x. voice

[firstroar]

The reports seem to be mixed. Have those of you who have returned found yourselves safe places and warm clothing? Some have offered already; I should hope the message has reached those in need.

I'm not certain of what remaining here could be of use to you Earthside, but it can be brought when I join you. But not just yet.

[a beat.]

The people...

What are they like now?

Comments

text;

[crab]

[ he chooses text specifically so the guy doesn't recognize his face or voice as belonging to that asshole he met in the hallway -- unaware of the whole psychic deal and how easy it would have been to glean his name from his surface thoughts. ]

THEY'RE ASSHOLES.
GRANTED, I HAVEN'T ACTUALLY MET ANY OF THEM PERSONALLY, OR SET FOOT ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET AT ALL, BUT MY COOL 100% LEGIT ALIEN CLAIRVOYANCE, WHICH IS TOTALLY NOT A THING I JUST MADE UP, HAS INFORMED ME THAT THEY'RE ALMOST DEFINITELY ALL TERRIBLE, AND NOT WORTH MY TIME.

[firstroar]

[.........son.]

That's not actually...a very useful assumption.

[crab]

[ he is ridiculous. ]

OF COURSE IT'S USEFUL.
IT SAVES YOU A LOT OF *ACTUALLY USELESS* EFFORT, FOR STARTERS.

[firstroar]

You've written off people you haven't met, don't know their circumstances...I'm sure the effort would be of use, regardless of outcome.

[crab]

I'VE MET QUITE ENOUGH "NEW PEOPLE" SINCE ARRIVING HERE, HONESTLY.
AND YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO SPLINTER THIS TIMELINE AGAIN LATER, I ASSUME, UNLESS YOUR IMAGINED SUCCESS INVOLVED THIS MUCH SNOW AND ICE, SO WHAT EXACTLY IS THE POINT OF GETTING TO KNOW THEM, WHEN THE INITIATIVE ARE ONLY GOING TO TOSS THIS TIMELINE AND EVERYONE ANCHORED TO IT ASIDE LIKE A SOGGY USED KLEENEX AND TRY AGAIN?

[firstroar]

[wow, even without psychic powers, Karkat leaves enough of an impression to ring familiar.]

You said before, you didn't know what the future of this place holds.

[crab]

OK YEAH I DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE ANY COOL PRECOGNITIVE POWERS, BUT I HAVE ENOUGH VAGUELY FIRING SPONGE NODULES TO PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER.
DO *YOU* THINK "MISSIONS" ARE GOING TO STOP?

[firstroar]

Not anytime soon, no.

[crab]

THEN I DON'T SEE WHAT THERE IS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED IN GETTING TO KNOW A SOCIETY THEY'RE ONLY GOING TO KEEP REWRITING.

[firstroar]

You don't believe there to be any value in learning from these people? Even for a fleeting moment? [that's rather sad, kid.]

[crab]

NO. NONE AT ALL.

[ he says it more out of stubbornness than genuine belief. ]

[firstroar]

To me, that's a shame.

But it is how you feel, and that's just as right as anything here.

[crab]

[ no blue, how is karkat supposed to stay argumentative and confrontational if you keep treating him with respect and validating his point of view? this is an outrage. ]

WELL, WHAT DO *YOU* THINK THERE IS TO BE GAINED HERE, THEN.
SINCE YOU OBVIOUSLY FEEL PRETTY DIFFERENTLY TO HOW I DO.

[firstroar]

I've always found value in trying to understand people. It's in my nature. [a slight pause.] "Are humans the same everywhere?" is what I wonder. Sometimes I am surprised by what I learn, keeping that question in mind.

