Source: artemislycaea

@sixplans

sixplans:

ginainviere:

sixplans:

ginainviere:

She smiles and leans her head back against the bench.

“John is a bastard. I think we’ve always known that, but he has our interests at heart. Bastard or not, he’s still our brother, and he loves us.”

She squeezes Maddy’s hand and moves her head to her sister’s shoulder.

“What about D’Anna, then? What about Sonja, or Natalie, or Shelly? They would be there for you if you needed them, just as I am.”

“He is a bastard, but you’re right. I can’t expect him to be perfect; is looking for God’s divine will as any of us are. I shouldn’t be so hard on him.” 

She places strokes Gina’s cheek lightly and smiles, letting the sun fall on her face. 

“You’re right. They would be. I find myself growing bitter in this time. Aside from you, ever ounce of ‘love’ or kindness I’m shown comes at the expense of me having to spread my legs for human men and women, for them to take what they’d like and then to leave me. Oh, I’m willing to do it, and do it I will until I don’t have to anymore, whatever it takes. But it robs you of something, I think, to be used in such a way without any desire on your part.”

“But that’s the difference between you and me.”

She sits up suddenly.

“You take their indifference and their carelessness and you give it back to them. You don’t let it poison you. I’m afraid… I’m afraid that if I went through what you put yourself through, every day, it would kill me.”

She smiles.

“Besides, they never stay indifferent for long. From what you’ve told me about Gaius, he was half in love with you from the moment you tripped over his bag.”

Madeleine smiles broadly at the flattery from her fellow Six. Casting a quick glance around to make sure the vicinity is free of anybody that would see, she rests her hand on the side of Gina’s face.

 “You always know exactly what to say.”

 She leans in slowly, pausing right before softly kissing Gina’s full, pink lips. It lasts barely a moment before Madeleine pulls back. 

”But I have to disagree, my dear. It would not have killed you. You are stronger than even you know. I fear there might come a day where you must take the thing that I have done and run with it, run with it to places that are darker and more fearful than either of us can imagine. When I’m finished here, my work is done. The pain will end. But for you, Gina, it’s going to be worse. Much worse. It’s something I’ve known for a long time, though nobody has had to tell me. I don’t say this to scare you, but to inspire faith in yourself, in God. You have all that you need to fight inside you, buried deep beneath all of your sweetness and love and devotion. It’s in there. And it will come at the moment you need it.” 

She laughs slightly, nervously, trying to break the tension.

“Madeleine, you’re scaring me. You’re starting to sound like Leoben. Why would it end for you and not for me? I thought that was the plan— end everything as swiftly and painlessly as possible, and then we’re free of them.”

She looks around quickly, making sure there’s no-one to hear.

“Once the humans are gone, that’s it. Isn’t it? I mean, even if some manage to survive, it’s not like they’ll be in any state to fight back. You’re making sure of that.”

Source: ginainviere

@sixplans

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She smiles and leans her head back against the bench.

“John is a bastard. I think we’ve always known that, but he has our interests at heart. Bastard or not, he’s still our brother, and he loves us.”

She squeezes Maddy’s hand and moves her head to her sister’s shoulder.

“What about D’Anna, then? What about Sonja, or Natalie, or Shelly? They would be there for you if you needed them, just as I am.”

“He is a bastard, but you’re right. I can’t expect him to be perfect; is looking for God’s divine will as any of us are. I shouldn’t be so hard on him.” 

She places strokes Gina’s cheek lightly and smiles, letting the sun fall on her face. 

“You’re right. They would be. I find myself growing bitter in this time. Aside from you, ever ounce of ‘love’ or kindness I’m shown comes at the expense of me having to spread my legs for human men and women, for them to take what they’d like and then to leave me. Oh, I’m willing to do it, and do it I will until I don’t have to anymore, whatever it takes. But it robs you of something, I think, to be used in such a way without any desire on your part.”

“But that’s the difference between you and me.”

She sits up suddenly.

