John Murphy [The 100] (awarinyourhead) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-06-01 20:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | john murphy, pidge gunderson |
Who: Pidge Gunderson and John Murphy
What: He’s giving her the tracking bracelet
Where: Donut Shop
When: Evening, back dated to May 8
Warnings: Not likely
Status: Closed, Complete
John had studied the bracelet as much as he could, but he didn’t have tools or any real knowledge of technical things like the bracelet. He was pretty sure it was a tracking device of some kind. Before Dan managed to get it off him, he felt certain it was transmitting information. Four very small prongs had been imbedded in his arm, and left four pin pricks in their wake afterwards. The worst injury was the one he inflicted on himself, cutting his palm with the screwdriver. Dan had cleaned and bandaged it, though, and it was fine, it woundn’t even get in the way of his signing.
Not that he expected Pidge to know ASL. Some people did, sure. But most random people didn’t, because why would they? It wasn’t a language that was offered to high school students along side Spanish and French, though in John’s opinion it should be. Being deaf wasn’t a handicap, though it could certainly be a challenge when everyone around you was able to hear, and took that hearing for granted.
He wasn’t too worried about it, though, since he could read lips. He’d just have to make sure Pidge was looking at him when they spoke to him. Informing someone of that could be awkward, but it was necessary. The worst people were the ones who wouldn’t look at him, even when he asked. Hopefully Pidge wouldn’t be that type of person.
He made his way into the donut shop and asked for them.
***
Pidge had been working on paperwork at their desk, making sure everything still was going right for them to finally replace the other oven to top of the line within the next two months, when they heard someone asking for them at the counter. They’d been half listening for John to come in for the past few minutes and stood up to walk to the counter. “John right?” Pidge asked meeting his eyes and holding out one hand to shake. They noticed the fact that John had been watching their employee’s face when they responded and figured that he was probably hard of hearing. That was okay. They liked looking people in the face when they were talking to them in person anyway. Made it easier to gauge who they were dealing with.
***
John nodded when Pidge verified his name. He fingered the bracelet in his pocket, as if he needed to make sure it was still there. It was, but he didn’t pull it out. He wasn’t sure he wanted to flash it around where anyone could see, but there also wasn’t really any reason to be secretive about it. “I need to see your face when you speak, so I can read your lips,” he said, using voice and sign.
***
Pidge didn’t know sign language but they could understand the request, looking into John’s face as they answered him. “Of course. Would you like to grab a table while we talk?” That would eliminate any customers getting impatient or aggravated at them talking. And make it easier to have a conversation about the bracelet. And give Pidge a surface to give it a cursory lookover before actually being able to take it home (hopefully) and examine it.
***
John nodded. He scanned the dining area and zero’d in on a table. He headed over figuring Pidge would follow. He sat, pulling the bracelet out of his pocket before he settled.It was made of several individual links, and the one that had taken the brunt of the force from the bolt cutters was a bit bent up and scratched along the backside, but the remaining links were in perfect condition. One of the links featured four needle sharp prongs in the inner side, and he had four tiny pinpricks on the inside of his wrist to corresponded to those prongs.
“There was a spark of electricity when we got it off,” he said as he held it out to Pidge. That was why he thought it was definitely transmitting some kind of data to somewhere, though it seemed absurd to think it could have been reporting back to the Ark in his dreams.
***
Pidge grabbed a couple coffees, ignoring the annoyed customers as they emptied the pot and started a fresh one brewing. It wouldn’t take that long. And they needed to start a second pot anyway. So with instructions to their staff to actually do it they went over to join John, setting a cup in front of him as they made themselves comfortable, taking the bracelet and looking it over. They would definitely need to open it up to see if it could still be read to try and track wherever it had been transmitting too but there was a chance the chip had been fried.
They looked up at John. “In order to check and see if it was actually transmitting someplace I’ll have to open it up and I don’t have the tools for that here.”
***
John accepted the coffee with a grateful smile. He didn’t sip it right away, but set it aside to indulge when it cooled down to a reasonable drinking temperature. There was no reason to burn his mouth, after all.
“That’s fine. You can take it, but I do want it back. In case,” he shrugged. He had no idea why he would need it, but he felt like maybe it showed up in the waking world for a reason. “In case I need it.”
***
Pidge was practically itching to take it apart right there but they resisted, setting it down on the table between them instead for the time being. “I’ll make sure to give it back to you when I’m done checking it out. And let you know what I find out about it’s transmitting.” Pidge promised.
“With the right equipment I should be able to look it over without it getting broken any further.”
***
John nodded. “All right.” He was trusting Pidge, someone he didn’t know at all, with something from his dreams. He had no way of knowing why it came out of the dream, if he would need it. Some part of him wondered if he should have kept it in his arm, but the thought of it sending his vitals, or any other information, somewhere...he couldn’t handle that.
“I appreciate you looking into it.” He lacked the knowledge, he wouldn’t even know where to start. Pidge was helping him. And clearly getting something in return, since it seemed they really wanted to look into the bracelet and what it was doing.
***
“I’m glad you’re willing to let me. The technology from these Dreams is just fascinating to me. How it differs from what we have here. There’s so much we can learn. Improve our existing technology.” Pidge said, enthusiasm obvious as they looked across the table at John. This was where Pidge truly came to life and got animated - tech of any sort. Wanting to figure out how it worked and how they could make it better.
***
John nodded. “I hope it’s useful, then.” He smiled a sincere smile. He had no idea what she’d be able to determine, if anything. Even if she couldn’t trace where the transmission was going when the bracelet was live, maybe there was something in it that could help her. Or sether on a different path. He didn’t really have much interest in the technology, so he didn’t know what possibilities there really were.
***
Pidge grinned at him. “Even if I only learn how it doesn’t work that’ll be useful. And if it is transmitting to someplace we should know. For your sake and...all the other dreamers. Because it might not be good.”
***
John nodded. “That makes sense.” Learning from how things didn’t work was often over looked as a valuable tool. “All right,” he offered a sincere smile. “I should get out of your hair. Let you do your thing. Just, I guess let me know when you’ve finished your testing so I can come get it.” He didn’t care if she kept it for a couple weeks or even months, but he wanted it back. Just in case.
***
“I’ll definitely keep you posted what I find out I promise.” Pidge was already figuring out how early they could leave tonight to get home and start working on this. An all nighter was definitely on the books now.
***