[crab]

THERE ARE CONSTANTS EVERYWHERE. SOME THINGS STAY THE SAME NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMELINES YOU SPLIT, OR HOW MANY UNIVERSES YOU TRAVERSE.
THOSE PEOPLE DOWN THERE WILL MOST LIKELY STILL RETAIN THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS THAT MADE THEM WHO THEY WERE BEFORE THE INITIATIVE STARTED THEIR FRUITLESS ATTEMPT TO RETCON THEIR FUTURE INSTEAD OF COLLECTIVELY GROWING SOME SHAME GLOBES AND DEALING WITH IT HEAD ON THE WAY THEY *SHOULD* HAVE DONE.
BUT THEIR MEMORIES AND EXPERIENCES WILL BE DIFFERENT, AND THERE'S NO TELLING HOW MUCH THAT MIGHT CHANGE THEM. I'VE SEEN IT IN ACTION.
SO I SUPPOSE IT DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION OF "THE SAME".
AREN'T YOU HUMAN, THOUGH?

[firstroar]

No. Born from them, but not the same. That has remained constant, among other things. [a slight pause.] Even so, changing or not...I feel a certain responsibility to try and understand. If not for my kind, then for myself.

[crab]

WELL WHAT ARE YOU THEN?

[ he is not supposed to be getting to know people, but curiosity is hard to suppress. ]

[firstroar]

I'm what my world calls a Mu. A person born with psionic abilities. Something I've found not uncommon here, but in the world I've come from, it's considered quite rare. And dangerous.

It's our abilities, and the effects of having them, that have determined us not human.

[crab]

HOW DOES *THAT* DETERMINE YOU NOT HUMAN? THAT'S LIKE SAYING SOLLUX ISN'T A TROLL BECAUSE HE CAN THROW SHIT AROUND WITH HIS BRAIN AND FLY AND HAS AWFUL PRECOGNITION.
AKA BULLSHIT.

[firstroar]

My kind aren't part of the equation. The authority established has no logic to cope for such abilities, given its definition of "human."

It is cold and unreasonable, but years of attempts to reach out and change this has yielded little but more contempt. If I am human, then that fact changes nothing. I am still a mutation, and therefore, by the system's standards, not human.

1/2

[crab]

[ the mention of authority established has him listening a little closer, but when blue says the magic word mutation, karkat promptly drops his tablet, accidentally disconnecting, letting out an extremely vehement 'fuck!' in his surprise.

he has never been more grateful for his decision to use text. ]

[crab]

[ a good ten minutes go by in which karkat struggles to pull himself together. simply the word mutation on its own might have been easier to absorb -- he's met other mutants before -- but the continuation of by the system's standards, not human has him reeling.

he isn't sure whether he's supposed to be angry about the unintentional implication that he, karkat, isn't a troll, or if he's supposed to feel a grudging, unwilling sympathy, or a familiar, half-buried loneliness he hasn't dwelled on for months, now. this was not what he was expecting. this is not fair!

eventually, though, he manages collect himself enough to turn the tablet back on, and reconnect. ]

SO WHAT, EXACTLY, DOES THE SYSTEM DO WITH YOU, IF THERE ISN'T ANY INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE TO COPE WITH MUTANTS?

[firstroar]

[he's a little surprised, given the delay; he thought that was that. and his own response comes with some delay -- a small one. he's speaking to a child...albeit a strange one, but he's come to expect that. strange and versed in complexities he himself has barely been able to grasp or follow.

even so, a child. one who deserves much less torment, he's certain.]

We are killed when found.

[but one deserving respect and honesty where it is called for.]

[crab]

OH.

[ he hates how immediate, how visceral the emotional response is, the way compassion and empathy flood through him, and there is yet another delay as he attempts to punch said dangerously vulnerable reaction into submission. finally, once convinced most feelings of kinship and that stupid, stupid longing for understanding of his have been wrangled under control, he goes on. ]

THAT SUCKS PRETTY HARD, MAN.
SORRY.

[ ah yes, tremor before his unmatched loquaciousness. ]

[firstroar]

[warm, sincere:] It's kind of you to say. Thank you.

It may change, somehow. We are trying. Simply hiding, stagnant, isn't enough anymore.