(This is my journal for Tuesday's episode, written in collaboration with Adrammalech, who is super great and formatted this whole thing so that it could go up from my phone.)
Video taping the base perhaps wasn't the most legal thing Mattie could do, but she'd be damned if she'd let that stop her from walking around with the camera up in front of her face. The place was huge, and the video would help her keep all the doors straight. Not that she was allowed into half of them.
"Alright, and this is the...uh, actually, I don't know what door this is, but we're going to find out," She laughed a little, reaching out to open the door.
At the same time, Daniel was going the other direction, eager to get back to the living quarters. He was surprised to see a camera looking back at him as he opened the door, a device as rare as sunlight in a facility like this.
"Oh, hi," he said awkwardly. "Um, are you recording something?"
Mattie jumped as a person's face took up her screen; she hadn't expected anyone to really be around. She'd thought everyone was either in the infirmary or already back in the living quarters. She lowered the camera, trying to explain what she was doing. "Uh, yeah. I'm...taking a tour of the base..."
"Oh. Are you allowed to do that?" he asked inquisitively.
She shrugs, laughing. "Probably not. Let's just...keep this a secret, then?"
"Well, yeah, we're risking going on the big wall they have, they probably owe us a couple home videos, right?" Daniel smiled nervously, extending his hand. "I'm Daniel, I think we were on the same transport, weren't we?"
Mattie nodded, tucking the camera under her arm to shake his hand. "Yeah, I think so. Hard to remember, really, feels like I've been here forever. Um, I'm Mattie." She looked around, trying to find a better topic to talk about. "So...you don't think we're going to wind up on the wall, right?"
That probably wasn't the best alternative.
"Nah," he said. "Probably not, anyway. We're the best of the best, so they say. I'm sure they have stuff to keep us safe out there, yeah?"
Daniel looked around aimlessly, eager to think of something else, before he could doubt his own bluff.
"Yeah, I...hope so..." Mattie bit her tongue, barely stopping herself from commenting on the fact that whatever that "stuff" was hadn't done all those names on the wall any good.
"So, uh," he said, "have you recorded the bar yet?"
She sighed, raising the camera again, pointing it back at him. "I didn't know there was a bar! Oh, yeah, you want to say anything for your folks back home? In case these wind up being required viewing for schools one day?"
"I know I'm here for my mom and sister," he said, waving a little too close to the lens. "Hi mom, hi Lana, love you guys."
Daniel gestured down the hall to where he was going. "Want to come with me? We can get a drink and talk about aliens, like crazy people."
Mattie laughed, trying to turn the camera off and cram it into her pocket. "Sure, sounds like a plan to me. Can't be too crazy if they're real, right?"
Daniel led Mattie to the bar room, a homely space beneath the gym replete with a pool table and a raised bar. With the active squad out and the medical bay almost full, the giant empty room seemed a little more haunted than relaxing.
"Well, here's the place. I've only peeked in here before, so I don't know what's actually behind the bar." Daniel walked behind the counter, looking around the cubbies and shelves. "Half of these are in random languages, must be a black market kinda guy stocking things," he mused as he thumbed through the bottles, "anything you want in particular?"
She looked around, a bit surprised, taking a seat at the counter. "I mean, I'm really just a beer girl...if I can't read the label, I don't drink it."
Mattie peered around again, checking to make sure no one else was coming in. She slid over the counter and smiled. "I've always wanted to do that. Alright, what're we lookin' at over here? Why don't I like the sound of black market imports?"
"Well, you know how it is when the base is big enough, there's always a guy who seems like he can get anything and anywhere. I wonder who that is here," he said, pulling out random clear and amber bottles as he tried to suss out the places they're sold from.
"Turkish raki, Chinese baijiu...French, Spanish, German, Russian and...fake Russian," he leaned towards her, "this one - бутан - can literally mean lighter fluid."
Daniel then pulled open the door to a mini-fridge underneath the counter, stocked with a well-dented trove of various beers and ciders. "I believe this is what you're looking for?"
She whistled as he read off the names, peering at the French and the German. "Lighter fluid? No thank you...this is what I'm after."
Mattie grabbed a beer out of the minifridge, returning back to a seat on the counter. She winced a bit as she took her first sip, hoping he didn't notice. "So, you, uh, you sound French."
"Good call, I grew up in Versailles, the place with the big house," he replied, pulling out a cup and pouring some spiced rum for himself. "My family is still there. Hopefully, they're still okay."
He looked forward pensively for a moment, cradling his drink awkwardly before snapping back to the conversation.
"How about you? Anyone waiting for you at home?"
"Versailles's beautiful. My parents honeymooned there--they love showing all the pictures," Mattie laughed, shaking her head. "I hope your family's alright. I mean, I'm sure they are."
She cleared her throat. This was supposed to be positive, she reminded herself. Time to not worry about things. "Huh? Oh, yeah. My best friend and her kid...they're who I'm making those stupid videos for. Both my folks. I'm going to have a great big welcome party if...when I get back. Small town."
"Well, I'm sure they'll appreciate a look at how we save the world and all that," he said with a chuckle. "If you can get the tapes out, anyway."
Mattie was about to respond when a loud thunk came from behind the bar wall, where the infirmary was. Seconds later, about a dozen soldiers and medics rushed in, headed directly to the memorial wall. Some were angrily stomping, others on the verge of tears, and some praying quietly. One walked up to the bar, a rookie they didn't recognize who jumped up on the counter to look at the liquors behind it.
"What happened?" Daniel asked. "Did we lose someone?"
"Lemarque," the soldier said grimly.
Daniel and Mattie both looked shocked at the news. Daniel started whispering to the soldier.
"The cyborg guy? They actually took him down?"
"Yeah, it was bullshit," he replied, looking at the ground, "one second he's gunning down everyone with that gun, then the next moment his entire suit is going up. We made 'em pay though. We made 'em pay this time..."
The soldier grabbed a bottle of whiskey and brought it over to the wall, where the others were pinning his picture with the others. Daniel felt the panic rising in his chest as he looked around aimlessly.
"Jesus...if they can take down him..." Daniel whispered to himself. "I, uh...I think I'm going to head to the range, or something. Get some practice done."
Daniel scurried out from behind the bar, almost making it to the door when Mattie called after him.
"Hey, Daniel?"
"Yeah?"
"Just wanted to say," Mattie said with a pause, "if we get sent out...I got your back."
"Yeah, I got yours too," he replied sincerely, walking out the door with a nervous twitch.
