[3] video (post Delight's event)

[krangke]

(Newt's sitting cross-legged on the floor and has his phone set up to be set on him in a very steady image. He's got a sheet of paper with what looks like a map drawn on it next to another, slightly more different map. For anyone who bothers to look at the floor anyway. Newt, however, is not looking at the floor but at the camera itself.)

You know, I've been thinkin' bout the monsters here lately. Went explorin' out in the caves the other night and I kinda realized something. I know it's gonna sound bloody insane but hear me out.

I kind of feel for the monsters. I mean, think about it. They're being treated just as unfairly as all of us, aren't they? They were dragged outta their worlds too and thrown into this place. I know they're violent but they don't seem...that bad? Mostly they stick to the caves and yet we go on in there slaughtering them all of the time and not always for food. Maybe I'm wrong but...that doesn't feel right to me somehow. Throwing all these creatures into a small section of this place then just tearing them apart because the gods tell us they'll give us rewards for it.

And trust me, I'm no bloody saint there - I'm guilty of it too but now that I've taken a step back and really thought about it, I have no idea why I ever thought that was okay. They're not robots. They're living creatures. They feel pain too, don't they?

(Newt frowns, twisting at the ends of his sleeves.)

Half the time- no. More than half of the time they don't even do anything to us. So maybe we should stop killing them unless it's for food. I 'unno.

(He sighs, looking off to the side of his room. Maybe he doesn't understand the world enough to understand something like that. But then he looks as if he's remembered something and grabs the two pieces of paper and holds them up to the camera so that everyone can see. The maps are of the tunnels.

Except one is different.)

By the way, the tunnels change. Discovered that. I'm kind of disappointed. That's how our Maze was too so I can't say I'm all that shocked here. Our Maze would change every night and it turned out that if you aligned the patterns, they spelled out words. So if anyone cares about seeing why the tunnels change- there you go. Wish you luck.

(Annnnd that's about it actually. He flips the video off after that casual reveal.)

Comments

[werewolfing]

you could've put a bit more emphasis on the bit about the caves

that's kinda important since they didn't change for awhile and now they did

[krangke]

Make me a list of at least five people you know who care that much about the tunnels and I'll remake the video to put plenty emphasis on the tunnels.

[werewolfing]

uh

yeah okay you win

great mysteries of our little universe totally uninteresting to the population

[krangke]

I know I win :P

(Peter gets a nice healthy nudge to his side.)

It was like that back at the Maze, you know. Some of the kids didn't care at all about leaving or anything. They were content to stick around. Maybe that's how it is here too. Can't say I really blame anyone.

I mean, what if what's out there is worse? Cause this place isn't all that bad all things considered.

[werewolfing]

you never know someone could secretly care

[newt gets an equally healthy nudge back.]

there's something up there though. somehow. not that i think we can get there but at least a mystery is something to do since the two-week long bender is boring

[krangke]

Secretly caring is as useless as not caring at all.

What's this? Do my eyes deceive me? Is Peter Rumancek interested in solving a puzzle and getting involved? My oh me I am a good influence

[werewolfing]

i never said it was useful just possible

nonsense

i don't get involved

except occasionally in gardens i guess

but not in mysteries

[krangke]

I have a hunch you only come to the garden to watch a certain gardener but I could certainly be wrong.

It doesn't matter either way. I don't particularly want to go into the tunnels if I can help it. You know that.

So unless you make buddy-buddy with someone who does...

[werewolfing]

hey i help too i don't just stand around staring at gardeners

i do know that and i'm not the biggest tunnel fan around either

yeah because i do the buddy-buddy thing so well

mr popularity that's me

[krangke]

That's fair you do help occasionally.

I know. I still have no clue why we go.

Better than you think you do.

[werewolfing]

so occasionally is the new daily

its a likely pointless and definitely thankless job so clearly we're good candidates

newt i live with practically everyone i know even if i met them before you dragged them home i don't think that counts

[krangke]

For you it is

We could do so much more with our time though.

Whatever you say, Peter. By the way, I don't know if you've met Pell, but we should definitely have him live with us. I think he needs it. I told him it was fine but he wanted me to ask you guys.

