Among the Light and the Dust

Among the Light and the Dust	Operational Intelligence
Rhodes Island was not built in a day, and Rhodes Island's ideals also did not spring out of thin air.

Characters

Heavyrain Kal'tsit Closure

Backgrounds

1 2 3 4

“

A corridor in Rhodes Island experiences a power outage, and Closure invites Kal'tsit to check the circuitry with her. Under Closure's guidance, even Kal'tsit would confide some of her inner thoughts.

”

<Background 1>
11:30 A.M. – Overcast Countryside – Rhodes Island Chief Engineer's Office
Kal'tsit	What are you doing this time?
Closure	Kal'tsit, you think I could see the Doctor for a bit?
Kal'tsit	Has it been too long since you pranked {nickname}? Feeling antsy?
Closure	Oh come on! I'm really a very caring person.
Kal'tsit	Last time you called yourself a caring person, you set up a facility to broadcast "Closure's Midnight Video Market" at twelve o'clock for three months straight.
Closure	But...
Kal'tsit	We still have no way to turn the volume down.
Closure	Okay okay, I admit it! I want to go tease the Doctor.
Kal'tsit	Not to mention {nickname}'s memory loss. I can't say for sure if the Doctor even knows who you are.
Closure	Huh? Slept too much and turned stupid, huh? That's sad. I'll have to bring the Doctor some snacks as a little cheer-up gift.
Kal'tsit	Whatever. Just try not to make a bad impression. Warfarin went bad enough. Add in the Doctor's misconceptions about vampires and the Kazdel matter will have to be postponed. Indefinitely. This is an opportunity to rehabilitate yourself in the eyes of the people. Seize it well.
Closure	Do I really need rehabilitating?
Kal'tsit	After the time you set the climate control system to 36 degrees, yes.
Closure	That was a power outage in the machine shop.
Kal'tsit	We found your fingerprints on the console.
Closure	It was a power outage in the machine shop!
Kal'tsit	You hacked the surveillance system and deleted the recording, but the console served a biological backup. I have thirteen tissue samples from thirteen different instances.
Closure	I'm sorry it's my bad that envoy is such an arrogrant prick I just want to rub his nose in it sorry.
Kal'tsit	...
Closure	Anyway, the welcome party. Dr. {nickname}'s welcome back party. We're not throwing one?
Kal'tsit	Afraid not. Circumstances such as they are.
Closure	Hey, why you gotta be like that, Kal'tsit? This is the Doctor we're talking about, the Doctor with amnesia. We gotta create an atmosphere of warmth and camaraderie.
Kal'tsit	Did you always look at the Doctor so?
Closure	Maybe... I've never been that close to the Doctor. But didn't you just say this is the perfect time to make a good impression?
Kal'tsit	Closure, let's talk about something else.
Closure	Hmph. If you're not going, I'll go myself. I don't care what you do. Did I hear we're going to Lungmen? I think that was on the schedule.
Kal'tsit	Yes.
Closure	And we can operate freely?
Kal'tsit	Lungmen has become quite dangerous.
Closure	Huh? Really? Lungmen? I thought that place was all about law and order.
Kal'tsit	It's the closest city to Chernobog. That should be pretty self explanatory.
Closure	So why are we going?
Kal'tsit	Because it's the closest city to Chernobog.
Closure	I think you're hiding something...
Kal'tsit	No. I said everything there is to be said in the last meeting. Right about the time you were slumped back in your chair, wearing an eye mask, fast asleep.
Closure	What can I say? Keeping this operation well maintained is tiring work.
Kal'tsit	I never said I blamed you. With you, Rhodes Island wouldn't even get off the ground. But I still want to do away with your suspicions... What is it you called me in for, exactly?
Closure	What? I can't just call up an old friend?
Kal'tsit	I'll be in my lab.
Closure	Hey! Wait! Okay... we have a power outage down two corridors in sector three. Can you come look at the cables with me?
Kal'tsit	Just send an engineer down there. Is it a problem with the power supply cables?
Closure	Or the two of us could go look ourselves.
Kal'tsit	Whenever I ask you for an inspection, you always delegate it to another operator.
Closure	My sense of responsibility as Chief Engineer of Rhodes Island has suddenly awakened! Let's go!
[Closure and Kal'tsit leaves together.]
<Background 2>
Closure	Come on, keep up with me... Huh?
Heavyrain	...
Closure	... Huh?!
Kal'tsit	This is Heavyrain.
Closure	Oh. Heavyrain?
Heavyrain	Hello, Miss Closure.
Closure	What a good little girl! Look, Kal'tsit, look how much more likable she is than you!
Kal'tsit	Hmph. Heavyrain, let me see your monitor.
Heavyrain	This one...? On my left arm here?
Kal'tsit	Yes. Be careful not to touch the needle.
Heavyrain	Right...
Kal'tsit	...Numbers look good. Your hemoglobin is up. You're recovering well.
Heavyrain	Thank you, Dr. Kal'tsit.
Kal'tsit	No thanks necessary. Just doing my job. You don't thank people for that. You know the way back, Heavyrain?
Heavyrain	I know.
Kal'tsit	Then you show yourself out. Closure and I have something to take care of.
Heavyrain	But I'm a guard. If I go, will you be okay, Dr. Kal'tsit?
Kal'tsit	You may be mistaken, Heavyrain. I asked you to come with us just to give you the layout of the ship. You may not come here often in the future. I don't need protection.
Heavyrain	Right. Then, excuse me. Goodbye, Miss Closure.
Closure	Yeah, bye.
[Heavyrain leaves.]
<Background 3>