“You take their indifference and their carelessness and you give it back to them. You don’t let it poison you. I’m afraid… I’m afraid that if I went through what you put yourself through, every day, it would kill me.”

She smiles.

“Besides, they never stay indifferent for long. From what you’ve told me about Gaius, he was half in love with you from the moment you tripped over his bag.”

Source: ginainviere

@sixplans

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After Sharon leaves— hurriedly, without a backward glance— Gina sits for a long time, trying and failing to compose herself. She shouldn’t be so surprised— after all, Sharon’s true self had been buried deeply enough that Sharon herself couldn’t find it. But she hadn’t expected such hostility, such…distrust on the part of someone she loved so deeply. She wishes Maddy were here, now. But she isn’t. Gina rises and walks to Orpheus Park, where she and Madeleine had agreed to meet. Maddy is there, waiting on a park bench, as cool as a cup of water.

Gina sits beside her.

“Well, that might have gone better.”

Madeleine feel herself trembling as adrenaline turns her fingers cold. It’s been so long since she’s seen Gina. Without speaking, she reaches out and tucks a stray lock of hair behind Gina’s ear. She smiles. 

“I had a feeling it wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as we would have hoped. Unfortunately, my feelings often prove to be correct these days.”

She laughs, but her heart isn’t in it. “Couldn’t you have been wrong just this once, sister?”

Her smile fades and she looks down the path. Joggers running by do double-takes, surprised both by the beauty of the twins on the bench and how uncannily similar they are. Perhaps this was reckless.

“She didn’t remember me at all. Madeleine, she was afraid of me. John said that she would remember.”

She composes herself, easier to do in the presence of her sister Six.

“I’m sorry, Maddy, but it was harder than I thought. This thing is useless.” She takes the carved elephant from her pocket and sets it on the bench, a trinket for some ignorant child to take home.

“It’s good to see you, though.”

Madeleine takes Gina’s hand, holding it in her own on her lap. The feeling of her sister’s cool fingers in her own touches her, deeply, though she pushes it aside. Not now. 

“John says a lot of things. He also told me that we’d be finished with our plan a year ago, that I’d have done so much more than I’ve done. You mustn’t blame yourself for this. You mustn’t ever blame yourself.”

She scans the crowd again, but she doesn’t see Gaius anywhere. Just as well. This would be a hard one to explain to him, even if he had blown her off for the day. 

“I’m beginning to think I can’t trust anybody. Not John, not myself. Perhaps only you.” 

She smiles and leans her head back against the bench.

“John is a bastard. I think we’ve always known that, but he has our interests at heart. Bastard or not, he’s still our brother, and he loves us.”

She squeezes Maddy’s hand and moves her head to her sister’s shoulder.

“What about D’Anna, then? What about Sonja, or Natalie, or Shelly? They would be there for you if you needed them, just as I am.”

Source: ginainviere

@sixplans

sixplans:

ginainviere:

After Sharon leaves— hurriedly, without a backward glance— Gina sits for a long time, trying and failing to compose herself. She shouldn’t be so surprised— after all, Sharon’s true self had been buried deeply enough that Sharon herself couldn’t find it. But she hadn’t expected such hostility, such…distrust on the part of someone she loved so deeply. She wishes Maddy were here, now. But she isn’t. Gina rises and walks to Orpheus Park, where she and Madeleine had agreed to meet. Maddy is there, waiting on a park bench, as cool as a cup of water.

Gina sits beside her.

“Well, that might have gone better.”

Madeleine feel herself trembling as adrenaline turns her fingers cold. It’s been so long since she’s seen Gina. Without speaking, she reaches out and tucks a stray lock of hair behind Gina’s ear. She smiles. 

“I had a feeling it wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as we would have hoped. Unfortunately, my feelings often prove to be correct these days.”

She laughs, but her heart isn’t in it. “Couldn’t you have been wrong just this once, sister?”

Her smile fades and she looks down the path. Joggers running by do double-takes, surprised both by the beauty of the twins on the bench and how uncannily similar they are. Perhaps this was reckless.

