0 Cookies eaten. [Audio]

[onecream_fivesugar]

[The distraught voice of a teenage girl plays over the videophone. She accidentally turned it on while she was looking over the pamphlet.]

Get a job!? I'm still in school.

Oh man this is bad, this is so bad. WhydoInotremembergoingtosleepinacocoonlastnight? That seems like something you'd remember doing.

Yang, is this some kind of practical joke!? Because if it is it isn't very funny!

Blake, Weiss? Is anyone there?

[She sighs, then she can be heard slumping onto the ground.]

What's going on here...? This doesn't make any sense.

Comments

[Audio]

[was_a_hunter]

[Mary woke up from being asleep for God knows how long..and the first thing she hears is a new arrival. Good to know some things never change.]

You really should calm down, I don't think those people are here.

[Audio]

[onecream_fivesugar]

[There's the sound of some heavy breathing.]

Calm down? Idon'tknowhowI'msupposedtodothatwhenIhavenoideawhyI'mhereorwheremyfriendsare!

[There's a few deep breaths.]

...Okay I'm calm. Uhm, who are you exactly?

[Audio]

[was_a_hunter]

[She's going to ignore that first part for the moment, at least until she calms down.]

My name's Mary. I've been here for...a while. But, I arrived just like I'm sure you did, through the bays.

Are you okay?

[Audio]

[onecream_fivesugar]

I guess. Lost and confused like no tomorrow, but okay.

Awhile? ...I don't really like the sound of that.

[Because that means she might not being home for awhile either.]

[Audio]

[was_a_hunter]

I'd offer to feed you, but I'm pretty sure everything at my shop's expired.

We can see if there's a diner open if you like. [She felt bad for her. It was bad enough they were bringing kids here, but one that doesn't seem to have any skills to work? That's almost cruel.]

[Audio]

[onecream_fivesugar]

Expired? Did you forget to do inventory or something?

[Her voice noticeably perks up at the mention of a diner though.]

That, or a bakery would be great.

[Audio]

[was_a_hunter]

From what I understand the city 'shut down'. Myself and the other inhabitants have been sleeping so there's not been anyone to do my inventory.

I'll tell you what. After I get my bakery back up, you can have something on the house. Right now though, I could do with some eggs and coffee. There's a nice little spot over on fifteenth if I remember right.

[Audio]

[onecream_fivesugar]

Oh. ...I guess that makes sense.

[Well somebody just became Ruby's best friend.]

Can I really!? You're the best.

Eggs do sound good right about now. Fifteenth? I'll see if I can find it.

[Audio] --> [Action]

[was_a_hunter]

I'll see you there.

[When she gets there, there's only one person with a necklace in the diner; a woman with blonde hair sipping on a cup of coffee.]

[Audio] --> [Action]

[onecream_fivesugar]

I'll be there soon!

[It might take her a bit longer to get there. She totally didn't get lost on the way there at all, at all.

She'll poke her head in nervously and look around for a moment before she spots spots Mary, who she'll quickly towards.]

Uhm, Mary? Hi. I'm Ruby, we talked over the phone things?

[Action]

[was_a_hunter]

Ruby, hi.

[Mary smiled as she looked up. Lord, this girl couldn't be older than fourteen or fifteen...]

If it's not too rude of me to ask, how old are you?

[onecream_fivesugar]

Nono! Not at all.

[Okay maybe it was a little awkward.]

I'm fifteen, why?

[was_a_hunter]

I don't know...I was thinking of offering you work when you needed a little bit of money is all. Well...when I can open again.

You seem to like bakeries.

[onecream_fivesugar]

Bakeries are pretty okay. It's what they make that I like most.

[She's got a thing for cookies and sweets.]

You know, I might actually take you up on that.

[was_a_hunter]

Give me a call any time, it might be nice to have some help.

[onecream_fivesugar]

I'll do just that. If you need any extra help and I haven't called you yet, feel free to give me a call.

It's the least I can do.

[Video]

[mouth_breather]

Sorry, I don't recognize any of those names. I'm afraid I can't put a finger on your voice, either.

[Kirk is standing next to a street lamp, pamphlet in one hand, communicator in the other.]

Did you read what you got in the box?

[onecream_fivesugar]

[Oh, hey. The screen turned on and there's a kind of cute guy on it. Two can play at this game, she'll switch over to video mode too.]

Of course I did! That's what told me to get a job, which is something that I'm kind of freaking out about.

[mouth_breather]

Why's that? You don't look like a spoiled little rich kid, I'm sure there's something you can do.

