exsilium | 01 ☢ video

[The camera clicks on to reveal a skinny kid with a mess of brown hair. He's holding the tablet in front of him, so the view's a bit shaky; it doesn't help that he's fidgeting and gesturing with his other hand as he speaks, first and foremost being a quick and awkward wave hello.]

Hey. Hello? This is on, right? You know, they should put a light on these things to show they're transmitting. Maybe they do, I didn't really - [Barely a pause as he checks himself, gets back on track.]

Sorry. Hi, my name's Peter. Peter Parker. So I got the welcome tour, and I guess my big question is - where can we get decent food around here?

[Priorities. He got most of the relevant info the other day, anyway. He almost looks like he's done, but then he abruptly remembers something and speaks up again in a rush.] And I made a thing. I mean, I didn't really make it, I just re-made it. I probably messed some of it up, but I guess nobody here's going to know any better, right?

It's for Collette, but I figured anybody could use it. Let me know if you have questions, or just type "help" and it should cover the bases. And don't forget to use your lanterns. [And Peter out - no wait, just kidding. He's half a second from ending the transmission before he stops.]

It's a game, by the way. The thing.

[He's done for real this time, pending an attachment:]

► ATTACHMENT 1: zork.exe

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow. [ He doesn't know what to do with that. On the one hand, get out of jail free - on the other, that sounds kind of awful. ]

Yeah. Just like a game. Kind of seems less fun when you get to feel the dying part, though.

[ And hello, surprise nerd reference. He's still slightly distracted by the not-dying news, but he's glad for the change of topics. He offers a slight grin. ]

So much for not being interested in games. But come on, you know Catacomb but not Zork? You missed out.

Yeah. A lot less.

( oh all those looming, complicated feelings!

still, that makes her grin, just briefly. She takes relief and reprieve where she can, when the mood strikes, but that doesn't mean its always effective. )

Fair go, Pete, I'm a rural. Playing more than one video game was off the cards, when there's paddocks need seeing to and fences to fix, shearing and fixing up tractors and the rest. I was lucky to get through a few levels of Catacombs without my dad tossing it for being a waste of time.

[ That sounds fantastic, actually. He'd be okay with doing farm work with parents, but that's probably obvious. The with parents thing is the essential bit. ]

Seriously? So, what - horses? Goats? Sheep? Shearing is sheep, right? Did you eat them? Actually, did you name then and then eat them, because one or the other is normal, but - [ Important questions from the city kid. ]

Hey, hey. Slow down.

( Now. First things first: )

No self respecting cockie has goats. They're awful. ( She is genuinely disgusted. Goats. ) Horses are all right, but for stockwork. I would not envy anyone breeding them, and training them? Bloody hard work. It has to be done just right, or you can wreck a good horse, and a lot of people don't have the patience for it.

( Oh, Jesus. Brace yourself, city kid. ) Besides, they can be flighty. The cold-bloods are good, much more steady, but stubborn. And they can be emotional, real flight. They get stirred up. A horse can do some horrible damage to themselves, I'll tell you. No one wants to have a shoot a good horse, but if they break a leg or throw themselves on a fence, sometimes it's all you can do.

Now, sheep. Sheep are sensible, and smart. They get a bad rap, but they're amazing. My family, we breed Charollais. It's amazing, you know? You look in fashion magazines and realise that good, quality wool, our wool - it can wind up in Paris or London, New York... anywhere! And you get a lot of prime cuts off their carcasses, too.

( A moment, she scratches the back of her neck. Bred Charollais. Their farm belonged to the invaders, now. )

[ He's grinning, because - well, frankly some of this sounds hilarious to him, but he can't help but enjoy her enthusiasm and know-how on the subject. That and you never know when he'll need to know the differences between raising horses and sheep, obviously. ]

Well, the horses they've got giving carriage rides around Christmas look pretty sturdy.

[ Yes, that's all he's adding, mostly just to mess with her; he doesn't really think New York city horses are better than her Australian farm horses, surely. ]

And I'll pass on cutting anything off a carcass, but I bet you'll be in good company here. I've already met, like, five girls who shoot their dinner.

Yeah, 'cause they're not gonna be using a thoroughbred to pull a cart. ( SILLY BOY. ) Thoroughbreds are amazing racers, but they're drama queens. Anyway, they're not heavy enough to pull a cart. It's probably a draught horse on your carts.

( She scoffs. ) Oh, come on. You too delicate to know where your food is coming from? If you're gonna eat it, you should be able to look the animal in the eye and kill it. It's basic respect.

( So help you, Peter, you are going to learn about farming. ) Maybe I should start a mini-farm in a garden and teach you. Find some chickens or lambs, or something. ( Although, she frowns. ) If we can get those here. Dunno what stock availability is like in the city. Especially this city.

[ Draft horses, thoroughbreds, whatever. Actually that's not even true, he does know the difference in a vague "read it somewhere" way, but it's not really the kind of knowledge he has to exercise daily. ]

Hey, if not wanting to look something in the eye and chop its head off makes me delicate, I'm really okay with that.

But I'm down for a garden. We can make salads. [ You don't have to murder salads.... ]

( also I will always miss "haven of ear" )

( Don't worry Petey, she knows nothing about spi-- oh no that's a lie she's from Australia. )

We always killed our own meat, at home. It, uh... it seems bizarre, just buying it packaged up in plastic. People forget that the animals were living and breathing, had their own intelligence.

( It's bizarre, to her. ) I reckon it's more organic, our way. Closer to how humans are meant to be, maybe.

( She arches an eyebrow. ) You know, most of the blokes back home call that "rabbit food."

( Not earning any macho points, Pete. )

[ He likes her take on it - that appreciation for the animals - and it gets another smile, even if he's still sort of uncomfortable with the idea of killing his own food.

But then she says the rabbit food thing, which hey, rude. ]

Hey, there's nothing wrong with rabbits. Or rabbit food. It's healthy, you know, the next big thing. [ Not even joking, rabbit food is totally the next big thing in New York. Hipsters love that crap, okay. ]

I'm not arguing. I'd rather eat the rabbit than the salad, though.

( She arches an eyebrow. )

Why?

Why what?

[ He's looking genuinely confused here, because if the question's about why rabbit food is popular, he's... not sure. ]

I mean, it's healthy, right? All natural. Not that meat isn't, but it's less processed - which I guess your meat wouldn't be really processed if you're killing it yourself, but we don't usually have space to grow our own rabbits in queens. Or sheep, but you can do a garden in a windowsill, right?

Yeah, I know it's good for you, but it's not gonna give you enough energy to get through a day. Not ever.

( She's a bit prickly, brows furrowed. ) If there's more food available, why'd you starve yourself? It's stupid.

( And really, show knows why, remembers all the things people would do, but when you've been struggling to have enough food for months, it gets hard to remember how that ever could make sense. )

People are bloody stupid.

01 ☢ video

video; no worries!! i hope the move is done and you're settling in well!

video; thank you! I'm getting there, slowly but surely... :')

video;

video;

video; BOO aka hi new account

video; SHRIEK also I am glad I am not the only person considering a rename so soon HAHA

video; BUT YOURS IS SO GOOD what are u thinkin bout

video; THEY ARE BOTH QUOTES SHE USES A LOT AHH but my other account for her is "thinkbrave" hmm

video; OOOH I like them both!!

video; USES THEM SIMULTANEOUSLY

video; HAHA perfect

video; yes good i am glad you approve