“She didn’t remember me at all. Madeleine, she was afraid of me. John said that she would remember.”

She composes herself, easier to do in the presence of her sister Six.

“I’m sorry, Maddy, but it was harder than I thought. This thing is useless.” She takes the carved elephant from her pocket and sets it on the bench, a trinket for some ignorant child to take home.

“It’s good to see you, though.”

Source: ginainviere

@sixplans

After Sharon leaves— hurriedly, without a backward glance— Gina sits for a long time, trying and failing to compose herself. She shouldn’t be so surprised— after all, Sharon’s true self had been buried deeply enough that Sharon herself couldn’t find it. But she hadn’t expected such hostility, such…distrust on the part of someone she loved so deeply. She wishes Maddy were here, now. But she isn’t. Gina rises and walks to Orpheus Park, where she and Madeleine had agreed to meet. Maddy is there, waiting on a park bench, as cool as a cup of water.

Gina sits beside her.

“Well, that might have gone better.”

@startosteerher

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

Gina stands outside of the Caprica City Fleet Headquarters, visibly anxious. In her coat pocket is a small wooden elephant, carved in the old Ithacan style; she runs her hand across it, out of sight, her mind clearly elsewhere. She waits, leaning against a column. When Sharon comes out of the building, she has to hide the excitement and disquiet in her face.

“Sharon, I’m glad you came. Do you mind a bit of a walk? There’s a cafe near Apollo Park that has excellent coffee.”

She smiles.

“And I heard about your posting. Weren’t you hoping for Galactica?”

Sharon runs to fall into step with this woman. She’s very striking, which made her surprisingly easy to pick out from the Caprican crowd. Everyone is hustling and bustling as usual, but with swelling pride on this Colonial Day. Sharon is sporting her new Lt. pins on her uniform and smiling wide. She’s a bit overwhelmed by the good news, so she feels distracted and easily startled.

Of course, it’s nice to see you. And yes, I was! [laughs] I can’t believe I got it! I finally made it. It’s nice to be rewarded for all of that hard labor.

She laughs happily, but also to break the ice between them. Gina has been watching her closely as she speaks and it hasn’t escaped Sharon’s notice.

And sure! Coffee sounds nice. Lead the way.

Gina is quiet on the walk to the cafe— unsettlingly so, she fears, for her little sister seems nervous. Will Sharon remember her? Will she be angry with Gina for awakening her true self from its slumber? She turns the carved elephant in her hand. When they reach the cafe, she orders two coffees and they sit.

“You seem to be doing well so far, Sharon,” she says. Casually she pulls out the elephant and sets it on the table, gauging the Eight’s reaction. “Anything you would like to discuss? I’m here for you— here to listen.”

Sharon is startled still by Gina’s forward personality. The little elephant trinket sits harmlessly on the table, but for some reason, Sharon keeps shooting glances at it as if it were about to explode. Everything about this situation is making her uncomfortable from the trinket to this woman who treats her like an old friend to her questions. She wants to talk, but she feels like she shouldn’t.

Oh, well, I’m doing well. A bit dazed with excitement about being promoted, actually. Not much else to talk about, really.

There’s a brief pause as Sharon looks again at the elephant, and then at the ground awkwardly. Gina is looking at her expectantly, possibly hopefully. Maybe she can get out of this.

Sorry, I — I don’t even know why I agreed to this; I don’t really know you at all. I thought you wanted to talk to me about the V-World program?

Gina blinks, surprised. She hadn’t thought this would be so difficult, so painful. This was Sharon, the sister she had helped prepare for her mission, helped through her struggles and her fear? She was like a stranger. Gina swallows, flustered for the first time in a long time.

Of course; you’ll have to forgive me, but you remind me a great deal of someone I used to know.

She starts to put the elephant away, but stops; perhaps Sharon simply needs more time. She pushes it closer.

