Dossier Three

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

[Henrietta is back, sans overcoat, stockings and shoes. She's up to her ankles in water at the Doctor's beach, hugging herself and looking out over the water to try and spot the constellations Hei taught her. Her violin case is nearby on a rock, well out of the water but not out of arm's reach.]

Cassiopeia? ...no. [She cranes around, frowns, drops from the plane and comes back with a rifle scope, which she uses to hunt through the constellations again.] Um. Oh! There's the Big Dipper! Rico would really like this place.

Comments

[contract_star]

Ah...sorry. I'm good at going unnoticed.

So you're stargazing?

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

Really? Me too.

Yes! There are so many here.

[contract_star]

There are, aren't there? You're doing a pretty good job of finding them, though.

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

[dljkfdsf compliment. She swishes her feet through the water, looking shyly pleased.]

[contract_star]

[Daww.] Would you like to know about some others?

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

Yes please, signore.

[contract_star]

Let's see. [Looks around until he spots one on the horizon.] See that one that's shaped a bit like an arrow? That's Cygnus the Swan. And that really bright star at its tail is called Deneb.

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

Swan... What story goes with that one? Cygnus.

[contract_star]

Well...I'm not entirely sure. There was a man in Greek mythology who was turned into a swan, but I can't remember why.

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

Did one of the gods get mad at him? Signore Mu says that happened a lot.

[contract_star]

[Laughs.] Did he? I suppose he'd know. And yeah--Apollo, if I remember correctly.

[Searches the sky.] Ah, and there's one I know a little better. [Points at Lyra.] That's Lyra, the lyre. Orpheus was a skilled lyre-player, and when his wife, Eurydice died, he went to the Underworld to try and save her. The god of the Underworld, Hades, had never given a person back from death before, but he was charmed by Orpheus's music and agreed to let Eurydice live again--so long as Orpheus never looked back to make sure she was following her. But when he and Eurydice were almost free, he looked back and lost her completely. He died soon after, and his lyre was placed in the sky.

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

That's a sad story. Are they all sad stories?

[contract_star]

Not all of them! Ah, let me see... [Turns around until he spots another one.] There, that's Andromeda. The daughter of Cassiopeia, remember? Cassiopeia claimed that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids, which made Poseidon angry. He commanded Andromeda to be chained at the coast and sacrificed to Cetus, the sea monster. [Turns a bit and points at another constellation.] There, that one is Cetus.

But fortunately, just as Cetus was about to eat her, Andromeda was rescued by the hero Perseus [Points almost straight upwards at Perseus] who flew in on the flying horse, Pegasus [Points sort of down beneath their feet] and together they managed to kill Cetus and save the day.

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

Pegasus! I've read about Pegasus before, in one of Claes's books.

[contract_star]

[Chuckles.] Oh yeah? Do you read a lot, then?

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

Not as much as Claes. She has a whole room full of books. She lets me read them when I go to visit her and Triela sometimes. She says a valuable soldier is a literate soldier, even though she doesn't do missions any more.

[contract_star]

She doesn't? Was she released, then?

She's definitely right, though. Knowing things from books helps you to adjust and blend in.

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

Released? Oh! Oh, no. She just doesn't go on missions with the rest of us. They use her for experiments now.

[contract_star]

[Slight frown.] Experiments? What kind of experiments?

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

Um, mostly to test our modifications. They use her when they make something new--she tries it first, and then they make it better before they give it to the rest of us.

[contract_star]

... [Reminds him far too much of the early days of PANDORA and the Contractors. And, heck, the current days :|]

I see.

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

[Fakldjaheow

She looks down.]

[contract_star]

Ah...it's alright. I understand. It's...it feels normal, doesn't it?

[fireintothesky.livejournal.com]

[Nods at her feet]

[contract_star]

Yeah...I know. [Pauses.] It may feel normal, but...it's not a good thing, Henrietta. It shouldn't be that way.