Falling through the Deep Slot

Part One

(Simon.)

"I... I don't think I can watch any more of this," Kaylee said, shuddering and getting up from the narrow two-person couch in Serenity's lounge. (I didn't particularly like the fact that she wasn't beside me anymore, but understood why.) "It - it's not like they're really telling us anything new at this point, just replaying the vids that they've got over and over again, and talkin' more about what they think of it all..." She reached out for the control that would darken the screen, but thought better of enforcing her will upon everybody else's viewing choice, no matter how good her reasons were.

"The way of the 'verse, Kaylee," Mal said softly, a bitter smile on his face. "When all is said and done, the Cortex news networks only care about ratings, and following the pack instinct. Nobody wants to stop focusing on a story like this, no matter how little of note they have to say - or how it affects the spirit of those who can't stop watching..."

"Oooh, hey, violence and gore!" Jayne exclaimed, passing through at just the right moment and getting distracted by the scene being shown - an argument turning into a knife-fight in a ravaged urban neighborhood, the street lit by waste-receptacle fires. "What's the series? Or is it a feature??"

"Actually, despite the high quality of the brutality being shown, this wasn't staged for our entertainment by the vid studios," I muttered in disgust, standing up and embracing Kaylee as a way to show that I supported her. "At least, not as far as we know. It's being aired as news footage from the Sihnon riots."

"Ohh." Jayne considered that, then pulled a small bag of self-puffing corn out of one of his big cargo pockets. "Seems like good viewing anyway."

I shared a look with Kaylee, and we left the lounge together - to my surpirse, we were followed by Mal, Zoe, and Inara, which would leave Jayne alone in there. As the five of us milled around in the hallway uncertainly, an unfamiliar voice called out. "Hello, capt