00? ( video. ) not sarissa, tho.

[magnitudes]

( There is a woman on screen who looks remarkably unconcerned.

She also looks familiar, possibly, given that the family resemblance between Sarissa and her grandmother is staggering. Notable differences – this woman is obviously wearing something a little more era appropriate for this place, but still not quite right, in faded green and brown cut to match World War II era demands, all practicality. A scar, or an injury in the process of becoming a scar, cuts down from her left cheekbone towards her jaw, and it creases into something like a dimple when she speaks.

Between the knuckles of her fore and index fingers rests a cigar, white smoke curling upwards and blooming outwards like a drop of ink twisting through water. Her accent, when she speaks, is markedly Greek. )

I have always heard America called the “Land of Opportunity.” Opportunity— ( A small gesture with her free hand, palm flat and facing down - so-so. )

Maybe. Feet draggers, I think, more likely. And poor filing, ah? That is definite.

( There is a little smile, though it’s not a very mirthful thing, as she picks up a file. ) I was giving the paperwork for a Sarissa Theron. They insist it’s mine, but— no. If anyone knows this woman, I think it better these papers get back to safe hands.

( Her smile widens, sharpens. )

My name is Eunike. For the record? This is— cock and balls. Bullshit. Dragging us from our own wars, to fight theirs? That is convenient, no? Cowardice, I think.


( Note: this is related to the Dial Straits plot. Sarissa ported out on the 1st March and this is set on the 3rd – for those two days Sarissa’s device would have been disconnected. Now is back in action, but in the wrong hands. )

Comments

[magnitudes]

Precisely that.

( Eunike inhales slowly - not a drag of her cigar, just a slow breath, as she leans back and looks up the sky. )

You cannot survive without hope. But— you cannot survive with only that. We need more substance, I think. It cannot be all we have to offer, but offer it we must.

( Although she does shrug. ) Unless people are idiots. Then they can fend for themselves.

[trouvaille]

I was just checking it would be okay with the word police.

So, here's the impact of the second world war: everybody collectively fucked that noise. We lost, like, an entire fucking generation to some incredible bullshit and when everybody was picking up the pieces I guess they decided hey, in between trying to slip one to Russia in our spare time, we might want to try like, never doing that again. Blah blah blah, birth of the European Union, let's all try problemsolving with a lower body-count, it'll be super good PR.

My mother is Scottish-German and my father is British. I was born in Calais and raised in Paris until I was five, so my first language is "surrender", but I don't think of it as my native tongue, particularly.

( gwen. )

My father sold his ancestral home and bought property outside of Florence, Italy. I spent the rest of my childhood between Italy and Russia, and then I was British and Swiss educated at a boarding school, finishing school and conservatoire. I live in London and I have dual British-Italian citizenship, so I usually vote in London but I tend to go home for the EU stuff. English is my third language, after French and Italian, and I also speak a little German and a lot more Russian.

Exactly what part of that did you even remotely give a shit about that would've warranted it instead of the short version.

[magnitudes]

German and Italian.

( She feels the need to roll her eyes, because honestly. Screw the Germans and the Italians, and the Spanish and Bulgarians as well. Screw all the Axis powers and anyone who would even consider siding with them. Screw the people who would willingly bed a snake from such a country. )

You could have said your heritage was a "disaster." ( A simple observation, but she doesn't dwell on it. ) Fancy educated girl with her fancy complicated history. How very fitting to be "European.

[trouvaille]

Now that we've established there's literally nothing I could've said that you wouldn't have taken issue with on the basis of my existing,

( very dryly, )

since we also cleared 'bye', I think that's pretty much covered everything.

[magnitudes]

( Eunike shrugs. She is— trying not to be awful. This girl isn't from the war. She is from some bizarre time almost a century later. Perhaps it is better if people see themselves as Europeans rather than drawing lines, and if countries can be at peace enough for someone to have such a blend of countries that hate each other in their bloodstream.

And yet, there is also a kneejerk, blistering kind of anger in her, a visceral dislike. Germans and Italians, the worst there are. If she met this girl during the war, she would not trust her. She is not sure the Germans would trust her, either, though. Doomed by both sides - there seems something terrible in that, as well. )

How very efficient. ( And a brief wave of her hand. )

[incogneto]

I think that's what most of us are trying to do. Stop the war from happening.

[ Or, in some cases, prepare for one in eventuality. ]

Foster good relations between us and the natives.

[ Get kidnapped by Russians... Might be kind of a more-than-acquaintances conversation. ]

np the same thing on my end tbh

[akito]

People are idiots.

