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One cartoony goth girl at a table, cute little red-haired toddler sitting next to her gnawing on the arm of his favorite stuffed monkey (that's doll stuffed animal, not like taxidermy, because that would be gross). They're managing.

You might think that coming in with a suitcase would put her at an advantage, and maybe it would if this were some kind of three-hour-tour situation; but here they are in the future, with technology that's too out of date to use (but not out of date enough to be useful again, like super-low-tech stuff). Here's a tattoo gun--yeah, no, can't plug that in. Portable sewing machine? Nope, not that either. All the things you could use to make a living for yourself, and you can't use them. Want to listen to music and relax? Here's a player with all your favorite songs on it, but you can't recharge it. Better save it for when you really need it.

So here she is with the only things primitive enough to be usable in the future: a pencil and a sketchbook. She can still draw, and nobody can stop her.

Totally botherable.

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"It does sound beautiful." And much kinder than what he was picturing. Billy smiled, gazing out the window at those little pinpricks of light.

"Did you ever participate?"

"Not me, no. Well... not as a kid, anyway. I got to go along and watch them, and join in the feasting afterward, and I made them a picture-book about it and they loved it. Kids like having that kind of thing. It makes them feel important, like the things they do are the kinds of things people make stories about."

"I guess everybody wants to be the hero of a story---but sometimes you really need to be careful about what you wish for," he says quietly, Heroism isn't always easy. But for those kids, cheerfully lighting the world with their little boats...it is.

"But it doesn't seem like we're going to be heroes of any story any time soon. We're passive victims of a temporal accident," he laughs.

"Everybody needs to feel like the things they do matter, at least in some way," she says. "It's not one kid and one boat, bringing the light back--it's all the kids. They all bring the light back, as a community, but they each play a part."

Or it's just something for kids to look forward to in the darkest part of winter. But they do it as a group.

"I like to think of it as an adventure. But hopefully not, like, old-school B-movie alien abduction."

"I don't know, there's a certain charm to B-movies," Billy grins, glancing over his shoulder at the crew around the bar. "But if it's a perilous situation, we'll really need to use our wits to get out of it. They're not making it easy for us to take action ourselves."

"Long as we're not getting replaced by pod people," she says. "Oh man--what if we are? What if there's pod versions of us back home right now? If we're not there, we got no way of knowing."

Not that she's really that worried about that. She doesn't exist, back home. There's nothing to replace.

"I hope we don't have to take some kind of action here. Nobody needs to see me flail wildly at people--I'm no fighter. But I got a friend here."

"Then I really hope my friends aren't fooled," Billy worries. Or that they aren't in danger. What if pod-Billy wasn't a fighter---or worse, actively against the Rangers? He was already worried about life at home, but that ignited his fears all over again.

Her mention of action makes him awkwardly shuffle his feet---lying is never easy. "I'm not a skilled warrior either, but I'll be rooting for everyone. Security seems to know what they're doing."

If 'what they're doing' involves watching them all the time, of course.

"I bit a guy once," she says. "He wouldn't leave me alone, and I told him if he didn't get out of my face I'd bite him, and he didn't so then I kinda had to. If you're gonna make a promise like that, you've got to back it up, you know? I really don't recommend biting people, except as a last resort. Not doing that again."

She's a lot better at taking damage than she is at inflicting it, but really, she prefers neither one.

Billy winces sympathetically. "Understood. I'll keep my threats appropriately vague. But given the crew's commitment to keeping us out of official ship business, I don't see that being necessary."

He sighs. "I do wish we could explore a planet or two before we go home, though."

"I'm hoping we come to a decent one to live on," she says. "I don't really have anywhere to go back to, so I have to move forward. I'm not really picky, as long as it's safe."

And, presumably, the rest of her adopted family goes with her. She doesn't like being alone.

"There are planets other than Earth that have livable atmospheres for us," Billy says happily. "I'd always hoped so, but I still can't believe it---"

He stops and reins his excitement in. "Why can't you go back?"

"Well... it's kind of a long story."

And one she's not comfortable going into all the details of, not with someone she's only just met.

"Basically, I don't exist anymore. Not legally don't exist, like I don't have government paperwork or anything--literally don't exist. I thought I did, but I didn't."

"But you can exist here, with a new life, right?" Billy says gently. He can't help but believe her, despite how impossible it sounds. He's seen amazing things in battle, and now here.

He sighs. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't pry."

"I do--I have my own body full-time and everything, here. But I had family back home, and a fiancé, and I'm never gonna see them again. Because I don't exist there."

They all still exist just fine. She's the only one who doesn't.

Billy tries to fathom that loss, to imagine the news that he was stuck in this time period long after his loved ones were dead. He's aware that it's a possibility, but it's so terrible he resists comprehending it. It's reality for her, though, and he bows his head.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I hope you can find the best life possible here, given the circumstances."

"We'll manage," she says quietly. "I've had it happen before where I had to move on, and couldn't go back--and it always hurts, but you know, people can only go forward. If you don't lose things, you don't make room for new things, and maybe those new things are better."

It's almost like she's trying to convince herself.

"I'm Pyrrha, by the way. Philadelphia, 2012."

"Billy. Angel Grove, 1994," he says softly, completely unaware that his world might have slightly different towns than others.

