05: † text

[salvagedsoul]

Hello, everyone.

I have been in United Earth territory since June. I was released last week. Although I have been inspected and declared safe by the Initiative, I feel that it is my obligation to notify you all of what happened.

I am very eager to see some of you again. I am staying in my assigned housing at 502 while I continue to recover. Please come by at your convenience.


((feel free to use this post for both network conversations and action!))

Comments

[salvagedsoul]

[If Kaworu knew she was painting it in a positive light, he'd reassure her that it wasn't necessary. But instead, he reads her message carefully and looks back at her.]

I see.

[Her wings are still magnetic, even knowing that they aren't particularly special or empowering. The nature of Lilim makes him worry for the situation she may have been living in before coming to Exsilium.]

Are humans like you treated well by the others?

[reassures]

[There's a very good reason to paint it in a positive light. Painting it otherwise gives more away than she's typically comfortable with, make her lies start to come apart at the seams. One question leads to another, and another, until they realize that almost everything she has told them is a lie.

She's pretty sure she's never had the opportunity to lie that much to Kaworu, though, and at the very least she doubted he'd be the type to go telling people. He's smart enough to realize people are treated differently, and he'd be smart enough to realize she was lying if she said they were all treated fairly and equally.]

No.

Humans like me are descendants of genetically modified humans. Other humans thought their experiments would surpass them, so they gave them all limits to make them "less than human". They still do that today if they can get hold of anyone like me.

Not all normal humans are like that, but most of them are.

[salvagedsoul]

[Ah.

His wondering gaze seems to soften at that explanation. She is like him, in a way.]

Fear of the unknown is unavoidable. Humankind has progressed to its current advanced state by ceaselessly threatening what lied in the darkness, torch in hand.

[reassures]

I know. Humans are always afraid of things they don't understand, even if those things are of their own making.

[Humans are terrible sometimes-- no, more than just sometimes. They do terrible things to people that don't deserve it. But...

Worlds with seasons and stars and a sun and moon are so beautiful, and humans are too, in their own way.

She sits there, motionless for a moment, before another small smile spreads across her face.]

I try not to hold it against them.

[salvagedsoul]

That is very virtuous of you.

[He sets his tea cup back. Slowly, he slips back and under the covers until he's laying down, staring up at the ceiling.]

There are few in the world who retain mercy and forgiveness after being wronged.

[reassures]

[Nill watches quietly and carefully, trying to see if his movements give anything of him away. He was gone for a long time, and she has plenty of reason to be worried about what kind of injuries he might have brought back with him.

After a moment she giggles, not exactly because what he said is funny, but... maybe because it's sad.]

I'm not very merciful. I'm not very forgiving anymore either. I just try to do what I can.

[salvagedsoul]

[For the most part, his expression gives away very little. He does look a bit tired, like he needs to sleep - but he's not disoriented, he's not in pain, and he doesn't look particularly unhappy or content. If anything, his behavior would suggest a kind of numb feeling, and yet, his voice is calm and neutral.]

"Not anymore"?

[reassures]

[He's a very odd boy - that much is obvious, although Nill is sure that's less because he isn't human, and more because he's just the way he is. In a way it's almost nice. He's much more mature than a lot of people she's known, Heine included; What Kaworu had in neutrality and calm Heine had in anger and demons.]

I was before I knew what to expect from people.

[Before she realized the severity of her situation. Years ago she would never have thought the people here would eventually turn against them - now she had seen it coming miles away.]

[salvagedsoul]

[Nill is a bit of an unusual case. Normally he'd let the humans he spoke to tell him as much as they wanted or didn't want, with his own mind being more than able to fill in the blanks or deduce what had happened. But perhaps, Nill would just tell him. Although she seems to have seen some bad things, and endured some bad treatment, she is not particularly closed-off about it. Kaworu has to admit to himself that he wants to know, after all the wise words she's said to him.]

And what do you expect?

[reassures]

I expect people like the Natives to reject people like the Transports immediately. I expect to be put in terrible situations, and for the people responsible for it to not care-- for Transports to be just as awful as Natives at times. I expect no one to look after the people I love outside of myself.

[She frowns down at the message, unsure of how to word this properly. It's strange to put a concept - a feeling - she hasn't really discussed into words.]

I expect the world to be a cruel place, regardless of what world it is-- but I also expect some people in those worlds to be very kind.