Oh, you know. [ He sniffs the snacks, before offering her a place on one of the seats with plush cushions! They had actual plush cushions here. It was... nice. ] I want to see if we can-- learn history. Maybe we disturbed an Old World thing, and it's tryin' to get at us.
Exactly. Who are you, who do not know your history? [ A pause, as he seems to glance at something not there for a moment. ]
Ah. That was a quote from a friend. [ The way he said friend was... well. It was the sort of way you might say it if the relationship was complicated. ] I can't stop thinking that I've failed these people by not knowing they were here before.
[She gives a little smile.] That honestly sounds like an adage many friends of mine would agree with. And it makes sense, even to me.
[At the thought of failing others, though, her brow furrows.] That's a considerable burden. But, how could we have known to look until we came across what was left behind?
How could those who had settled here not been curious enough to know? There's no land that is truly unsettled, after all. Over all my time wanderin' the wasteland, there's always people.
[ He is leaning over his big table a little, looking to his claws. ] Yet perhaps people here aren't curious enough.
...Maybe that's why we've come. To spur on that curiosity, by being curious ourselves.
[It's just an idle idea, but. It felt worth sharing, without direction from whatever decided to pull so many souls across the stars and mold them into forms to fit in here.]
You think? [ He perks up a little, stopping himself from talking to something he's clearly seeing in the corner of the room now. There is nothing there. ] Shake up the status quo...
Yeah, that sounds a bit right. These fuckers get us to survive, and we get them to see what they don't know.
[And she thinks it's a good possibility, too. They're outsiders, they already shake things up in a world with its own status quo just by virtue of being here - why couldn't they be here to uncover the mysteries that natives might not ever pay mind to?
Her friends would be very proud of that hypothesis. Well, she hopes they would.]
[ There's a hesitation. Should he reveal a bit more about himself? Should he put down the barriers more? It's clear in his eye that he's thinking, before chuckling: ] Fuck it.
You remember back when we first arrived? When we were havin' visions and shit?
Uh, well. [ Shit. He didn't admit this to just anybody. But he's opening up! ]
I tend to have those sort of visions anyway. Somethin' up with my head. And it still happens, but the normal level of seein' things not there, not the weird level where it's happenin' to everybody.
...No, I don't think so. Unless sometimes seein' times I should have died and not dyin' counts? Usually it's just seein' people who shouldn't be there. Or hearin' them.
Arcade called it some sort of psychosis from the whole-- oh, he was one of my friends. A doctor, though more of a researcher then a doctor-doctor. [ Oh, he seems to light up mentioning a friend! Seeming to almost forget what he's talking about. ] He was a bit of a hardass about some of the shit I did, but that's part of his charm. Better person then I could ever be!
Hm, a clever and well-learned friend, then? I have many of those. Though...er...that isn't a very difficult comparison.
[Girl has an American 6th grade reading comprehension and only enough knowhow with math to do simple transactions. Incredible eye for measurements, though, if it's on fabric. You measure twice to cut once, but she could definitely show off without it.
Sacrilege, though. She'd never.]
I'm glad he could give you a name to what you experience, though. Sometimes, a name is a very helpful thing.
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She will take the proffered claw and use it to help get inside, putting the baggie in her mouth down.]
Apologies - it seemed the most direct. I hadn't seen you in town lately and wanted to check on you.
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He gives a weak smile. ] I've been at the Archives, mostly - did I worry you? [ Has it been days...? No, it couldn't have been. ]
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[She fucking loves Daschbun's Barkery, she can't not share their excellence.]
What have you been looking for in the Archives?
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Hm...that does sound like a good idea, and a possibility. What we saw...it couldn't have been new, buried underground like it was.
I do hope you're taking time to rest while you research.
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Ah. That was a quote from a friend. [ The way he said friend was... well. It was the sort of way you might say it if the relationship was complicated. ] I can't stop thinking that I've failed these people by not knowing they were here before.
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[At the thought of failing others, though, her brow furrows.] That's a considerable burden. But, how could we have known to look until we came across what was left behind?
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[ He is leaning over his big table a little, looking to his claws. ] Yet perhaps people here aren't curious enough.
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[It's just an idle idea, but. It felt worth sharing, without direction from whatever decided to pull so many souls across the stars and mold them into forms to fit in here.]
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Yeah, that sounds a bit right. These fuckers get us to survive, and we get them to see what they don't know.
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[And she thinks it's a good possibility, too. They're outsiders, they already shake things up in a world with its own status quo just by virtue of being here - why couldn't they be here to uncover the mysteries that natives might not ever pay mind to?
Her friends would be very proud of that hypothesis. Well, she hopes they would.]
And I also think it's worth putting effort into.
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[ There's a hesitation. Should he reveal a bit more about himself? Should he put down the barriers more? It's clear in his eye that he's thinking, before chuckling: ] Fuck it.
You remember back when we first arrived? When we were havin' visions and shit?
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I tend to have those sort of visions anyway. Somethin' up with my head. And it still happens, but the normal level of seein' things not there, not the weird level where it's happenin' to everybody.
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Visions...? Of...forgive me if I pry, please - answer not if you prefer. Are these visions of the future? Of the past? Events you ought not know...?
[SIR DO YOU HAVE THE ECHO]
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...No, I don't think so. Unless sometimes seein' times I should have died and not dyin' counts? Usually it's just seein' people who shouldn't be there. Or hearin' them.
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[That explains...the one sided conversation...]
I wouldn't know what to call that, then. Except for seeing the dead. That's happened to me before.
[Casual about it and all]
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[Girl has an American 6th grade reading comprehension and only enough knowhow with math to do simple transactions. Incredible eye for measurements, though, if it's on fabric. You measure twice to cut once, but she could definitely show off without it.
Sacrilege, though. She'd never.]
I'm glad he could give you a name to what you experience, though. Sometimes, a name is a very helpful thing.