Captain William Laurence (betwixtsea_nsky) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-06-10 10:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, nathaniel (john mandrake), william laurence |
Who: Laurence and Nathaniel
What: Nathaniel does a dream interview
When: May 16th, 5:30
Where: Nathaniel's old basement lab
Ratings/Warnings: Low/none
Status: Complete
Laurence wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when he’d agreed to sign up to help Nathaniel. It certainly wasn’t the gloomy looking basement of the university, though he supposed with the low pay rate that Nathaniel had offered, he shouldn’t have expected a high class establishment. It wasn’t for the pay that Laurence had agreed to help, however, and so he didn’t allow the surroundings to trouble him. While Laurence was rather fond of his dreams, there were some difficulties that came with them, and the more that was known of the dreams, the better.
He hadn’t had any trouble finding Dr. Underwood’s suite, and, as his watched changed over to 5:30, he rapped on the door with his knuckles.
***
Before the appointment, Nathaniel was going over some footage of UFOs for the thesis he was challenging Dr. Senku to. It wasn’t necessarily the aim to win, but it would be a nice story for either of them. The trouble he was having was distractions and filtering through the false claims of UFOs to find the diamonds in the rough.
So far, he’d discovered two true unexplainable pieces of footage. Even the footage from the Pentagon felt like smoke and mirrors for something bigger. Then that brought on questions about the OC. If information about Dreamers and the paranormal events that went on in the OC got out to the rest of the world, would it really be such a big deal or would the general public shrug it off the way they did the Pentagon footage? Once something stopped being such a mystery, the public didn’t seem to care much.
He’d been ejecting yet another tape when the knock at the door startled him. He looked at his clock. 5:30 on the nose. Captain Williams was nothing if not accurately punctual. Nathaniel crossed the whole three steps it took to get to the door and pulled it open with a bit of a yank (the hinges were always swollen).
“Captain Williams?” he presumed of the tall, slender man.
***
Laurence tried, and didn’t quite succeed, at stifling a smile. “Laurence,” he corrected. “William Laurence. You must be Dr. Underwood.” At least, he hoped that he was, otherwise Laurence was far more lost than he thought he was and there was a poor Captain Williams out there getting his appointment stolen.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, extending a hand for a handshake.
***
“Oh!” Embarrassing, but Nathaniel didn’t turn red and made no excuses for his ridiculous mistake that he immediately corrected. “My apologies, Captain Laurence.”
He accepted the hand and nodded. “And you,” he assured as he released the man’s firm grip. “Come on in.”
He opened the door wider for Captain Laurence. Inside, one of his computers had been disassembled and placed on a cart. IT never came to see him, the University made sure of that, so there was another piece of equipment that was currently dead in the water. The others were on, refurbished Acers and Smiles from the early 2010s and mid 2000’s; the one on the cart would be refurbished as well.
“Feel free to have a seat wherever you’d like,” he offered. There were three chairs. One behind his desk, one across from it, and another rolling one at his computer bank. “Would you like something to drink? I have water, apple juice, orange juice, and tea.”
***
Laurence stepped into the room, managing to keep the frown from his face. There was no overstating a well kept room, and the discarded computer did not inspire confidence. Still, he was getting better at repressing the snap judgments he had often made throughout his life as the son of Lord Allendale.
He took a seat in the chair across from the desk, trying to mask his disappointment in the lack of coffee. “Tea would be lovely,” he said.
***
The Captain may have kept the frown away, but that was the British for you. Hardly ever rude, or at least not on purpose. Stiff upper lip and all that. Nathaniel could still see him looking around and his eyes lock long enough on the defunct computer that Nathaniel almost felt the need to explain. Almost.
Instead, he pressed a button on his water boiler he kept on a desk at the request for tea. He held up two tea pouches.
“Do you prefer peppermint, turmeric chai, or our friend Earl?” he asked.
***
“Earl Grey, please,” Laurence said, taking in more of the room. “How long have you been studying the dreams?”
***
A proper British man, the Captain. Nathaniel slipped the tea pouch’s string gingerly over a mug which he set on a plate before going to a small fridge to take out tea and a cabinet where he kept a glass bowl of sugar cubes and a honey bear.
“Only recently,” he admitted as he pulled a spoon from a drawer. “How long have you been having them?”
