02 | Video

[maddeninghatter]

[ Baaa Baa-aa-aaaaaa Baaaaaaaaaaa! ]

I say, hello, hel-looooo! I have a question for you all--

[ The grime-smeared face of Xerxes Break appears onscreen. His white hair is discolored with dust and stuck together. There's a semicircular wound under his right cheekbone, and the shoulder of his jacket looks chewed. Despite all of this, he seems terribly pleased with himself. ]

Does anyone here have qualifications in animal husbandry?

[ More angry bleating and a yelp! Break turns. Visible in the background is another (also dirty and disheveled) man, desperately fending off a sheep. It’s not going at all according to plan; with a single headbutt he’s out of the camera’s line of sight, followed by a thud and worrisome tinkling noises. ]

Why, Gilbert. I think she likes you! ♥

[ Moving right along... ]

Anyway - yes. I'm looking specifically for people with experience or interest in shepherding, as well as shearing, spinning, knitting, cheese-making--

[ Another CRASH! and a voice yelling, “Break, look out!" ]

--and hand-to-hand combat! Kindly respond to this post, or apply in person to the botanical gar--

[ Break’s face suddenly disappears. The last image visible onscreen is… this. ]

Comments

[retraced]

I wouldn't let them.

[For as tired as he sounds, he also sounds confident in his ability to keep it from happening.]

[payback]

You'd better be careful unless someone gets the idea to do just that! If they're wandering around...

[retraced]

Why would they want to? They're a bit...temperamental - but it's still useful to keep them around.

[payback]

You know there's some people who aren't rational around here. There's just bound to be, with an outworlder population here this big, and the setting. I bet someone would chop them up just for fun!

[retraced]

--Y-you think so?!

[He hasn't met the majority of the population, but her paranoia feeds into his the more adamantly she speaks about it.]

[payback]

Yes, probably! The Initiative has brought maniacs here before.

[retraced]

Why would they choose people like that -

[Maniacs don't win wars. They wage them.]

[payback]

You're assuming they get to choose.

[retraced]

If they don't choose - then who does?

[It's sort of sickening in a way to think that any terrible person could appear, or anyone too weak to fight in a war. But at the same time, it had brought Oz here, left him here alone for months before Gilbert had followed. It had taken Lady Ada, and a number of ghosts from the past. Could it really all be so random?]

[payback]

Don't you think it could be random? That they can't entirely control it? I wouldn't pick half the people here to fight in a war, you hear them all the time talking about how unsuitable they are. They could at least pick people with a chance to be really loyal.

[retraced]

It's true that some of the choices of who they bring here seems -

[Wrong. Misguided. Terribly timed and ill-informed.]

- strange. But at the same time, some of them are...kind? Something like that.

[payback]

They're not all bad, but they're not half as careful as they should be if they're in control of things. Really in control, not just using a weapon they don't really know how to use.

[retraced]

So you're saying they're reckless?

[Or irresponsible. Or maybe just a group with a death wish.]

[payback]

I guess I am, but given the circumstances... if I was them I'd probably end up being reckless too. They're in desperate straits, after all. Or they were at least.

[retraced]

[He's quiet for a second.]

How long have you been here?

[payback]

Over a year... why?

[retraced]

Ah, no reason.

[But being here that long, he can only imagine how many different types of people she's had to meet, to watch what they were all capable of.]

I was only curious.

[payback]

... Yeah. So, I know that the people who wind up here can do things that are crazy.

[retraced]

No, right. Sorry. I appreciate the information.

[He sighs.]

As for the sheep, I think Break and I are capable of making sure they stay safe. And...everyone is safe from them. If it ends up being a problem, I can take them back to the Outlands myself. I'm sorry for the trouble.

[payback]

You didn't cause me any trouble.

... You mostly caused yourself trouble, from the looks of it.

[retraced]

I've been causing myself trouble since the first day I met him. I'm used to that.

[She knows Xerxes Break. She'll understand.]

1/2

[payback]

Huh? The first day you met - ohhhhhhhhh.

[payback]

My condolences.

[retraced]

Ten years of this sort of treatment...

[His voice is a black hole of doom. It's been a bad day.]

1/2

[payback]

... Are you serious?