Entry tags:
App for Singularity
Player Information ;
Your Nickname: Mandolin
OOC Journal:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mandolin
Under 18? No
Email/IM: mandichaos at gmail dot com (best way to contact me, work blocks everything else)
AIM: shinytomato
Plurk: littlebulldozer
Characters Played at Singularity: None yet
Character Information ;
Name: Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Ross
Name of Canon: The Incredible Hulk 2008 film (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon - well, it's one of many official canons.
Reference: The Incredible Hulk on Marvel-moves wiki; Betty Ross at marvel-movies; Wikipedia entry for the film
Canon Point: Shortly after her last scene in the film, standing on Ellis Island and debating where to go next. (If the deleted scene can be considered canon, right after telling Leonard she isn't coming home.)
Setting: The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a specific Marvel continuity denoted as Earth-199999, separate from the main Marvel Comics universe, Earth-616, and all the other numbered Marvel universes that have been invented in the comics. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger are all part of the Earth-199999 continuity, but the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Ghost Rider and Spider-Man films are not. Confused yet? Well, this is Marvel, so that's par for the course.
Unlike the Marvel comics universe, Earth-199999 is not very different from the Earth we know. Superheroes, aliens and the supernatural aren't commonplace - not as far as the general public knows. There are some major differences beneath the surface, though, even if they aren't common knowledge. Most importantly, the existence of other realms, analogous to the realms of Norse mythology. The nine realms are connected by Yggdrasil, including Midgard (Earth) in the middle, Asgard, the home of Odin, Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three, Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants, and Nornheim and Alfheim (which make no appearance but are mentioned in the Thor film).
This ties in to one of the major historical events that are different - when a group of Frost Giants attempted to conquer Earth/Midgard in 965 AD, crossing over in Tonsberg, Norway. Their invasion was stopped by Odin and his army of Asgardian warriors, who pushed the Frost Giants back to Jotunheim and negotiated a truce. This didn't leave Earth entirely unscathed, as a piece of (presumably Asgardian) technology, the Tesseract, was left behind. It was discovered in 1941 by Johann Schmidt, head of HYDRA, the Nazis' deep-science division. Schmidt used the Tesseract to power weapons and machinery that were beyond anything the Nazis were able to develop on our Earth.
Consequently, the Strategic Science Reserve, an Allied effort made up of the best scientific minds, was formed to combat HYDRA during World War II. The SSR launched Project: Rebirth, a super-soldier project that had one successful test subject: Steve Rogers, who became Captain America and eventually went on to thwart HYDRA operations and defeat Schmidt's plans at the apparent cost of his own life. Dr. Abraham Erskine, the creator of the serum that gave Rogers his abilities, was killed shortly after the procedure, taking most of his knowledge with him.
What does this have to do with Betty Ross? As far as she knows, very little. Then again, she doesn't know that the Gamma Pulse Project she worked on in collaboration with Bruce was based on Erskine's work, and that its actual aim was to create more super-soldiers, not assist soldiers in healing injuries as she and Bruce were led to believe.
Nor does she know that the Strategic Science Reserve became what is now known as the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics division, aka SHIELD, a shadow government agency dedicated to combating super-powered threats. This might also be of interest to her since SHIELD assisted her father in tracking down Bruce when they were on the run. So all of the above is relevant to her part of her universe, even if she has no idea about any of it.
Still, at first glance Earth-199999 is pretty similar to our own. Most of the population doesn't have a clue about all of the above, thanks largely to SHIELD's efforts. There's one actual superhero of sorts in the public eye - billionaire Tony Stark, with his Iron Man suit, managed to keep relative peace in the Middle East for a few months. Everything else has been covered up fairly well by the government. But that's starting to change. Reports of strange sightings are reaching the media and the government can't contain them all. The numerous sightings of the Hulk are only the tip of the iceberg; a strange meteor has crashed in New Mexico, odd sightings are popping up here and there, and it's getting harder and harder to explain all the weirdness away.
Personality:
It's very easy to underestimate Betty Ross. At first glance, she appears soft-spoken and calm, sensitive and empathetic. And, well, that's because she is. Her empathy is one of her greatest strengths as a person. Betty is the only person who can look at the Hulk and still see Bruce, instead of just a giant green rage monster. While everyone else screams and runs from the Hulk or attacks him, she actually runs out into a middle of a war zone to protect him and talk to him - and she's the only one who manages to get through to him in the end. Even when Bruce himself denies it, Betty still sees him in there and is ultimately the only one to connect with the Hulk as Bruce - because she's the only one who bothers to try to find the man she loves beneath the rage.
