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[lingeringhope]

Hello.

[A man is standing before a stone wall - the wall of the cave, probably, though there aren't any distinguishing marks to show where, exactly, he might be. He seems calm, and his face is kind. He looks directly into the camera with no artifice.]

I have no doubt you were all surprised to find yourselves here. I apologize for the rather abrupt arrival - as it turns out, we have no control over who or what is brought here.

[And there, that's the slightest sign of frustration, or possibly annoyance. His mouth tightens.]

In any case, I've tried to make things comfortable for you - humans, is that correct? That's what you call yourselves? And the other things are bears, and they were not sentient [he says, as if it might have taken him a bit to realize], so I've made sure to push them out of the main part of the city. I'd rather you all not get eaten.

You can be useful to us, as it turns out, thanks to your capacity for feeling emotion. Not quite so well as the last ones, but it'll do. You can call me Hope, if you'd like, and if you could all try very hard to feel appropriately hopeful at all times, it would be extremely convenient. I need the energy to keep you fed and the power running - and for other things.

[Hope pauses for a moment, considering.]

While you all seem to be sentient, I'm not certain of your capacity for higher thought, so I'm really not sure explaining things will be much use. I'd rather not waste time explaining things you're not capable of comprehending. But for those who might be curious and wish to try to understand - some time ago a number of my companions died. I'd like to bring them back. For that, I need power, and for power, I need the emotions that you can give me. Hope, specifically.

[And he sighs, annoyance crossing his face again.]

Much to my dismay, of all my fellow - what would your kind call us? Gods? - only one has survived. Fear is here as well, and if you could all try not to give him your fear, it would make my life significantly easier. Just - don't be scared of things. Ignore him.

I suppose if you have any questions, you can ask, but you're not guaranteed an answer. In any case, welcome to Hadriel. I hope the food is palatable.

Comments

[lingeringfear]

To be quite honest with you, I think I prefer the bears.

[Fear speaks with a bit of an odd accent, and he's definitely not quite as prim as Hope. He seems a bit taller, for one, and with an appearance that suggests fear, but without the mannerisms to follow through- it ends up with him looking a bit like the kind of guy who only eats organic and does parkour for fun.

He yawns.]

Anyway, yes, most of what, uh, Hope said is true. I'm Fear, and I'd like it if you'd disregard that bit about not being afraid and instead tried to be really scared. Here, I'll even help you out.

[Fear leans menacingly into the camera but something about it just falls a little short of 'scary' and winds up seeming sort of hollow. It's probably in the lack of expression. How do human faces work?]

Go on, tell me what you're afraid of. I can make it happen.

[64th]

Well I'm certainly not afraid of you.

[lingeringfear]

That can be changed.

[Maybe. Probably.]

You haven't seen anything from me yet, human.

[64th]

I don't think you know who you pulled into your little underground prison.

[ being a smartass to Fear is the best choice, right? ]

[lingeringfear]

Would it make much of a difference if I did?

[He tilts his head, rather unfazed by the posturing.]

You're still here, after all. You may as well be useful.

[64th]

[ she rolls her eyes, exasperated. ] How does helping you benefit me? At least the other guys pretends to nice.

[lingeringhope]

You would.

[Hope is most definitely annoyed now, probably just because here Fear is, making a nuisance of himself.]

There are still bears in the caves. If you'd like to play with them, go right ahead. Keep yourself busy.

[lingeringfear]

They don't frighten as easily as your new pets.

[Pointedly. They do have goals, after all.]

Still, you didn't have to steer them away like you did. They were doing a passable job. Not entirely what I was expecting, but...

[He shrugs, dismissive.]

You can't predict everything.

[lingeringhope]

They'd have happily eaten all these humans, and then what would you have done? I'm not here to clean up your mess, you know.

[He sounds testy, just on the edge between 'irritated' and 'scolding mother'.]

I'm not going to let monsters roam around destroying all my hard work. Not when they aren't even sentient.

[lingeringfear]

It's not a mess. This might not be what I anticipated, but it's far from a disastrous outcome.

[By contrast, Fear is exasperated, if just the slightest bit consoling.]

You're taking care of the humans, though. That's- alright, I guess. By the looks of things, they aren't very grateful.

[lingeringhope]

At least they have the capacity for emotions.

[It's a very grudging admission that this isn't all bad.]

I don't know why they're so touchy. I've given them food and shelter. I'm sure they'll settle down.

[notjustinthemirror]

I give that effort about a 4. It helps if you have ambient sound to really seal the mood.

[Here, he'll show you. He makes his communicator go to static, the screen flickering and sending out a high pitch keening sound before popping and then going back to normal.]

[lingeringfear]

Equipment malfunctions are frightening to humans?

[See look, he's learning all sorts of things.]

[notjustinthemirror]

They can be in the right circumstances. Admittedly it's a little more effective if they're also in the dark since they have terrible night vision. You know, in case you missed that lesson in Scaring Humans 101.

[lingeringfear]

I figured that they don't see well in the dark when I saw them stumbling over themselves for the past few evenings.

[Not that Fear watches you while you sleep or anything. That would be scary.]

What else?

[notjustinthemirror]

Now wait a minute, my personal tutoring isn't free. What do I get out of this deal?

[fuwatokurage]

Hope and Fear?

I do not understand. From what I have learned from my master, those two things are the related. Is that right?

[lingeringfear]

Related and opposite.

[To put it simply.]

Our natures are at odds with one another.

[fuwatokurage]

So you two are fighting?

You should not fight if you two are related! Relatives should get along with each other! If you have a good meal and sleep under a heated table together, then everything will be all right.

[Totally missing the point of everything.]

[lingeringfear]

We can't share a meal. We don't eat the way that humans do.

[That's definitely the only problem with Clear's plan.]

[fuwatokurage]

Hmmm...that definitely would be a problem then...

[He sighs.]

So if you're fear, then you eat fear. You probably already ate some of mine. The bears were scary!

Ah...but I am also not a human. Is my fear edible? I was not edible to the bears.

audio;

[drunkdetective]

[ _{nah, he doesn't feel anything. kind of amused, actually. maybe you should have half a plexiglass skull, fear.} ]

Cute.

[lingeringfear]

Is it?

[That's more of a confusing response than anything. Fear pauses at that, humming for a moment in thought.]

How is it cute?

[drunkdetective]

... It's not. Maybe you should resurrect the sarcasm god first.

[lingeringfear]

We don't have one of those.

[But he can appreciate the humor, now that he knows that it was humor.]

Ultimately not frightening, though? That's what the other human said. I'll have to work on my delivery.