So I see. [she gathered as much from the memory, and it's clear she's equally curious now.] And in being here, how many new topics have you found that have managed to catch it?
[besides if the cult can summon a god (that may be a baby god?? unclear.)]
A few. Magic is interesting, in the sense that some of it also needs to follow clear rules in order to be done. That is also its own system, in the way that technology is. If I could harness that to make things more efficient, it can help in addressing some rare strains of disease.
The concept of different worlds is also interesting, if only because it can open more doors to more unknowns.
[ they tilt their head, curious ]
So it hasn't been all bad. Even so, your lives getting caught in the matter was not in my expectations.
More doors to more unknowns and more potentials for what you're planning to study next. [makes sense to her. there are a lot of concepts she herself has started to learn from people here. but...]
Does it irritate you at all? That us being here is a problem you didn't anticipate and don't have a solid answer for. [she's not so much asking if he cares he can't help them, but more out of curiosity how he views the situation itself.]
[ they answer so fast, frowning as they cross their arms ]
I left my country so that the only one who would have to pay for my choices and curiosity would be myself. And then I have to sit here, watching the lot of you get summoned, and if I ignore it then that's forty lives that I did nothing for when I'm one of the best people equipped to save you.
[ in the end, nothing has dulled the arrogance. not even this setback. even though magic entering the equation has left him less effective than he usually is
he does care that he can't help them. he cares very much. ]
I would've welcomed this challenge if it didn't mean so much unnecessary sacrifice.
[the arrogance should bother her given there're fucks like hojo running around but the difference between him and people like famine is how they approach their research and the people used for it. so it's fine, she thinks.]
...I'm sorry you have to watch this then. [it's been something she's sort of thought about when it comes to the overseers, how frustrating it must be for all three of the ones remaining to have to sit back and just watch this happen because it's a problem they can't fix, even if 2/3 of them try to evade any sort of attachments or showing outwardly they care about it so easily.]
I want to believe we'll still be able to figure things out and stop it before all of us are gone, but...I don't know what to do for the people we've lost and will continue to lose until then. And if some of the best minds aren't sure either...[she's not giving up hope, but she's really kind of being hit with "okay literal wizards and technological life-saving geniuses and whatever the hell is going on with pestilence still aren't enough, so what can we do?"]
It almost feels that the problem we should tackle first is stopping their weekly ritual that's affecting people's monster alignments, but without knowing how the ritual goes it's harder to derail it. Even if it wouldn't stop the bigger ritual right away, it'd buy us time.
[ famine thinks about this—but ultimately decides it's a conversation he'd rather have face to face. he slips off the mask so that once again you witness this wretched bastard. bright blue eyes meet aerith's ]
I have learned the folly of putting one's entire focus on one thing. I understand the temptation to stop the weekly deaths first and foremost, but if we become so railroaded upon that thought and still find nothing, then we won't have any progress to save whoever is remaining come the time of the god summoning ritual. Then all your lives will be forfeit.
[ there's just too many problems in the world! horrible! ]
That is not to say that we should give up on either. Rather, strategic moves should be made to make progress in both.
[ his gaze flicks off elsewhere in thought before landing on her again ]
And though I cannot speak on the details, I do believe steps forward have been taken. It is not enough to ease minds, nor will it make the deaths that happen any more acceptable. However, we are not standing still.
[there he is, the bitch. for a moment she's staring into his eyes because sometimes you're from a place where some of the boys you know have pretty, glowing eyes from special surgeries. she doesn't think that's this, but what does she know yet?
instead, she gives him her undivided attention and listens. there sure are too many problems! and it sucks! how do you deal with so many problems and not enough solutions to fix them all.]
...I suppose that's true. It becomes narrowing it down instead of focusing on the bigger picture while telling ourselves it's for the bigger picture. [she would still like to stop the weekly murders, but she understands his point and why he's bringing it up. when phrased that way, she doesn't disagree.]
Progress is progress, even if it's slow. And maybe it needs to be slow to draw less attention in order to succeed. [it still means lives lost.] I...am not a genius like you are. I don't know if what I'm doing will be enough while things continue the way they have been. I believe the three of you are doing everything you can to help us move forward. And I'm grateful for that. But I guess the thing I'm worried about is how much paranoia and distrust will continue to grow when we're all in a situation where we've been told we can't always trust our friends to be innocent. Makes it harder for people to think we're getting anywhere at all.