***
“About three and a half years, off and on,” Laurence said. “I was visiting the county for a cousin’s wedding, and had my first dream then. I joined the Network shortly after that, and was offered a position as a Liaison Officer shortly after that.” Perhaps offered wasn’t the right word. At that point, Laurence might not have accepted the job, but he knew it would look poorly on his record if he turned down such a promotion, even if he had always preferred life at sea to that on land. “I’ve had a couple deployments since, and I’ve not dreamed while on them. Perhaps a small blessing.”
***
As the Captain spoke, the young doctor poured hot water into the mug, replaced it, steeped the pouch a few times, then brought everything over to hand to Captain Laurence. Once the good man had a hold of it, Nathaniel took a notepad from his desk and sat down behind it. No phones here.
He jotted down a few notes under Captain William Laurence’s name along with time stamps, then took a small tape recorder from his desk drawer.
“Do you uhm, mind if I record our session, Captain Laurence?” he requested.
***
Laurence thanked Nathaniel as he took the tea cup, and he stirred a sugar cube into it. “Not in the least,” Laurence said, gesturing smoothly to amplify his permission.
***
“Thank you,” Nathaniel pressed the play and record buttons on his recorder. It was all old school equipment, sure, but for him, it held up better than most things and the privacy of a tape recorder instead of a phone gave him better peace of mind.
“Uhm, what is this?” he asked no one. “Yes. Saturday, 15 May, the year two thousand and twenty…” He shook his wrist and checked his watch. “The time is 17:39. This is Dr. Nathaniel Underwood with Captain William Laurence, interviewing for Project: Orange County. Captain Laurence, will you please state your age and birthdate?”
***
“This is Captain Laurence,” Laurence stated. “I was born the 12th September, 1984, and I’m 35 years old.”
***
“Thank you,” Nathaniel said, jotting down his notes.
“Captain Laurence is a Liaison Officer who has been experiencing the Dream Phenomenon for three and a half years,” he went on. “And you say during periods of respite, you do not experience these dreams?”
***
“Yes,” Laurence said. “Since I’ve moved here, I’ve been deployed twice, and each time I was out of the state, I would go for months at a time without dreams. I cannot explain it, though I suspect that the dreams only occur within the county limits.”
***
“During these periods, did you remember anything from your dreams?” was Nathaniel’s next question. Dr. Quinzel-Wells had mentioned something about people forgetting which had been very interesting to Nathaniel. With Captain Laurence’s periods of absence, the man would likely prove to be exceedingly important to Nathaniel’s work.
***
“Yes, I’ve always remembered all of it,” Laurence said thoughtfully. He had never thought about the fact that some people might forget if they were ever to leave the county - he’d seen people come back on the Network who seemed to have a full awareness of everything, though it would make a certain amount of sense that some people would forget.
***
Interesting.
Nathaniel took a pause to jot down a few things on some photocopied print outs before his next question. “Did you ever wake up looking or feeling different?” he asked.
***
Laurence grimaced, but only sightly. “Not permanently, no,” Laurence said. “Though I have awoken to a few wounds from the dreams. Crush injuries and stab wounds and the like. Nothing debilitating, and nothing that didn’t heal.” The stab wound had left a ragged scar under his collar bone, though as it was hardly the only scar Laurence’s body bore, he would hardly consider it as something that looked different.
***
Though it disturbed him, Nathaniel showed none of it outwardly. He continued jotting down his notes, taking note of the subject’s expressions as he did.
“Would you be willing to show it and have some photos taken of it?” he asked. “We don’t have to now.”
***
“Most of the wounds healed without leaving a mark,” Laurence said, bringing his hand to his collarbone even as he spoke. “I do have a scar, however, and I would be willing to have photos taken at your convenience. Whether it’s now or at a later date is of no matter to me.”
***
“Now would, of course, be preferable,” Nathaniel said. For this, he didn’t take up his phone. Instead, he opened his drawer and took out an old film camera. This way, he could develop the photos himself and keep copies. Everything was secure, right down to any photo documentation.
***
"Very well," Laurence said, standing off. He folded his jacket in half lengthwise and hung it from the back of the chair, before removing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt, which he hung in the same way, revealing himself to be broad shouldered and well-muscled. A half-dozen scars crisscrossed his torso - they were near impossible to avoid after nearly two decades of service - but he brought a his hand to the raised scar, about a dagger's width, that formed just below his collarbone. "It's this one," Laurence said. "Is the lighting acceptable here, or would you like me to move?"