I’ve been in contact with a few people higher in the fleet, but I want a more applicable perspective. Do you think that this project will help you in your missions? If you were to encounter Cylons, do you think that knowing how they think— knowing what motivates them— do you think it would help you better deal with them?

Sharon inexplicably reaches for the elephant when Gina puts her hands on it again.

Wait.

Can I look at that?

Gina leaves the elephant on the table. Sharon picks it up and scrutinizes it, running her fingertips over its crevices. It feels familiar, but in a sickening way. It’s associated with pain and anxiety for some reason.

She sighs and puts it down on the other end of the table.

I think my mother used to have a trinket like that. Were you ever in Troy? It’s a funny little thing…

Coming to her senses: the fear in the back of her mind has never left, and it has kicked into higher gear now. She decides to switch into professional mode, to keep her distance.

I honestly don’t know what I think about this whole V-World program. I got into a bit of a fight with Dr. Gaius Baltar about it all, actually. Weird, huh? While I’m definitely in favor of good equipment that helps us fight the cylons, something tells me building tech that makes us more like them isn’t going to help anything. We need to understand them, not become them. I think this tech is more about becoming like them instead of understanding them. I feel… I think… we can do one without the other.

The programming stuff’s been great training for me, though. Fast-thinking with computers is something I’ll need in the air as a Raptor pilot.

Gina doesn’t understand; the trigger should be working, John said it would, promised her. Why doesn’t Sharon remember? How blunt does she have to be?

I don’t think it’s about becoming them, at all. Cylons and humans will never be the same thing, they can’t be. But in order to understand something, you have to really get inside it’s head.

Projection, could projection work? She reaches out, tries to touch Sharon’s mind— and remembers that that was part of her consciousness that had been buried beneath Sharon Valerii the Raptor pilot. She takes a sip of her coffee, thinking fast.

Do you know, I never have been to Troy; this little thing was a gift from a friend of mine. I’ve had it for… what… eight years now?

She watches closely— a twitch on Sharon’s part at the number.

You said your mother had one like it? It must be hard, being away from your parents, your sisters.

She watches closely, trying anything, everything to flip the switch that will turn Sharon into SHARON, her sister Cylon, and not this facade. She is getting angry now, though whether with Sharon or herself, she can’t say.

The vague nausea she’d felt earlier is suddenly heightened. She doesn’t know where it’s coming from, but it’s making her dizzy and beyond uncomfortable. She doesn’t want to be here. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with this woman, or this hauntingly familiar trinket.

I was an only child. Now I’m an orphan. I’ll always be an orphan.

She hands the trinket back, resisting the urge to fling it into the street.

And I don’t think we have to get inside a cylon’s head to know how much they destroyed our home… how much they can still destroy us if they’re still out there. Getting into their heads? She shakes her head. That’d make us just as bad.

beat.

Why are you here?

Gina shoves the little elephant into her bag. Instantly the tension shifts, breaks, as though the figurine had been the centre of a black hole and its gravity had vanished like smoke.

I’m only trying to get a feel for how people are responding. I think I have the answers I need.

She indicates Sharon’s coffee.

You really should drink that before it gets cold.

No, she can’t give up— not yet.

How do you expect to understand it from the outside if you can’t understand it from within? I’m not saying we should become our enemies, but ignorance is the root of fear. How can we fight something if we’re paralysed by fear? The only way to win is to understand what you’re fighting. Surely, as a soldier you know that.

Good, the elephant has gone—and so has her nausea. She feels as though a weight’s been lifted, and whatever had been suffocating the sounds and sights around her has been removed. The world comes back into focus ten times more powerfully, and Sharon feels overwhelmed with the relief of normalcy.

Oh. Thanks, yeah. She takes a drink of coffee, controlling her shaking hands.

It’s not ignorance. We’re studying them. We’re studying ourselves. It’s becoming them that worries me. And yeah, I’m a soldier. And last time I checked, you weren’t. So why are you telling me how to do my job?

She stands up—something she should’ve done ages ago.

Are we done here?

