Scene #8022:

Owner	Pose
Persephone Kore	A scant two miles from the Tidal Reactor, a city-in-miniature has sprung up on an arbitrary spot. It is dense, as if it had any practical need to be dense, but only consists of six or seven buildings and a single L-shaped boulevard. The street dead-ends into the crimson ocean in both directions. The largest is an apartment building made of concrete, as if there were any need for apartments either. It can't be older than a few days, but moss and lichen already paint its sides pleasantly tame shades of green. A lush community garden has sprung up on its rooftop. Just across the street (itself shaded with trees) are a library in art deco style and a multi-purpose sporting venue. Skeuomorphism: the reason why lightbulb fixtures sometimes look like candle-holders, and why the save icon is still a floppy disk. Even when there is no practical need, things retain their forms for familiarity's sake. Or maybe it's that people are still finding their footing with this new lack of limits? The people here aren't hard to recognize as the rank-and-file mecha pilots from before. A minority of them are still wearing their flightsuits, though most have conjured up more comfortable or fashionable clothing to wear. Some of them recognize you on the street and tense up slightly. Marc, walking alongside you, waves to them as a sign of non-aggression, and they mostly relax. "I wonder why they chose to cluster together like this," he muses, leaning against a tree in the middle of the boulevard. "There's no practical need for 'a city'. Perhaps it's that, once material concerns go away, what's left behind is the need for a community. Togetherness." Someone wearing not only their flightsuit, but also a featurelessly glossy helmet, sits on the edge of the apartment building's verdant roof four stories up. Their outfit has a maroon stripe painted on the shoulder. Even without being able to see their eyes, it feels like they're looking at you.
Kukuru	Kukuru wasn't around to see the Tidal Reactor before, but she's not one to pass up on an opportunity to check out what her friends and family are doing. With the return of the Secundus exploration missions, meanwhile, she even has a convenient work-related excuse to get paid for it at the same time! That's why she's dressed... Weirdly formally for once in her usual white blouse and green/brown dress combo, dipping at the waist lightly to each person the group passes with Marc as to really hammer in the 'I'm working formally' image that she's trying to push forth for some reason. "It's less lonely living with other people. You can help each other, talk with each other, spend time with each other, and all sorts of stuff that's way more fun than it would be alone." She replies, nodding lightly in agreement while trailing somewhere vaguely behind him and already forgetting to maintain her '''professional''' demeanor as she just gawks at all the decorations surrounding the apartment building. She may or may not be looking for nice climbing paths up that building while she's at it. She doesn't notice the helmeted person staring at the group at first, humming a quiet tune for a while and nearly wandering away before abruptly catching their maybe-gaze and staring right back with a slow tilt of her head. "Oh...? He-llo there to you, too~" Kukuru waves, not going any further than that. They'll come over if they feel like talking, after all, and she's not going to rush that.
Ishirou	Ishirou walks with Marc, though his eyes are painted on the city in miniature. A simple part of a city, enough for these people...though he imagines that they have bunked together or at least lived together in close proximity for a bit of time given their military background. It makes sense that their desire is for a tighter nit set of buildings. "It might have to do with that, but also because they were military before they suddenly weren't. Military people, at least ones on the front, tend to be in closer nit spaces. Bunking or at least being in the same community...such as a single ship or something like that." Ishirou frowns as people seem to tense up around them. Though perhaps he feels a touch guilty for changing sides at the last moment. This is especially true after the frustration he expressed at certain people almost rather recently. Though the person staring at them from above doesn't escape his notice...he just doesn't look directly at them. "You can remove the needs from people, but they'll still...form what they feel most comfortable with. I suppose it'll take time for them to experiment more...to push out of their comfort zones."
