oh - a little of this, a little of that.

I'm a baker. Yeah? I own a bread company.

video;

[redshoerevenge]

[She concludes that he's definitely not modern and that meant he was probably a great deal in the past than she, mostly because of the hat. No one she knew wore hats like that. Baking? That wasn't something she thought he'd say either.]

Is it something your family has had as its trade? [Mako looks down and away before gently taking tiny Striker down and deactivating the little robot. She is quiet and still, thoughtful.] Or is it something you have acquired?

video;

[devoutish]

It was my father's company before mine.

Why are you curious?

...somehow this got lost!

[redshoerevenge]

[Mako smiles and it is small.]

I suppose I am curious because I would have followed in my father's trade if the kaiju hadn't come. He made swords in the old tradition, each handmade, each beautifully done with care and patience. There is something good about following in a family business. But I did not. I chose a different path.