Hadriel IC Contact.

[einselective]

[If you think a time-traveller wants to deal with voicemail you would be very much mistaken; her mailbox is intentionally full at all times with dummy messages. But you can reach her directly if she's answering the phone at that point in time...]

Comments

[lifetothefullest]

[[ooc: Continuing from here to avoid too much threadjacking spam!]]


[Okay, he was... Not expecting any of that, and it takes him a little by surprise; he's also immediately defensive, both because he doesn't appreciate the aggressiveness and because the last comment feels very pointed even though logically he's aware that there's no way she could know.

Still, it makes his stomach jolt with nerves and his eyes darken in a flash of anger, and there's a distinct edge in his own tone when he responds.]

No one here is worth less, either, and it isn't your place to decides who should live or die. So cut it out with the self-righteousness; you don't get to tell people their lives are less important than someone else's, especially when that someone else is hypothetical.

[einselective]

[Of course she has no idea. No, her words are deeply entrenched in thoughts of another, much more ill-fated dimensional crossover.]

What part of it is hypothetical? Do you think I just came up with these thoughts out of nowhere? Answer this for me, if you lived beyond billions and billions of years how much more, how many more lives, how many more worlds would it be worth to you to live just one minute more? It's not like anyone else matters, as long as you keep living just that little bit longer!

[lifetothefullest]

You're talking about potential future effects; people who could be brought here, or are here and could be sent back to their worlds and affect those dimensions, right? That's what I understood from our last conversation.

[He's getting his emotions back under control quickly so his tone is more even once again, but it's still as intense.]

I'm really not personally interested in living forever, especially not here. But just writing off however many other people are in this place, all because you've decided their lives have less value than others who may or may not even be harmed, is not exactly something I'm going to agree with.

[einselective]

Yes... yes, of course...

[Marian taking in a deep breath is audible. Doesn't mean she's less upset, but shifts back to slightly more on the rails of the conversation.]

You know, I had this conversation a long time ago with Mello too. That was before you were here. Again, why do you think this is hypothetical? How many more people are brought in or tossed aside every few weeks? You're one of them! Maybe if Mello and Sharon hadn't helped the parasites, you wouldn't even be here!

[lifetothefullest]

[Well, he's glad she's calming down a little, at least. Her argument is not particularly convincing--if he weren't here he'd be bleeding to death on the ground in a parking garage, so Hadriel is not exactly a terrible alternative--but he'll just ignore that part entirely for now.]

Let's assume it isn't hypothetical, because although particular individuals and events affected are, you're right in that the scenario as a whole is not. It will, very likely, happen.

[He doesn't mind making that concession, because ultimately it doesn't matter.]

Even then, can you really say that however many people are here should just let themselves die? And even if so, and you don't care about them individually, what about how that'd affect their worlds? If someone dies here permanently, do that means they never go back to their worlds? What happens to the world they came from then; do they disappear? Are they erased from existence? Is there a ripple effect of harm that there might not have been otherwise?

[einselective]

We don't know, do we. I can theorize but... either way, it's even more reason to stop the parasites by any means, whatever outcome that means for the rest of us. They've made no secret of the fact this will continue as long as they're alive. That's just more and more worlds and universes they're touching and interfering with. The problem is already bigger than any of us here. Yet still everyone's concerned with their own little speck of insignificance no matter how I try to explain it!

[action...ish]

[tongueamok]

[A few days after the illusionary world dissipates around them, there are two jugs of tea left on Marian's doorstep, along with a note:]

a couple days later -- [text]

[einselective]

Why are you still helping me?

[Empathy for whatever horrible things are in each others' pasts is one thing. But she knows full well he's offended over her reaction to Glacius, and still hasn't exactly apologized. It's hard to believe anyone is just that altruistic...]

[text]

[tongueamok]

My goddess would smile upon me for helping others, as it means she doesn't have to do it herself.

[text]

[tongueamok]

[And then, a couple of minutes later comes a more candid answer.]

Besides that, I know what it is like to not be able to sleep for fear of what lurks in the shadows. Since I was a lad, I've had dreams so vivid that I cannot tell them from reality even long after I awaken. I have seen my end, and I know the inexorable dread that accompanies it. It would be cruel to let someone suffer in the same way I do.

[text]

[einselective]

[If it had been the first message alone, Marian's response would have been very different. But halfway through typing a reply, the second arrives, and, well.

Yes, she'd seen the end. But not her end. That of some unspeakable alien thing at the end of a cold, dead universe, neither truly living nor dead, merely waiting for some source of life to latch onto for even one more fleeting moment of existence...

There's a long break before the next message, regaining her composure. It's a good thing it's only text.]

Then you'll understand when I say again that my problems have nothing to do with your partner, himself.

[It's not an apology, but the vague implication is slightly more than she's said before.]