***
This wasn’t exactly ideal, but Nathaniel could see everything and couldn’t help but frown. He stood and crossed to the Captain and shook his head. “This will do,” he assured, but did gently turn the Captain just slightly toward the light that flickered slightly overhead. He took the photo, then a few more, just to be on the safe side.
“Can you remember when you got that and how?” he asked.
***
“Early February, 2019,” Laurence answered easily. “The how is a little more complicated, though I’ll attempt to be brief.” Now that the photos were done, he reached for his shirt and began to button it up again. “In my dreams, I am the captain of a rather remarkable dragon named Temeraire, whose egg I acquired quite by accident when I captured a French ship during the early years of the Napoleonic wars. The nature of dragons sees that they bond strongly to a particular person who becomes their captain, and Temeraire… well, I suppose you could say he chose me.” He smiled to himself a little. It was hard not to, when he thought of those early days when Temeraire was still small enough to sleep in his cabin on the Reliant.
“As it turns out, Temeraire is of a Chinese breed known as a Celestial, and extraordinarily rare dragon that is meant to only be paired with an Emperor. His egg was meant to be a gift for Napoleon, and when the Chinese discovered that he was instead paired with a simple soldier who was using him as a fighting dragon, they grew quite displeased. Particularly one of the princes, named Yongxing. We were made to go to China to discuss the matter with the Emperor. In the end, it was decided that Temeraire would remain as my companion,” after Laurence had been adopted as a prince of China. That was an aspect of the story that Laurence preferred to avoid, however. Having finished buttoning his shirt, he tucked it into his pants, and reached for his tie. “It seemed as though Yongxing was less than pleased with this decision, however, and he attempted to have me assassinated.”
***
This was going to prove more challenging than Nathaniel had first realized. Dreams were a mystery as it was and those were just the regular dreams, the ones we all learn to live with. The human race considers them a normal part of the sleep pattern, but what if they’d always been something else?
Nathaniel cleared his throat after he was finished with a few notes, as if the notes themselves had taken his breath from him. He removed his glasses and leaned back in his chair, watching the Captain’s hands work on his tie.
“This is where I’d ask scripted questions,” he said. “But I think I’m going to have to go off script. Is Temeraire here?” He’d heard of people and animals from dreams and that was, frankly, the most frightening part of it all.
***
Laurence deflated a little, his shoulders falling. “Unfortunately not,” he said, frowning. “Though, perhaps that’s for the best. I’m not entirely sure how he would fit if he were here. He’s quite… large,” which was an understatement. Temeraire could carry more than a hundred men without issue, and one of Laurence’s favourite places to nap on lazy afternoons was in the crook of Temeraire’s elbow. “I’m afraid it would be entirely impossible for him to escape notice if he did come.”
***
That comment made Nathaniel smile in spite of himself. He could imagine a large fire breathing beast roaming the coast and flying overhead while the Agency denied its presence as just fireworks. Hadn’t that happened before? Some dragon that had apparently just been fireworks?
He refrained from pointing out there were plenty of large objects around that were undeniably not of this realm. One person over the net even had a spaceship that he took regular trips into the solar system with and yet, somehow, aerospace engineers weren’t clambering to have a closer look at it.
“Mmhh,” the young doctor hummed, though whether it was in agreement or not was unclear. “Do you want him here?” he asked. Not the most relevant question, but Nathaniel was curious, especially given the way the Captain had reacted.
***
“With all my heart,” Laurence answered easily and immediately. “Temeraire is like no one I’ve ever met. He’s cleverer by half than anyone I’ve ever met, and he always sees the world in such a fresh and original way; more than once he has called into question my own beliefs and viewpoints and called things into an entirely new light.” Laurence was suddenly aware that he was going on like one of those overproud fathers who brought up their children at every opportunity, and he cleared his throat and took a sip of his tea. “I think, size aside, he would quite enjoy life in the Orange County, with all of its mysteries and idiosyncrasies.”
***
Very interesting choice of words for the Captain. It was only natural that Nathaniel wondered what sort of relationship the two might have if the dragon were human.
