( 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? )
[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.
( 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. )
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.
( 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?
[Kinda-sorta... Sorrow's brows furrow a little as he tries to explain it.]
But they lack the capacity for emotion. They are separate entities, but because they share a core logic and moral code, they all possess very similar, if not identical, personalities.
[It's a bit difficult to explain, but she'd probably understand him. Kate is a smart cookie and Sorrow can be patient when the time calls for it.]
They all want us dead. Even if some of them don't desire our deaths, they still agree with the logic that we pose a threat to their core function and thus, we must be eliminated.
( At the very least, she's accustomed to this sort of existence. It's one she hates, one that sparks some mix of anger, frustration and upset in the very deepest recesses of her mind, but it's inevitable. Maybe she's just meant to fight, to do the things she hates.
She thought this a long time ago, but it keeps proving itself true. )
Great.
( There's no attempt to conceal the annoyance at that explanation. For a moment she'd hoped, thought there might be some ability to convince some of them. Have double agents. Not need to kill all of them - she doesn't want to, wants to be better than the black and white thinking that led The Agency to the place it was ten years ago. But logic is a tricky beast, one that convinces beings more fully than anything else. She doesn't see a way around it. )
Just have to find out where they reproduce and burn it.
( WHAT SARCASM THAT'S NO BIG TASK AT ALL.
... Where's Faith and her firepower when Kate needs it jfc. )
( Long. Fucking. Pause. Feat. Blinking before eventually...
Kate sighs and rubs her temples with a hand as she takes the information in. It's one thing to topple The Agency, and they didn't even do that well. (Well would have not involved ten years of trying to fix it only to end up with an uneasy truce.) To try and stop invading robots who've apparently travelled lightyears further than her version of humanity has managed is another thing entirely.
She sort of sees why running has been the only option up until now. But it can't be the continued option. It isn't feasible. And they can't just give up and keep letting the gods run the show without any input. )
Yours didn't?
( It's out of left field, but she has no answers to the problem of the Null right now. Only frustration. )
We expanded through our own solar system before we met the Null. They assisted us in traveling to others, but we did not reach as far as they did through the stars.
( She isn't saying that for any real reason, it's just the observation that she can't ignore, a reminder of just how disparate her world is from theirs. Indeed, from many other worlds. Glacius' universe has species travelling across the solar systems, as well. There are many people who say that there's no such thing as magic or powers where they come from; whether that's because they've never come across the idea personally, or because there truly isn't, who knows. Things continue being so different that it's hard to get a grip on it all, and each time you think you do, something else happens.
But she promised Faith they'd help these beings out. Promised herself that she wasn't going back to being the person she was in The Agency - turning blind eyes, gritting her teeth, keeping herself safe at the expense of an entire Underground species.
She inhales through her teeth, nearly glowering at Sorrow for a minute. Nothing that's personal and everything that's just her face and how it works. )
Had easier missions.
( U n d e r s t a t e m e n t. )
Don't want to see you lot die, mind. Think Faith'd kill me if she remembered this place.
[He remembers Faith. She was- kind, and sympathetic. He wasn't always kind to her, not that he's always kind to anyone, but he appreciated her all the same.
It's noble that Kate is doing this for them and for her. He finds himself nodding at the thought.]
I understand that we will have to work together for this. I am willing to do so- I don't have much of a choice, really. But at this point, neither do you.
[And whose fault is that?]
What I mean to say is- thank you. I'll keep your contributions in mind.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action.
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? )
action.
[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?
action.
( 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. )
action.
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.
action.
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?
action.
[Kinda-sorta... Sorrow's brows furrow a little as he tries to explain it.]
But they lack the capacity for emotion. They are separate entities, but because they share a core logic and moral code, they all possess very similar, if not identical, personalities.
[It's a bit difficult to explain, but she'd probably understand him. Kate is a smart cookie and Sorrow can be patient when the time calls for it.]
They all want us dead. Even if some of them don't desire our deaths, they still agree with the logic that we pose a threat to their core function and thus, we must be eliminated.
action.
She thought this a long time ago, but it keeps proving itself true. )
Great.
( There's no attempt to conceal the annoyance at that explanation. For a moment she'd hoped, thought there might be some ability to convince some of them. Have double agents. Not need to kill all of them - she doesn't want to, wants to be better than the black and white thinking that led The Agency to the place it was ten years ago. But logic is a tricky beast, one that convinces beings more fully than anything else. She doesn't see a way around it. )
Just have to find out where they reproduce and burn it.
( WHAT SARCASM THAT'S NO BIG TASK AT ALL.
... Where's Faith and her firepower when Kate needs it jfc. )
action.
[Just to make matters more complicated.]
Their civilization has spread across worlds and solar systems.
action.
Kate sighs and rubs her temples with a hand as she takes the information in. It's one thing to topple The Agency, and they didn't even do that well. (Well would have not involved ten years of trying to fix it only to end up with an uneasy truce.) To try and stop invading robots who've apparently travelled lightyears further than her version of humanity has managed is another thing entirely.
She sort of sees why running has been the only option up until now. But it can't be the continued option. It isn't feasible. And they can't just give up and keep letting the gods run the show without any input. )
Yours didn't?
( It's out of left field, but she has no answers to the problem of the Null right now. Only frustration. )
action.
[He shakes his head.]
We expanded through our own solar system before we met the Null. They assisted us in traveling to others, but we did not reach as far as they did through the stars.
action.
( She isn't saying that for any real reason, it's just the observation that she can't ignore, a reminder of just how disparate her world is from theirs. Indeed, from many other worlds. Glacius' universe has species travelling across the solar systems, as well. There are many people who say that there's no such thing as magic or powers where they come from; whether that's because they've never come across the idea personally, or because there truly isn't, who knows. Things continue being so different that it's hard to get a grip on it all, and each time you think you do, something else happens.
But she promised Faith they'd help these beings out. Promised herself that she wasn't going back to being the person she was in The Agency - turning blind eyes, gritting her teeth, keeping herself safe at the expense of an entire Underground species.
She inhales through her teeth, nearly glowering at Sorrow for a minute. Nothing that's personal and everything that's just her face and how it works. )
Had easier missions.
( U n d e r s t a t e m e n t. )
Don't want to see you lot die, mind. Think Faith'd kill me if she remembered this place.
( And those are the only things that matter. )
action.
It's noble that Kate is doing this for them and for her. He finds himself nodding at the thought.]
I understand that we will have to work together for this. I am willing to do so- I don't have much of a choice, really. But at this point, neither do you.
[And whose fault is that?]
What I mean to say is- thank you. I'll keep your contributions in mind.
action.
( When. Not if. Never if. She can't afford to think in ifs, not right now. )
Anything else we need to know?
( Nothing crosses her mind, at the moment. But maybe Sorrow can think of something she hasn't. )
action.
[Though he appreciates her optimism.]
We'll know more when Rage and Delight return.
action.
See ya.
( Kate out, broski. )