She's passionate about her work - working late and forgetting meals is a common occurrence, and she makes sure to copy and hide the data from the project before the army can get to it. But she never seems to neglect the human factor or forget that the subject of an experiment is a person first and foremost. When she quizzes Bruce about his episodes, she asks him what he experiences, not about heart rate or healing time or anything quantifiable. When Sterns is geeking out over the experiment to suppress the Hulk, Betty is the one who reminds them that Bruce's life is at risk. Even after she's practically disowned her father, she immediately moves to care for him when he's injured in a helicopter crash. She cares about people just as much as scientific results, and it shows.
Betty tends to believe the best in people - until they prove otherwise, of course. She's not completely naive. At first, she doesn't understand why Bruce can't just talk to her father. But when Bruce tells her what General Ross really wanted to do, and after she sees the lengths he'll go to in order to apprehend Bruce, she turns her back on him completely. For Betty, actions and intent speak louder than words, and for all her father's bluster about truth and justice she sees what he's willing to do and that sickens her. She has a great deal of faith in Bruce, a lot more than Bruce himself does - she sees all the good in him that he seems to ignore, and is able to forgive him when he continues to beat himself up. Betty can't stand bullying and watching others suffer from emotional abuse.
Her empathy is one of her strengths, but so is her sheer stubbornness and willingness to protect those she cares about. This is a woman who is willing to run into the middle of a war zone to try to protect Bruce and/or get through to him while Bruce is still Hulked-out. Twice. (Harlem counts. She could have just as easily stayed back with the bystanders, but she still rushed out and drew attention to herself to keep Bruce from doing something he'd regret.)
As much as she's distanced herself from him, Betty is still General "Thunderbolt" Ross's daughter and is just as strong-willed as he is. She isn't very easily cowed, and even calm and quiet Betty won't back down if she thinks it's the right thing to do. And when she does get angry, you'll know it - Betty doesn't raise her voice that often, so when she does finally let loose, it's a lot more effective.
Part of this has to do with her father - the stubbornness is where their similarities end. It's pretty clear that Betty is not close to her father at all to begin with. She was obviously much closer to her late mother - the scene where she offers to pawn her mother's necklace makes that evident. Bruce is horrified that she would even suggest it, saying that it's all that Betty has left of her. Even before learning exactly what her father said to Bruce and his real plans for the project, she didn't speak to him for several years after the Gamma Pulse Project ended with Bruce's accident. And when she finds out the truth, she practically disowns him.
It doesn't help that Ross is a bit of a control freak - it comes with the territory, true, but it shows in all his interactions with his daughter. He expects everyone to obey his orders, civilian or not. As a result, Betty does not appreciate bullies or control freaks. She doesn't like it when others get pushed around or bullied, and she won't put up with it herself. Bossing her around will not get her to listen. She certainly doesn't listen to her father, especially if disobeying his orders is the right thing to do. Even when Bruce tells her to run away, she doesn't argue with him - but she still does the exact opposite and runs in front of a tank to defend him.
In short, Betty is a sensitive and gentle person, but she's no shrinking violet. Caring about people and being supportive and nurturing doesn't mean you're a pushover. And Betty is anything but.
Abilities, Weaknesses, and Power Limitation Suggestions:
Abilities:
- Physically, normal woman in her early thirties, perfectly healthy and able to keep up with Bruce when on the run.
- Professor of cell biology at Culver University. Obviously well-known in her field, enough for Sterns to know her name immediately and talented enough to be on the project in the first place.
- Also fairly well-versed in the care of plants and bacteriology; she cultivated a specific set of bacteria for the soil with which to grow a South American orchid Bruce sent her
Weaknesses:
- Again, normal human. She's as fragile as the next person.
- Her attachment to Bruce could be considered a weakness as she will run out into the middle of a dangerous situation to protect him.
Inventory: Her glasses, the clothes she has on her back, a long black coat, and a digital camera with a low battery and a photo of Bruce smiling saved on its memory card. And her lip gloss. Everything else, she discarded on the run with Bruce.
Appearance: Right here! Long, straight dark hair with bangs, blue eyes, about... 5' 8", if you extrapolate from Bruce's stats since she's slightly shorter than he is in the film. (I know Liv Tyler is 5' 10, I'm basing this off Sammo's estimate since I can't find comic stats.)
