greatexpectations | zari tarazi

[ he can't really deny that, nope, so he manages to put his phone in his pocket even while she's dragging him down the hall. it makes his vision go fuzzy a minute as he remembers stuff that never happened again. his zari ordering him around and typing furiously. when he snaps out of it, current zari is yelling at him and he sighs. ]

It's not my fault you're faster than kid Flash. Does it ever freak you out that you just know this stuff?

[She catches that familiar dazed out look out of the corner of her eye. Zari forces herself not to ask. She doesn't want to know. Maybe she's lucky and he's just having a seizure like a normal person. Wouldn't that be nice?

The question visibly makes her uncomfortable. She drops his arm in favor of crossing both of hers over his chest. To Zari's credit, she doesn't lie about it.] I mean... sometimes.

[She shrugs a shoulder, pointedly not making eye contact.] It's whatever. It's not like I can make it stop. [She doesn't even want to know what that will do to other Zari. She'll be lowkey possessed for the rest of her life. It's fine. Everything is fine!!]

[ it kind of takes him aback when she's honest with him, and he nods his understanding even while rubbing his wrist idly where she let it go. he may not understand what it feels like in her head, but they are both being haunted by the same woman. ]

I know! And it really is cool. [ nate looks at the screen blankly like it's supposed to tell him anything before turning back towards her. ] Sorry, you were showing me a thing. [ presumably ]

[Zari blinks twice. Right this isn't about her other Zari angst. She starts pulling up the screens focusing on basic ship functions.] Right, sorry. Let me hacksplain. Basically, it's like that movie Behrad made me watch a million times when he was super little. The one with the little boy who fights home invaders? Mostly I'm using the temperature and oxygen control to our advantage. Hard to kill us if you're burning up and being suffocated at the same time. Gidget gets a little more specific depending on the area. Like in the bathroom? Scalding water. Kitchen? Every appliance tries to eat their limbs. Our roombas will also try to bully them away from wherever any Legends are currently at too. If we're lucky? They'll break someone's foot too.

[She pulls up schematics and floor plans as she talks including their adorable vacuum cleaners.] What trips me up is if we get people who don't need to breathe or won't get hurt by extreme temperatures. Just using you as an example? Extreme conditions are useless. We'd have to suffocate you.

[So lovely she thought of that. :')] We also have to consider if they survive long enough to reach one of us. How far do we want to take it? Do I break it down by Legend? Should I call a meeting seeing who is okay with passing out for a few minutes? I know Mick, John, Sara, and Ava are down for anything, but we couldn't put Lita or Behrad through any of that.

[Thus why she needs Nate. He'll tell her if this is going too far. Her time travel PTSD is drowning out her empathy.]

[ his eyes widen as she goes on, realizing how much thought she's put into everything. it makes him remember his feelings for her, and he has to rein himself back in with a pointed throat-clearing and a nervous push through his hair. he should probably be disturbed by this, but like everything else about zari it's just mega awesome. ]

So what I'm getting from you is some major H. H. Holmes horror house vibes and... I like it.

[ he closes one eye in the fascimile of a wink and puts up the OK sign. better than fidgeting?? maybe. he sobers up enough to bring up the map on the terminal and show her what he's talking about. ]

We just have to make sure if there is an intruder they get funneled down this corridor. If they get through our heavy-weights then Team Magic can take 'em before any kids or... Gary gets in the way.

[His nervous energy is starting to get to her. Thank God Nate pulls through with an actually helpful suggestions so she doesn't have to snipe at him. She smiles, instantly pleased with the tip, and sets to work writing the protocol.] I love that's catching on.

[She comments idly. Did she or Behrad start that? Who cares?? She freaking loves it. Oh wait nvm she does have one sassy comment.] Oh, it's just us and Gidget here. We can admit that guy with the glasses is one of the kids that needs to be sheltered from the home invaders.

[She flashes one genuine smile while waiting to see if Gidget is accepting the commands so far.] Good work, Nate. Got anything else for me?

