thirdreturned | IC Inbox

That wasn't a request for reassurance.

[He states simply, though his lips are tightly pursed and it's clear that his comment is more of an aside than it is an admonishment.

Sorrow changes the subject.]

They're saying that they don't want to kill you. This is likely true- killing you will not be their goal, killing us will be. However, to kill us, they know that many of you will have to die in order to make us vulnerable.

[Which of course, isn't good.]

So they aren't lying. But that doesn't mean that any of you would be safe if you were to work with them.

[Interesting - and noted.]

OK. I think that's all I wanted to ask, for now. Thank you for answering my questions.

Too bad, you got it anyway. I think you're great, yaddah yaddah. [ A bit of teasing. She knows he doesn't need to be reassured but... It feels kind of nice, having it out there - for real - just how much he means to her. What she really thinks of him. ]

Don't worry, that's about all the sappiness I got in me for this visit. [ She'd, like, clap his shoulder or something but... He definitely gives off the 'don't touch me' vibe so she'll. Refrain. ]

Well, I know that. But for most people here, it seems to feel like the lesser or two evils. And unfortunately, you guys are the greater of those two evils. Not how I feel, but some others aren't gonna be as easy to convince.

Gonna' have to win 'em over, somehow, since apparently the promise of 'not dying permanently at least' doesn't seem to be enough.

[He shakes his head, a little incredulous.]

If I have to grovel to your kind so that they will not actively participate in our genocide, then I think these humans are much more heartless than I could ever be.

[ Did he just-

SQUINTS. ]

Dude. [ 1.) Way to kill a moment, bro. 2.) How about no. 3.) SEE 1 & 2. ]

Okay, like. Putting aside the fact that you guys have gotten us killed, put us through emotional roller coaster hell, and can't figure out a way to send people home, it's. It's not groveling? Get off your dumb high horse for like two seconds, c'mon.

[ She feels like he of all people should know that no one here owes the gods anything, just as the gods don't really act like they owe the people here anything. But that's not a functional relationship, which is what they need now more than ever. ]

Most people just want transparency. Answers. Not the vague as fuck bullshit that you've all been giving us so far because 'weeehhh we can't trust you, weeehhhh.' Well, now we're all you've got so you ain't got any fucking choice but to try and trust us if you don't want the Null to win over everyone instead. You'll do anything for your people, I know, so 'groveling' as you call it really shouldn't be too much to ask.

[ SHE LOVES U MAN, BUT REALLY. Quietly... scrubs face, now that she got that out. ]

Sorry. I just. You said you'd talk to me, yeah? If I ask you stuff, will you actually give me straight answers?

[ A beat. ]

Can you trust me?

Edited 2017-07-19 12:26 (UTC)

[He arches a critical brow.]

I know how to send you home. I've said as such to others.

[The other things, sure, he's guilty of at least- but everything is always fixed in the end, isn't it.]

I've always answered every question asked of me to the fullest extent of my abilities with the exception of questions relating to the Door. As far as trust is concerned... many of you openly plot for our deaths. In this post you've shown me, I can count several of you already planning on working with the Null. Is that worthy of my trust?

Right, okay, my mistake. That you won't tell us how you can send us home.

[ Because they're needed. Which isn't a fact Rose minds, honestly, but... She gets why it chafes other people. ]

Ugh, okay, so. Like bits and pieces? To individual people? I'll have to... ask around, I guess. [ She thinks Mello was trying to compile everything, too. Maybe she'll hit him up about helping, after all. ] Why is it so hard for you guys to make a PSA about the shit that matters, jeez.

[ Not... directed specifically at him, but. COMMUNICATION, YA'LL SUCK AT IT. Not that she isn't a giant hypocrite for thinking as such. ]

Okay, but, like. Fuck those other people. [ Wow. Harsh. ] Do you trust me? Just me, just Rose. That's all I'm asking.

Why is it so hard for you to communicate with one another?

[He retaliates, calm as ever.]

Different things matter to different people. I couldn't possibly anticipate all of the questions I'm asked.

[But more to the point, he eyes her at the question, quiet for a moment.]

Do I trust you enough to answer your questions? Of course. I answer every question I can. Do I trust you, now that you've told me that my options are trust you or be killed? Less likely. [He shrugs. It's the honest truth, at least.] I'm working with you. That's enough.

( For... obvious reasons, Kate has historically tried to avoid speaking to Sorrow when it's not necessary. But three years have passed for her, and Hope's worse than useless at telling her how to kill the Null, so-

Here we are.

