☼ 004 ☼ | Video

[wilder]

[Filtered from Seles]

[A rare video feed from Kaneis comes on, partly because one of his roommates had to turn on the tablet. It becomes quickly apparently why- it seems his hands and locks of his hair are tangled up with strips of brightly colored leopard print duct tape. Someone attempted to do home repairs when they knew absolutely nothing about home repair. The background shows one giant hole in the wall about six inches in diameter, just to give you an idea. Allen is next to him, trying to get some of the duct tape off]

Okay okay- I'll ask! Just get me outta this stuff!

[He gives a huff and looks at the camera. He looks rather disgruntled]

Say, does anyone out there know where a person can get a couch? Ours kinda...got wrecked the other day and we can't fix it.

Oh and, stuff to seal up holes in the wall? That'd be good too.

Thanks in- [And then he YELLS "OW" as Allen his roommate pulls a piece out of his hair not so gently]

ALLEN! THAT WAS MY HAIR!

[Transmission end!]

Comments

[Video]

[pactfulfilled]

[The first part of Kaneis' explanation is pretty horrible. But he knows someone who has distrusted and even hated human beings - Lambda's unwavering condescension of humanity is nothing new.]

[But ranches. The word evokes images of cows. Ranches are where cows are herded, bred, and raised for food, right? Should they ever get loose, they have markings on them, and the Windor crest, which help their owners track them down again. So a human ranch means...]

[Asbel's voice wavers a little, his expression drawn.]

You mean they wrecked people's towns...took them prisoner, and then treated them like animals?

[This is so not okay anymore.]

[Video]

[wilder]

Essentially, yeah.

[Really it's only going to get worse from here]

Tethe'alla was pretty lucky, our last Chosen of Regeneration had managed to get them off our land some time ago. Growing up, they were practically just ghost stories you tell kids to spook them into behaving.

But the world connected to ours where Luin is, Sylvarant? Turned out they still had them. I went there for a couple jobs and...well, the ghost stories paled in comparison.

[Video]

[pactfulfilled]

[It's okay, Kaneis. He will tread this depressing path with you. He might break somewhere along the way, though.]

[So, that's why Aster was asking about both of them. They're connected somehow. Kind of like Fodra and Ephinea, he guesses.]

And these activities were just allowed to continue? Wasn't there anyone trying to stop them?

[Because words cannot even describe how horrifying this scenario is. It isn't just torturing one individual; it isn't just being born for a single, terrible purpose; it isn't having your uncle trying to poison you and your family. This is the enslavement of entire populations of people...and for what? What reason could possibly justify all this?!]

What about this Chosen of Regeneration. Couldn't they have gone to Sylvarant as an ambassador and tried to negotiate with the Desians there?

[Video]

[wilder]

[He'll probably answer the rest later, but one thing catches him by surprise]

...Negotiate? Negotiate how exactly?

[Video] yep here we go.

[pactfulfilled]

I don't know exactly... But shouldn't someone at least try talking to them?

I'm not saying what they've done is okay, because it isn't! And I know that not everything can be resolved as simply as that... But these Desians must have some reason for thinking so poorly of human beings and for treating them like this.

There just has to be some other way they could co-exist.

[Video] Sorry for the late

[wilder]

[There's a pause at that. Is this guy for real? He finds himself thinking that, much like he did when he heard Lloyd talk in Mizuho. ]

Heh...you're a soft guy. [it's hard to tell if he means that as a compliment or not, maybe he doesn't know himself]

But I guess it doesn't matter so much anyway. The last Human Ranch was destroyed a couple weeks before I got here. That faction's no more.

[Video]

[pactfulfilled]

[Yep. This guy's for real.]

Thanks, Kaneis. ...I think. [Asbel can't tell either, to be perfectly honest, but a corner of his mouth quirks up in good humor. He's not offended; what Kaneis says is true, however he chooses to look at it.]

[After a moment, he continues more seriously:]

Yeah. I guess it's a little too late to ask them about it now. But what about all the people inside the ranch? Do you know if they made it out alive?

[Video]

[wilder]

[So not clarifying ever. ]

Yeah. The prisoners were evacuated out by the people who destroyed the ranches.

[Video]

[pactfulfilled]

[It's okay, Kaneis. He'll still be your friend even if you think he's a wimp.]

I see. That's good news at least.