She sighs, closes her eyes.

Yes— I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. Believe me, it wasn’t my intent.

Gina swallows past her anger and disappoinment.

Not to be rude, but it’s probably best if you go. I’m meeting someone shortly, and it’s really quite important.

She shouldn’t be so short— after all, it’s not Sharon’s fault. But she’s going to kill Cavil when she sees him.

Source: ginainviere

@startosteerher

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

Gina stands outside of the Caprica City Fleet Headquarters, visibly anxious. In her coat pocket is a small wooden elephant, carved in the old Ithacan style; she runs her hand across it, out of sight, her mind clearly elsewhere. She waits, leaning against a column. When Sharon comes out of the building, she has to hide the excitement and disquiet in her face.

“Sharon, I’m glad you came. Do you mind a bit of a walk? There’s a cafe near Apollo Park that has excellent coffee.”

She smiles.

“And I heard about your posting. Weren’t you hoping for Galactica?”

Sharon runs to fall into step with this woman. She’s very striking, which made her surprisingly easy to pick out from the Caprican crowd. Everyone is hustling and bustling as usual, but with swelling pride on this Colonial Day. Sharon is sporting her new Lt. pins on her uniform and smiling wide. She’s a bit overwhelmed by the good news, so she feels distracted and easily startled.

Of course, it’s nice to see you. And yes, I was! [laughs] I can’t believe I got it! I finally made it. It’s nice to be rewarded for all of that hard labor.

She laughs happily, but also to break the ice between them. Gina has been watching her closely as she speaks and it hasn’t escaped Sharon’s notice.

And sure! Coffee sounds nice. Lead the way.

Gina is quiet on the walk to the cafe— unsettlingly so, she fears, for her little sister seems nervous. Will Sharon remember her? Will she be angry with Gina for awakening her true self from its slumber? She turns the carved elephant in her hand. When they reach the cafe, she orders two coffees and they sit.

“You seem to be doing well so far, Sharon,” she says. Casually she pulls out the elephant and sets it on the table, gauging the Eight’s reaction. “Anything you would like to discuss? I’m here for you— here to listen.”

Sharon is startled still by Gina’s forward personality. The little elephant trinket sits harmlessly on the table, but for some reason, Sharon keeps shooting glances at it as if it were about to explode. Everything about this situation is making her uncomfortable from the trinket to this woman who treats her like an old friend to her questions. She wants to talk, but she feels like she shouldn’t.

Oh, well, I’m doing well. A bit dazed with excitement about being promoted, actually. Not much else to talk about, really.

There’s a brief pause as Sharon looks again at the elephant, and then at the ground awkwardly. Gina is looking at her expectantly, possibly hopefully. Maybe she can get out of this.

Sorry, I — I don’t even know why I agreed to this; I don’t really know you at all. I thought you wanted to talk to me about the V-World program?

Gina blinks, surprised. She hadn’t thought this would be so difficult, so painful. This was Sharon, the sister she had helped prepare for her mission, helped through her struggles and her fear? She was like a stranger. Gina swallows, flustered for the first time in a long time.

Of course; you’ll have to forgive me, but you remind me a great deal of someone I used to know.

She starts to put the elephant away, but stops; perhaps Sharon simply needs more time. She pushes it closer.

I’ve been in contact with a few people higher in the fleet, but I want a more applicable perspective. Do you think that this project will help you in your missions? If you were to encounter Cylons, do you think that knowing how they think— knowing what motivates them— do you think it would help you better deal with them?

Sharon inexplicably reaches for the elephant when Gina puts her hands on it again.

Wait.

Can I look at that?

Gina leaves the elephant on the table. Sharon picks it up and scrutinizes it, running her fingertips over its crevices. It feels familiar, but in a sickening way. It’s associated with pain and anxiety for some reason.

She sighs and puts it down on the other end of the table.

I think my mother used to have a trinket like that. Were you ever in Troy? It’s a funny little thing…

Coming to her senses: the fear in the back of her mind has never left, and it has kicked into higher gear now. She decides to switch into professional mode, to keep her distance.

