1.0 : video

[because_its_cool]

[A face comes into view, an older gentleman, wearing a white lab coat over a flannel shirt. He's studying the screen with one part curiosity, one part confusion, and one part terror.]

[He clears his throat.]

Ah, hello. My name is Doctor Walter Bishop. I just arrived here, and I'm not quite sure where I am. I know I'm in Saeng Seong, but I ... I seem to have gotten turned around. I was heading toward the apartments, but now I'm in a market of some sort.

[It's hard to place his accent, though there are hints of Bostonian and possibly London.]

I would very much like to find my way home now, if I could find someone who will stop trying to sell me things long enough to point me in the right direction.

[His tone is full of annoyance, but it drops away to leave him vulnerable again. His eyes dart from the screen nervously, then back.]

Yes, I would very much like to go somewhere quiet now.

Comments

[someonetowatchoveryou]

There's a pause as September puts his thoughts to words.

"I have been here for three months and eight days," he answers softly, "during which time I have... realised that I have been changing for several years, now." His gaze drops, then comes back up again. "I cannot hear the minds of my people, here. I am... unobserved."

There's a beat and he adds: "It is... a kind of freedom."

[because_its_cool]

Walter opens his eyes, looking tired and still a bit keyed up, though he's miles away from how he was in the market.

"Is this the first time you've been apart? You and your people?"

He reaches out, tentatively, and rests his hand on September's arm. "Change can sometimes be good, yes?"

[someonetowatchoveryou]

"It is the first time. I find that I am not as... troubled by it as I was when I first arrived. Before, I felt cut off. Now I realise that I was not as much cut off as... set free."

When Walter places his hand on September's arm, the Observer does not look down at it in confusion, as he had done before. Instead, after a beat, he carefully puts his own hand over it, his fingers pale and smooth and warm.

"Yes. Change can be good."