hadriel | [text/voice]

[Broadcasting may as well be launching this thing into the sky on an exploratory trip to the moon, but in all honesty, it's not like Bigby has ever tried. Not like this. It's weird knowing that you hold something that can connect you to so many people in ways an ordinary phone can't without it being the slightest bit magical, but that's just technology for you. Either he keeps up or he flounders, and floundering in a place like this might as well be laying down to die. A little dramatic, maybe, but the point still stands.]

got a question a couple questions

[—And hoo boy, something tells him he's going to get sore fingers if he sticks with this, so uh. How about— Good, okay. Well, at least he can now safely say that recording with this thing isn't as intimidating as it looks. Small victory. For a few moments after the mic is switched on, Bigby lapses into an uneasy, thoughtful silence before finally and slowly speaking.]

There's no easy way to ask this, but it's been something I've been curious about the longer I've heard people talk about the — "gods", or whatever the hell they are. Magical assholes, sure, but. I get the feeling that for some of you they're a little more than that. [He sounds like he isn't sure if that's a good or bad thing.]

Magic isn't...all that special where I'm from, so to speak. Neither are wars like these where there's no easy way out for anyone and just about everyone's going to be dealt a shitty hand they didn't deserve. What I'm trying to say is that, when you're that scared, you'll wheel and deal just about every which way for a chance to win.

[He says it without much judgment. After all, he's speaking from experience. He'd be a big old hypocrite if he played the disdain card now.]

And what I'm asking is, I guess, how far any of you are willing to take this on their behalf. Even knowing that there's no guarantee they'll send any of us home when this ends, do you still want to take that chance? Or do any of you actually care about them and... [This would be a little more effective if the camera was on, so there's no real way to tell that Bigby is gesturing to his surroundings, save for the little pause he takes.] ...All of this?

[...Wow, he really does suck at articulating himself, huh. Serves him right for rambling.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Short Answer? I can't bring myself to care about what happens to them.

can't say i blame you this isn't something anyone should be forced into, especially without knowing the full story from the start

I would also argue that, aside from our own lives hanging in the balance, they haven't really given us an incentive to support them.

what, that's not enough?

[Teasing probably won't translate well to text, but...!!]

[He'll assume humor, otherwise this conversation just took an awkward turn]

Well if that is their sales pitch, they should have reconsidered the whole 'death is temporary' angle.

i like hanging onto my pride when i can, but not enough where i'd be okay with getting killed over and over again just so i can drag my feet to prove a point if that's what you're getting at with this

[ Alice has given this as much thought as she can. She's read through the guide, gotten snippets of information from reading through conversations and listening in, but no creature that calls itself 'god' can be a good one nor are things named the Null. It all screams, to her, they're the first on the lines of self-defense between two factions they don't belong with.

It bothers her more than she can say but, as always, she is polite, careful with her words. Gentle, even, despite the matter(s) at hand. ]

I feel... as if the question isn't an answer any could possibly provide. Those of us new, we're still adjusting; we're uncertain and confused and caught between things we cannot understand. I will admit that I do not trust the Null though I cannot say that I trust these deities, either.

One, I fear, may be the better option, however. [ A quiet pause ] We are what the gods of this place require. The Null do not need us.

What a question. And I don't think you even truly understand how complicated the answers are. [There's a pause while Cal inhales and exhales slowly, probably smoking.]

I don't give a single fuck about most of them. As much as I believe they like to think they're saving or protecting us from some mystical mysterious manifestation, it's been our own damn work keeping us alive in here. Not to mention to fucking games they like to play. I hate them and I hate their damn cave and I believe you might be hard pressed to find any person who doesn't.

And yet the things I've received just by being here make it worthwhile to stay--preferable, even. Given a choice, I'm not going back.

I guess it depends what they want. There's not really a way to fight gods. No one likes it and Id rather they all just left us alone, but that's just how it is.

At this point I think it's less a matter of fighting for the gods, and more a matter of choosing the side that has any incentive to keep us alive.

[Which happens to be the gods' side. Lance is not interested in their agenda or them personally, but he is interested in not being horribly murdered ~~again~~ because he's in the way of someone else' goal as he thinks would be the case for the Null.]

What I'm getting at is simple economics: the rarer something is, the more value it has and vice versa. The gods have somehow managed to make 'death' valueless.

I never believed in gods when I was alive. Fuck if I'm gonna start now.

[Since the Null's broadcast Jo has been trying to decide how she would answer this very question. She wants...]

I just want everyone to stay alive.

[He won't answer the first question because he already expressed his views and what he would do if pushed to that extreme of a solution in order to go home or get rid of these gods. He was the type Bigby would throw down the well at home.

He rather hates these phones as such technology didn't exist in the 1890s. They took out all that personal face to face contact.]

I have no love for these 'gods'. They are the same as any other. We are their food and they maintain our health if only to feed from us to the full potential.

I don't know anything about them, but they sure fucked with the wrong family, I'll tell you that. There's no fucking way I'd do anything for their sake.

[They messed with her brother, so they are going down.]

[That gets a crack of a smile out of him, which she may be able to tell from his tone if she's a good enough judge of that kind of thing.]

Well, take a ticket. You're not the only one who wants a crack at them.

[Though for everyone's benefit, he's willing to wait until they get all their other problems sorted out. One thing at a time.]

You and everyone else.

[Even if they all don't see eye to eye on this, the one thing he thinks everyone can agree on is survival. It's not a complex concept; it is, at its core, the most animal one there is, so of course he can relate even if he didn't factor in all the rest of the emotional baggage.]

How's that working out for you? [Not too well, he's guessing.]

I don't think I've ever heard of any going through this much effort just for food, especially when they never have to worry about running out. Maybe they'd never admit it, but we're a little more valuable than that.

[It's not like he completely disagrees with that opinion, though; if gods can be called one thing and one thing only, it's selfish.]

Stingy magical assholes with uncontrollable egos versus psychotic robots. Rock, meet hard place.

Well, I wouldn't say that. There's a way, there always is, but the price is always steep. I don't think any of us have enough to front that particular bill.

[Yet.]

Believe me, I have tried. It's not that simple.

Pretty much.

[Not exactly the most... Sensitive or clinically accurate assessment, but he can't argue with the general sentiment.]

I'd rather deal with stingy egotists than beings incapable of emotion, however.

[He's dealt with both more than often enough, and he'll take the egotists every time. They're both easier to manipulate and usually less vicious.]

[It sure doesn't ease her irritation after seeing her twin in hysterics days earlier, but at least the tone drags out her own grin.]

Soo, what about you? You taking a ticket too? I'd like to know who I'm standing in line with.

Then that's enough.

[And he believes it. Might not agree with it 100%, but their circumstances aren't altogether that much different. Once you make a home, it's yours for life — even if it's not the one you started out with.]

Honestly, the idea of people being split on this for all the wrong reasons bothers me just as much as those assholes using us. It's bad enough that they never planned on being upfront about this 'til those monsters started knocking on their door, but thinking that it's actually getting them sympathy, after all the shit they've been pulling—

Edited 2017-07-15 03:14 (UTC)

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