Case # 27: Video

[19centconstable]

[George is sitting at the table in his room. His helmet is in front of him, and he's scrubbing furiously at the badge mounted on it with a toothbrush. He pauses and peers at the badge through a magnifying glass.]

Oh, for the love of...

[Back to scrubbing. There are still small traces of tarnish. George eventually puts the toothbrush down with a frustrated sigh, and tells the viewers at home:]

I suppose I ought to be thankful at least that it hasn't grown a tree.

[Oh, did you think this was an accidental post? No, George's communicator has yet to act up, he was just distracted by the creeping rust.]

I had just wanted to say that the other day I happened to notice a suspicious damp bit on the floor of the fifth level common room, by the shark's tank, and I thought someone ought to check into that.

[Just in case, as George suspects, the shark has started piddling on the floor to get attention. Or, more realistically, the decay has made its way down to level five and has started eroding the tank. And nobody likes a loose shark. Particularly the shark, because they can't breathe air very well.]

Comments

[yourunichase]

Yeah. That's not going to fucking help, Georgie.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

What isn't?

[yourunichase]

Scrubbing like that.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

I had to do something; I couldn't just let it stay tarnished. That would be terribly disrespectful to the badge.

[yourunichase]

It's going to get tarnished over again.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

I suppose I'll have to get another toothbrush then.

[scentbombed]

[She sighs when she sees the badge-polishing. Of course he is.] What's suspicious about it, George?

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

[It was going all rusty! Like the deck and some of the lesser used doorknobs. And letting your badge go rusty is the sort of thing that gets you disciplined.]

How it might have got out of the tank, for one thing.

[scentbombed]

[She'd given hers a half-hearted polish, come to the same conclusion as Parker, and decided to let it go until this "Halloween" day came.]

How what got out of the tank? ...the fish?

[yourunichase]

Probably. I've got some gun cleaning shit that may help if you want to borrow it. It's meant for metal.

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

Don't say that. It might.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

I would appreciate that, if you could spare it.

Nothing terrible has happened to you today, has it?

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

Well. Or the moisture. But you never know...

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

That would be impossible to wear.

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

A lot of things are impossible but they still happen.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

But what would its roots even live on?!?

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

I don't know. It would be interesting to find out.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

Only if it were on someone else's head.

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

That's not nice to say. I'm sure no one else would want it there.

[strangehistorian]

You should probably speak to the janitorial or maintenance departments; we wouldn't want that to grow mold.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

But I don't want one there either.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

Have we got either of those things?

[yourunichase]

Just the normal sunshiney and happy fucking life of people aboard the barge.

[19centconstable.livejournal.com]

...I'm not sure if that's seriousness, or sass.

[yourunichase]

Does it need to be one or the other?