Some time after Jules's post

[dino_zarf]

[The sensory feed opens with a sight that is quite familiar to any experienced Travellers, though they did just get a six week break from it. Baby Rose is five months old and currently lying on her tummy showing off her ability to lift her own head up.]

For those of you who are new, this little cutie is Rose.

[But for a change he actually has something else to add other than adorable videos of her doing perfectly normal baby things]

And I'd like to remind everyone that she is on the network. That means she hears it if you start screaming on said network. Specifically screaming on the network wakes her up.

[Does he need to explain why waking the baby is a bad thing?]

So we'd really appreciate it if everyone would try to filter screaming to not include her since there doesn't seem to be a way for us to cut her off during her naps. Especially since she does tend to start screaming back at whoever woke her up, if that's motivation enough.

Comments

[naturaltwohands]

[Some time after Jules post is a good time, because things have calmed down significantly. Which means the adrenaline and the shock has worn off, and now there's amusement instead..]

My apologies. I did not mean to startle him so thoroughly. [A pause, then partially to be diplomatic but mostly because he means it:] Your daughter is a beautiful child.

[dino_zarf]

He startles easily. It's far from the first time she's been woken up from her nap.

[And he's said the magic words]

Thank you, isn't she just?

[naturaltwohands]

And I suspect far from her last....

[Drizzt figured as much.]

Quite. How old is she?

[dino_zarf]

Unfortunately.

[He suspects no one is going to remember to filter their screaming despite his request]

Time gets a little funny in Liminal, but she's about five months.

[naturaltwohands]

[Drizzt suspects likewise.]

Five months. It has been quite a while since I have seen a babe that young!

[This feels kinda weird. Is this... small talk? About normal things for a change? Also that babe was a dwarven child, so this is the first time Drizzt has gotten a good 'look' at a human one.]

[dino_zarf]

Seems like a lot of people here don't spend too much time around babies in their regular lives. Rosie was born on one of the Jaunts.

[naturaltwohands]

Much of my life has been filled with battle; it is likely for the best that is not the case. [A pause.] ... That seems like a particularly exciting time in which to have a child.

[dino_zarf]

Exciting's one word for it. None of this is the safest place for a baby, but we have a lot of people helping protect her. She's worth all the trouble.

[naturaltwohands]

Children are always worth the trouble; my own father would agree with you full-heartedly. Although this may not be the safest of roads, it seems like your precious daughter has already raised an army at the tender age of five months! You should be proud.

[dino_zarf]

I'm very proud of her.

[There have been a lot of bragging posts okay?]

Pretty sure she's mostly managing it by the sheer power of cuteness.

[naturaltwohands]

I gathered as much.

[From this short conversation, Drizzt will not be surprised when he sees one of those bragging posts.]

One should never underestimate the power an adorable child holds.

[neverfeltthatway]

There is a way to silence the network, actually - but I'm not sure how to teach her that.

[dino_zarf]

That's the real trick, right? She can do some of the non-standard stuff but I have no idea how exactly she's picking it up or how to direct it.

[neverfeltthatway]

I could... share the memory of how to do it with her? But I don't know if that would actually work. And I don't know how we'd be able to tell, if it did.

[dino_zarf]

Worth a shot, right? I guess we'd be able to tell if she didn't respond.

[neverfeltthatway]

Can I meet you somewhere? I wouldn't want to try it without a way to know if it was upsetting her.

Also, I... don't think I've actually met her yet, and I'd like to, if you wouldn't mind.

[dino_zarf]

You can come by the kitchen. It's the room that looks like a spaceship door.

[Everyone should meet Rose. She's great. When she's not screaming.]

-> [Action]

[neverfeltthatway]

All right. I'll be over soon.

*****

[And about five minutes later, there's a quiet knock at the door.]

[Action]

[dino_zarf]

[Wash answers the door, baby balanced on one hip. She's still in a pretty good mood, but it all depends on when people are going to start screaming again.

The kitchen itself is remarkably cozy for a space ship. The furniture is all weathered, as if it's been in use for a long time. Which the original universe version has been, even if this was created from liminal substance.]

