prismatica | video;

[ The camera turns on to reveal a young face, currently in transit. It's Rebecca, walking down one of the broad, bright streets of upper Lunatia. She's a little unused to mobile videos, so occasionally she bobs out of frame. You can see her short hair, the pink choker she perpetually keeps wrapped around her neck, and the top of a green baseball tee. It is the nineties, after all.

More of relevance is probably the flushed cheek, the slightly heavier breathing. Iris is in full effect, and it's not giving her a second of mercy. She gathers herself before starting, eyes flicking over the display to make sure everything is set up and working correctly. ]

...you guys really weren't kidding about the effects of these moons. The physical and physiological changes already didn't make any sense, but this is just-- [ She puffs out a breath, shaking her head. ] Maybe there really is some merit to the lunar effect. We have all sorts of old wives' tales back home about how the full moon makes people go crazy, and we've only got one of them.

[ She pauses, glancing up to cross a street. Once across, she flashes an embarrassed smile at the camera. ]

Anyway. That's not what I wanted to talk about. Now that I'm settled in and things seem...peaceful... [ Her expression creases briefly, a nonverbal "for now". ] I was wondering, how do you all fill up your day?

I'll start! I'm Rebecca. [ She gives the camera a little wave. ] I haven't settled on a job yet, so mostly I'm going to the gym or at the cafe if I'm not in my apartment. I love sweet drinks, so it's nice to just relax in the sunshine with a book. I like playing basketball, and piano too, but those sort of fell by the wayside. All that keeps me busy, but when the moon's full, I'm still kinda lacking strategies to...distract myself.

[ It's about the most polite way she can conjure of saying, "Jesus Christ, nobody told me the moon effects were this bad, I'm going out of my mind here." ]

I figure we should all be trying to help each other out, even if it's just with sharing coping mechanisms. I'm always here to help if you need a medic, or even just a sympathetic ear. So...let me know!

weiss;

[ And then, as if by divine providence, a familiar, stylish ponytail of white hair exits a building. Rebecca lowers her phone and squints after her. She's much more put together now, but...yes, it is the girl she'd had that talk with!

Rebecca's wandering route has taken her near to the theatre. Was that where she was going? She's briefly caught in internal debate, not wanting to bother the girl, before managing to push. She breaks into a light half-job and quickly catches up. ]

Weiss?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As much as I like the gym, a trail run sounds so good. I'd appreciate it if you could send me the details sometime.

[ You can take the girl out of the Midwest, but... ]

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. Having too much time to kill and nothing to do. Is there anything you'd want to do?

Trails outside of the city can be risky, otherwise there's some in the groves if you're looking to play it safe.

[Not everyone walks on the edge, Rey finds.

[She pauses at that question, not sure how to respond to it]

Don't know, to be honest. Have a lot of military experience... but if anyone were to ask about how to run a business or handling clientele, would have no idea how to that shit works.

On the other hand, there's been some incidents that called for those with combat experience, so... [Maybe she's exactly where she needs to be? Just a wandering hobo lady who can sometimes fight stuff?]

Oh, you're military? Well, don't worry. I can take care of myself.

I think that's probably the best place for you, then. On standby until something happens again...because it seems like something might happen again.

Yeah... [Don't ask what branch, though. That's a complicated answer.] But if you think you can handle it... Found some spots in the forests on the outskirts, lots of interesting flora and fauna. Just don't travel too far out there.

[She pauses to consider that.]

Mn, probably. Don't really feel on the same wavelength for most of the jobs they have in this city.

I'll keep it in mind. I wouldn't want to wander too far from the city anyway.

[ She hums under her breath, propping her chin on a hand. ]

That's what I've been thinking about, too. It's why I brought it up. Whether it'd be better to keep doing what you were good at back home, or to try something way outside of my comfort zone.

For the best. Air gets more toxic the farther out you get.

[Rey has made attempts, but she's not quite as durable without Chroma to keep her going like she normally would. It's annoying.]

Depends on how far outside your comfort zone you're willing to go, maybe. Have considered joining the Moon Knights, but... don't think that type of structure would be as welcome as it used to be. [Because of reasons.]

Oh, right...the knights mentioned something like that.

[ Another horrifying detail. ]

Maybe not. Law enforcement requires a lot more social skills than people realise. I'd been on the force before, but talking to everyone...I don't know if I'm in a rush to join up again.

[ughhh]

Shit, hadn't thought about that. Never spent a whole lot of time talking to civilians before, so... Wouldn't know how to tackle their issues.

[Rey's people skills are sorely lacking in that regard, so participating as the Moon People's equivalent of local law enforcement doesn't cut it for her.]

It's difficult. Especially if people don't have a good opinion of the law...or of Moonblessed.

[ The more she talks about it, the more Rebecca agrees. Too many variables. Too many things she doesn't know. And she actually has people skills. ]

Do you have any other options you were considering?

Yeah, shit hasn't been too great lately.

[Not that Rey can fault them for it, or be surprised. Sometimes people need someone to blame and she's already used to being the "fall guy" for tragedies.]

Not sure. Seen some people set up businesses or work, but those generally involve interacting with people more to some degree, too. Really, just trying to acclimate to this place alone can be pretty fucking time consuming.

Yeah...I think most jobs will. Something like lab work or academia lets you go days without talking to people, I've found, but that's pretty technical stuff.

Maybe...manual labour?

[ She's really stretching here. ]

Can do some technical stuff, albeit limited. Probably nothing that would count for academia...

[Not that Rey is aware of, anyway. In truth, having the memories and experiences of multiple soldiers of varying skill sets programmed into her brain, she could do a lot if she wanted.]

Am not interested in being someone's pack mule, though. Used to do a lot of grunt work before, so a retirement has been long overdue. [Even then, she scoffs at the notion.]

I was thinking something like construction - but do they even need things like bricklayers here?

[ There's so many little details that she doesn't know. Rebecca hums under her breath, fist to her chin. ]

Working odd jobs to keep you going might be the best option for now. Just until you find something you really enjoy doing.

Doubt it, when they've got those robots around to do the heavy lifting.

[She says "robots" with great disdain, but that's all she speaks of it.]

That's the plan for now. Though, to be honest, it's kind of nice not feeling pressured to settle for any one thing. Have a lot of skills that work for a variety of things...

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