[He smiles as he says it, easygoing despite their odd situation.]

I'm Jim Kirk, by the way.

[onecream_fivesugar]

Well yeah... I mean I could, but that doesn't make it right to just throw a kid into workforce.

I'm only fifteen! I'm not ready for this crazyness yet!

...And I'm Ruby, nice to meet you Jim.

[mouth_breather]

Guess it depends on the work.

[He had a lot of farm chores when he was her age, but he didn't necessarily enjoy it. He also may or may not have been busy being a teenage delinquent.]

Anyway, if you got the same amount of money I did, you probably don't have to worry about getting a job for a while. Once I contact my crew, I'll have us all beamed out of here. So don't fret too much, Ruby.

[onecream_fivesugar]

I guess so.

...Beamed? No way, not gonna happen. You're not going to turn me into a steal beam and use me to make a house!

Not gonna happen.

[She's a special case.]

[mouth_breather]

...What? In what world would that ever even happen?

[Where did this even come from?]

[onecream_fivesugar]

Where ever the heck you're from Mr.My Crew is Going to Beam You!

[ Does this explain it? ]

[mouth_breather]

[Yes, yes it does.]

...I'm from Iowa.

[He gives his head a shake. Maybe she's just kidding around, or still in shell shock. It's not like he's going to be mean to her about it.]

'Beaming' is a means of transportation, instantaneous, from one point to another. It's called 'beaming' because the transfer of physical properties makes it look like a beam of light. It's useful technology in transporting people on and off of a starship, particularly in planetary exploration.

[onecream_fivesugar]

...Is that near Vale?

[There's a brief pause.]

Ooooooooooooh. I think I get it.

[She doesn't really.]

...But why would need a ship if you can already get "beamed" somewhere really fast?

[mouth_breather]

Not sure where Vale is, so probably not. What planet are you from?

[It's not a sarcastic question. He's curious. Hopefully he's not breaking first contact (again), but he doesn't exactly have a lot of options here.]

Starships are big, and not always suited for landing just anywhere on a planet. And beaming does have a limited range.

But first things first. I need to make contact so they can get a fix on my location.

[onecream_fivesugar]

Remnant, isn't everyone?

[Wait a second... talk about starships, planets, beaming. She was starting to piece it all together now.]

So are you a space alien? Because that would be so cool.

[mouth_breather]

Huh. Never really thought of it that way, but to you, I guess I would be. I'm pretty sure we're both human, though.

[Although that's not a guarantee. There are several aliens in Jim's universe who look exactly like humans, but aren't.]

[onecream_fivesugar]

Well last one I checked I was human, I don't think that's changed...

So we're both human, that's great!

...Not that there's any problem with being something different, that'd be cool too.

[mouth_breather]

I'm sure we've got plenty of differences to appreciate.

[He pauses for a moment. Does he need to mention something about First Contact, and not telling any authorities if they happen to show up? ...Nah. He hasn't really displayed any illegal technology, it should be fine.]

So what's your world like?

[onecream_fivesugar]

Yeah, like different haircuts!

[Her turn to stop for a second.]

Uhmmm It's nice a enough. Kind of overrun with the creatures of Grimm though. So lots of monsters and some cities.

[mouth_breather]

[He snerks. Weird girl, but it's adorable.]

Like different haircuts. Exactly what I was thinking.

Monsters? Huh! Do you have regular animals too? Dogs and cats, things like that?

[onecream_fivesugar]

I figured as much.

We do! And people that have the animal features too!

[mouth_breather]

I've seen people like that before. There's a planet with people called Caitians, they've got the ears and tail of a cat.

[And they're great in the sack, but he's not telling an adolescent girl things like that.]

1/2

[onecream_fivesugar]

[The thought suddenly crosses her mind that Blake and all Faunus could be space aliens]

[onecream_fivesugar]

[But that would be just plain silly, right? RIGHT!?]

A whole planet of cat people...?

...That sounds so cool... And fluffy.

[mouth_breather]

[Kirk laughs and scrubs a hand over his mouth. She's so innocent, it's awesome. She's like the kid sister he never had.]

If the opportunity ever comes up, we can go visit. The galaxy is a big place, there's always something new to see.

[onecream_fivesugar]

Can we? Oh man that'd be so great. I can't wait. It's a promise, right?

[Cat Planet here she comes.

..Some day.]

[mouth_breather]

It's a promise.

And hey, if I figure out how some of those holosuites work in Nova City, I might be able to program something for you. I can't promise it'll be as good as the real thing, but definitely better than listening to me try and describe it.