001 | voice

[hardedged]

[ the network post begins with a disgruntled exhale. great way to start, jones. nice first impression. clearly, this mysterious new arrival is glad to be here. ]

I'll make this quick and painless. The name's Jessica Jones, and I'm looking for answers.

They brand us like cattle. Expect us to play house. Assign crapass jobs.

And of all the places to wage the Cold War 2.0, they pick fucking Florida. [ she scoffs, as if that's somehow the worst offense of all. ] How do we leave this shithole?

[ there's a pointed beat of silence, as she presses her lips together in contemplation. almost as an afterthought, she adds: ]

And where can I get a drink around here? The cheaper, the better.

Comments

[hardedged]

[ damn, going back to robot based on that response. no other explanation. ]

Right. [ she rolls her eyes, not that it's visible. ] Well, clearly the emotion chip is missing from your hard drive so I'll put this another way — back off.

[oceanthief]

This is over a network; I'm not anywhere near you.

[man, she knows that people returning without memories isn't the same as a regeneration at all but damn is this reminding her of some rough poofs other gems she used to know have had. nothing this chick is saying is making any sense.]

[hardedged]

[ jess uses sarcasm! it's not very effective... ]

Jesus. You always like this? [ dear god, this is frustrating. ] Wait, don't answer. Rhetorical question.

[oceanthief]

[she was much worse when she first arrived, if you can believe it]

It's a lot easier for everyone if you just ask questions you want answers to.

[hardedged]

[ why 👏 is 👏 this 👏 her 👏 life ]

Fine.

[ the word passes through her teeth tightly, jaw clenched as she calms down. a deep exhale. ]

You said I was here before. What does that mean?

[oceanthief]

It means exactly what I said it means.

[but apparently this woman is having a difficult time understanding that, so after a thoughtful tilt of her head she elaborates.]

The Porter decides when people come and go from this world. Sometimes it brings them back a second time, and when they show up they don't remember being here. That's all.

[hardedged]

Trippy amnesia bullshit.

[ great. just fucking great. another sigh, softer this time. ]

Any way to get my memories back?

[oceanthief]

You can see what you did on the network the last time through your tag. I don't really know about anything else, it's never happened to me.

[hardedged]

Got it. [ long... awkward... pause... ] Thanks.

[oceanthief]

[and after another very long awkward pause:]

Ok.

[someone has not been schooled in the appropriate way to accept gratitude, it seems.]

[hardedged]

[ it's cool. not like jess is miss manners either. ]

What are you, anyway?

[ case in point. ]

[oceanthief]

I'm a gem.

[from her tone, this should be obvious.]

[hardedged]

You sure are.

[ jones, stop with the sarcasm. she keeps forgetting. ]

And that is?

[oceanthief]

A mineral crystal excavated from a planet's crust.

[from Lapis' flat tone, this particular answer may contain just the smallest hint of...not sarcasm, but something close. she was pretty sure most people ought to know what a damn gemstone was, even if they had to equate it to the nonsentient ones of earth.]

[hardedged]

Not what I meant, Merriam-Webster.

[ yeah, jess knows by now she won't understand the quip. who cares. ]

Last time I checked, rocks can't talk.

[oceanthief]

Lapis. [haha did you think she wouldn't correct her every time, think again] And you're only thinking about gemstones from earth.

[hardedged]

Let me guess. You're a rock. From space.

[oceanthief]

I'm from a planet called Homeworld, but I guess to you that's the same as space.

[hardedged]

Oh my God. [ she can't deal with this. she needs a drink, and she needs one now. ] Hey. Space rock chick.

[ because somehow jessica can't remember her name, even though she's repeated it twice by now. ]

This little chat? It's over. We're done.

[oceanthief]

Lapis.

[that's three for three now, with no apparent signs of stopping. but what does stop, without warning, is the conversation; as soon as Jessica says they're done she just reaches up and turns off the video without so much as an acknowledgement or a goodbye.

well, at least an effort was made. probably.]