[she waves a hand.] Not that the morale is your responsibility. I'm sure the three of you have enough on your plate. Maybe I'm just thinking out loud. [and she's come to respect the fact that famine is, in a word, pragmatic.]
[ she cares so much and then she just fucking dies i can't stand it ]
You are the one who has to live through sitting through all the distrust and paranoia in the village. You can hardly be blamed for the matter. Since you're thinking about it logically and not just focusing on your feelings, I don't care if you vent to me about it a little.
[ she's right that he doesn't really care that much about people's emotional states as long as they're alive but
he used to not care at all. he is trying to, even vaguely, be a little bit better about that ]
[that's what you get for being a good person. also #justcanonthings]
I do appreciate that. [because she's pretty sure a lot of people are making a lot of complaints everywhere.] I'll think of something to try and keep everybody together and not give into that distrust. I've talked to enough people about things to improve morale so...it's just about executing them, right? Keep everyone's minds as clear as possible to keep our eyes open. There's only so much I can do with one person per week with my power, but...it's a start.
[she considers this for a moment, and she was going to ask this before she was slated to die but.]
And speaking of my power. I know it'll get a boost when I find my partner, but is there any way to get a hint as to what kind of boost that'd be?
Soooo...if I went back to my partner and told them we were actually a match, with our particular power do you think it'd be more like an enhancement of how strong the thought is? Or how long it lasts?
[this doesn't matter because she's dead now, but.]
I know who my partner is. And I know he doesn't want to match right now, but we may need to in the future. Would I be able to get a power hint instead?
We are starting to get to a point people will have have to trust it'll be worth it, but with as many people as we lost last week, the numbers could deplete if there're partnerships in play.
[but. risks, rewards.]
Have you had a lot of people coming to ask for hints finding their own?
That's surprising. Good, but surprising. [...] I did tell Cloud and Yuffie that if they wanted to find theirs, they should. Especially with the kind of abilities they both have. A boost could be useful for both of them.
There's really only so much I can say to them, but...I'll try. [...] Maybe this is also a stretch, but there's no benefit for us as a group if enough people partner up, is there? Just the individual perks.
Thought I'd ask. [it could at least help her swing a few more reluctant people, but understandable.] It's fine, I suppose. If enough people are asking for hints, then it just means we'll have to start preparing for even bigger displays of power in the future.
[y...ay.]
Could work to our advantage, or could work against us. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
That's my other question for you. Do you guys know when we're actually using these powers? Or are you just as surprised as we are? [...] I don't disagree that the sooner we leave, the better, but that's just because I'm starting to think everyone's going to get even more stir-crazy and keep doing all of this.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[besides if the cult can summon a god (that may be a baby god?? unclear.)]
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The concept of different worlds is also interesting, if only because it can open more doors to more unknowns.
[ they tilt their head, curious ]
So it hasn't been all bad. Even so, your lives getting caught in the matter was not in my expectations.
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Does it irritate you at all? That us being here is a problem you didn't anticipate and don't have a solid answer for. [she's not so much asking if he cares he can't help them, but more out of curiosity how he views the situation itself.]
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[ they answer so fast, frowning as they cross their arms ]
I left my country so that the only one who would have to pay for my choices and curiosity would be myself. And then I have to sit here, watching the lot of you get summoned, and if I ignore it then that's forty lives that I did nothing for when I'm one of the best people equipped to save you.
[ in the end, nothing has dulled the arrogance. not even this setback. even though magic entering the equation has left him less effective than he usually is
he does care that he can't help them. he cares very much. ]
I would've welcomed this challenge if it didn't mean so much unnecessary sacrifice.
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...I'm sorry you have to watch this then. [it's been something she's sort of thought about when it comes to the overseers, how frustrating it must be for all three of the ones remaining to have to sit back and just watch this happen because it's a problem they can't fix, even if 2/3 of them try to evade any sort of attachments or showing outwardly they care about it so easily.]