[ well. 99% of them are. ]

Different worlds, different times, whatever. Animals are companions as well as workers. Dogs herd sheep, cats catch mice, and there are dogs who warn someone if they're gonna have a seizure and cats who make sure you don't have panic attacks.

[doubleblind]

First of all, my fiance and sister are British, don't go blaming that on America. And they're delights. Trust me. You'll learn to love them.

[The Greek ancestry assumption earns her the most confused look.]

I don't think so? My parents are academic hippies who wanted me to have a unique name. Is it really Greek?

[magnitudes]

I see. ( All of that is... disappointing, but not surprising. She rolls her shoulders, thinking, and the gesture might seem weirdly familiar. )

So: tell the delightful Clara not to lecture me on what it means to survive warfare, and perhaps she will be tolerable. ( Her smile is sharp. ) Tell Sarah to stop being so dramatic.

And yes, Greek. From Saint Cosmas. He and his brother Damian were patron saints of medical doctors— physicians. Your name day would be... ( And she clicks her tongue a couple of times, remembering. ) August twenty-fourth. ( Her smile is crooked, for a moment. ) I had a little brother, with same name day. Name days are more important than birthdays, in a way.

[coppelganger]

No, we... bought the place. [ On purpose, is the unspoken addition. ] S'kind of a long story. The place needs some work, but it's got good bones.

[magnitudes]

( That she can appreciate, at least. ) To be independent. I understand.

( She can respect it, even, reconsiders her opinion. )

Did it come with the parrot?

we can be strong

[magnitudes]

They have been so in my home as well. I just never saw the point.

( Although her tone isn't entirely dismissive - more thoughtful. She had always had a large family, before the war. During the war it was whittled and whittled all the more. Her team had not been something she happened upon immediately. )

They can help people about to have a fit, you say? That is not like anything I have ever heard.

[magnitudes]

Then why did you live in such a way?

[am_i_a_monster]

Because I had no other choice.

[magnitudes]

Easier to say than to do, for the latter. We might as well be occupying them, no? Taking free places to live, coming here with no invitation.

( Or supposedly no invitation, at least. She's a little suspicious that this is more complex than surprise, you're here but she's not quite sure how to pin it down. )

I would not take so kindly to such a thing, I think. Stopping a war, if we can do that, might help.

[magnitudes]

There is always choice. You stayed living instead of dying - that was a choice, one that you made daily, to endure. So why?

[akito]

Animals have a keen enough sense of smell that they can detect chemical imbalances in a body, or some shit like that. People have been using them for decades where we're from.

[am_i_a_monster]

You're assuming I was alive when I was brought here.

[incogneto]

We are not exceptionally nice houseguests either, but I suppose we're more like refugees than occupiers.

Either way, I think there isn't a single person on this side of the Atlantic who wants this war.

With any luck, you won't have to fight in it.

[doubleblind]

I couldn't get them to do as I said if I tried. [Cosima dismisses her complaints with a wave of the hand, much happier to focus on the more interesting topic: Learning more about her name.]

Medical doctors, huh? Well, I'm a biologist, that kinda counts even if some argue I'm not a real doctor. What happens on name days? Do you get cake?

[magnitudes]

( She barks a laugh. ) Then you are definitely not Greek.

( And a wave of her hand, cigar held between two fingers. )

Not like a birthday cake. Friends and neighbours, they come around, bring food or flowers. Little things. I was surprised a girl would have a Greek sounding name that was so unusual. Traditional names, some of them do not have name days, if they are from before Our Lord - old names, you know? They might celebrate on All Saints instead. "Sarissa" isn't a name, it's a type of weapon. That's not right for a child. If her family are Greek, they're probably bastards. Names are important - you like the ties your name has, I think.

[earnedmystripes]

Yeah, it's been--shit, three years now.

[He just turned forty a month ago--having arrived at just shy of thirty-seven. It's weird.]

You can just call me Kotetsu, though, there's no need to be super formal or anything.

[coppelganger]

No. He's Sarissa's. Mendel, his name is.

[magnitudes]

I'm not related to someone who has one of those. He belongs in a soup pot.

( fuck this so much tbh )

[magnitudes]

Impressive. That will be useful to people after the war. ( She debates saying more, being specific - that she knows grown men and women who struggle day by day, that they have to drag each other through. That when the immediacy of what must be done is past and adrenaline and necessity are not longer pressing upon them that they seem—

imbalanced was what he said? It seems a good word. But these are not things to discuss. Not with strangers. )