“Do you ever wish to remain in your Dreams?” was his next question, though. The rest they might touch on later, but for now, he wanted to stay away from too many questions that didn’t pertain to his research.
***
Laurence did give a little more thought to this question, though this was more because he needed to think of how to articulate his thoughts than because he didn’t know the answer. “I think not,” he said after a moment. “There are people and dragons there that I miss terribly, but it is still the 19th century - with all the problems that comes with it - and all of Europe is set to be at war for close to another decade, by my count.” Of course, it was impossible to know how the dragons might change that timeline.
“I don’t know if you can imagine fighting in a war when we still have no proper understanding of wound care or sanitization, but it is horrific in ways most of us cannot imagine. They are still struggling to outlaw slavery in England, let alone America, and despite the fact that some of the best soldiers I know in both the real world and in my dreams are women, they’re still not permitted to serve openly - or, indeed, have much of any say in the day to day society. Children are still fighting and dying in the wars - I myself joined the Navy when I was only twelve years old, in my dreams, which seems impossibly young to me here and now, but I had a late start compared to the children who join the Aerial Corps.
“No, overall, I think that I much prefer it here, in this world and in this time, than there, especially if my companions from my dreams could somehow materialize here.”
***
Though Nathaniel knew history, he was hard pressed to grasp the magnitude of it and how far the world had come. The world still knew poverty, racism, slavery, injustices, but there was also penicilin and clean water. Trying to imagine a world without the knowledge of modern times felt too far removed for the likes of a young man who was, overall, relatively self involved and spoiled to technology.
Nathaniel smiled briefly, though. “Thank you for going so much into depth,” he remarked. He appreciated it as it gave him deeper understanding of the world the Captain went to in his dreams.
“One last question for today,” he assured, looking over at the clock. “How do you feel about only those within Orange County knowing about these phenomena? Do you think it necessary for it to remain a secret to the rest of the world?”
***
Laurence frowned, sitting back in his chair, crossing his arms across his broad chest. Truth was, he had never given it much thought. What were his thoughts on the secretive nature of the OC?
"I believe that the authorities of the OC have done their best to keep everything under wraps in order to protect us," he said after a moment. "I could not say whether or not it's necessary, but I do believe that they believe that it's necessary, and they must have evidence to back that up."
***
That summed up Nathaniel’s thoughts on it as well. He frowned as well and rubbed at his own cheek in thought. Others had tried exactly what Nathaniel was trying, he was nothing special, he was just young and curious and thought this whole thing didn’t make any sense. Whatever evidence the authorities had, they weren’t sharing, and there were no answers, no reasoning.
Who had created the network and why? Were they all just experiments? Were the memories real or planted to see if these authorities could create a society of superheroes? These were just some of the questions Nathaniel had and he wasn’t going to find them out any time soon.
“Is there anything else you’d like to share on record before I turn off the tape recorder?” he asked.
***
Laurence mulled over the question before he shook his head. “No, nothing comes to mind at the moment,” he said. Laurence wasn’t an especially curious person by nature, so he had no questions, and he thought they might have covered everything that immediately came to his mind from the dreams so far.
***
That was Nathaniel’s final inquiry, to ask if the Captain had any questions. When the Captain didn’t, Nathaniel spoke a general sign off with the time and date into the recorder, then pushed his thumb against the stop button, effectively ending the on record session.
“Thank you, Captain Laurence,” he said.
Nathaniel pulled open the top drawer of his desk and took out an envelope with William Laurence’s name on it. This contained the Captain’s compensation for their session. Nathaniel crossed to Laurence and offered the envelope over.
“If you’d like to come in for a second session, text me when you have another dream,” he said. “If you go a month without one, let me know.” Was it possible for the authorities to control when someone dreamed if they were taking part in a study like this? Yet another question Nathaniel hoped to find answers to.
***
“Of course,” Laurence said. “Though, I’m sure that won’t happen. I rarely go for a full month without at least one dream while I’m home.” It was one of the things that had made deployment seem so suddenly strange and foreign to him in a way it never had been before he’d come here.
“It’s been a pleasure meeting with you, Dr. Underwood,” Laurence said, extending a hand.
***
That hand was taken without hesitation and the young doctor smiled brightly as he shook it respectfully. Not too hard. Certainly not too soft. A doctor shaking the hand of a Captain.
“I look forward to seeing you again, Captain Laurence,” he returned.