Agent K | Network 006

[most_feared]

Audio | Public

[Agent K really isn't sure that what he's given is accurate so far. Oh the race is- he knows that is going to happen eventually. But when he gets his own invitation he's more than a little baffled.]

So I just got this invitation. [There's the sound of beeping as he's reading through his comm.] Anyone else gonna take 'em up on it?

[Because he's not sure if he will or not. After that incident with the the slick streets, though, a good race might be fun. It's his kind of thing.]

Comments

[most_feared]

Yeah, if it has a communication system more complex than a moo I'm bettin' it's not that good for riding.

[una_persson]

...I suppose I will too. If for no other reason than that I don't want whatever smart-arse who thought this would be funny to find some alternative means of...doing whatever it is they're doing.

[As public humiliations go, this is hardly the worst.]

[folkscallmewander]

That's okay. All animals are nice, anyway.

...It'd be nice, though, to race with a partner instead.

[timesbureaucrat]

So, what sort of beast are you being--quite literally--saddled with?

[most_feared]

Something long legged, I know that. More leg than there's room to sit. I'm probably gonna need a ladder.

[most_feared]

Like you said, though. They'll be a friend anyway.

[most_feared]

I think that AI likes seeing what he can get away with. 'Cause if you think about it, smartassin' was pretty much the only way to get involved.

[timesbureaucrat]

That should give you an edge in the race at least. With long legs it should be very swift, if difficult to mount.

[most_feared]

It's a multiple terrain race. So it might not do so well in some places. We'll see. I don't have my heart set on winning. It just seems like a good thing to occupy my time with.

[ewestmarch]

I reach high.

[una_persson]

Jeffers has a terrible sense of humour.

[Said with some rancor. You might have noticed the new particularly ugly plant in the greenhouse? The one that is currently past the peak of its smelliness, but which is kind of horrible to look at all the same.

Una's still grumpy about that.]

[most_feared]

I take it you've already ran into it. [He can tell from her tone, there.]

[una_persson]

Oh yes.

Does the scientific name Rafflesia arnoldii ring a bell for you, by any chance?

[truth_is_the_enemy]

I got one of those as well. It sounds...interesting.

I think I'd prefer horses, but you can't have everything. This thing they say I'm riding, I'm not even sure what it actually is. I just hope it's saddle trained.

[most_feared]

I think everyone would prefer horses. What did you get?

We should probably check with the farm imports and see if we'll have to do that.

[truth_is_the_enemy]

Something called a... [There's a rustle as he consults the paper for the name. It isn't the sort of name he was able to remember easily.] ...Macrauchenia Whatever that is.

I'm in deep shtako if we have to train the animals, too. I know how to ride well enough, but I've never so much as house trained a puppy.

[If it comes to that, he thinks he remembers Niko talking about growing up on a farm. So maybe Niko would have a few tips.]

[most_feared]

That's something extinct. Like a long legged tapir. It'll be interesting enough, should get you a lotta ground. Get a good saddle because animals with arced backs are hard to ride.

[He almost pities him.] I guess it makes it more complicated when we're not real sure how to break 'em.

[most_feared]

It actually does. They just got one in the gardens. Looking to put it in a display.

I bet you got it at a different time.

[truth_is_the_enemy]

Tapir? I don't know that one. Wildlife got a little...strange on my world after the terraforming.

But if they were going to drag out something that's extinct, I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't go all out and get me a dinosaur. It'd be my five-year-old self's dream come true.

[most_feared]

Really. What happened?

[See, he doesn't like the word "terraforming", but he does like hearing about alien wildlife. It's sort of an odd conflict there.]

[truth_is_the_enemy]

The Votans happened. Their home system was destroyed so they thought they'd set up residence on Earth. It all started out polite enough, with ambassadors and negotiations and talks of maybe giving them part of South America to redecorate like home. But the talks broke down and it turned into an alien invasion instead. Terraforming devices were used on the Earth, unplanned and indiscriminately. It's like somebody took two different jigsaw puzzles and tried to make the pieces fit together. Some habitats are like old Earth, some are like the Votan worlds, and some have ended up a mix of both as species spread and adapted.

[most_feared]

Sounds like a hard time. [He's pretty sure if the Men in Black had been in that world, that sort of thing wouldn't have happened. Kay is also prone to greatly underestimating things, though. He doesn't mean anything offensive when he calls it "tough", but rather that it's... a little normal for him.]

How well have they adapted? Are things still pretty tense?

[una_persson]

I certainly did. More's the pity.

[domesheriff]

I got one, too. But I'm not sure what the...animal...I'm supposed to ride is. Does yours say you're riding a "yoshi," too?

[most_feared]

At the very least you can say you've had an experience few will share.

Lucky he didn't send you after a Dendrocnide moroides. Then you woulda found yourself in a real heap o' shit.