UN: Senth; Video

[sergeant_slick]

[Hi everybody, it's your friendly neighborhood clone in a boat. He's on candle watch.]

Hey. Boredom's chewing holes in my brain right now, so let's play a stupid game I just made up: Just guess my age. Anybody who gets the year right on the first try wins bragging rights. If you get the month right too, you get to be fleet admiral. [That's something you can be for a bunch of dinghies, right?]

Also--anybody got any paint? Bonus points if it's waterproof. [He's got plans. Completely frivolous plans.]

Comments

[somebadnews]

[ Why would he guess that? Five can't decide if he's offended, or if he wants to answer at all. They weren't talking about him. ]

Not in the way you're thinking. [ He wasn't born in a lab, for one. And how low was the population that they needed to grow three million people? If it was post-apocalypse he'll have some follow up questions. ]

Were they not expecting you to live long enough to be a problem?

[sergeant_slick]

[That's a weird answer. Probably not a clone, then? Or at least not a mass-produced run.]

We're soldiers, and they're shitty commanders. So no, they don't see our deaths as a problem. They don't want us thinking about it too hard.

[somebadnews]

[ He needs to think about this. From what he's gathering, they were genetically engineered to age faster, then sent off to die in a war.

If he can get past how that's possible, it still sounds like a huge investment just to waste them all. But he doesn't know what kind of enemy they were fighting. ]

Probably didn't think they'd have to worry about a bunch of kids questioning them. [ Coming from someone who was essentially a child soldier, he has opinions. ] Are you human otherwise?

[sergeant_slick]

The brainwashing helped too. [His demeanor changes in an instant, becoming a model of straight-backed, earnest bravado.] We have a duty to follow orders and, if we must, lay down our lives for victory.

[...And then he relaxes again with a roll of his eyes.] Because of course defending the freedoms of the Republic justifies a fifty percent casualty rate, no pay, and no rights.

I don't know if we're all human, though. I know they altered the template a bit, but I wouldn't trust anything they'd tell us about that.

[somebadnews]

[ It's a convincing enough story that he doesn't question that it happened. Other people might have a more visceral reaction to hearing about his abuse, but Five just takes in the information he's given. Did he only overcome the brainwashing when he came here?

It still seems like a faulty system. Once they understood the truth about what happened to them, they'd turn on them just like Slick. Someone thought it was worth the risk. ]

Defending against what?

[sergeant_slick]

[Hells, nobody here knew what the galaxy was up to these days, did they.] The Separatists. Who are all completely evil, power-hungry monsters, except for all the ones I talked to, apparently. [Sure, Ventress had been weirdly intense, but when literally nobody else had been willing to listen? Of course he was going to side with her.] The propaganda doesn't even begin to make sense.

[somebadnews]

[ If he's remembering correctly, Slick is one of ones from a time that doesn't use a calendar he recognized in all his travels, which makes him frustratingly hard to place. 'Separatists' is hardly a unique name, but they didn't have clones in the 16th century.

He's getting side-tracked. Not like he can borrow his age-acceleration, as much as he appreciates it being rubbed in his face. ]

At least you found that out while you're young. [ He considers a moment— ] Were you winning?

[sergeant_slick]

Was the Republic winning? I've got no idea. I was a sergeant and a slave, I don't get invited to strategy meetings. Were clones winning? Fuck no. [And neither was he, hard as he'd tried. Next time, though. He'd go back and try again.]

And what do you mean by that, 'while you're young?' What's your deal? [Five doesn't talk like a civvie kid. Cadets can be more serious and focused, but there's still something off here.]

[somebadnews]

[ He can't be surprised that he wasn't told more. It sounds like he's not eager to return, but Five isn't in charge of getting everyone back to their correct timeline and this one's screwed enough already. Not that he has a chance to react to that before Slick turns the focus back on him again.

Five is asked that enough that it shouldn't be as grating as it is. But there's a reason it's a sore subject, and he isn't about to play 'what's my age' and hear what assumptions are still out there about him. ]

I'm sure you've already figured it out. You're younger than you look, and I'm older. [ As if that's the only thing that makes him different. ] Everything else you wouldn't understand.