Age: Not stated in the film, so I'll go based on the actress's age and say early thirties.
OC/AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across?
If OC, Did You Run Your Character Through a Mary-Sue Litmus Test?
And What Did You Score?
Samples ;
Log Sample:
The package was waiting on the doorstep for her one afternoon out of the blue, a nondescript brown box with an unfamiliar overseas return address. Betty considered discarding it or reporting it - she wasn't expecting a package from South America - until she got a better look at the writing. She recognized the neat, precise printing, the way it was obviously rushed but still clear and meticulous, the tightly packed letters and the way some of them were shaped. She'd seen that exact printing before, on pages and pages of shared notes and reports, as the writer scribbled away beside her, trying to translate his observations to paper while they were still fresh in his mind.
Betty practically ripped the box apart in her haste to open it. There was only a ziploc bag with a bare root inside and a short note. It was in the same familiar hand, and that alone was enough to ignite a spark of - hope? hurt? anger? She wasn't sure. No, not really anger. A little hurt that the note wasn't more personal, that it was all she'd heard of him in months. That he hadn't been there when she woke up. That for all his denials, her father had run him off somehow. That he hadn't waited for her, hadn't considered she'd forgive him or try to understand. How could he believe she wouldn't? What did her father say to him? Why--
For a moment - just a breath, not even a full second - she considered throwing the root away. But the moment passed, and she felt guilty for even considering it. It was a sign. Not just a sign, but one she would understand. He was alive. That was all that mattered. And he'd sent her flowers to let her know. One flower, in the best possible way.
She was at the laptop immediately, looking up anything she could find on that particular genus of orchid. It would need humidity, probably a particular type of soil, high heat... Betty paused. If she could find out where that orchid was from, maybe it would give her a better idea of where to find him. She could bring him back, and maybe her father would...
Forgive him? Allow them to be together? Help Bruce fix whatever had happened that day? In spite of herself, Betty snorted. She didn't understand why Bruce hadn't just tried to explain himself to the General, but that didn't mean she didn't have any suspicions. Her father was not very good at listening. Besides, if she packed up and left, she'd be leaving her work, her students, and there was no guarantee her father wouldn't come after her. No guarantee Bruce might not run away again.
Shoving away her doubts, Betty focused on the laptop instead, blinking back tears. The gift had made it this far. She owed it to him - to herself - to try to make something of it.
She threw herself into the personal project with as much determination as any of her official research. She cultivated the bacteria herself after hours in the lab for the soil. It took months, and just keeping the plant alive in the meantime was almost impossible, but she refused to give up. She set up a spot and a lamp for it in the warmest room in the house, with a good-sized pot and soil as close as she could get to its home territory. She watered it constantly, watching and hoping for the first signs of life.
Even as she continued to move on with her life, she never neglected the orchid. She couldn't help the bit of triumph she felt the day the first bit of green poked up from the soil. She almost lost it a couple of times, but somehow it held on and survived, and she loved it even more. Leonard teased her sometimes that the orchid was her child, and she would just laugh. She never told him who it was from, and he never asked. Despite everything, it grew and bloomed under her care, rare and beautiful and just as strong as it was fragile. "Just like you," Leonard had said when she'd voiced that observation.
She'd feigned offense. "Fragile? Excuse me?" But she smiled, partly from pride and from relief. It had survived. It had come back from near-death. She hadn't given up on it. And she still hadn't given up. She still had faith.
Network Sample:
[It didn't take Betty too long to figure out the wearable and its basic functions. Caution is the only reason she sticks to audio; she's not as paranoid as some people, but it wasn't that long ago that she was on the run from the U.S. Army. And they monitor communications, and she has no idea who's listening in.]
Hello? This is - I'd think this was a dream or a hallucination, but everything I've seen has been so strange already that I'm not so sure anymore. [a nervous laugh] Not this strange, but I've done induced hallucinations before and even those were nothing like this. It's too - lucid, I guess. Too easy to process. Well, "easy" is relative, it's all a bit overwhelming, but...
[Whoops. Back to business.] I don't suppose anyone can tell me how to get out of this place? Back to New York? Or, at least, back to Earth. I don't even know how I got here, but I have to ask. There's somebody there I need to find. I can't--
[She catches herself before she can say anything she'll regret, and takes a deep breath. Trying to stay professional, here.] If anybody has any information, I'd appreciate the help.