[werewolfing]

you're awfully rude to the guy that helps you out

we could i guess but like what

when we aren't being attacked by things or in some kind of crazy god situation there's not much for hobbies

i've met pell

he can live with us that's cool

[krangke]

I like being rude to the guy who helps me out

Liiiike you know. Stuff.

(He gives Peter an extremely pointed look here.)

We're barely ever attacked by anything but yeah.

I figured you'd be okay with it.

[werewolfing]

its true you're just mean to me

stuff sounds pretty okay though i guess we could spend a lot more of the day doing stuff

not us. new snacks are though.

of course i'm okay with it

look at these people caring about the tunnels. maketh and that lady and chris and the doc, that's four.

[krangke]

Greenies gotta pay their due somehow I guess. None of 'em ever die it seems

Idk the lady. Chris and Maketh are good people but I dont trust Bruce. He still unsettles me. I don't like it when someone can remember me and I cant remember them and no one else seems to remember me

[werewolfing]

murdercave really needs a more accurate name. occasional-light-maimingcave is too long though.

doc seems all right to me except for that one thing. it is weird that he remembers you though.

[krangke]

So is 'Mildly Threatening Sometimes Cave'. I just call it Hadriel because that's its name.

That's a pretty big thing, Peter.

(Annnnd Peter even gets a cross look with this text.)

My history with adults who remember me when I don't remember them is a very shitty thing so, you know.

[werewolfing]

calling things by their names is overrated

okay yeah so it's a big thing

i'm not saying you should trust him

just that if someone else wants to go cave crawling do we really need to trust them

[newt is getting coddled for his trouble]

[krangke]

Murdercave is the stupidest name ever though

No bloody hell it's a big thing thank you for that personalized deduction there, sweetheart

I can't and wouldn't stop him but that's a pretty silly question. "Do we need to trust someone with what could possibly be a potential escape? Should we have to trust them to actually come back for us if they find something? Should we have to trust them to tell us things they find?" I think the answer is a resoundingly loud 'Yes'. Trust is important in a functional society, isn't it?

(That coddling is accompanied by a really big pout but hey he's not too upset so good job, Peter.)

[werewolfing]

i didn't come up with it

oi oi if he was one of your world's assholes he probably wouldn't be spending all his time on the clinic here

no, its not a silly question we're talking about someone who is already working for the public good so you can probably 'trust' him to continue working for the public good without trusting him with other things

there's different kinds of trust and i'm not suggesting you give him the dangerous kind but expecting people to go on behaving like they do is how society actually works

to Action

[krangke]

(Newt looks up from his phone and gives Peter an incredibly flat look.)

You realize that WICKED was only able to put a thing in my head that wiped my memories because they had an entire field of doctors, right? Doctors who would also take care of us medically from time to time. That doesn't mean anything. Anyone's capable of being a bad person no matter how 'good to the public' they are. That's all they ever preached too. That they were just trying to save the world.

(He sighs quietly and slips his phone away, pushing himself to his feet.)

You know, for someone who saw what it felt like to me after I had that encounter with him you'd think you'd be a little more sympathetic instead of prattling about how society actually works. Thanks for that, by the way.

I suppose it doesn't matter. You can trust him if you like but I don't. I can't exactly help how uncomfortable the situation makes me feel. I've only ever had the one interaction with him so what do I know?

(Newt rolls his shoulders in a shrug and picks up the cup of tea he had been drinking and gives it a bit of a look. He hadn't even realized it was emptied. He doesn't really even seem mad- just kind of quietly disappointed.)

Do you want more tea?

Action

[werewolfing]

Kitten. Love. That's my point. We don't need him to be a good person, we just need him to keep acting like he's been acting. I don't trust him. Shit, the only person I trust here is you.

[peter sighs and lets newt go, getting up to follow him into the kitchen.]

Yeah, I'd like more tea.

[krangke]

(Newt starts up another pot and frowns at it like it's the cause of all of his problems.)

You're right.

(He leans back against a nearby counter and crosses his arms over his chest.)

Sorry. Didn't mean to get sharp with you. That situation just makes my skin crawl. I guess I still am jumpier about it than I thought I'd be.

[werewolfing]

[peter shakes his head.]

Nah, I'd be pretty fuckin freaked out too, if someone knew me and i didn't know them. Especially an adult. Didn't mean to make you feel like I was dismissing it. Trust is just a lot more complicated than 'do' or 'don't' for me.