Fifth ☂ Voice

[thirdreturned]

Hadriel.

[His address begins in a straightforward tone. The issues of the past few months are behind them, and they've eked out survival for awhile longer. Sorrow isn't optimistic, but he's not inclined to give up, either. He makes plans, he executes them, he lets things fall into place.

Which is the reason for this.]

Now that most of you know the truth, and now that it has been shown that these creatures will truly follow us to the ends of creation, I have decided to send two of us to scout the location we left behind and intercept with the forces of the machines there. Their purpose would be to gather information- how these inorganics continue to find us, how we might be able to thwart their technology in an attempt to escape for good.

Of the eight of us, there are four pairs which work better together than others. Hope has asked me to let you decide who is to go, but I warn you to consider your options carefully. The gods who leave will not have any events until they return, so we'll throw a large one for their departure.

[Sorrow takes a deep breath. Onto the selection.]

Hope and myself could go. This would leave you without replenishing food and water, as well as limited methods of revival... Hope is valuable, and I would do everything in my power to protect him, and I can also ensure that we're not discovered.

Your second option would be Confusion and Tranquility. The two of them are our builders, and without them, the city will not be repaired and their various contributions will not be functional. Confusion would be adept at avoiding capture, though detection is another story.

Thirdly are Fear and Love. Fear... [He sighs.] Fear operates best in the shadows, though he's still weakened- however, if he leaves, it will mean that we'd be left vulnerable if attacked again, as none of the rest of us can move the city. Love themself is... well, perhaps they can be used as a distraction if Fear needs to escape.

[Sorry, Love.]

Finally, you have Delight and Rage. Since Delight is no longer maintaining the bar, your only significant losses with both of them would be the ongoing deals any of you may have with each of them. The two of them are our most accomplished fighters and would be able to wrestle themselves out of an unfavorable situation, given the power they'd take on from their final event.

[So that's that.]

I welcome any questions you may have.

Poll #18323

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 53

View Respondents

Who should go?

View Answers

Sorrow and Hope
4 (7.5%)

Confusion and Tranquility
22 (41.5%)

Fear and Love
5 (9.4%)

Rage and Delight
22 (41.5%)

Comments

[overarching]

[ Life requires asking questions! Get a full understanding of any and all situations, gather up information. Caroline's a natural planner, ingrained within how she speaks.

She's not judging, but she is assuming. And she assumes he's avoiding eye contact. Yet, of course she listens. She wouldn't have sent him a message if she didn't want to hear what he has to say.

More of his character than she's garnered so far slips in when he admits that he, too, has people (not just animals) that he'd want to protect. That she's included in that. It's heartwarming, even in a situation that sounds like its being promised to be perilous.

The lines of her forehead crease when he asks who she might be referring to. Of course there has to be a specific person: she's new, after all, how many people has she met there? That expression maintaining, words on her tongue even as she lets him speak (she's an interrupter sometimes, but not in that moment), lips pursing together. Then, he wraps it all up with that answer. ]

But that's a really vague set of details to go on when we could lose so much. What makes you certain that those types of people will be able to help make it work? Did they when the city split? Because [ her mouth gapes for a moment, sighing to herself for a second ] -- I was talking about my best friend. Elena. [ She definitely mentioned her a few times when she and Will were first meeting. On the video, the date. ] I won't let anything happen to her. [ She knows she'd push the button that meant ten people died instead of Elena dying, if she were really shoved into it -- she did it for Bonnie. She'd do it again. Especially for the friend who's always deserved to have any chance at just living her life, at happiness, as Elena.

Her countenance is stricter, darker, than he's seen it. Thinning lips, serious hold to her features. ] I can't, and I won't. So -- if you really have an idea, one that's guaranteed to work, and if you think you could actually help...us, then that would help me choose who I'd wanna send.

But I can't risk anything on something that's shaky. You've been here longer. I don't...have a lot of people I've found there that I feel like I can trust what they say. Yet. And you seem like you've thought about this a lot. That you're thinking smartly about it. [ D u h. ]

But everyone isn't gonna help each other, Will. There has to be...smaller [ her shoulders shrug in, impatience starting to race within her ] alliances if stuff goes to hell. [ A long pause. ] I'm not trying to bombard you with caring, or anything like that. I just -- I need to make sure that we'd be okay. That Elena will be. [ It's not unusual to care so much about one of your friends, is it? Caroline knows she, herself, will be fine. Really. ] And sure, we kind of just met, but...I believe you. That you want to protect people. And, we, Elena and I, could help you, too. I really, could. [ She means it. She's stronger than she looks! ] However we could. Do you have a lot of people you'd want to help protect? [ She and Elena aren't without other connections there in the murdercave, too, but she's rolling with this because maybe it could work.

Caroline's one of the good guys. She won't betray Will's trust for anything other than the most dire of circumstances. If Elena's life was actually at risk. ]

[feelslikeimspilling]

[ Questions are good, questions are what find solutions and answers. Will had a lot of questions too, only his manifest so fast and flow like a wild current in white waters, that he loses his grip on them and lets them wash him away. Like he would now if he were to look her in the eyes. He'd notice too many little details, become distracted by new questions and thoughts.