Your Nickname: Mandolin
OOC Journal:
mandolin Under 18? No
Email/IM: mandichaos at gmail dot com (best way to contact me, work blocks everything else)
AIM: shinytomato
Plurk: littlebulldozer
Characters Played at Singularity: None yet
Character Information ;
Name: Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Ross
Name of Canon: The Incredible Hulk 2008 film (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon - well, it's one of many official canons.
Reference: The Incredible Hulk on Marvel-moves wiki; Betty Ross at marvel-movies; Wikipedia entry for the film
Canon Point: Shortly after her last scene in the film, standing on Ellis Island and debating where to go next. (If the deleted scene can be considered canon, right after telling Leonard she isn't coming home.)
Setting: The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a specific Marvel continuity denoted as Earth-199999, separate from the main Marvel Comics universe, Earth-616, and all the other numbered Marvel universes that have been invented in the comics. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger are all part of the Earth-199999 continuity, but the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Ghost Rider and Spider-Man films are not. Confused yet? Well, this is Marvel, so that's par for the course.
Unlike the Marvel comics universe, Earth-199999 is not very different from the Earth we know. Superheroes, aliens and the supernatural aren't commonplace - not as far as the general public knows. There are some major differences beneath the surface, though, even if they aren't common knowledge. Most importantly, the existence of other realms, analogous to the realms of Norse mythology. The nine realms are connected by Yggdrasil, including Midgard (Earth) in the middle, Asgard, the home of Odin, Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three, Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants, and Nornheim and Alfheim (which make no appearance but are mentioned in the Thor film).
This ties in to one of the major historical events that are different - when a group of Frost Giants attempted to conquer Earth/Midgard in 965 AD, crossing over in Tonsberg, Norway. Their invasion was stopped by Odin and his army of Asgardian warriors, who pushed the Frost Giants back to Jotunheim and negotiated a truce. This didn't leave Earth entirely unscathed, as a piece of (presumably Asgardian) technology, the Tesseract, was left behind. It was discovered in 1941 by Johann Schmidt, head of HYDRA, the Nazis' deep-science division. Schmidt used the Tesseract to power weapons and machinery that were beyond anything the Nazis were able to develop on our Earth.
Consequently, the Strategic Science Reserve, an Allied effort made up of the best scientific minds, was formed to combat HYDRA during World War II. The SSR launched Project: Rebirth, a super-soldier project that had one successful test subject: Steve Rogers, who became Captain America and eventually went on to thwart HYDRA operations and defeat Schmidt's plans at the apparent cost of his own life. Dr. Abraham Erskine, the creator of the serum that gave Rogers his abilities, was killed shortly after the procedure, taking most of his knowledge with him.
What does this have to do with Betty Ross? As far as she knows, very little. Then again, she doesn't know that the Gamma Pulse Project she worked on in collaboration with Bruce was based on Erskine's work, and that its actual aim was to create more super-soldiers, not assist soldiers in healing injuries as she and Bruce were led to believe.
Nor does she know that the Strategic Science Reserve became what is now known as the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics division, aka SHIELD, a shadow government agency dedicated to combating super-powered threats. This might also be of interest to her since SHIELD assisted her father in tracking down Bruce when they were on the run. So all of the above is relevant to her part of her universe, even if she has no idea about any of it.
Still, at first glance Earth-199999 is pretty similar to our own. Most of the population doesn't have a clue about all of the above, thanks largely to SHIELD's efforts. There's one actual superhero of sorts in the public eye - billionaire Tony Stark, with his Iron Man suit, managed to keep relative peace in the Middle East for a few months. Everything else has been covered up fairly well by the government. But that's starting to change. Reports of strange sightings are reaching the media and the government can't contain them all. The numerous sightings of the Hulk are only the tip of the iceberg; a strange meteor has crashed in New Mexico, odd sightings are popping up here and there, and it's getting harder and harder to explain all the weirdness away.
Personality:
It's very easy to underestimate Betty Ross. At first glance, she appears soft-spoken and calm, sensitive and empathetic. And, well, that's because she is. Her empathy is one of her greatest strengths as a person. Betty is the only person who can look at the Hulk and still see Bruce, instead of just a giant green rage monster. While everyone else screams and runs from the Hulk or attacks him, she actually runs out into a middle of a war zone to protect him and talk to him - and she's the only one who manages to get through to him in the end. Even when Bruce himself denies it, Betty still sees him in there and is ultimately the only one to connect with the Hulk as Bruce - because she's the only one who bothers to try to find the man she loves beneath the rage.