Staren	Staren flies over the landscape on her broom; seeing some structure in the distance, she flies towards it. The miniature city is weird and yet familiar. Not just in the way it of course is, but by complete chance the 'half-dozen buildings and a disconnected street' structure is something she saw a few times doing high-altitude flyovers of Dimension 73737. They even had the same fake aging with moss and lichen. Unlike this one, though, the INSIDE of the buildings were full of monsters like every other 'dungeon' in that zone. At least, she hopes these buildings aren't swarming with monsters. Whatever the reason for that other zone's peculiarities, near the Tidal Reactor it makes perfect sense: Someone used to living in a city is going to make a familiar area, but they're not going to have the patience or architectural and civil engineering expertise to go around making an actual city, so they'll make a little patch like this so they have a familiar place and then stop. That line of reasoning runs through Staren's head as they approach -- she spotted Marc on the way in land landed to walk into the city together. Like him, Staren smiles and waves, bearing no ill-will to the pilots. "Honestly, I figured this was one person's doing. With this many, I'd have expected them to spread out... but perhaps I'm thinking too much in terms of what we're doing in Secundus, in miniature. Community makes sense for someone less concerned with exploration and exploitation." And... there's the officer. Staren stops and looks at them. Nods a little. Activates combat flight and levitates up to their level. "...Hey. You doing alright?"
Darren	YO CHECK THE LIBRARY Roswell excitedly flies down the tiny street, rushing ahead of Darren to admire it up close. Neither of them are evidently familiar. "That's a pretty old-looking style," notes the trainer thoughtfully, on the come-up, stopping to stand beside Marc. He, too, waves--though Roswell is evidently too busy admiring the library to notice the tenseness. "But it's kind of got this... element of timelessness to it, too. I like it." "I like that, too," he says to Marc, with a soft smile. Slowly, Darren takes it in--until he catches sight of the figure atop the apartment building. He doesn't stare--but he does communicate. I don't think we got your name, my G. I'm Darren.
Lilian Rook	"You know, I think this settles a question for me." Lilian says. Strolling alongside Marc, it feels like, if she were the type to put her hands in her pockets (or really, have pockets ever), this would be the vibe for it. "Or I suppose more of a niggling doubt. They could all have had million credit mansions out here, but they chose this instead. So this should be fine for most people, shouldn't it? Not everyone needs that kind of wealth. Not everyone wants it." She doesn't elaborate on what doubt this actually settles. "Maslow would be going wild right now." she says to Marc. "And I assume these people would prefer not to experiment with wishing people into existence. I wouldn't." So says Lilian while still rocking 'fucked-up drip' like the other day. "Though, they must have a lot of girl pilots. Since it's so 'storied' and all." A little smarm, but no sarcasm. "But, 'community' . . . I understand wanting that. It must be similar to why I feel like I can't get 'that' anywhere else but Sapient Heuristics, I suppose." When she spots the officer, Lilian's eyes don't even fall on the stripe. She looks straight at their helmet, and processes it as if it were someone's face. "I was hoping I might find you here. You were taking it pretty hard before." She pauses only to give the illusion of thinking. "I was really impressed, you know. You were genuinely something special. And being something always means taking it the hardest when you fail. You haven't contacted home at all, have you? If it's not too rude to ask, what are you planning on doing now?"
Persephone Kore	The maroon-striped pilot's gaze is hard to read, both because of distance and that glossy black helmet. But it seems to linger longer on Kukuru than the others, likely for reasons of unfamiliarity. They don't wave back, but nod politely. No hostility, at least not right now. "It is less lonely, isn't it? I can't imagine having a white picket fence or a cabin in the woods," Marc answers Kukuru. "Perhaps if I were forced to, I'd get used to the loneliness. But people need people." "Yes, a library," he says to Roswell, obviously amused. "I wonder how they're making the books. If you don't know information, you shouldn't be able to will it into existing, yes? Well, perhaps they're transcribing from a hard drive or something." In fact, someone walks into the library with a double armful of books at just that moment. "As for the 'art deco' style, it's nice, but I like the apartment building's better. Descending into baroque detail is endlessly tempting when creation is easy. Taut simplicity shows confidence." "Have we been properly introduced?" he asks Ishirou, extending a hand to shake even as he sits down on a comfy wood bench beneath a tree. "Marc Heller. I'm a friend of Persephone's. Perhaps you're right about the military, but I'd prefer to think it a universal human urge. Otherwise, I'd have something in common with them." To Lilian, he responds after a moment's reflection: "Here they have many things that would elsewhere require a great deal of wealth. Peace of mind, an absence of drudgery, freedom to go where they like. Don't mistake a lack of status symbols for a lack of wealth." As for the part about female pilots and 'storied' architecture, he scoffs. "Gender essentialism, is it? Keep that off the station."
