10 - [Video]

[biwinning]

[So Sollux thought it'd be a good idea to see what Earth movies are like. And with Crank as his only basis thus far, he's 1. not impressed, and 2. confused on a few things.]

Hey.

That movie that was shown last night, used a lot of words I don't know. Human vernacular ith really stupid and weird. Tho everyone should tell me all the thwear words they know and what they mean. There were like twenty onesth I didn't know in that movie, and I thtill don't get what they meant. Thith ith for educational purposes, of course.

Comments

[heartsink]

When people are endeared to someone, they start caring, and in caring feel as though they have some personal stake in that person's life.

It's cumbersome.

[biwinning]

yeah, ii know.
but even iif you don't fully tru2t 2omeone you can 2tiill enjoy theiir pre2ence a2 long a2 you can accept that iit ha2 half a chance of ju2t dii2appeariing overniight.

[heartsink]

Even a number like that is too optimistic for me. I don't mean to disappoint, but I'm no good at something like friendship anymore.

[biwinning]

ii u2ed two have a friiend who wa2 conviinced friiend2hiip wa2 a dii2ea2e.
but we 2tiill talked.
kiind of.
eiither way.

[heartsink]

Yeah. I'm not a complete misanthrope just yet.

If expectations are maintained at a suitable level, then I don't mind.

[biwinning]

ii wiill keep my expectatiion2 of you deva2tatiingly low.

[heartsink]

That's all I can ask.

[biwinning]

iit'2 ea2y enough.
ii already have low expectatiion2 of mo2t people.

[heartsink]

Hah. You have the advantage over most people, then.

[biwinning]

except not many would call that an advantage.

[heartsink]

Most people don't understand the sort of situation they're in, right now. They assume they do, or think they do, but their ideals don't match reality.

[biwinning]

ii know.
they expect they 2tiill have the 2ame priiviilege2, and riight2 they had before.
the 2ame expectatiion2 of the government, of people, that they had before.
half of them ii'm 2ure don't realiize that thii2 ii2 a war.
ju2t becau2e we aren't liiviing on the battlefiield doe2n't mean we aren't iin one.

[heartsink]

Right. Even that besides, no matter if it's dressed up in noble robes, or if whatever situation we left was less than idyllic, it's still kidnapping. Keeping us alive in something above squalor doesn't change that.

Our neighbors in confinement aren't much more trustworthy, even if we share this situation.

[biwinning]

ii'd 2tiill tru2t the iiniitiiatiive before ii'd tru2t the other tran2port2.
wiith liike 2 exceptiion2.

[heartsink]

Oh? What makes you say that?

[biwinning]

ii have looked iintwo earth hii2tory of the land of au2traliia.
2iince we've made two vii2iit2 there iin partiicular.
iit'2 apparent oriigiin a2 a "country" ii2 that iit wa2 e22entiially a land of random criimiinal2 dumped iinto one place and ba2iically told two 2ort iit all out for them2elve2.
that ii2 e22entiially where we are now.
we are a bunch of uncoordiinated 2urviivor2 brought two thii2 land wiith nothiing two do but follow the people who proviide for u2.
we range from lawful good two chaotiic eviil.
and iif ii had deciided two go on a rampage, there are few that could 2top me.
ii would tru2t the dumba22e2 who brought u2 here by acciident more than ii would tru2t the a22hole who can and would blow up a buiildiing wiithout a 2econd thought.

[heartsink]

Hah. Fair enough.

[biwinning]

...really?
mo2t people that hear me 2ay that u2ually 2ay "you're beiing paranoiid."
or
"we can't tru2t them eiither."

[heartsink]

Really.

It's sort of a, caught between Scylla and Charybdis situation. On the one hand, a giant monster that will kill and eat you, and probably most everyone else stuck in the same boat as you. On the other, an inescapable whirlpool that will sink your ship and kill everyone on board.

Choosing one over another isn't a case of "safe" and "unsafe." Rather, it's "unsafe" and "a different kind of unsafe." Just because you would trust one person in a situation before another, that doesn't mean you truly trust either of them.

But then, I'm surly, uncooperative, and paranoid, and I would sooner throw myself overboard than choose either.

[biwinning]

ii don't get the exact reference of the metaphor but ii get the poiint and you're riight.
but ii gue22 ii'd be the guy who'd piick the whiirlpool than the mon2ter.
ii iintend two 2tay here, once the war ii2 over.
ii have another certaiin death waiitiing for me where ii belong.
ii u2ed two look forward two iit but
not now.

[heartsink]

You know, people keep telling me that it's random, who the Initiative manages to bring here.

But it seems so improbable in light of something like that.

[biwinning]

iit ha2 two be random.
why would they piick 2o many u2ele22 people iif iit wa2n't.

[heartsink]

Nobody is completely useless. You can make anyone useful with enough effort.

But the potential for loyalty, for a cause like this, in a situation like this? I'd say that's a much rarer quality.

[biwinning]

no.
tru2t me.
there are a lot of completely u2ele22 people here.
ii took a tally, month2 ago.
they have no miiliitary background, no phy2iical or mental 2trength, no abiiliitiie2, no knowledge of anythiing of value iin partiicular.
that ii2 u2ele22.

my loyalty two them ii2 rare, ye2, but iit'2 only thiird on my priioriitiie2.
fiir2t two my quadrant2 and my friiend2.
2econd two my2elf, for the pre2ervatiion of the fiir2t.

[heartsink]

Military skill is covered by the mandatory training sessions; having fewer people with a previous military background reduces the risk of a successful strategic coup, and lowers the chance of having soldiers with a more firmly entrenched loyalty elsewhere.

Physical strength can be trained; mental strength ends up with people asking more questions. From what I can gather, everyone is given "abilities" through their Weapons.

It's easier to turn a canvas into the picture you want if it's blank of anything that would hinder you. Why do you think so many of the people brought here are adolescents?