It's the memory of how Faith spoke of Sorrow when they were here together that spurs Kate to talk to him rather than Fear or Love, and nothing more meaningful than being in the area that leads to her doing it in person at the temple rather than via a communicator. The gentle pressure, the light swell of emotion that comes with stepping foot back into one of the temples catches her off guard for a moment, leaving a dull ache in her chest - the hollow pain of missing someone, the emptiness that's in her mind because Hadriel is a universe away from home. She'll see Faith again, that's most likely, but if these Null get their way-

She can't let that happen. )

You here?

( Where does a glowcloud spend their spare time, anyway? )

Touche, [ is all she says to that. Rose knows she's basically the pot calling the kettle black, but.

She waits for his answer in a moment of stifling silence. When he gives it, her expression is surprisingly placid. Rose can have on helluva poker face when she needs to. It hurts. She's not going to pretend that it doesn't; part of her wonders if he can feel that it does.

If it came down to it, Rose would probably give her life for Sorrow. For the gods. At least if she died trying to save them, it'd be for a purpose. A reason. Her death would have meaning. Even if he doesn't trust her, he doesn't have to. She'd still do it.

After a notable pause, the blond suddenly sports a winning smile to mask the strange, bitter pain causing her heart to ache. ] Alright, well, that's fair! I'll, uh. I'll be in touch, then. Maybe once we compile everything we need to I'll get back to you. Or if there's any other Null updates.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, dude. Sorry for disrupting your schedule.

[ She might hastily trying to exit stage left. Also perhaps reciting a mental mantra of 'Don't cry, don't cry-' as she does. It's fine. She'll be fine. ]

[It's no secret that Nick doesn't exactly trust the gods, especially not after all that's happened.

The last couple of months have been particularly tough on the old synth. There were the ghosts, one of whom appeared as Rey's mother; she asked Nick to kill her in order to save her family, his family. He's not a cold-blooded killer, but he did what he had to do. The blood staining the riverbank reminded him too much of Jenny -- it had all been too close to home.

Then they were put through the wringer with that fake life, in which Rey really was his family: he was married to her mother, living a peaceful life in a small town. It had been about as idyllic as some of those pre-war memories of his he has copied into his hardware, the kind of life he'd never have. As the illusion had faded, he felt his mechanical heart crack from the remorse. That wife he'd had? Dead by his hands, her corpse buried by the water. Hell, it hadn't even been the real Undine, but for as much as that ghost had loved Rey, she might as well have been. She was about as much the real Undine as he was the real Nick Valentine.

Nick's patrols have gotten longer, his head more cluttered. To top it all off, the Null are back on the network, and this time, they're throwing out more than just feelers for who they can turn to their side. Nick can't trust the gods, but he can't trust them, either, especially not with the way they've been talking. So long as the gods die and they get the Door, they don't care who gets hurt.

They believe machines shouldn't feel, shouldn't be as close to human as he is. He might be more machine than man, but he refuses to turn his back on the people who want to stay in Hadriel, those who would be living under these Null. If they can't feel fear, there's no doubt in his mind they don't feel generosity or benevolence, either. They might be able to send folks home with the Door if they got a hold of it, sure... but if they could do that, who was to say they wouldn't send themselves through it, too?

Maybe they would just exist, as they said to one of the curious folks on their transmission, or maybe they'd turn their sights to the next thing they deemed unnatural. Nick doesn't know, but he's not about to hedge his bets on replacing one problem with another. What he wants is answers. Most of the gods are evasive, at best, so shortly after the transmission goes live, he heads to the temple of the most practical of the bunch. There's always the chance the Null could be watching elsewhere on the network; he'd rather do this in person.

Though he doesn't immediately see Sorrow in his temple, Nick doesn't hesitate to let him know why he's here. He speaks up, the quiet discontent in his voice used to fight back the regret he feels stirring in his clockwork gut.]

Hey. I'm sure someone's told you by now, but you've got a bunch of machines on the network again. And this time, they're promising weapons for anyone who wants to try and kill Hope.

Edited 2017-08-01 08:46 (UTC)

[Some time after her conversation with the Null went SO WELL:]

were you serious on what you said before?
about better weapons?

More or less.

[Sorrow steps out of the shadows with all of the grace of a man who's used to such a thing, his hands resting easily in his pockets as he tilts his head toward Kate. He remembers her- gone and then back again, and likely still looking for answers.

He'll entertain her for now.]

What is it?

Rage is not present at the moment.

Why?

[Sorrow isn't physically in his temple, but he's always there in some form or another, aware of the comings and goings through the quiet spikes of emotion therein. He feels it from Nick this time, and more- he feels the rest of it, the regret from the recent events, the difficulty that he's had.