Persephone Kore	Darren's telepathic message is answered in kind, the pilot assuming he can hear them. No, you didn't get my name. ... It's Kelly. To Staren, who floats up to meet them, they say succinctly: "Didn't you try to kill someone?" They slide off the edge, dropping to the ground four stories below. For that fall, they wish for the gravity to be like the Moon's and not the Earth's; so it is, and so they don't break their legs but land elegantly, a little ways away from Marc. "I haven't called home," the pilot says to Lilian. "I plan to enjoy my time here, until I get tired of it. Even though it was a terrible decision to create this place, I can still enjoy it."
Ishirou	Ishirou turns to shake Marc's hand. "I think we only really vaguely were in each other's spheres. I remember your presence at the station and the battle. I am sure I read some notes with you as subject matter...and likely Persephone has mentioned me at this point." "I'm Ishirou. It's nice to meet you," he says easily enough. "Well, I'm pretty sure it is, which is why militaries often use it...I'm just saying it's not uncommon to see them cluster like this. Strangers would probably make more spread-out accommodations, right?" He raises an eyebrow at the gender essentialism comment, but shrugs. Deciding to look that up on his own time, as the comment seemed perhaps a bit tense. "As far as what could be in the books...perhaps what's in them is based on what they remembered? They could have data storage on hand...sure. I imagine recording it and putting it down wouldn't be that hard." Ishirou takes a moment to consider that. He could put some of his knowledge here into books if he wanted. That'd be interesting...! This thought is interrupted by the descending pilot. "...So why? Also, why do you have that opinion about this place not existing?" He considers this, was she here just to enjoy it because her suit and helmet say otherwise.
Kukuru	"Fencing is good for keeping critters out, but... Um. I mean, there's doors for that, too. And windows, and screens..." Kukuru starts to drone a bit to Marc as she starts thinking up the different ways of keeping unwanted animals out, but it doesn't last long once she realizes she doesn't actually know much else past that. "I don't think I could ever get used to it. If I ever missed someone and I knew where they were, I'd just..." Kukuru trails off. Rather, she disappears momentarily, replaced by a dark cloud that she just walks right into. She reappears moments later from a different cloud slightly in front of where she was walking. "... You know?" She doesn't actually explain what she did, sounding like she was just talking the entire time and expecting her voice to stay there somehow. That's roughly about when the unknown pilot drops off the building, and Kukuru's protective instincts kick into overdrive. She actually RUNS for once, cheating with her teleportation again to reappear underneath them long before they actually touch down with that suddenly moon-gravity. "Ahh...! Are you okay? Did you slip? What happened up there? Don't move too much in case anything's broken...!" Even after they touch down safely, Kukuru's still fretting over Kelly, checking their legs and liable to just pull their head into her chest like someone trying to reassure someone far more frantic than she's being right now. "It's okay, I'm here. You'll be fine... Just relax, okay? Whether it's created or not, this place is...!" Eventually, she calms down to give Kelly a blank stare. "... You made this place by accident? Wow... That's some real talent you've got there. How did you come up with it?"
Staren	A white picket fence or a cabin in the woods? Staren thinks to her parents' almost-rural home several minutes' drive from the growing city, and her spaceship, all alone... but within teleporter range of countless others. Hmm. Still. Maybe missing that community is part of how she could become so emotionally isolated for so long... Kelly just goes right for that, huh. Staren winces, eyes flickering away, then looking back to Kelly sternly. "It's a battlefield. That's what people usually do, although I wasn't going for brutality. I adjusted my targeting system after Dylan asked; but not just for her. I told you I could respect that you put your life on the line for others, even if I think you weren't achieving what you thought you were." She looks surprised at their assessment. "Terrible? Really? Those people you were fighting to save... they should have a way to come here, if everything is working as it should. Once we figure that out... won't it be better for everyone? ...Aside from that, I'm glad you can rest for a bit. You probably deserve it. Did your... did they let you take vacations, before?"
