Hypothetical

== Revised text ==
Date/Timing: 5 January 2019 (in Sydney; it's still the 4th in Anchorage)
Setting: Drift Science lab, The Icebox; Anchorage, AK, United States
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Chuck Darling, huddled in two jumpers and a blanket, sighs. "Boring."
/click
"Normal."
/click
She slouches into her hand. "Boring." 
/click
"Boring."
/click
Closet door in the next room /bangs.
"Yawn."
/click
File cabinet drawer slams.
"Normal."
/click
"Bor—" 
Chuck narrows her eyes. 
Her mouse hovers over 'next'. 
She sneers against her palm. 
Her mouse whips across the screen.
"Doctor Lightcap!"
""What?"" snaps Caitlin.
"You'll want to look at this." Chuck pushes her chair back, gathers her blanket and mug, shtumps to the kettle.
Caitlin's footsteps approach. ""What am I looking at?""
Chuck flicks on the powerbar. "Results from Chuck Hansen's latest Drift." Dumps her cup out in the sink.
"Nguyen put /another person in the sim with him? I /told him to run any candidate past me first." She sighs—looks like hell, dark circles, hair askew, shaky hands. "How bad is it?"
"Just ...." Chuck sighs. "Just look."
Caitlin attends the screen, stuffs a yawn. 
/click /click-click-click
"Is that ...?" 
"Another fifty-A. But look at the alignment scan." Chuck parks a chair behind Caitlin's knees. 
"Oh my god," breathes Caitlin. 
The chair squeaks. 
Chuck focuses on the kettle, mumbles, "Doesn't affect this Vos guy at all."
"Ninety-eight percent sync! With—" Caitlin dives for the mouse, demands, "Where's the post-test medical report?" 
"Left. Other monitor."
Caitlin's eyes flick over the screen. "/'Deaf'?! That's /worse than aph—" 
Chuck fills her cup. "He was deaf to begin with."
"Oh, thank /god." Caitlin exhales, slumps back in her chair. "Was worried for a minute there." 
Chuck snorts.
Caitlin perks back up, eyes alight. "You know what this guy is—probably—don't you?" 
"Your Hypothetical." Chuck dumps in cocoa mix. 
"My Hypothetical," Caitlin squees—freezes, blinks rapidly. "He shouldn't exist." 
Chuck rifles for a spoon. "And yet, there's a picture of his brain on screen." Slams the drawer. "His picture-perfect, healthy—"
"How on /Earth did we miss him?" 
"I'll check." Chuck clears a sugar bowl, a cup of forks, and a stack of cards off a tablet. 
"How could we've missed him?" Caitlin mutters. 
"His grades were too low to qualify for Compatibility testing." Attends her cup. "Nearly failed out."
"Oh my god." 
"But—" Chuck cradles her cup. "—they found him."
"What if Nguyen hadn't—what if he asked and I said no?" 
"Hansen wouldn't have a copilot and the SE would go to someone else." 
"We almost lost my Hypothetical." 
"But we didn't." 
Caitlin jumps to her feet. "We need to get to Sydney." Grins at Chuck. "ASAP, Chuck; pack the champagne!" Twirls, darts across the lab. 
Chuck grunts, drags herself to the storage closet.
Category:Ficlet
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Category:Caitlin
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Category:Chuck H (mention)
Category:Pietr (mention)
Category:Nguyen (mention)
Category:Anchorage Shatterdome (setting)
Category:Drift Science (setting)
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