She's passionate about her work - working late and forgetting meals is a common occurrence, and she makes sure to copy and hide the data from the project before the army can get to it. But she never seems to neglect the human factor or forget that the subject of an experiment is a person first and foremost. When she quizzes Bruce about his episodes, she asks him what he experiences, not about heart rate or healing time or anything quantifiable. When Sterns is geeking out over the experiment to suppress the Hulk, Betty is the one who reminds them that Bruce's life is at risk. Even after she's practically disowned her father, she immediately moves to care for him when he's injured in a helicopter crash. She cares about people just as much as scientific results, and it shows.
Betty tends to believe the best in people - until they prove otherwise, of course. She's not completely naive. At first, she doesn't understand why Bruce can't just talk to her father. But when Bruce tells her what General Ross really wanted to do, and after she sees the lengths he'll go to in order to apprehend Bruce, she turns her back on him completely. For Betty, actions and intent speak louder than words, and for all her father's bluster about truth and justice she sees what he's willing to do and that sickens her. She has a great deal of faith in Bruce, a lot more than Bruce himself does - she sees all the good in him that he seems to ignore, and is able to forgive him when he continues to beat himself up. Betty can't stand bullying and watching others suffer from emotional abuse.
Her empathy is one of her strengths, but so is her sheer stubbornness and willingness to protect those she cares about. This is a woman who is willing to run into the middle of a war zone to try to protect Bruce and/or get through to him while Bruce is still Hulked-out. Twice. (Harlem counts. She could have just as easily stayed back with the bystanders, but she still rushed out and drew attention to herself to keep Bruce from doing something he'd regret.)
As much as she's distanced herself from him, Betty is still General "Thunderbolt" Ross's daughter and is just as strong-willed as he is. She isn't very easily cowed, and even calm and quiet Betty won't back down if she thinks it's the right thing to do. And when she does get angry, you'll know it - Betty doesn't raise her voice that often, so when she does finally let loose, it's a lot more effective.
Part of this has to do with her father - the stubbornness is where their similarities end. It's pretty clear that Betty is not close to her father at all to begin with. She was obviously much closer to her late mother - the scene where she offers to pawn her mother's necklace makes that evident. Bruce is horrified that she would even suggest it, saying that it's all that Betty has left of her. Even before learning exactly what her father said to Bruce and his real plans for the project, she didn't speak to him for several years after the Gamma Pulse Project ended with Bruce's accident. And when she finds out the truth, she practically disowns him.
It doesn't help that Ross is a bit of a control freak - it comes with the territory, true, but it shows in all his interactions with his daughter. He expects everyone to obey his orders, civilian or not. As a result, Betty does not appreciate bullies or control freaks. She doesn't like it when others get pushed around or bullied, and she won't put up with it herself. Bossing her around will not get her to listen. She certainly doesn't listen to her father, especially if disobeying his orders is the right thing to do. Even when Bruce tells her to run away, she doesn't argue with him - but she still does the exact opposite and runs in front of a tank to defend him.
In short, Betty is a sensitive and gentle person, but she's no shrinking violet. Caring about people and being supportive and nurturing doesn't mean you're a pushover. And Betty is anything but.
Abilities, Weaknesses, and Power Limitation Suggestions:
Abilities:
- Physically, normal woman in her early thirties, perfectly healthy and able to keep up with Bruce when on the run.
- Professor of cell biology at Culver University. Obviously well-known in her field, enough for Sterns to know her name immediately and talented enough to be on the project in the first place.
- Also fairly well-versed in the care of plants and bacteriology; she cultivated a specific set of bacteria for the soil with which to grow a South American orchid Bruce sent her
Weaknesses:
- Again, normal human. She's as fragile as the next person.
- Her attachment to Bruce could be considered a weakness as she will run out into the middle of a dangerous situation to protect him.
Inventory: Her glasses, the clothes she has on her back, a long black coat, and a digital camera with a low battery and a photo of Bruce smiling saved on its memory card. And her lip gloss. Everything else, she discarded on the run with Bruce.
Appearance: Right here! Long, straight dark hair with bangs, blue eyes, about... 5' 8", if you extrapolate from Bruce's stats since she's slightly shorter than he is in the film. (I know Liv Tyler is 5' 10, I'm basing this off Sammo's estimate since I can't find comic stats.)