Darren	"'Descending,'" Darren teasingly jabs. "Listen," he says with a grin, "Being extra now and then is good for the soul." Looking up, as light streams down from between the leaves of the tree above, he does admit: "The apartment's a vibe, though." Darren sits down beside Marc, setting his bag down. Unlike yesterday, he's not dressed for exertion--a more casual look consisting of a navy blazer, untucked blue button-up, jeans, and pristine white sneakers. "Glad you're enjoying it," he says simply to Kelly. "The rest of my friends are gonna stretch their legs," he says, nodding towards his bag. One by one, the yeti, plesiosaur, radar ladybug, stone archway and sarcophagus emerge from the pack--each one waiting out to make sure no one's alarmed by their coming. They keep off of the main road, but otherwise play amongst each other. Roswell, turning to see Kelly, flies up to meet them. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK IT WAS TERRIBLE FAM The little alien's green eyes don't seem to have any ill will--instead conveying a genuine curiosity bordering on concern for them.
Lilian Rook	'It is less lonely, isn't it? I can't imagine having a white picket fence or a cabin in the woods' "Yeah." Lilian lets on just a tiny bit of what she's thinking with that one, rare word. "People need people. Living out in the woods isn't everything you'd ever dream. Even if I'm not certain I could stand living in a city." A return to form. "Well, maybe in a penthouse so I can look down on all of it. That might be nice." Smirk. 'If you don't know information, you shouldn't be able to will it into existing, yes?' "You can pick ten people at random off the street and eight of them won't know what any one of them does." Lilian contemplates out loud. "Even just sharing each other's knowledge, what interests them and what they think about; isn't that a worthwhile thing? I can't imagine the military sort are superb conversationalists. Perhaps it's simply easier for them to learn about one another by reading." 'Otherwise, I'd have something in common with them.' "You really wouldn't. I know military types. They get stockholm syndrome for deprivation; a perverse badge of pride for 'roughing it' like that." 'Gender essentialism, is it? Keep that off the station.' "Gender ownership." Lilian faux-huffs. "Though I suppose Dylan isn't here to get smug, or get flustered, so it's only half as fun." But now the nameless --well, not anymore-- pilot is answering her. "Oh? I like that one." Lilian replies to their name. It's obviously just because it's a Gaelic one. 'Even though it was a terrible decision to create this place, I can still enjoy it.' "Oh? But I rather think this little slice of a better city is quite a good idea. I was about to applaud you all for it, and not just going right back to Earth, though I suspect that wouldn't be easy regardless. Unless you mean creating all of this, in which case . . ." Lilian really contemplates that one, finger to jaw, for a little while. "No, you're probably right. It was a reckless, pushy idea. Just because you're fairly certain it'll pay off for everyone in the end doesn't make it any less of a burden on the people it affects first. Even if it was a 'good' in the end, it's not a blameless one. I'd rather Phony had not, but I'm glad she did. I don't think those feelings are mutually incompatible, so I suppose I can't disagree." "There's no point in hating a good thing just because you were against it, after all." 'It's a battlefield. That's what people usually do' "Substandard people. Especially with the luxury of those massive toys. Bodies that don't bleed, where it doesn't matter a bit unless you hit the heart." She looks to Kelly. "Though I really wouldn't have forgiven you if you'd hurt someone in the end. It didn't look like your side was considering a less than lethal conclusion very plausible."