There's no guilt- or if there is, then he doesn't let himself feel it. Everyone does what they can to survive, and the gods here are no different. If that makes them enemies of these people, then so be it, but there's a necessity to it that isn't easily understood by a victim.

Still.]

Yes.

[The voice echoes through the temple and Sorrow steps in gingerly behind Nick, composed as ever, despite the matter at hand.]

But none of you here have the power to kill Hope yet.

[Nick spins as he feels that itch at the back of his neck, synthesized senses telling him someone is standing behind him. His own expression is impassive, even if what he truly feels is harder to hide from the god. There's so much of it this time around that it's harder for him to rein in.]

Not yet. But they've got a few takers this time around.

[Rey stares at his message for a good long moment. An answer forms, but she can't bring herself to type them out. Not because of any moral quandaries, but paranoia.

[Not long after that last message is sent, Rey makes her way to Sorrow's temple herself; her presence made even more timely by the aid of a moped. They're not all that fast, but they beat a brisk walk down the roads here.

[She enters the temple, arms folded over her chest as she looks up at the structure. Sorrow isn't here, but she has a feeling that he might be able to hear her:]

You might be aware of this already, but your network is no longer secure from your enemies. If they can do that, they might have access to your private lines as well.

[Even if they don't, and the gods are confident of the contrary, it never hurts to be cautious. It's saved her and many like her on a number of occasions, after all.]

Edited 2017-08-03 13:21 (UTC)

How d'you kill the- ( Wait, no. ) - a Null?

( May as well get to business. She fought this place for too long last time to bother with the homesickness that pricks at her heart the longer she stands in this place. )

I'm sure they have.

[Not a good sign, but it's not like this wasn't a long time coming. Sorrow frowns and then lets out a soft sigh.]

We need to figure out how to counter these threats. How they're getting onto our network, what their plans are. It's not like any of you can kill Hope within normal means- how do they expect you to do it? What will they ask of you? Anticipating their next move is more vital than anything else.

[His brow knits tighter as he steels himself against that gnawing sense of despondence at the back of his mind.]

They haven't exactly explained what kind of weapons they'll be handing out yet, but these Null seem pretty confident they've got something that'll work. All they need is someone from here to pull the trigger. And after the last couple of months, it's no surprise people are willing to hear them out, even without what they're promising as a reward.

...alright.

[She hears him before he sees him, but Sorrow is present there, lurking in some shadowy corner of his temple as if he's been there this entire time- he hasn't. It's difficult to admit that he's still not entirely sure of what the Null are capable of, particularly when it comes to technology and their own cobbled-together version of it.]

But my point still remains- Rage isn't here to supply the armory.

[Well, that's promising at least.]

A singular is simple: deconstruct it. Brute force is applicable, and some of the more violent abilities of your people here may come in handy. The problem lies in the fact that they are capable of factory reproduction and can upload and copy their consciousness into separate units.

[Ikaruga has had some time to mull over her conversation with Hope, and now she's going to Sorrow to address other questions.]

Sorrow. I am sure someone has made you aware of the Null's offer by now. I am not under the delusion that you will tell me where the Door can be found, but I was hoping you might tell me other things about it.

[Things that could potentially impact the decisions people make in the days to come.]

First of all...is it possible to send people to universes other than their own?

[Welp, that's not too weird. Rey doesn't give a start at Sorrow's appearance; just turns to face the direction his voice comes from.]

The Null are offering to supply us with weapons. Of course, they also want us to use them to kill Hope, but was wondering if they could be of any use to you. Maybe you could study them, figure out how to manufacture something better to fight them with.

( You don't know the half of it, Sorrow. But, for the moment, Kate is more concerned with the news of how their opponents work. Not quite like Creatures - both able to shift their consciousness into other forms, but Creatures are still biological entities, with no factory to recreate them.

The idea of locating and destroying those factories flits into her mind quickly - possibly all too obvious a plot not to have been tried before. Kate pauses, braces herself against a pillar behind her, hands splayed on cold stone as silence stretches out. The instinct to survive sings as loud as it ever does when trapped underground, with the knowledge that something wants to kill them. It's one thing to be the hunter, to know that you place your life in danger by following orders, but being the hunted is a constant prickle across her skin, something that sets hairs on end and shortens breath. )

... They have personalities?

( From what she's seen on the network, picked up from other residents here, they seem to be a unit without any differentiation. All one, all determined to kill the parasites. But she, like most Superhumans, believed that about Creatures too. They were just mindless things that wanted everyone on the surface dead or suffering.

That wasn't true, so maybe this could be less black and white than it seems. )

Mean, there a chance some of them want summat other than to kill you all?

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