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#FreedomFalls – September 22, 2015
Jackie takes a seat after letting Tracer off her leash, who was now running around and exploring the nature around her. Of course the guide dog knew well enough not to go too far away from her owner, and often stopped what she was doing to check if Jackie was still doing okay. Jackie wore a black hoodie and a pair of jeans, sitting back and listening to the
The path to the dam from Freedom Falls is a long, fairly wide dirt road going at a gentle incline up the foothills of the mountain from which the town's river streams. The surrounding nature is largely forest, still mostly green in the early autumn weather. Large, beautiful trees are accompanied by leafy bushes - the air is fairly warm, despite the overcast early-morning weather. The green mountainside can be seen rising in the
distance, but the snow-capped peak is obscured by mist and clouds. There is a fork in the road ahead, with the leftmost path leading on to the mountain road going up to the Cord-Hislop Aerospace facility, and the right path leading to the much closer dam, which is only five-hundred meters away at this point. A large flat-bed truck with heavy wheels is coming down the road from the dam, the first vehicle Jackie would have met - there is
Adam walks down the beaten path, a brown satchel bag hung across his shoulder. Dressed in his white, short sleeved shirt and blue jeans accompanied by a pair of leather boots, he admires the breath taking view, stepping to the side as the truck rolls down the road. As it passes, he casts his gaze to the free roaming dog, blinking in surprise. -
Tracer stops as she sees another person in her vicinity, giving the human an appraising look, with a stick still in her mouth. Apperantly having come to a decision about this human, she turns around and runs back to where Jackie is sitting, taking up her spot at her owner's side, and giving the stranger a wary look.
Adam - It's not often you see an actual dog this far out of alliance space. His eyes turn towards the woman in the hoodie, assuming that she is the owner of the animal. Deciding that he would rather enjoy some company, he approaches the woman, smiling politely. "Good day," he says, glancing down at the dog again.
Jackie chuckles as her dog saddles up next to her once more, knowing that this meant that they weren't alone. It's not long before she hears approaching footsteps and a friendly sounding voice greeting her. "Hey." She says with a friendly smile, looking to where the voice was coming from but not quite looking right at the mark. She gently pets her dog, who calms
Adam notes the woman looking just slightly past him, his eyebrow quirking in confusion. "Do you mind if I sit here?" He asks, gesturing to the free spot besides Jackie, deciding not to comment on her not looking exactly at him. "I'd rather like some company on this beautiful day."
Jackie smiles and nods. "Go right ahead." She strokes her dog's fur once more, who, despite being calmer now, is still eyeing the stranger with some amount of caution. "Sorry about Tracer, she's pretty protective of me when we're outside. Side effect of her being a city dog." She says with a friendly smile.
Adam nods with a polite, "Thank you," taking a seat besides Jackie whilst keeping a respectful distance from her. "A fine companion then," he says in response to Tracer's protective nature. "Has she been with you long?"
Jackie nods. "About four years now. Adopted her back in Cape Town on Earth. We just moved here a few days back." She sighs, sitting back a little bit with a contented smile on her face. "I'm Jackie Grey. Good to meet you." She says, almost as an afterthought.
Adam nods. Cape Town. Sounds familiar. "Adam Barclay. A pleasure, Mrs. Grey," he says with a warm smile. "So it seems we have something in common then with both of us being new to this world." He leans back into his seat, removing his satchel and placing it on the ground beside him. "If you don't mind me asking, what brought you to Aite?"
Jackie waves a hand in the air. "Please, Jackie's just fine." She brushes a few strands of hair out of her face before answering, now looking out into the distance rather than at her conversational partner. "Mostly it was just me wanting to get away from Cape Town. Great city, but it wasn't really kind to me. Beyond that I wanted to experience new things,
preferably somewhere quiet and laid back. The Terminus systems seemed to fit me all right, I feel more comfortable around the misfits of the galaxy anyway. She smiles and tilts her head towards Adam, still not looking him in the eye. "How about you?"
Adam chuckles quietly at her description of the Terminus systems being quiet and laid back. Though looking at this serene scenery, he can appreciate the thought. At her question, he glances to the side. "I was invited out here by my brother," he says, looking back at Jackie. "He needed my help with an... Issue."
Jackie grins playfully at the vague answer. "Oooh. Mysterious." She says with a lighthearted chuckle. "Don't worry, I won't pry. Though it is good to have family in a place like this. All I've got is Tracer."
Adam breathes out a laugh. "Thank you. It's nothing personal, you understand?" He says with a slight apologetic tone. At the mention of Tracer, he looks down at the dog again. "And I'm sure you're a fine companion, aren't you, Tracer?"
