hadriel | 008 [Video]

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008 [Video]

[Chris smiles and gives a small wave at the camera when the feed starts, then turns his hand to show Hope's blessing on the back of it.]

So uh, who else got one? And are they all from Hope, or...?

[This is so cool you guys he wants to see who else got what. And for something else slightly less important by still cool--]

Oh, also, my iPhone was up and working for a bit thanks to Pell, and I managed to get some music off it. I'll share on the condition no one makes fun of my taste.

[The last comment is a joke--he's really not going to be too hurt by jabs about his choice in music--but the offer is serious, and attached is a download of the music he's copied off so far. It's kind of a slow process, so there's still more on the phone that he can transfer later.]

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Had that blessing not too long ago, too. It's a useful one.

Appreciate the songs, by the way. Never heard of these before.

[Rey may not seem the sort, but she fucking loves a lot of music.]

Yeah, I remember you telling me about it. That's uh, actually the only reason I know what it does.

[So that's helpful!]

Awesome, glad you like them. Yeah, uh, since you're like a hundred or whatever years ahead of me I'd guess it'd be really old stuff to you, if we even have the same music in our worlds or whatever.

Good. Knowing the way things go around here, it's a useful skill to have, even if it's only temporary.

[Yay, helping.]

Possibly, though it isn't uncommon to hear two-hundred year old music from time to time. My brother's always had a fixation with that sort of stuff.

Yeah, definitely. Do you mind if I ask you some stuff about how it works?

[He wants to make the most of it.]

Wow, that's pretty retro. In my world listening to music that's like, fifty years old is weird but not super rare, but anything more than that's really unusual.

What do you want to know about -- activating it or using it in general?

[It's understandable. Rey didn't particularly get an instruction manual, either.]

Not surprising. It isn't like people had many ways of recording music or movies two centuries prior when you're from.

[And what few songs exist from back then is downright disturbing as fuck.]

Um, both, mostly. How to use it, what it can do, whatever you know about it. I feel like I should um, put it to the best use I can.

[Since it's not only cool but really could help someone.]

Oh, well, yeah. That makes sense. I guess I was more thinking about how uh, we have a lot of like, surviving sheet music and whatever and so older stuff could be recreated, but aside from some big classics no one bothers listening to much of it.

Well, you activate it by crushing the orb-shaped object you've been given. The healing itself... It just sort of comes to you. Like you'll know what to do when you really need it.

Also it has its limits. Its power seemed to fade after a couple months of not being used.

[She's lucky she was able to get what little she got out of it after being impaled.]

No one? Really? Huh. Used to listen to some opera that was pretty ancient.

Okay, cool, good to know. Um, do you know how much it can heal? Like if there's a limit?

[It'd be good to know before there's an actual emergency, if so.]

Well, I'm sure some people do, but it's pretty unusual yeah.

Edited 2016-08-01 23:52 (UTC)

Was able to self-heal an injury after being run completely through with a piece of metal, even when the ability was waning. Can imagine that it could mend much more serious and life-threatening wounds at full power.

[Spoken nonchalantly like she just talked about healing a stubbed toe rather than something significantly more serious.]

Hm, well. Come from a rather unusual family. [That must explain everything, clearly.]

[Chris is glad this is voice, because not only does that sound awful for her but it reminds him sharply of when happened the month before when the fog was covering the city. It's good to know, at least, that the blessing is that powerful, even if he hopes he doesn't have any reason to use it for something like that; he's glad, also, that Rey had it when she needed it.

It does take several seconds for him to make sure his voice is as neutral as hers when he replies, though.]

That's um, good to know; it sounds really useful. But... Sorry that happened to you.

[Music's a way easier topic to deal with.]

Yeah? Do you have a big family, or...?

[She scoffs.] Don't be sorry. Just as well may have asked for it, anyway. Put my guard down.

[At least, to her, that makes her pretty damned deserving of getting run through. After all, she should've known better.]

No, not really. Just a father and brother. Do you?

[Her wording makes it sound like it wasn't an accident but rather something purposeful, and his response comes without hesitation.]

Um, you sort of shouldn't have to be on guard to avoid something like that happening.

[It's not her fault if someone attacked her, especially if they did it by surprise.]

Just my parents. I mean, I have some extended family, but...

[Pretty much just them, outside of holidays and the like.]