I honestly don’t know what I think about this whole V-World program. I got into a bit of a fight with Dr. Gaius Baltar about it all, actually. Weird, huh? While I’m definitely in favor of good equipment that helps us fight the cylons, something tells me building tech that makes us more like them isn’t going to help anything. We need to understand them, not become them. I think this tech is more about becoming like them instead of understanding them. I feel… I think… we can do one without the other.

The programming stuff’s been great training for me, though. Fast-thinking with computers is something I’ll need in the air as a Raptor pilot.

Gina doesn’t understand; the trigger should be working, John said it would, promised her. Why doesn’t Sharon remember? How blunt does she have to be?

I don’t think it’s about becoming them, at all. Cylons and humans will never be the same thing, they can’t be. But in order to understand something, you have to really get inside it’s head.

Projection, could projection work? She reaches out, tries to touch Sharon’s mind— and remembers that that was part of her consciousness that had been buried beneath Sharon Valerii the Raptor pilot. She takes a sip of her coffee, thinking fast.

Do you know, I never have been to Troy; this little thing was a gift from a friend of mine. I’ve had it for… what… eight years now?

She watches closely— a twitch on Sharon’s part at the number.

You said your mother had one like it? It must be hard, being away from your parents, your sisters.

She watches closely, trying anything, everything to flip the switch that will turn Sharon into SHARON, her sister Cylon, and not this facade. She is getting angry now, though whether with Sharon or herself, she can’t say.

The vague nausea she’d felt earlier is suddenly heightened. She doesn’t know where it’s coming from, but it’s making her dizzy and beyond uncomfortable. She doesn’t want to be here. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with this woman, or this hauntingly familiar trinket.

I was an only child. Now I’m an orphan. I’ll always be an orphan.

She hands the trinket back, resisting the urge to fling it into the street.

And I don’t think we have to get inside a cylon’s head to know how much they destroyed our home… how much they can still destroy us if they’re still out there. Getting into their heads? She shakes her head. That’d make us just as bad.

beat.

Why are you here?

Gina shoves the little elephant into her bag. Instantly the tension shifts, breaks, as though the figurine had been the centre of a black hole and its gravity had vanished like smoke.

I’m only trying to get a feel for how people are responding. I think I have the answers I need.

She indicates Sharon’s coffee.

You really should drink that before it gets cold.

No, she can’t give up— not yet.

How do you expect to understand it from the outside if you can’t understand it from within? I’m not saying we should become our enemies, but ignorance is the root of fear. How can we fight something if we’re paralysed by fear? The only way to win is to understand what you’re fighting. Surely, as a soldier you know that.

Source: ginainviere

@startosteerher

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

startosteerher:

ginainviere:

Gina stands outside of the Caprica City Fleet Headquarters, visibly anxious. In her coat pocket is a small wooden elephant, carved in the old Ithacan style; she runs her hand across it, out of sight, her mind clearly elsewhere. She waits, leaning against a column. When Sharon comes out of the building, she has to hide the excitement and disquiet in her face.

“Sharon, I’m glad you came. Do you mind a bit of a walk? There’s a cafe near Apollo Park that has excellent coffee.”

She smiles.

“And I heard about your posting. Weren’t you hoping for Galactica?”

Sharon runs to fall into step with this woman. She’s very striking, which made her surprisingly easy to pick out from the Caprican crowd. Everyone is hustling and bustling as usual, but with swelling pride on this Colonial Day. Sharon is sporting her new Lt. pins on her uniform and smiling wide. She’s a bit overwhelmed by the good news, so she feels distracted and easily startled.

Of course, it’s nice to see you. And yes, I was! [laughs] I can’t believe I got it! I finally made it. It’s nice to be rewarded for all of that hard labor.

She laughs happily, but also to break the ice between them. Gina has been watching her closely as she speaks and it hasn’t escaped Sharon’s notice.