Still, he believed her questions deserved real answers, with a substance she could absorb and use. ]

I can't guarantee anything. That's what's scaring me so much about this vote. I can't say for sure if it's going to be as simple as it possibly could. I can't say that everything may fall into ruin when the pair is chosen and sent out.. and I can't speak for the people I mentioned here...

[ He paused, tossing a quick fleeting glance at her face before the nerves took over and again he was avoiding her eyes. ]

I er... I've actually met your friend, Elena...

[ She reminded Will of Abigail. Oh, Abigail... It was her hair at first, then her eyes and expressions, the way she spoke to him so openly and boldly. Then he notices her size and the clothes she wore. Will already felt protective of her just by association so of course, she was on his small list of people he wanted to look after. ]

But what I can offer and I can promise. Is that you and Elena will always be welcomed at my home here. If you need food, water, a shoulder to cry on or someone to distract yourself from life here with... I mean that.

[ He thought about his list of friends. There were more than he realized and that made Will wonder. He wondered if his time here had changed him? ]

I'd want to protect Hannibal and Jill... Though they could probably offer more help than me if it came down to it.

[ Will then remembered that this was all on the public network and he began to grow anxious and nervous. He didn't like the idea of just anyone hearing what they had to say, so he rather abruptly stopped talking and decided to listen instead. ]

[overarching]

[ Assessing that he endures social anxieties had been a given and while Caroline doesn't press him to look at her more, she wishes he would. She doesn't know why he doesn't, only that he's not comfortable enough to. If he were a different person, she'd think he did it because he was lying, but that's definitely not applicable with Will. He's nervous, and she doesn't know if it's how he is with everyone. If the way she's replying to him spurs the nerves on or not, but...she does what she has control over. She listens.

No guarantees, but of course. She frowns about that, peering down and not responding. Lost in consideration over the hopelessness of what he presents.

But her eyes are back on him when mentioning Elena, expression perking up when she learns that he knows her. ] You did? She's...really great, isn't she? It's impossible to not like Elena. [ Soft pride in having such an amazing best friend, another glance down, contemplating on just how much Elena's going through of late. Struggle that can't be summed up quickly. An abridged version of what her friend is enduring: ha.

Her eyes slide back to settle on listening to him, once again. There's that promise. An offer, and it frankly makes her breath hold, which she entirely hides, chest tightening at the depth of what he's saying. ] Do you know how much that means to me? To Elena? We're...she could really use that a lot, too. Things are pretty complicated, for us. We...maybe not something I wanna say where anyone can hear. It's not really a secret, but. It's not my business to say publicly, either. Things are just. Confusing. In ways that we couldn't even control, like, literally at all. This place, brought a lot more of that on a girl who's already...well. [ She cuts off, lips pressing together. Frazzled, is the word she could've used. ] I know that's vague. Sorry. But, thank you. We really appreciate it. And I mean that, too.

[ Her head tilts with the name Hannibal. Well, it's a name, that's for sure. She gives his abrupt quietness a soft smile. ] We can all help each other. I'd like to meet them, if you think they'd want to meet new people. You're...always welcome at Elena and I's, too, Will. We've been through a lot. Nothing quite with actual gods like this, but...life's thrown a lot of scenarios that don't seem like we can win, but we come out on top regardless. For as upset as I may seem, I'm...hopeful. Really. And, there's always more hope when you have friends.

[feelslikeimspilling]

[ She's such a sweet girl. Why did the door bring her here? After he'd finished saying all he had to say, Will listened, he was good at listening and that was great! Because she seemed to have a lot to say most of the time.

As her attention in the conversation focused on Elena, Will couldn't help but smile a little bit. It was nice. Nice to see true friendship withholding even a place like this. Will didn't really care for friendship, or well, he told himself he didn't. That he didn't find most people interesting enough to hold his attention for very long. How this place really was changing him. ]

Yea, she's really sweet. Kind of reminds me of someone I used to know...It's nice to have a reminder but I can tell the difference, don't worry.

[ Because the worst thing he could do would be, use Elena as a replacement for Abigail. It just wasn't healthy.

Despite not wanting to look her in the eyes, Will couldn't help it when she looked to show such great gratitude. All he had done was make her a promise that he'd be there for her, hardly anything amazing, yet there she was, looking like he'd just sworn her the world. Nodding, his smile a shade softer, eyes kind yet finding they had to look away once more. ]

Really, it the very least I can do....I er, I don't mean to sound rude, but I don't quite know what's been going on with you two before you came here I mean... I'm obviously out of the loop and if you want to keep it that way, that's fine, I'm okay with that. But... If you want to talk privately about any of it? The same offer stands.

[ Just what mess had they come from? Will could sense certain worries and a pain from how Caroline spoke of her friend and that they had been dealing with. But he wanted to learn more, he wanted to understand them so that he could fully help them. When the topic of conversation started to drift towards the people Will cared for and wanted to save, he couldn't help but smile some more. The idea of Hannibal meeting Caroline and having his ears talked off him, was one Will found more amusing than it should be. As for Jill? Sure, she probably wouldn't mind meeting them? ]

We can all get together at some time and some place...Because you're actually right... There's always more hope when you have friends."