Closure	... Did you hear that, Kal'tsit? She called me "Miss!" Oh, what a good little girl... She really seemed to want to help you out. And you sent her away like that?
Kal'tsit	Every operator has to find her own place in the world, just like me. Having her waste time with things she's not good at doesn't help anybody.
Closure	Would it kill you to talk like a human being every once in a while?
Kal'tsit	Heavyrain was in the Sargon military. Before she can establish interpersonal relationships, she needs to find a proper position for herself and integrate into Rhodes Island. That requires both support and tolerance, as well as her own self awareness.
Closure	Yeah yeah, your lectures make my head hurt. She another one of your strays you brought home?
[Closure and Kal'tsit leaves together.]
<Background 4>
Closure	You kind of have a talent for picking up new pets, Kal'tsit. How many are we up to now?
Kal'tsit	It's one of the steps in the "Acquisition and Cultivation Procedures for Infected Personnel."
Closure	Hold on... Last month, you had a solid 72-hour surgical procedure. Was that her you were operating on?
Kal'tsit	Indeed.
Closure	The surgical team went through like eight or nine shifts, but you didn't sleep for three days?
Kal'tsit	At least she recovered quickly.
Closure	Tell me, Kal'tsit, do you drug yourself?
Kal'tsit	I refuse to answer that question.
Closure	If I don't ask, you'll never say, will you?
Kal'tsit	What's the point of discussing this?
Closure	You're too hard on yourself.
Kal'tsit	I can handle it.
[Closure and Kal'tsit leaves together.]
<Background 2>
[The corridor's lights are out.]
Closure	Dark! Should we be using backup power?
Kal'tsit	You can't see?
Closure	I'm a vampire, of course I can see.
Kal'tsit	So can I.
Closure	All right then, on we go. Now I know what I just said, but did I step on something? Augh! Wh-what is this!
Kal'tsit	Nothing to get all upset about...
Closure	Is that... a gachapon machine? What's it doing here?! Huh. "Furry Friends Collection. 12 different furry friends to..." Wow, secret level! Awesome!
Kal'tsit	Clo-sure!
<Background black>
[Closure and Kal'tsit keeps moving.]
Closure	It's been a long time since I worked in a dark pipeline like this. I really missed it. And Rhodes Island wasn't nearly this big back then. Spanner, please! Thanks, Mon3tr! Hm...
Kal'tsit	What is it?
Closure	I can't reach it. Can you give me a boost so I can fix the cable?
Kal'tsit	Okay.
Closure	Oof... THis whole area has been totally cut off from the power supply. We can start troubleshooting. Kal'tsit, do you think it was a mistake to go to Chernobog and rescue the Doctor?
Kal'tsit	It was certainly unwise to enter Chernobog at that time.
Closure	So...
Kal'tsit	Amiya was very firm in her decision. No one could sway her. And you know the elite operators are.
Closure	It only happened because you abstained. I'm starting to think this was some kind of test of Amiya?
Kal'tsit	Test? No, not a test. Or rather if it was a test, it wasn't me administering it. It was a situation she found herself in. But as firmly as he believed in that decision, I could only support her... Though I certainly didn't have to make her feel like it would all go smoothly. Her choice is her choice.
Closure	Well said. But you're the one who has to deal with the consequences. Aren't you tired...?
Kal'tsit	Nobody gets it all right from beginning to end, Closure. Not even me. But we made it through the darkness. Now we just wait for the light at the end of the tunnel. Also, that second cable right above your head is about to fall.
Closure	Hey hey hey! Hold me steady! If the three-pin power connector drops, that's the end of both of us. Okay, hold up, I'm laying out the wire.
Kal'tsit	Did you just stuff two whole sets of wires in behind them?
Closure	Shhh! I must feel the thrum of electricity in my own heart, to achieve peace and balance with the current.
Kal'tsit	I advise you to mull over what you just said.
Closure	But, Kal'tsit... Oh, should be good. Try the switch. I was saying, regardless of what kind of riddle you were just playing at, if you're walking in the dark, you need some kind of light, right?
Kal'tsit	Aren't we fixing the lights right now?
<Background 2>
[The corridor's lights are back on.]
Closure	Yeah, there we go.
Kal'tsit	Closure.. Why are you asking me about these things?
Closure	Because if I don't ask, you don't tell.. You let it all well up inside you until you go crazy.
Kal'tsit	So my answers don't even matter to you?
Closure	I think all these things you told me are reeeeeeeeeeeally important, to you.. So yeah it's that important what you say... but it's really super important that you say it, and I hear with my own two ears.
Kal'tsit	What a waste of time.. Next time I'll just hand you the written report.
Closure	But then you wouldn't come with me.
Kal'tsit	Says who?. As long as you really have some lights that need fixing.
Closure	Promise?
Kal'tsit	How is it I always end up making some strange, inexplicable deal with you?
Closure	That's what an engineer does!. Here, Kal'tsit, take a look at this light bulb.
Kal'tsit	It's very clear?
Closure	Yeah, clear!
Kal'tsit	.... If only you were like this all the time, I'd be a lot less tense.. If only...
Closure	Woah! Shut up! Don't say it!. Just be quiet... and enjoy this little light together.
Kal'tsit	.... It really is a nice, gentle light.