thirdreturned | IC Inbox

I see. Thank you.

[Look at that, he's using his polite adult words. This is all valuable information, and it's going to give him plenty to think about.]

One more question. When you say it operates based on your abilities, what exactly does that mean? Which abilities specifically power the Door?

[She knows the time for a pair of the gods to be sent is coming very soon, so no time like the present to ask some questions.]

Hello, Sorrow. Around the time of the divide, you said you would be willing to answer questions about your enemies if we managed to survive. I would like to have that discussion now, if you have the time.

Of course.

[He hums in affirmation.]

I appreciate your patience. What is your question?

Just what is it that you think you'd be helping us with?

It's difficult to explain. The Door draws in on chaos and disorder. It searches for a mirror of our power source- fear, sorrow, and so on. I suppose if you were to compare it to one of the dogs you humans use, we gave the door a "scent" and it uses that to locate beings that cause, experience, or represent a similar "scent". It then draws them though its threshold.

And before you ask- I don't know exactly how the draw works. It doesn't drain any of our energies to use it. The entire process is self sufficient.

I thought it would be polite to give you time to recuperate after the lovely ball you set up for all of us.

[He probably even got a small snack from her that day. She has some bad memories associated with balls, even if she was happy at that one.]

I have several questions, but the first one is straightforward - what do your enemies look like? If one of them were to ever be pulled through the Door, it would be helpful if the community here was able to recognize it for what it was.

well uh
hope said everyones trying to fix the door
if more of us knew how it worked
or how it brought people here
we could work to fix it with you!
or even if we could somehow lock onto the magical signatures of other worlds we could send people home
and help that way

Of course- though I very much doubt they would be pulled through the Door.

[He pauses for a moment, considering.]

They are metallic. They are comprised of what seems like endless intricate, moving pieces- through this, they are able to adjust their form as they see fit. When they coexisted with us, they chose a shape similar to our previous hosts- though I assume they would not take that shape again.

Then you were misled. Let me be perfectly clear.

I don't want to fix the Door, or to close it. I don't want to send any of you home. Unfortunately, I don't think you can help in that regard. We need you here, regardless of what my allies say- and so, here you will stay.

[She's taking notes as they speak. She wants to be as informed as possible on what they're dealing with here. She's not going to blindly trust the gods any more than they're going to blindly trust her or any other resident of Hadriel, but she is willing to treat them as allies rather than enemies. She will try to work with them if they're willing to do the same.

That they once coexisted is very interesting.]

What was life like when you coexisted with them? What happened to change from coexistence to them trying to wipe all of you out?

[This... takes her a little by surprise. It's not the answer she was expecting, but then again, she's only ever spoken to Hope and Tranquility, who seem to be much more keen on helping the residents when they need it.]

but...
there are probably plenty of people that would be willing to help if you just asked
if you have access to a multiverse why not bring them?
wouldnt it be easier on all of you too? to not have to fight us for stuff?
i dont

does it really not bother you that youre hurting people

They realized our affect on them.

[He says, simply.]

We bring out emotion in others- I'm sure you've felt it at our temples. They discovered this and decided that it was unacceptable to beings as logical as them. So- they eliminated us.

It doesn't work that way. We don't get to pick and choose.

[There's a long pause, before Sorrow addresses the second half of her message.]

I can't afford the kind of empathy you're asking for. I aim to survive- everything else must be secondary or nothing else will matter.

[This is hard. This is really, really hard. From a scientific standpoint, she knows that the desire to reach for life, to push where it's necessary to stay that way, is paramount. But as a person, especially as a monster, where compassion and love are just as vital to their survival as food and magic...

It's unfathomable. This is why humans won the war against monsters, she thinks, and no one died on their side. This action of survival won't kill them.]

whats the point of
you can live with just
living?
you can live with stomping over people just to continue to exist
you can live with yourself that way?