The dog stares at the stranger in response to his question, still clearly unsure of the situation, but content to let him keep talking to her owner for a while longer. Jackie answers for her. "Oh yeah, she's great. Best guide I could ask for." She says, rewarding the husky with a pat on the head.
Adam glances up at the woman, brow creasing at her choice of words. Guide? Why would a dog be a- oh. As realisation grips him, he chuckles quietly once more. "I can only imagine. She's been watching me this entire time, probably gauging if I'm a threat to you or not."
Jackie grins. It's always interesting to observe how people react to the realization of her condition. This one recovered pretty quickly. "Mhm, as I said, she's a city dog, when you're walking around outside in Cape Town, there's a lot of potential threats. It's a tough habit for a dog to break."
Adam hums in thought. "What's Cape Town like?" He asks hesitantly, unsure if any recollected memories would be painful for the woman. "My knowledge of Earth and it's cities are limited, despite me going to the planet for training."
Jackie sighs a little, a contemplative look on her face. "Well, I grew up in the inner city. Made friends quickly, which was lucky, but around there... eh... everything is, well, fast. Everyone needs to move fast, get places fast, even have conversations fast. If you can't keep up, people often won't give you the time of day." She lets out a humorless chuckle.
It's exhausting. I didn't get to visit much more of the planet besides the few blocks I lived, worked and schooled in, so I'm afraid I'm not much of an Earth expert." She smiles slightly, looking back at the human. "Sorry if you wanted more. I was mostly focused on staying alive, myself."
Adam chuckles. "I can relate to that," he says in response to her former description. "So I take it you were a teacher, Mrs. Gr- Jackie," he says, correcting himself.
Jackie raises an eyebrow at the suggestion. "Hm? Um... no..." She says, peicing through the conversation internally to find where she would've given that impression. "I worked a few different jobs. Mostly secretarial stuff. I'm good with organizing digital information, and I like to think I'm a people person."
Adam coughs. "Sorry. When you said schooled, I assumed you taught. My mistake," he says with a slight blush. Moving on! "A secretary? Interesting. Though I wouldn't of thought there would be much demand for one out in the Terminus?"
Jackie shrugs. "Plenty of corporate entities out here, and businesses. I've been shopping around my resume since I got here." She takes a second to roll her head from side to side, cracking her neck slightly. "So what about you, what do you do? Or does that fall under the perview of 'personal stuff' as well?"
Adam smirks, nestling comfortably into his seat. "It does. But it doesn't full under the preview of 'mysterious'," he teases. "I think the most common title that is given to me is mercenary, though I don't really identify myself as one. To me, mercenary denotes that I would take any job for credits, regardless of what it is and who it harms in the process. My people and I are very strict on what jobs we take.
Jackie chuckles and nods. "Hey I don't judge. You gotta do what you gotta do, right?" She asks with a friendly smile. "I'd go into that line of work but... man. Am I ever a bad shot." She chuckles a little at her own joke.
Adam laughs, glancing at Jackie. "It... May not be the best idea," he says. He falls silent for a moment, his eyes drawn to the mountains off in the distance. The quietness of the wilderness is almost a foreign concept to him, so being able to bask in it is rather a rare moment. "This is nice," he comments quietly, more to himself than Jackie.
Jackie chuckles. "Yeah, I'll say. Being able to have this kind of silence is new to me. I like it." She sighs and stands up, putting the leash back on Tracer. "But, I've got to get going." Her face adopts a slightly unsure look before speaking again. "Before I go, would you mind if I felt your face? I know I know, it's super weird. Just so I know how you look."
Adam glances at the woman, a slight look of surprise crossing his features. He stands up too, looking down at the woman with a faint smile. "Alright," he says, instinctively touching the scar upon his cheek. He lowers his hand back to his side and waits.
Jackie nods gratefully before bringing her hand up. It takes a second for her hands to make their way to the human's face, but when she does she very delicately and gently brings her fingers along the human's features. She does a thorough job, her fingers stopping for a moment when they discover the scar on his cheek, but keep going shortly thereafter. A
thoughtful look dons her face through the whole process, as if commiting every inch to memory. Finally she finishes, and brings her hand back down beside her. "Hm." She says, before smiling. "You're handsome." She says, matter of factly. "Thanks for letting me do that. Makes it a lot easier to remember people with the extra information."
Adam smirks as she removes her hands. "Jackie, please, you're going to make me blush," he says with a light chuckle, collecting his satchel and pulling it back onto his shoulder. "But in all seriousness, it was a pleasure chatting to you, Jackie." He smiles softly. "It's not often I talk with a woman as charming as yourself."
Jackie grins. "Nice meeting you too. Hope I run into you again, Adam." She says, her dog already leading her away.
Adam watches the woman walk away before turning and continuing his walk through the countryside. He thinks he could rather come to enjoy Aite.