mercurialize | Eighteenth

Eighteenth

[Public Voice]

I've talked to a few of you about this, but all right. Question. People come here because they have to fix themselves, right? That's rhetorical. My real question is, do they actually deserve it or is it just because they can be changed?

We don't actually have that answer, do we?

[Inmate Filter]

Then, for you guys, is that change even helpful or would you call it harmful to your way of life? Whatever it was before. People make enemies, I know how it is.

[Open Action Spam: Gym]

[Kylar's around every early morning that the Barge isn't on fire or trying to rhyme and sing with itself. With the ka'kari back at his disposal he has a ton of practicing to do. Today's stunt, he tries to coat a training dummy with the ka'kari. Giving it a thick black metalic armor. He knows better than to attack it with Retribution, actually, the ka'kari warned him of that. There will be questions of Why later.

So he tears at it with a dagger attempting every move he can think of. But the dagger is taking far more damage than the ka'kari, in fact, the metal hasn't even dented. When he's done, he wills the ka'kari back into his skin. There's just one problem.]

You ate the dummy!

~Devourer.~

Stop it! I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on this stuff from people destroying it. Not destroying it myself.

~You never learn, do you? First, you complain when I don't obey, now you complain when I do. Which will it be next time?~

You weren't supposed to eat-

[Wait. Is someone else in here?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Some hypothetical.

Seems like a pain in the back.

[He laughs.]

Life's a pain in the back. Hypothetical, or realistic.

Death ain't turning out to be any easier, either. [He sounds vaguely amused, at least.]

Hey. Thanks for the, uh- gifts.

Yeah, you'd think death would be a vacation or something, huh?

[Is it sarcasm? Who knows.]

Oh, yeah. Thanks for the herbs and stuff. Needed some of that. We don't have that kind of holiday where I'm from, so sorry if they weren't exactly the best gifts. Figured you'd need something and it's rare the Admiral gives out things so eagerly.

Saved me a couple trips to the bar, at least. [He really was weirdly pleased to see how many people'd thought of him-- he ended up with booze more than anything, but it'd been kinda nice.]

What got you to thinking about this stuff?

Good. Asking for someone to let you in and supervise gets old really fast, I've found.

[He needs a moment to think on that.]

I've been talking to people about it, thought I'd ask the question more directly. I've been here around a year, give or take, and I still don't understand how most of this place works.

No kidding. [Besides, it's not that he has a guilty conscience, per say, but he doesn't need Gene fussing over how much he actually drinks.]

What kinda changes d'you think he wants? [Not for Kylar specifically, he means, just in general.]

For our hypothetical situation? Probably to stop killing people senselessly.

But it depends on the person. That's likely why there are files and everything's suddenly personal.

Hypothetically, there's not a lot of that going around anyway. Not here.

Seems like there should be something deeper, though, don't it?

Probably does go deeper. But then it turns back to the original question, right?

Easy for the hypothetical not to kill here, maybe even forsake the idea. But back where their from? It would get complicated.

I don't think killing's the problem, anyway. Plenty of wardens who did that.

Yeah, so clearly there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it, I guess.

You guess, huh?

No way to really confirm it, is there? Unless you have an idea..?

Maybe stop talking in hypotheticals? We're here for a reason, no use denying it.

It's not denial. Hypotheticals are easier to work with for most people. The files are bad enough without the entire boat knowing your life story.

...Right. [He wouldn't mind admitting to some of the stuff he's done- the killing, mostly, had not been something he minded admitting to to most people. But if Kyle's so resistant to talking about it, well, he won't force him.]

[You're officially weird, James. Wanting to be all open and honest and stuff. What's up with that.]

And you think otherwise.

[There's still plenty to be dishonest about! Not to worry.]

Think it's easier to get a straight answer without the hypotheticals.

Not for everyone, but all right.

[A sigh before he switches it to private.]

That apothecary I used to run? Got in with the wrong kind of people, I tried to get out of the business before and now I'm dead. But it's the only thing I know how to do and I'm good at it. It's not all bad, some good comes out it. But if I open another shop, they'll probably find me again and we're back to where we started. They don't take refusals.

[Liar liar pants on fire.]

At least the hypothetical was generic.

[Something's not right here, he knows it- Kyle's hypothetical had been just a little too specific, before, and he hadn't expected this story at all. He knows something's not right, but he has no idea what, and no idea how to weasel it out of Kyle. He's not really sure he's interested enough to try yet, either.]

Sounds like they were harmful for your 'way of life'. Not whatever change that'd get you out of here.

[He honestly hates lying, but he knows better than tell sporadic truths to different people. Lies always have holes, just a matter of making those holes look smaller than they are.]

Almost.

Let me put it another way. People pay more for antidotes when there's a poison going around. Other times, it's a contact poison quick and usually painless, but more importantly silent. Easy to coat on a doorknob or wine glass during important parties.

I may have not been holding a dagger to their throat, but the specifics hardly change the outcome. Dead is dead. And that's also part of my point, I could try another profession, but once they found me, the demands would return. Being the better person this place wants me to be to put that coin aside or outright refuse won't matter much when the time comes.

[Kyle is a bit of a coward that Kylar would never admit to. Somehow it fits though, alongside the friendliness and smiles.]

[It's enough to settle his doubts for now, and his question finally makes sense.]

Then another name and another place seem like the best option you have. Maybe- learning to stay away is a step in the right direction.

See? Same answer. The hypothetical could've worked.

[He snorts a little] Yeah, only now the answer actually makes a lick of sense.

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter

inmate filter -> Private

private

private

private

private

private