He peeks at what he can see of the drawing again, then turns to the window. "And somehow, we're now neighbors. I always dreamed of an exciting adventure in my life, but...this isn't quite what I expected."

"I don't think I know Angel Grove," she admits. "Is that in California?"

She's mostly an east coast girl. Traveled a lot, but it's hard to go that far at once when you've only got so long at a stretch.

"I've had a lot of excitement. All I really want is to settle down somewhere, keep the excitement to just vacations or something."

"It is. It's a coastal town---and definitely a culture shock to be up here," he admits, rubbing his arm. "And here we are in the unknown."

He thinks about that for a moment, imagining where they might go if the captain ever allows them to visit a planet. "What kind of place would you like to settle in?"

"Well... I don't know that I'm really cut out for life on the absolute frontier, if they have planets like that," she says. "I can do carpentry, I can build really primitive houses if I need to, but I'd rather be somewhere more settled. Somewhere people have the basic needs of life met, freeing up time and energy for creative work. People couldn't really pay me to paint things if they're struggling to farm their potatoes or whatever."

"I'm sure places like that have settled over the centuries," Billy nods. "Personally, I'd like to visit the cutting edge technology. Transporters, hovering vehicles...if those things exist," he adds.

But they should, considering he used to be able to tap into a transporter.

"But your work's really striking. You'll be fine."

"We haven't gotten to see much of what they have here--I kinda don't think they want us to know how it works--but what I've seen is pretty impressive," she says.

"When we were up getting our exam, I saw a guy get a bullet taken out, and they had this thing like a little handheld laser, and it healed him right up. I used to have a tattoo studio, just a little one, but... I have to wonder what kind of tattoo technology they have here. Can they do it painlessly, or do they just heal it up right away?"

"I'd definitely hope so, but with these uniforms I haven't seen if anyone even has tattoos in this century."

Billy shakes his head. "I've never had one myself, but I know it's a complicated art. A lot of pressure to ink something perfectly, right?"

"I don't worry too much about the art," she says. "I've been drawing all my life, and for years when I got bored I'd take out markers and draw on people. That's one of the things a lot of people have a hard time adjusting to--drawing on a curved surface like skin is really different from drawing on paper. You get a feel for how you have to change things, where you need to put them, to have it so they don't look all distorted. But I already had that, so my biggest thing was just not wanting to hurt people. Tattoos hurt, and some places hurt more. You hurt people, they're more likely to squirm, and then your lines get crooked."

Oh yes. Billy can definitely see where that comes from...and the way she describes it, he becomes more and more curious.

"Well, if you discover the tattooing techniques of the future, I'd be happy to help you test them. I have an idea or two."

"I got my tattoo gun in my suitcase, so I can always do it the old-fashioned way--well, the really old-fashioned way would be like chisels and things, but I'm not going that far back. I know people would squirm. I'd have to figure out some alternate power source though, since there don't seem to be wall-outlets here. But like, the hyposprays? No needles at all, no healing time, no risk of infection. If they have something like that, I need to get one. And then get volunteers."

"The hypospray design looked fairly simple I'm sure I could build one if necessary."

He has ideas about that, but it's probably safer to at least try to acquire a legitimate one first. "Anyway, I'm sure there's something in the library about tattoos---though I haven't seen any on the ship. They might not be regulation-friendly."

"They probably got them, they just... you know, probably got them under their uniforms where they don't show. Most of the servicepeople I've known had that. They can have them, they just can't show--I like that kind better, anyway. You do ink that doesn't normally show, it's usually something more private, more personal. Things more important to the person, things they're more vulnerable about, you know? I like talking to people about why they chose what they chose."

"Right. If you're going to bear a permanent marking, it's bound to be important to you."

A few images of possible tattoos flash through Billy's mind. It would be beyond foolish to mark himself with anything that would make his hero identity obvious, but perhaps the names of his friends would be a better choice. Or a symbol of their relationship, with subtle shades of the colors.

"So the artist is one of the few people allowed to glimpse that person's inner world. I can see why it's appealing. So...in the interest of seeing this at work, I'll research what I can---and engineer some special inking hypos if necessary."

"I had a good friend who was a sailor," she says. "He couldn't have anything show, but the parts that were covered, we absolutely covered in designs. I'm a big fan of--this might sound weird, I know, but I like scars. They show what you've been through, what makes you the person you are now. And some things don't leave scars, so for that, there's tattoos. All the components that go into you, there for people to see, if you want to show them. That's what most of mine are."

She has a lot. Most aren't visible.

"I'd like that. I'd want to do a lot of practicing first--do you think their doctors train on hologram patients? I'd need to get used to the equipment before I work on somebody. The friend I did my first practice on at home, he didn't care if it hurt or if I had to go back and fix it. It's one thing to do that with needles, but another if you're using particles small enough to pass through the skin. But if you can help me out with this, I'll do any artwork you want done--skin or paper or whatever else--for free."

She likes feeling useful, and so far she really hasn't, here. Having a business would help.

Billy smiles upon hearing her speech. After a lifetime of isolation, getting that close to the people he loves...it would be exhilarating. Beginning to understand people he didn't know all that well would be an honor too.

"I'm sure they use the holo technology---it would be an incredible resource. I'd probably go there first. And in that case..."

He nods. "We have a deal, ma'am."

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