milliways_bar | (no subject)

*Meg peers at the person.

Something is very strange . . .*

Crichton, feeling someone stare at him, notices Meg. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he recognizes her. He's careful not to let her notice that he's noticed... now he needs to decide whether to acknowledge her stare.

*Meg wonders if she ought to notice that he's trying not to let her notice he's noticed.*

Crichton notices that Meg's noticed he's noticed. He turns and lets her notice he's noticed she's noticed.

*Meg notices all the accumlated noticing - it's hard not to - and changes to blinking, for originality.*

Crichton doesn't blink. Instead he smiles warmly -- or as warmly as a vaguely haughty-looking futuristic-human person can smile.

*Meg continues to blink.

Meg is looking very confused right about now.*

Crichton gives her a Look. This Look either says, "stop staring and come over here and talk", or it says "there is a wombat in the fridge screaming to get out". It's really a matter of interpretation.

*Meg wonders if perhaps she ought to check in the fridge. Poor wombat!*

Crichton, not being able to read Meg's mind, has nonetheless figured out which interpretation she picked (it's Meg. It's not hard to guess). He makes a vague gesture that is most certainly not in the direction of the fridge.

*Meg looks Not In The Direction Of The Fridge.

Oh, look, it's a table! What do you know?*

Crichton decides to stop gesturing. Meg will approach him on her own. And if not, not.

*Obligingly, Meg approaches.

Blinking.*

Crichton peers at Meg. "Hello, Meg."

Hullo, person-who-isn't-quite-Crichton.

Crichton smiles. "Call me John."

And now I know you're even less of Crichton. He never told me that.

"You never called him person-who-isn't-quite-Crichton. I'm sure if you called him that, he'd say the same thing."

Well, you're not, *Meg points out.*

"No, I'm not quite Crichton, you are correct. Very observant of you."

*Meg snorts.* Not hard, considering the bumpy head.

"Even more observant! Well done, Meg.

Sorry. Sorry. I'm being impolite."

He sticks out a hand. "John Crichton. Version Beta."

*Meg eyes him very suspiciously indeed, and does not take the hand.*

What happened to Version Alpha?

Crichton is momentarily surprised. Meg knows the Greek alphabet? Hunh.

He shrugs. "Somewhere around here."

*Meg knows lots of things! Opera is very useful.*

And how did you get here?

"Same way he did, same way you did? Ask me something a little harder."

No, I meant how'd you get here. As in existence. Since I kinda doubt you're his evil twin.

Crichton grins. "You know, you ask him that, he'll probably tell you I am.

It was an alien research device. Created three of us. One's normal -- that's the one you know -- one future -- that's me -- and one past, who's basically an ape-man running around with no clothes."

He obviously holds a considerably amount of disdain for the ape-man.

*Meg is back to blinking.*

Why?

"I don't know that."

Crichton, being Future!Crichton, does not say "aaaaaaarrrrghhhh!" and fly off of a bridge the way Regular!Crichton might have done at this point.

*Meg eyes him and notes this decided difference.*

Have you got a bug in your head ~~that just won't leeeeeeeeeave~~?

"Yes."

You seem really weirdly calm about all this.

"The chip won't harm me, if that's what you're asking."

It's harmed lots of people.

"Hmm. Has Crichton -- your Crichton -- been fully taken over by it?"

Couple times, yeah.

*Meg scowls.* Why, don't you know?

Crichton lifts his hands in a gesture of I-don't-know. "What am I, omniscient?"

How should I know? You're bald, maybe you have lots of brains.

*Irony, oh yes.*

"Very amusing. I am... somewhat more intelligent than the Crichton you know. I don't have ESP, though. Not yet."