[text]

[tongueamok]

[Good thing for text indeed, though Carlisle's temper probably shows through the words on the screen of the communicator.]

I do understand, but you should, in turn, understand that he has been treated as a monster before, feared for what he is even to those he's shown nothing but kindness. He has been treated like an abomination when he didn't deserve it as people were ready to judge him before even knowing his name.

I have suffered through that kind of treatment for years now. And as I said, it would be cruel to let someone suffer in the same way I do.

[text]

[einselective]

[Be all that as it may... this whole thing has been endlessly frustrating for Marian, ever since Sans confronted her and refused to let up that one day in the lab. And here she finds herself again trying to explain the irrational, in some vain attempt at understanding. Out of what? Some sense of guilt or sympathy? But here she is again.]

Do you think I'm doing this on purpose? Or that I like having to worry about every time someone thinks it's a superb idea to introduce me to one of their associates?

[Action, sometime in the afternoon on the 2nd]

[lifetothefullest]

[Stupid full mailbox.

Honestly, he should've expected it. Being difficult to reach would suit Marian, although now that Lance knows where the lab is--and that she's probably there--he'll just go talk to her in person.

So he shows up in the afternoon, when he's managed to convince himself to get up and leave the house, and he might look somewhat like a zombie at the moment. That's actually why he's there to talk to her, although he remembers she seems a little jumpy and so tries not to startle her when he steps into the lab.]

Marian?

[Action]

[einselective]

[Afternoon is a good time: after checking that everything was fine back at the Colloseum in the morning, Marian came back to the lab to work on a few other things... purely theoretical at this point, but as a last resort... so when she hears her name called, she stops scrawling math across the lab's whiteboard and turns her head, pen in hand and once again seeming mildly startled.

But it's just Lance, and that fades quickly. No pleasantries, just a blunt:]

What?

[Action]

[lifetothefullest]

[He's used to bluntness, so it doesn't bother him. He does shift awkwardly on his feet a moment though, before actually responding.]

Although it won't be an issue tonight, I wanted to give you advance notice that I won't be available to watch the equipment tomorrow night.

[A pause.]

Unless you can't find anyone else, anyway.

[He knows she has other volunteers but he doesn't want to leave her with no one if they're not an option for whatever reason.]

[Action]

[einselective]

There are a few other supposedly reliable individuals that don't mind staying through the night. I can contact them and let you know.

[Action]

[lifetothefullest]

Okay, awesome. Thanks.

[He's too tired to manage more intelligent words; he used his allotment for the day already five seconds ago while talking to her.]

I guess I'll um, let you get back to... Whatever that is.

[The math, he means.]

[Action]

[einselective]

[Marian is sure he has no idea what she's doing -- but that doesn't prevent her from shifting sideways to put herself between Lance and the board, obscuring it slightly. Normally her works is littered with bra-ket notation and matrices, but not today -- instead it's more conventional trigonometry, with actual numbers in places.]

Right. [She squints at him a little.] Whatever it is must be important, I suppose.

[ Voice ]

[doctoral_bird]

[ She had certainly not been answering her phone the few times Malkus had tried to contact her, but he attributed that to his misunderstanding of the device. Maybe he wasn't using it right? He thought he'd broken it a few times, but here and there he figured he'd try and send a call out. ]

What an odd noise it makes. I've opened windows. Doors. Whatever this network is should surely be able to flow unimpeded.

[ If she did answer, she'd find he was already talking to himself like an idiot. ]

[ Voice ]

[einselective]

[Marian is in fact in the Colloseum, sitting around next to a pile of faintly humming electronics and feeling vaguely uneasy while waiting for the next arrivals. She jumps a little at the sound of the phone ringing, but when answered and the strange voice on the other end of the line babbling away...]

Malkus?

[doctoral_bird]

M-Miss Tenebris!

[ Malkus choked mid-sentence. That was so abrupt! Well, he did call, but he'd figured the phone would have done something unusual! But instead, the feed simply opened and there was her voice on the other end.

Why'd he call? He didn't have time to ponder! The conversation was flatlining! ]

Can you hear me? I-I'm in my living space!

[einselective]

Yes? What do you want?

[Marian's voice is mildly irritable. Only two days into this effort, and sitting around waiting is interminable, even without the creeping dread the Colloseum inspires.]

[doctoral_bird]

Oh! Well. How are you doing?

[ That's not what he was going to talk about. Dumb! What was it? Oh hell how could he forget about that Null chat?! ]

Also I could use a bit of advice from someone who has been here longer than I have. I may-... Aaah. I may have. Been a bit hasty about something. But- first- really I would like to know how things are!

[einselective]

Abysmal. [Marian says flatly. Mind, she's been through much worse, but patience has never really been her strong suit.] Get to the point. What did you do?