Persephone Kore	The pilot blurts out something nearly unintelligible- maybe "fuck, red, red, mayday"- and twists out of Kukuru's grip swiftly when they're caught. Then they realize it was meant to be a rescue, smooth down their jacket like a cat doing the I Meant To Do That routine, and say a dry "Thanks". "Of course I didn't make this city. I mean the Moon, being 'terraformed'. The 'Tidal Reactor' back there. It was a terrible mistake because it was playing with the laws of physics in Earth's backyard. A gamble with nine billion people's lives." "You're allowed to say that a choice was bad, even if it worked out. 'But it worked' isn't a defense. You didn't know if it would work when you made the choice." That answers multiple people's questions at once. They cross their arms in Staren's direction. "I was fighting for it. Just because it turned out this way, by chance, doesn't mean I regret trying to stop it. Are you saying you 'respected' me enough not to kill me? Then what about everyone else, trying just as hard to stop you but not quite as good at it?" To Lilian, after a moment of thought: "I'm glad we didn't kill anyone, in the end. But I don't regret trying to. It was the right choice to make, and the wrong one to have made." Finally, they uncross their arms and look off to the side, shifting weight from one leg to the other. "I have no regrets. I piloted my machine perfectly. It wasn't enough, but that's no reason to be dissatisfied. Whatever happens after that is beyond me. Now I get to rest."
Persephone Kore	"Gender ownership," Marc says, as if it's a completely new concept. "Hm. Well, be careful what you reify. You should own it, Lilian; not the other way around." Then a little laugh. "The dynamic isn't the same without her. But don't tell her I said so." There are no cars here, so Darren's pokemon find that the street is actually a perfect place to play. It's comfortably shaded by the trees down the median and on either side; the cityfolk seem to be using it as a place to casually congregate as much as walk through. They're a little spooked by the novel creatures, but not too badly. This place has somewhat desensitized them to 'potential danger' and 'weird things' in just the last few days. Marc rolls his eyes at Darren good-naturedly. "I apologize for not having much 'extra-ness' to get out of my soul. I've never been the kind of person who needs to stretch his legs, in any sense." He reaches over smoothly to undo one button on Darren's button-up shirt, right on the chest. "There," he says, holding eye contact with perfect deadpan. "You promised me a keyhole."
Ishirou	Ishirou can't help but snort a little at the keyhole comment but decides to focus his attention on Kelly. Ishirou internally shakes his head at himself for thinking badly of her, or rather, thinking that she had other motives than what was on the surface. Taking a breath, he decides to speak up to her. "We didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves on the field either...I'm Ishirou. I was in the other unit initially helping you out. Though in the end, I decided that NOT stopping it was the better way. Some people convinced me that what I was doing wasn't what was best." "The idea I had was that trying to keep a status quo first, and then trying the idea...or at least trying it slowly was the optimal path. I forgot that in this situation though...the sides were not equitable. Simply put, that the status quo wasn't actually keeping things even, but keeping things advantaged for the side who was already advantaged." "While reckless...and probably would have liked more testing first...I can't argue with the results. On the other hand, just because something is outside of our comfort zones, doesn't mean we have to reject it immediately either. There was nothing in any of my readings that suspected that it was dangerous..." Ishirou decides to try something. He holds out a hand, and in it, he produces a book. It's just labeled, 'The Tidal Reactor Incident'. It's everything Ishirou knew, as well as his views from his point of view, and he hands it over to Kelly. "Just in case you were sold a lie. I am finding this is more common than not...speaking as someone who sometimes is smart in some ways, and dumb in others." "Oh right, I haven't been human for very long."
