Butterfly Effect

Posted on Sat Jul 27th, 2024 @ 12:50am by Crewman Avery Hawthorne & Petty Officer 1st Class Mateo Wright

1,247 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 2 - Death is Only the Beginning
Location: Lounge
Timeline: Before receiving the distress signal

ON:

Sitting alone at a corner table, Avery stared absently into a glass of untouched iced tea. Now they were alone, there was no mask, no smile, no chirpy confidence. Now they were alone, doubts and worries were starting to creep in. Reality was hitting, and it was cold.

"You know..." Mateo Wright carried his coffee over to Avery and sat down, not even asking them if it was okay. "This is my favourite brooding table. I can sit here for hours brooding...sometimes even with sighs," his voice was light as he watched them before he gave them a small smile. "You look how most of us feel."

Avery looked up to him with surprise, straightening up. It took a moment to blink back to the here and now, and they wiped the corner of their eye with the sleeve of their uniform jacket. "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Hey..." Mateo reached out, touching their arm, his expression softening. "It's okay, I was joking...I'm Mateo. Are you okay?" Because Avery did not look okay.

Avery nodded quickly, offering a half smile as they schooled their features swiftly to reassure him. "Just...I think this is the first real break I've had. Nice to meet you Mateo, I'm Avery. You...are...the...shuttlebay manager, right?"

Mateo nodded, watching their eyes for a moment before he let out a breath. "Yeah, that's me. Not that there's much for me to do right now. Not like I can rig a shuttle to get us home quicker. You though...you must be exhausted." He had no illusions about what Yeomen did. Basically the shadow of the Captain and command staff...meant long hours.

"Just a lot of comms and reports at the moment," Avery chuckled softly, shaking their head as they gave a half shrug. "It's really important that there's no crossed wires. A situation like this? It wouldn't take much for panic to set in."

Mateo nodded as he looked at them, taking in what they were saying. "True. Doesn't make it easier for you though, does it?" he asked, lightly.

Avery dropped their gaze to the table, letting out a long, soft breath. "I...know it sounds selfish," they said quietly. "I just can't stop thinking about how worried my family will be, if we can't figure out how to get back."

He watched them with sympathy, reaching out to touch their hand. "Yeah, they'll be worried," he said, because it was the truth. His own parents would be. "But we will figure out how to come back, Avery. We'll figure it out. Some pretty resourceful people on this ship."

Avery nodded, taking a deep, shaky breath to try and revive their optimism. "And we have everything we need. We were equipped for this. It's just...starting to feel very real."

Mateo nodded, taking their hand in his own, giving it a little squeeze. "You're not alone," he said, his voice quiet. "And this...is a horrible situation. Make no mistake about it. And it's...normal to be upset about it. I don't think anyone here signed up for...being lost in space."

Avery glanced back to him with an awkward but grateful smile for the kind words. "Thanks," they said softly, nodding in appreciation. "I guess I just needed to...take some time out to process it. Sorry, that probably doesn't make much sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Mateo said with a small chuckle. "Your brain's trying to process it, your emotions are all over the place and you know what? You also get to deal with everyone else doing their own versions of that, with their own baggage. Because you are the guard keeping this off the Captain's desk. Don't envy you, Avery..." he shook his head, taking a deeper breath.

Avery looked to Mateo with surprise, at the empathy he showed. Sipping their drink to consider what he'd said, Avery sat back heavily in their chair. "How is life down in the 'bay?"

"Quiet, not exactly a demand for shuttles now we're...here..." Mateo admitted as he looked at them, giving them a small shrug before he looked down. "Lots of time to think. I spent most of the time patching up what got...damaged in our crossing. Not that I'm an Engineer but you get trained up on doing the basic stuff."

Avery nodded with understanding, letting out a soft breath at the idea of it. "And there was probably plenty of damage to fix," they added quietly. "It must be frustrating, sitting and waiting."

"It's when you feel...useless," Mateo admitted and met their eyes, smiling to them. "I'm just a grounded pilot who knows how to organise and look out for shuttles. Not something that'll be of any real use."

"All expertise is useful on a ship," Avery corrected with a small smile and a glint in the eye that reflected sincerity and warmth.

Mateo looked at them with surprised before he chuckled. "You really believe in us all," he said, with serious surprise on his face.

"Of course. We have the technology to send out ships with far fewer crew members should we wish it, but we don't...because we know the value of people, their diversity, their experience. And how it can all be transferred to any task when needed," Avery replied honestly, and with no shame of what others might consider a naive view.

"You..." Mateo looked down, considering it for a moment before he smiled. "You have an insight to what the officers see and think. It's good." He had never really seen that side. "Don't...lose that perspective, Avery."

"How...do you see it then?" Avery asked, clearly picking up that Mateo had been looking at it through another lens.

Mateo looked thoughtful for a moment before he let out a breath. "That half of it never really matters," he said quietly, frowning for a moment.

Avery watched him as they tilted their head, not too confident in their ability to ease Mateo's discomfort. So they decided not to try, and just to speak the truth as they understood it. "Everything matters. Sure, not everything is life changing big stuff, but everything matters. To someone or something. Even if it's just...something that makes someone elses life a little bit better, or...an efficiency that saves precious time or energy. They're all....ripples. Life is just one big pool of ripples."

Mateo looked at them, a slight frown on his face before the frown eased. "I like that way of seeing the world," he said before he smiled, reaching to squeeze their arm.

Avery smiled with relief at not being laughed at, and the faintest shade of red touched their cheeks. "Who knows, maybe it'll be something small and seemingly insignificant that gets us home."

"I would have seen and heard of weirder things than that," Mateo said quickly, his eyes on them before he nodded. "We will be okay. You will be okay."

Avery took a deep, tight breath, straightening as they started to nod, as if trying to persuade themselves more than anyone. "Yeah. Yeah, we will..."

Mateo smiled, reaching to give their arm a gentle squeeze. "Because the alternative is just too depressing. We breathe, we live, we get through it. No matter what."

Avery pulled their shoulders back a touch, nodding a little more firmly, trying to match his resolve. "No matter what."

OFF:

PO2 Mateo Wright
Shuttlebay Manager

&

Crewman Avery Hawthorne
Yeoman

 

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