Was dealing with a dangerous-- [person? No, that isn't right.] --synthetic. Knew the risks involved. Still, she said some things, and... Next thing, was taking a rebar to the face.

[Lucky for Rey, she's got a thick skull that didn't cave in after being cracked with a piece of metal.]

Ah. Do you like them? Your parents, that is.

[Chris still doesn't think that makes it Rey's fault, but he's kind of distracted by--]

Synthetic?

[That sounds like sci-fi stuff again, though it also makes a strange sort of sense with what Rey had told him his last post.

At the question about his parents he nods, even though it can't be seen, but his tone is warmer when he responds.]

Yeah. They're um, really great.

[Both are gentle, loving people and Chris really misses them.]

Synthetic person, to be more accurate. Manufactured to simulate human appearance and behavior.

[Much like Rey herself, as Chris may be able to surmise for himself.]

Ah, so you probably want to see them again.

[Like so many people here who would want to go home to be with their loved ones again.]

[He's definitely put two and two together, and it makes everything she said about being offline and mind wipes fit. Okay. Weird, but so not the weirdest thing he's heard by far.]

Are there lots of synthetic people in your world, or...?

[He goes quiet again a moment, not because the question is hard to answer but because it's more emotional than he really thought.]

Yeah. I've um, never gone more than a few days without at least talking to them.

[And now he hasn't seen them in nine months. But even though he wants to that is an entirely separate wish from wanting to go home, which is so incredibly complicated.]

Seems like it, though didn't know the extent of how many there were until recently. Found out they've got a whole city in Russia. Probably made roots in other parts of the country -- some even living among humans in the world.

[Rey still doesn't know how she feels about that. For most of her existence it was her goal to kill synthetics. But things have... changed. And not just because of her roommate who happens to be a synth himself.]

Oh.

Hm. [She pauses.] Sometimes, talking out loud when no one is around helps. Can even imagine what they'd say in return.

You don't have to, of course. It's just a thought...

[It's what Rey does. And it's sort of helpful.]

Are they um, not supposed to live with other people?

[If not, then what were they created for? He's definitely curious, though he's cautious about saying anything that might be offensive.

He's quiet a few seconds at her suggestion, not because there's anything wrong with it but because it's unexpected. She might be able to hear in his tone that he's smiling a little.]

It can't hurt to try, yeah. Thanks.

[Although he's not sure if talking outloud will work for him, writing definitely might.]

It isn't so much that they're not "supposed to" as much as they just... don't. Their existence was strictly clandestine from the civilian population, and then the old government fell and a lot of that information just got buried. Many synthetics seem to be manufactured by other synthetics now.

[Which can be a bad thing, all things considered.

[And hey, for all the deadpan and monotone and "dumb robot" exterior, Rey can be pretty unexpected.]

No worries. Hope it helps. Just find that something like that makes it a little less lonely sometimes.

[Not... that she's "lonely", or anything.]

Huh. Why were they um... Why were they created, then?

[He has a guess with the 'civilian' comment and stuff about governments falling, but who knows he could be totally wrong.]

Yeah. It's weird how lonely it can be here, even when you're stuck in a pretty small cave with a bunch of people.

[Or even in a house with friends.]

The original project was funded for militarization purposes, but think my mother had different plans in mind. She wanted to study the psychology of synthetic life.

[Too bad her aspirations are what ultimately got her killed.]

Doesn't help being in a city that should obviously be populated by more people.

[Though she knows it isn't just that.]

Is she a psychologist, then?

[Or detouring from a different job to study the subject? He could see it being an area of interest to computer scientists or sociologists or even biologists.]

I know, right? It's weird. And like, knowing there were here before that got totally wiped out somehow is not exactly reassuring.

...Was. [Awkward.] But yes, she was a psychologist, among other things. She was, um. Very smart.

[Oh hey, mystery genocides sounds like a way happier subject, doesn't it?]

No, it particularly isn't when there's no guarantee that we won't have to deal with whatever killed them eventually. [That's such a cheerful thought.]

Oh. Sorry.

[He knew shed said her family was just her dad and brother, but that didn't necessarily mean her mother was dead and he didn't want to assume. But now he feels a bit bad.]

She sounds smart though, yeah. My um, friend was studying psychology in college for awhile, and it's... Really complicated.

[All an understatement. But yes, mystery deaths are a much simpler if somewhat more morbid a topic.]

Yeah, and the gods won't tell us what happened, at least from what I've seen.

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