Staren	"...Besides. It's unlikely a single missile to the cockpit would've been a guarunteed kill shot." Staren adds, after Lilian also points out the hypocrisy here. > You can say a choice was bad... "You can say it. But I don't agree with you. Or rather... even from what little I can tell about your world from how it reacted, I suspect that not doing it would have been even worse. We didn't know for certain this would work. But with even more certainty, going on the way things were wouldn't have worked." > You say you respect me. But what about everyone else? "I consciously adjusted my targeting systems. That decision applied to all of your people, and I made it because it mattered more than my reflexive decision to shoot you center-of-mass later." Staren blinks. "But... that's not why I didn't kill. I mean, it helped, but..." she shakes her head. "Getting sidetracked. What I mean is, I respect your..." she pauses, thinking of how to word this. "...conviction to act on your beliefs, even if I think they're wrong. Compared to the people back home, who believed the same but despite the vaunted risk of the Tidal Reactor, wouldn't risk anything that truly mattered to them to stop it. They were safe if you won, and probably safe if you lost; their gamble was safer than yours." > I don't regret... Staren nods. "Well said." Now I get to rest. Staren laughs. "That's the first thing you've said I really don't understand! Not regretting you've lost, not still looking for a way to shape the world to your ideals... I dunno how you deal with it, but it's probably healthier than my way of looking at things." > I'm Ishirou... Oh right, she should introduce herself. She holds out a hand. "I'm Staren Wiremu. Partner with the Concord... although, that might sound more impressive than it is, that's our most common elite rank." She looks over at Ishirou with a bit of a smirking smile. "I think 'smart in some ways, and dumb in others', could describe a lot of us."
Lilian Rook	'A gamble with nine billion people's lives.' "Come to think of it, I had been wondering where you drew that conclusion from. It's not as if I strictly don't believe you, but you're not exactly a physicist are you? Never mind of this sort. What reason did you have to believe some sort of Earth-destroying disaster was a possibility? Enough to fight that hard for it, nonetheless." 'I have no regrets. I piloted my machine perfectly. It wasn't enough, but that's no reason to be dissatisfied.' "Thou art responsible to thy blood first above all else, both the blood of thy line, and the blood shed for thee. Thou shalt use the fullest of thy competence at all times, and thou shalt demand the fullest. Thou shalt not accept substitutes, imitations, or shortcuts, from thyself or any other. The First and Eighth. Those are good ones, but I've come to elevate another one lately, in terms of importance." Lilian sort of talks to herself. Her focus drifts back to BB and Ganesha. "Fifth Code. Thou shalt not deny thy brothers and sisters that which they hath earned. The form of man is without end. Without extreme, exigent circumstances, suppressing the development of humanity, especially through the suppression of talent and attainment, is something I simply couldn't abide. That might be the main reason I stood against you in the end. More than just being friends with one of the sides. So I don't regret fighting you either." "You're surprisingly mature for a soldier. Few Elites really grasp that. They fret and seethe and argue and angst over the consequences of their actions and not the princples. The praxis and maxim. And consequentialism is useless if you can't perfectly predict everyone around you anyways. It's a poisonous way to think." 'You should own it, Lilian; not the other way around.' Lilian laughs. "I'm allowed to enjoy a reward here and there. I think I have too much worldly experience to get suckered into the lazy stereotype, you know. I've never been good at conforming to what people expect of me, even when they'd like me a lot more for it." "Though, speaking of what I said a moment ago, I'm reminded that I had a question to ask." Lilian's tone changes subtly. "The other day, you said 'Like Dylan and I'. That means you have one of those . . . psychomechanic frames too, don't you? Why didn't you use it back then?" 'You can say it. But I don't agree with you.' Lilian just looks straight at Kelly. "Don't worry; that usually means you're in the right. She's the very picture of acting without either maxim or praxis in mind; a dedication exclusively to whatever can be claimed to have been the right idea retroactively."