It's a pretty concise way of describing you guys. And you are so right about him... unless he's in earshot then he's totally included!

[ nate looks around like that guy might be lurking somewhere close before turning back to the computer to watch her work. ]

Use the Roombas to divide and conquer... yeah, like that. [ he thinks!! he's not the best at reading code but he thinks that's what she's doing. ] So I come out of the library all like - steeled up and Ava and Sara are like wa-chaaa... [ he stops miming kung-fu and clears his throat again. right, helpful stuff. ] You know what though, Lita and Gary are gonna wanna do stuff so maybe have them at the airlocks just in case...

We need a team meeting, don't we?

[An amused smile curves its way up her lips despite herself. He's a huge dork. Zari once again finds herself appreciating it as someone who didn't have a lot of true levity in her scene growing up.] We do, but I'm gonna need you not to say wa-chaaa. This is actually pretty serious. You'll distract the children from the threat.

[She frowns and decides to walk that back.] Okay you can say wa-chaa when we need to win over the children to the plan.

[ he opens his mouth to concede to her when she instead concedes to HIM. what a day what a life. he yanks his fist back a few times in grand victory!!! ]

Okay, deal. Oh, and there's no chance of like, a rogue operator taking Gideon over and trapping us in the horror house... right? Like, slim to none-ish?

[Zari laughs despite herself. His question has rattled around in her brain before so she opts to explain that problem plainly.] Pretty close to none, yeah. How many people have jacked this ship so far? At least this way they'll actually have a struggle before they start messing with us. Gidget isn't great at standing up for herself.

[She glances up with a sigh.] No offense, Gidget. [Naturally the AI takes none, but you know in the robot apocalypse she'll probably kill Zari first so shrugs!!!]

Okay, fair point. Look! I had to ask.

[ but he trusts her, and also agrees gideon sucks at that. ]

If there's anyone who can figure this out, it's you.

I know it's a gamble, but I think we are still better off having a murder house that one of us can shut off as opposed to... random thought here.... zombies. [The whole team got super dead minus her and John. She feels like they can only go up from here!!!

Zari chills out enough to appreciate the vote of confidence at least.] But, thanks. I appreciate it.

Why did you have to bring that up?!

[ nate releases a full-body shiver as he remembers getting eaten alive. ptsd is nbd when you're a legend!!! ]

Okay, for real, this is a legit plan and you're doing great. What can I do to make this go smoother?

Edited 2020-08-22 22:17 (UTC)

Because I really liked having living friends, Nate! [Zari points out a tad bit defensively. Yes, things are weird with them, but she sees that he's trying. He lost his best friend and still tried to discuss her grief with her even when she made it damn near impossible. That means something to her even if she's still pissed at what went down in TVland.

Zari quickly redirects herself to get to his point. She exhales audibly and talks over her thought process as she types.] Okay so we need a ton of redundancies so it'll be pretty hard for anyone, but me to mess with this program. We already know other Zari will step in if I get brainwashed so I'm feeling really good about leaving this to me.

[And John won't let her die so this is foolproof!!]

Okay, I'm gonna try my very best not to get eaten again. We cool?

[ he steps closer to her carefully, peering at the screen even though he only understands a fraction of what's going on. it still gives him an idea. ...which he will share after he addresses that very disturbing revelation. ]

Do you think that's like, likely? 'Cause I thought you were all good now.

We cool. [Zari confirms as she types away. Her fingers slow at the question. She knows the answer to that. She obsesses over it in the dark of the night. Zari carefully keeps her eyes trained on the screen as she answers.] Yeah pretty much. Other Zari went into the totem willingly, but the hacking is still here. I'm sure if I pushed the right button in my brain, the flashes will be back too. The only thing that changed is that hijacking me is on a timer so she'll probably make a quick cameo and back to the totem. We're kind of stuck with each other for life. Both of us just know it now.

[She hates that she even has to tell anyone that. Zari thinks Nate ought to be mentally prepared for the fact that nothing really changed.]

zari tarazi | dctv

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