And sure! Coffee sounds nice. Lead the way.

Gina is quiet on the walk to the cafe— unsettlingly so, she fears, for her little sister seems nervous. Will Sharon remember her? Will she be angry with Gina for awakening her true self from its slumber? She turns the carved elephant in her hand. When they reach the cafe, she orders two coffees and they sit.

“You seem to be doing well so far, Sharon,” she says. Casually she pulls out the elephant and sets it on the table, gauging the Eight’s reaction. “Anything you would like to discuss? I’m here for you— here to listen.”

Sharon is startled still by Gina’s forward personality. The little elephant trinket sits harmlessly on the table, but for some reason, Sharon keeps shooting glances at it as if it were about to explode. Everything about this situation is making her uncomfortable from the trinket to this woman who treats her like an old friend to her questions. She wants to talk, but she feels like she shouldn’t.

Oh, well, I’m doing well. A bit dazed with excitement about being promoted, actually. Not much else to talk about, really.

There’s a brief pause as Sharon looks again at the elephant, and then at the ground awkwardly. Gina is looking at her expectantly, possibly hopefully. Maybe she can get out of this.

Sorry, I — I don’t even know why I agreed to this; I don’t really know you at all. I thought you wanted to talk to me about the V-World program?

Gina blinks, surprised. She hadn’t thought this would be so difficult, so painful. This was Sharon, the sister she had helped prepare for her mission, helped through her struggles and her fear? She was like a stranger. Gina swallows, flustered for the first time in a long time.

Of course; you’ll have to forgive me, but you remind me a great deal of someone I used to know.

She starts to put the elephant away, but stops; perhaps Sharon simply needs more time. She pushes it closer.

I’ve been in contact with a few people higher in the fleet, but I want a more applicable perspective. Do you think that this project will help you in your missions? If you were to encounter Cylons, do you think that knowing how they think— knowing what motivates them— do you think it would help you better deal with them?

Sharon inexplicably reaches for the elephant when Gina puts her hands on it again.

Wait.

Can I look at that?

Gina leaves the elephant on the table. Sharon picks it up and scrutinizes it, running her fingertips over its crevices. It feels familiar, but in a sickening way. It’s associated with pain and anxiety for some reason.

She sighs and puts it down on the other end of the table.

I think my mother used to have a trinket like that. Were you ever in Troy? It’s a funny little thing…

Coming to her senses: the fear in the back of her mind has never left, and it has kicked into higher gear now. She decides to switch into professional mode, to keep her distance.

I honestly don’t know what I think about this whole V-World program. I got into a bit of a fight with Dr. Gaius Baltar about it all, actually. Weird, huh? While I’m definitely in favor of good equipment that helps us fight the cylons, something tells me building tech that makes us more like them isn’t going to help anything. We need to understand them, not become them. I think this tech is more about becoming like them instead of understanding them. I feel… I think… we can do one without the other.

The programming stuff’s been great training for me, though. Fast-thinking with computers is something I’ll need in the air as a Raptor pilot.

Gina doesn’t understand; the trigger should be working, John said it would, promised her. Why doesn’t Sharon remember? How blunt does she have to be?

I don’t think it’s about becoming them, at all. Cylons and humans will never be the same thing, they can’t be. But in order to understand something, you have to really get inside it’s head.

Projection, could projection work? She reaches out, tries to touch Sharon’s mind— and remembers that that was part of her consciousness that had been buried beneath Sharon Valerii the Raptor pilot. She takes a sip of her coffee, thinking fast.

Do you know, I never have been to Troy; this little thing was a gift from a friend of mine. I’ve had it for… what… eight years now?

She watches closely— a twitch on Sharon’s part at the number.

You said your mother had one like it? It must be hard, being away from your parents, your sisters.

She watches closely, trying anything, everything to flip the switch that will turn Sharon into SHARON, her sister Cylon, and not this facade. She is getting angry now, though whether with Sharon or herself, she can’t say.

Source: ginainviere