Kukuru	Once Kukuru's confirmed that the pilot is safe and their legs aren't liquefied from landing, she steps back to give them some space. "That's good. You're..." She raises her eyebrow again when they play that initial reaction off all cool-like, then giggles softly and gives them a brief thumbs up without going any deeper into probing about that. She knows how people can get embarrassed about these things, after all. Best not to wound that pride more than she needs to, even with good intentions. "The Tidal... The Moon? Oh, so that's what that was all about." She's making connections between what she had heard and what she's hearing now, and Kukuru actually furrows her brow in thought when the pilot speaks of the gamble. "That does sound like a pretty big risk, yeah, if it's..." She gestures vaguely at Lilian with a slow nod. "Yeah, if that's the number. If it was anyone else, I think... Yeah, it'd be a really bad choice." There's going to be a but in there. There's always going to be a but. "... But it wasn't just anyone doing it, right? It was Phony, and everyone else believed in her enough to help her, too." She visibly beams at the group for a moment, pausing to watch Darren's squad idly and making sure they don't get too bothered by anyone giving them weird looks. Afterwards, she turns right back to the pilot. "One day, I'm sure you'll be able to believe in us, too! Mm... And even though I wasn't there, I'm sure you did your best to do what you thought was right, too. So..." She digs into her pockets, retrieves what looks like a clear container of food despite nothing looking identifiable from the outside, and she hands it to the pilot. "For later. I'm Kukuru. Ku-ku-ru. I'm with the Concord, too, so don't be shy if you ever wanna come visit us outside of here, okay? Whether you're dressed like this, or..." Kukuru pauses, then looks over at Ishirou and Staren to consider some things before turning back to the pilot. "... It might be hard to fit all of your big cool suits if you show up in those, but I think we can make it work somehow."
Darren	"It's okay, Marc. I'll be extra enough for the both--" A bronze blush spreads across Darren's cheeks as Marc makes eye contact, but he manages to maintain it himself, and even cracks wise. "So you figured you'd just make one yourself." His tone implies that he doesn't mind--he did promise, after all. "I see you," he teasingly adds, as his hand reaches for Marc's. Roswell beeps thoughtfully at Kelly, one light-studded hand coming up to touch his chin thoughtfully. BUT DON'T REGULAR HUMANS TAKE MAD GAMBLES LIKE EVERY DAY? HOW MANY GAMBLES GOT TAKEN SO THOSE ROBOTS Y'ALL USE COULD WORK RIGHT? "That's a little different," says Darren. "Field tests and experiments are usually voluntary." YEAH BUT YOU GET WHAT I'M SAYING BLOOD. Roswell looks over his tiny shoulder at Darren, before folding his hands before him to look back up at Kelly. "I do," says Darren. "You're saying that humanity's gotten as far as it has because it's willing to take risks, and I vibe with that." Roswell bleeps and nods his head. Darren strokes his chin. "Besides what the homie said," he continues, looking back at Kelly, "Earth ought to be pretty familiar with 'decisions that affect everyone, but aren't decided by everyone.'" He leans forward in his seat, fingers interlaced, as his pokemon frolic in and around the shaded medians. As usual, Nessie is the most outwardly social, and the most accustomed to skittish people--slowly approaching and lowering her head to allow pets. "Most people live through decisions like that," continues Darren, "But there are always groups that're disproportionately affected--or otherwise put at risk." "Now, granted," he says, hands held outwards, gesticulating as he explains, "I'm not tryna directly equivocate the cosmic ish that goes on up here with the everyday frog boil that marginalized people on Earth deal with, and I'm not tryna 'eye for an eye' this either, but... that boil does add up, over time." He frowns. "And consistently... most of the harm in systems like that is retaliation against the frogs trying to jump out of the pot. Not the other way around." He takes a deep breath, brow furrowed, searching for words. "If nothing else, that burner needed to be turned off--and there are some things that slow, iterative change just... won't fix fast enough to help anyone."