[This is pointless. She can feel the despair creeping at her, and this is probably what he wanted all along.]

im
im sorry this isnt
thank you for answering

[And she stops checking her messages again.]

So they are capable of emotion, but dislike the impact emotion might have on their judgement. I see.

[She supposes she can understand that, to some extent. She prefers to not get overly emotional, and to stay calm.]

What sorts of abilities do they possess, aside from changing their form and adapting? As in how fast are they, how physically strong, do they have energy based attacks, and so on?

They aren't.

[He corrects.]

Not without our influence. They are capable of creating intricate weaponry- but beyond that, I don't believe they have any abilities like we do.

What capabilities do their weapons have?

[Because she would like to know what they're up against. It seems inevitable that all of them are going to be drawn into the gods' war with these beings whether they like it or not. Much as she likes the prospect of a challenge, that's not the same as being willing to go in unprepared.]

They have one that they used to decimate our host population- it emitted some kind of signal, or maybe an airborne virus. I'm not sure.

[Which frustrates him.]

Another- well. They can kill us, which is a feat.

You make it sound as if the Door itself is a sentient being.

[Fishing? Maybe.]

Not a sentient being. A very powerful item, created by my ancestors.

What uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppp.

[ Is this

a mating call???

...Okay, no, actually. It's. Rose trying to get Sorrow's attention as she steps into his temple. Hopefully he apparates in or something since this is a bit more serious than 'call me.' It's also a way of putting on a brave face in the wake of the emotions being here causes - so raw and fresh after her own death - but whatever. She's a big girl.

She can deal with it. And he doesn't have to know if she can't, anyway. That's not on him. ]

Dude, we gotta' talk. Some things called 'the Null' contacted us.

[ Hopefully that gets his attention, if nothing else. ]

[One moment, Sorrow isn't standing in his temple and the next he simply is, as if he's been there this entire time and only just now has anyone cared to notice him. That's not true, of course, but the appearance is strangely not sudden by any means.

He doesn't seem happy.]

Contacted you?

[Hm.]

How?

[ I mean. Does Sorrow ever seem happy?

The blond jumps a little at his suddenly being there. It's interesting to her that it's almost as if he just stepped into frame from offscreen, but... she just chalks if up to them being what they are. ]

Private channel on the network, [ she says, pulling out her phone to show him their contact. ]

They were callin' you parasites and stuff. Super rude. I might have told them to fuck off. [ ...

'Might have.' ]

I'm sure you did.

[He has no doubts about Rosie's crudeness. There's a certain charm to it, after awhile.

Still, Sorrow takes the phone and pages through the post, frowning as he highlights some of the comment threads. He doesn't speak for a long few moments as he processes this, even after he's finished reading what he needs to read. This isn't good.]

...they have always called us parasites, [he explains, because he's not sure what else to say right at the moment,] in a broad stroke, the term isn't incorrect.

[ It only took him almost a year to think so. Hey, if she sticks around for a while, they might be friends in the end after all.

Rose watches him carefully as he reads The Null's contact post. It occurs to her that this is the first time he's ever seemed really... bothered by something. It's of course in the same stoic way he usually contemplates anything, but there's a certain weight to this there hasn't been before.

Then again, she supposes she'd be pretty upset too if the things that slaughtered her entire people were showing their faces around her home. ]

Well, yeah, by the book definition you're parasitic creatures. But who the fuck cares about that? My kind - yokai - translates literally to 'demons.' And look at me, I'm the worst demon to ever demon. What you are isn't who you are, man.

You're Sorrow. Perpetual Grumpy Face McGee who would do anything for his family. The guy - cloud, thing? - who danced with me at the ball when he didn't have to. You might be a right a-hole sometimes, dude, but you're definitely not a 'parasite' to me at least. You're way more than that.

[ Uhm.

Hopefully he still thinks that 'crudeness' is charming because that was possibly the worst compliment/inspirational spiel known to man. ]

Edited 2017-07-04 23:28 (UTC)

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