Age: Not stated in the film, so I'll go based on the actress's age and say early thirties.
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across?
If OC, Did You Run Your Character Through a Mary-Sue Litmus Test?
And What Did You Score?
Samples ;
Log Sample:
The package was waiting on the doorstep for her one afternoon out of the blue, a nondescript brown box with an unfamiliar overseas return address. Betty considered discarding it or reporting it - she wasn't expecting a package from South America - until she got a better look at the writing. She recognized the neat, precise printing, the way it was obviously rushed but still clear and meticulous, the tightly packed letters and the way some of them were shaped. She'd seen that exact printing before, on pages and pages of shared notes and reports, as the writer scribbled away beside her, trying to translate his observations to paper while they were still fresh in his mind.
Betty practically ripped the box apart in her haste to open it. There was only a ziploc bag with a bare root inside and a short note. It was in the same familiar hand, and that alone was enough to ignite a spark of - hope? hurt? anger? She wasn't sure. No, not really anger. A little hurt that the note wasn't more personal, that it was all she'd heard of him in months. That he hadn't been there when she woke up. That for all his denials, her father had run him off somehow. That he hadn't waited for her, hadn't considered she'd forgive him or try to understand. How could he believe she wouldn't? What did her father say to him? Why--
For a moment - just a breath, not even a full second - she considered throwing the root away. But the moment passed, and she felt guilty for even considering it. It was a sign. Not just a sign, but one she would understand. He was alive. That was all that mattered. And he'd sent her flowers to let her know. One flower, in the best possible way.
She was at the laptop immediately, looking up anything she could find on that particular genus of orchid. It would need humidity, probably a particular type of soil, high heat... Betty paused. If she could find out where that orchid was from, maybe it would give her a better idea of where to find him. She could bring him back, and maybe her father would...
Forgive him? Allow them to be together? Help Bruce fix whatever had happened that day? In spite of herself, Betty snorted. She didn't understand why Bruce hadn't just tried to explain himself to the General, but that didn't mean she didn't have any suspicions. Her father was not very good at listening. Besides, if she packed up and left, she'd be leaving her work, her students, and there was no guarantee her father wouldn't come after her. No guarantee Bruce might not run away again.
Shoving away her doubts, Betty focused on the laptop instead, blinking back tears. The gift had made it this far. She owed it to him - to herself - to try to make something of it.
She threw herself into the personal project with as much determination as any of her official research. She cultivated the bacteria herself after hours in the lab for the soil. It took months, and just keeping the plant alive in the meantime was almost impossible, but she refused to give up. She set up a spot and a lamp for it in the warmest room in the house, with a good-sized pot and soil as close as she could get to its home territory. She watered it constantly, watching and hoping for the first signs of life.
Even as she continued to move on with her life, she never neglected the orchid. She couldn't help the bit of triumph she felt the day the first bit of green poked up from the soil. She almost lost it a couple of times, but somehow it held on and survived, and she loved it even more. Leonard teased her sometimes that the orchid was her child, and she would just laugh. She never told him who it was from, and he never asked. Despite everything, it grew and bloomed under her care, rare and beautiful and just as strong as it was fragile. "Just like you," Leonard had said when she'd voiced that observation.
She'd feigned offense. "Fragile? Excuse me?" But she smiled, partly from pride and from relief. It had survived. It had come back from near-death. She hadn't given up on it. And she still hadn't given up. She still had faith.
Network Sample:
[It didn't take Betty too long to figure out the wearable and its basic functions. Caution is the only reason she sticks to audio; she's not as paranoid as some people, but it wasn't that long ago that she was on the run from the U.S. Army. And they monitor communications, and she has no idea who's listening in.]
Hello? This is - I'd think this was a dream or a hallucination, but everything I've seen has been so strange already that I'm not so sure anymore. [a nervous laugh] Not this strange, but I've done induced hallucinations before and even those were nothing like this. It's too - lucid, I guess. Too easy to process. Well, "easy" is relative, it's all a bit overwhelming, but...
[Whoops. Back to business.] I don't suppose anyone can tell me how to get out of this place? Back to New York? Or, at least, back to Earth. I don't even know how I got here, but I have to ask. There's somebody there I need to find. I can't--
[She catches herself before she can say anything she'll regret, and takes a deep breath. Trying to stay professional, here.] If anybody has any information, I'd appreciate the help.