I want to believe we'll still be able to figure things out and stop it before all of us are gone, but...I don't know what to do for the people we've lost and will continue to lose until then. And if some of the best minds aren't sure either...[she's not giving up hope, but she's really kind of being hit with "okay literal wizards and technological life-saving geniuses and whatever the hell is going on with pestilence still aren't enough, so what can we do?"]
It almost feels that the problem we should tackle first is stopping their weekly ritual that's affecting people's monster alignments, but without knowing how the ritual goes it's harder to derail it. Even if it wouldn't stop the bigger ritual right away, it'd buy us time.
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I have learned the folly of putting one's entire focus on one thing. I understand the temptation to stop the weekly deaths first and foremost, but if we become so railroaded upon that thought and still find nothing, then we won't have any progress to save whoever is remaining come the time of the god summoning ritual. Then all your lives will be forfeit.
[ there's just too many problems in the world! horrible! ]
That is not to say that we should give up on either. Rather, strategic moves should be made to make progress in both.
[ his gaze flicks off elsewhere in thought before landing on her again ]
And though I cannot speak on the details, I do believe steps forward have been taken. It is not enough to ease minds, nor will it make the deaths that happen any more acceptable. However, we are not standing still.
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instead, she gives him her undivided attention and listens. there sure are too many problems! and it sucks! how do you deal with so many problems and not enough solutions to fix them all.]
...I suppose that's true. It becomes narrowing it down instead of focusing on the bigger picture while telling ourselves it's for the bigger picture. [she would still like to stop the weekly murders, but she understands his point and why he's bringing it up. when phrased that way, she doesn't disagree.]
Progress is progress, even if it's slow. And maybe it needs to be slow to draw less attention in order to succeed. [it still means lives lost.] I...am not a genius like you are. I don't know if what I'm doing will be enough while things continue the way they have been. I believe the three of you are doing everything you can to help us move forward. And I'm grateful for that. But I guess the thing I'm worried about is how much paranoia and distrust will continue to grow when we're all in a situation where we've been told we can't always trust our friends to be innocent. Makes it harder for people to think we're getting anywhere at all.
[she waves a hand.] Not that the morale is your responsibility. I'm sure the three of you have enough on your plate. Maybe I'm just thinking out loud. [and she's come to respect the fact that famine is, in a word, pragmatic.]
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You are the one who has to live through sitting through all the distrust and paranoia in the village. You can hardly be blamed for the matter. Since you're thinking about it logically and not just focusing on your feelings, I don't care if you vent to me about it a little.
[ she's right that he doesn't really care that much about people's emotional states as long as they're alive but
he used to not care at all. he is trying to, even vaguely, be a little bit better about that ]
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I do appreciate that. [because she's pretty sure a lot of people are making a lot of complaints everywhere.] I'll think of something to try and keep everybody together and not give into that distrust. I've talked to enough people about things to improve morale so...it's just about executing them, right? Keep everyone's minds as clear as possible to keep our eyes open. There's only so much I can do with one person per week with my power, but...it's a start.
[she considers this for a moment, and she was going to ask this before she was slated to die but.]
And speaking of my power. I know it'll get a boost when I find my partner, but is there any way to get a hint as to what kind of boost that'd be?
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[ pours one out on aerith being able to use it cry ]
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... No. It's more useful than that.
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I know who my partner is. And I know he doesn't want to match right now, but we may need to in the future. Would I be able to get a power hint instead?
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No. You would both have to discover it together.
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...maybe I'll check in again in a few weeks. See if he's changed his mind at all. I'm sure other people are wondering the same, too. As incentives.
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I'm not surprised.
But unfortunately, with some things you have to take the plunge.
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[but. risks, rewards.]
Have you had a lot of people coming to ask for hints finding their own?
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[ since the consensus is people being like oh nope ]
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That's surprising. Good, but surprising. [...] I did tell Cloud and Yuffie that if they wanted to find theirs, they should. Especially with the kind of abilities they both have. A boost could be useful for both of them.
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scien glances off to the side ]
... take that up with both of them. They're the ones in charge of their fates. As are you.
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Only individual benefits, yes.
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[y...ay.]
Could work to our advantage, or could work against us. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
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We will. It's interesting to watch you all run around and make choices... though ultimately, the sooner we get you all out of here, the better.
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