Come on in.

[Action]

[neverfeltthatway]

Thank you.

[He moves carefully into the room, looking around curiously. It's not as alien as it once would have been, having infiltrated twice into a spacefaring civilization. Honestly, it reminds him a little of the shuttle Melissa's overlay laid claim to. Still, it's not something he's exactly used to, coming from the world he is.

He's dressed in black jeans, a dark turtleneck, and a long silver cloak with the wings of freedom emblazoned on the back. At his belt he's wearing two short swords, each bearing the sigil of a direwolf.

He leans down a little, smiling gently at the baby. For all that, he speaks to her seriously, as if they were actually having a conversation.]

Hello, Rose.

[dino_zarf]

[Wash smiles. That's not entirely different from how River spoke with Rose when she was here. And then he takes one of Rose's arm to puppet a wave.]

I've been trying to learn my way around the network more to maybe help her, but this is all a bit beyond me.

[neverfeltthatway]

[He looks up to Wash, considering.]

What is it you've been trying to learn? Maybe I could help.

[dino_zarf]

I have the basics of keeping out unwanted intrusions, but I know there's more to it that I'm not getting.

[Seems like a good way to start, if he wants to help Rose with this]

[star_of_the_evening]

[Melisande could do without the strange voices talking to each other in her head, but it appeared to be another aspect of being in this world that she would just have to get used to.]

Your daughter is not the only one who would prefer to avoid hearing such things.

[dino_zarf]

At least the rest of us can learn how to turn it off. She's been picking up a lot of psychic stuff but I have no idea how.

[star_of_the_evening]

She sounds like a remarkable child.

[dino_zarf]

She is.

[This is one of his favourite topics, okay?]

It's a bit of a strange infancy, but we're managing.

[star_of_the_evening]

If I may ask, to whom am I ... speaking to?

[dino_zarf]

I'm Wash. And you?

[star_of_the_evening]

Melisande. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[At this point, Melisande figured she was probably beyond aliases.]

[dino_zarf]

[Aliases wouldn't even really occur to him]

You're new to liminal?

[She doesn't read familiar, anyway]

[star_of_the_evening]

I am. You, however, seem quite experienced.

[dino_zarf]

Some people have been here years. But I've been on five Jaunts. Infiltrated and investigated. You... never quite get used to it, but you learn to manage.

[memoryandtheft]

There are babies here?

[Sorry, Wash, that's the part that stands out. Because it's horrifying. Fucked up god wars should not include babies.]

[dino_zarf]

Just the one. She was born a couple Jaunts back.

[memoryandtheft]

Oh. That's...slightly less awful.

[Only slightly. This still doesn't seem like a remotely appropriate place for babies.]

She's, what, five months? Six?

[dino_zarf]

Time gets a little funny in Liminal Space, but about five.

[He keeps track of course]

It's been... a learning experience. The baby books don't exactly cover the sort of things she runs into.

[memoryandtheft]

I wouldn't expect there to be a manual for any of this stuff.

[Not in human libraries, anyways. The fae Libraries might have something applicable in the deepest recesses of the histories.]

[dino_zarf]

My last overlay was debating writing a 'So your baby has superpowers' book. We weren't even sure she was going to be hooked into the network until she started crying in our heads after one of the Jaunts.

[memoryandtheft]

Your last what now?

[She's had time to get the basic primer by this point, but there are still some holes where the more specific terminology should reside.]

[dino_zarf]

[Right, new person]

Overlay is what we call the other lives we get dumped into.

[memoryandtheft]

Of course there's a name for it.

Too bad he...you...whatever. Too bad it was only in the idea stage. You might've been able to pick up a couple tips from...yourself.

That has to get seriously weird.

[dino_zarf]

Would get hard to talk about if there wasn't.

He was still working a lot of it out. Her overlay could shoot fire and lightning so he was figuring out things like what baby clothes are really fire proof. The best information probably came from the superpower school.

[memoryandtheft]

I would've hoped "creepy brainwashing" would be enough.

There was a school for superpowers? Sounds kind of like something out of a comic book...