ablankpage | Voxophone 7/??

Citizens of Luceti.

[It is, perhaps, the first time Robert Lutece has ever used the journal as an actual means of reaching the community at large rather than simply a voxophone others happened to hear and respond to.

For all intents and purposes, he sounds as if he's discussing the weather or another phase in the Lutece Field he and Rosalind have been attempting to re-discover here and the machine they intend to re-build.

It's a very calm, very scientific tone.]

I would like to know if anyone here has information regarding conception, gestation, and delivery of children as it pertains to Luceti.

Physics is my specialty, but I am well-versed in anatomy and biology. [He does not need the "birds and bees" talk. That isn't the purpose of this.] However, there are anomalies in this world in regards to anatomy and biology -- the wings, for instance.

It is of interest to me whether these changes or the progression of the alterations of reality commonly referred to as "shifts" affect the aforementioned topics.

[...And yes, that is all he's going to say on the topic. Not why it matters or why he's decided to start researching this. It's simply stated as a matter of fact.]

Any information or Luceti-specific literature on the subject would be most helpful.

Thank you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Robert's half tempted to see how long it takes her to realize the answer to that question.

So, for the moment, he only arches a brow and looks at her. As if challenging her to consider it for herself.]

[Elizabeth opens and closes her mouth, still at a loss.]

Not... not Gai...? [Certainly he wouldn't, not even for science!]

I'm inclined to say he's a bit young for her tastes.

I'm glad to hear that. [Elizabeth sounds a little territorial there, but pacified.]

[But now she's really well and truly stumped. She tries to think of all the men she's seen Rosalind interact with and comes up very short. Frankly, Rosalind's social life wasn't something Elizabeth watched closely.]

[Then she remembers her time in the Lutece house for some reason. ...and the one bed. And the one bed that hadn't multiplied to two when Rosalind and Robert had moved them into the house.]

Robert... you and Rosalind aren't... [She looks very nervous about making this particular guess.]

[And there, Robert's expression betrays him. He smiles a faint bit and gives a slight nod of his head.]

For nearly twenty years, in fact.

[Since about a year after his arrival to Columbia.]

[Elizabeth is truly stunned, and for a long moment she can't think of anything to say. It isn't that she had previously thought that Robert and Rosalind were siblings, it's that she had never thought they would be romantically involved together. She'd never thought they would be romantically involved at all. But it did make sense. Robert and Rosalind understood one another, shared experiences like she and Gai had.]

[But when she thought of them having sex, it was much like when she imagined Booker in coitus.]

[She opens her mouth and closes it again, still trying to parse this.]

[Well. If he and Rosalind chose to do this, she'd have found out then. So, it might have had to have been broken to her eventually.

Robert, for his part, is quiet, letting her give the issue as much or little thought as she chooses. It's quite a bit to process, he knows, and so he's not going to press it too much.]

[She is giving it quite a bit of thought, mostly because of the various taboos and strangitudes that surround the concept. But why not? They were both adults, if they both had a mutual attraction to one another Elizabeth wasn't in any kind of position to say no.]

[And it made sense, in a way. She and Gai were attracted to one another because of similar backgrounds and similar hopes for the future. Robert and Rosalind, even though they were technically the same person, understood one another on that level. They wanted the other's happiness, they wanted to take care of each other. They had spent an infinite amount of time together, it was only natural that they sought some kind of solace and comfort in one another. It was only natural that it grew to something more. Maybe something neither of them had experienced before, but wanted to experience.]

[If they loved each other enough to want to have a family together, Elizabeth could understand that. Eventually her neutral expression of deep thought relaxes into a smile.]

I guess this means I might have a cousin, then?

If Rosalind decides in the affirmative. [He can't help but smile, ducking his head a bit in acknowledgement.] The choice is hers, not mine.

[It always had been.

The idea had been his. At least the initial voicing of it. Maybe they'd both thought about it and he was the first to say it. Maybe she hadn't considered it until he had. But the choice had always been firmly with her.

First, they had work to do. And there was the issue with being in Columbia. Presenting themselves as twins.

Then, there was the Infinite. Where securing themselves to a timeline would mark the end of their knowledge and abilities of the universe. They would be human again.

But Luceti had taken the Infinite from them. And they were only assumed to be twins here, it wasn't something they stated to the general public.]

Voxophone 7/?? - Voice

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