Persephone Kore	"What 'sides'? What inequality?" the pilot says to Ishirou, not hostile so much as baffled. "It's just some people wanting to do a crazy science experiment on someone else's Moon. I don't think it's that complicated." They take the book, though, and open it up to briefly flip through it before shutting it again. The technique of 'translating one's knowledge into a physical object' does, in fact, work here. "Thanks. I'll give it a look. ... But it doesn't change what I knew then. You can't make decisions with hindsight." "Shut the fuck up," the pilot says to Staren crisply. "Do you understand the point of a military? Nobody should have to take these risks. I volunteered for this so they wouldn't have to. Don't call them cowards for hiding behind me. I put myself in front of them." They don't shake Staren's hand. But then, they don't shake anyone's hand, so maybe that's a preference and not a snub. "Reasoned expert opinion," the pilot says to Lilian. "That they could've de-orbited it, or weakened its binding energy. Changing physics on a planetary scale has planetary risks. And that if it were safe, they'd do it in their own backyard." That's not true; this project depended, at least in part, on leveraging Secundus's physics. But they had no way to know that. "I'm glad," they add. "That you don't regret it. Regretting things is important, but unpleasant. And I know what you mean. If you made good decisions at the time, wishing you'd made even better ones with the benefit of hindsight... just teaches you to wait for hindsight. And then you can't do anything." Accepting the plastic container of food from Kukuru is done with some amount of bafflement. Their hands are getting pretty full now, between that and the book. "'It wasn't just anyone'. More things I couldn't have known, back then. ... But maybe I'll get to know them in the future. Thanks, 'Kukuru'." "I can't do anything to fix those other problems with a mech," is Kelly's kneejerk response to Darren. Then they pause and consider it more deeply, tucking the food under one arm. "You mean... there's other problems, the same shape as this one. And this was the cure to the symptoms those other problems created." A pause. They look down at the book in their hands. "Alright. I'll think about that. But I still don't regret it."
Persephone Kore	Marc maneuvers, gently, for his hand to be on top of Darren's. It's a nice day to just be sitting on a bench together. This is 'a street', but really it feels close enough to a park. Dappled sunbeams shift when the leaves above rustle in the wind. "You see me, huh. Lucky you." While Darren's occupied with Kelly, Marc spares a little time to chat up Lilian. "Come to think of it, I suppose you are entitled to a little fun. I'd nearly forgotten. Forgotten a couple of things, I suppose." "'Psychomechanic frame'. I like that. I didn't bring Who Walks Away because..." He pauses for a moment, articulating the words in his mind before speaking them aloud. "It would have felt 'blasphemous', I suppose, to bring it to an event so grave. Dylan and Phony are better at keeping fights un-serious than I am. Do you understand?"
Staren	> consequentialism is useless if you can't perfectly predict everyone around you anyways. It's a poisonous way to think. Wait, that can't really be right, can it...? Oh shit right she can hear me. Arrrrgh. It's really unfair you get to hear me question myself... > She's the very picture of acting without either maxim or praxis in mind; a dedication exclusively to whatever can be claimed to have been the right idea retroactively. Staren's mind disagrees with that one in multiple ways and the thoughts all kind of surface at once: > Don't worry; that > a dedication exclusively > without either maxim or usually means you're to whatever can be claimed praxis in the right. to have been the right idea retroactively. Hey, aren't we both That's not true! I make NEVER TREAT ANYONE AS THE agreed that it was the the best choice I can with MEANS TO AN END. right thing?! the knowledge I have! Times Staren's broken that maxim in the past couple of years flash through her mind, though it's rather uncharitable to really count them, extenuating circumstances, they could handle it, etc, she feels regretful about it nonetheless. Lilian breaking it is also unavoidably there, with a mental wince as Staren remembers that. At least Darren pulls plenty of weight explaining the moral philosophy of the choice made the other day. > What 'sides'? What inequality? What. Staren just stares. > Do you understand the point of a military? Staren is surprised by the f-bomb, but after a moment sees where this is going and just lets out a breath through her nose. "I mean the people hurting the frogs trying to get out of the pot, as Darren put it. The ones who benefit from you stopping us. Not the innocents who deserve your protection." Although, a part of her is starting to wonder if maybe they've formed the wrong picture of Kelley's world.
Ishirou	"Well, I'm less concerned with you thinking your way of thinking was right at that moment. We can't be afraid to make choices, even if we don't have all of the right cards or the right info...or even the right perspective. Often...acting is better than not acting. So you did...and because of it you're here now." "The sides in this one were nine billion or so versus a small handful of people who wanted to change the world for the better. The inequality was the force of the weight of those billion, versus the few. In reality, it is likely just those at the top of those billion or so..." He looks around himself, "Some might be afraid of what this kind of power could bring to a world, especially those who would lose whatever status or hierarchy they would be at the top of. This version of the moon certainly brings things to a much more equitable state, doesn't it?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian barely turns her head to say "Yes, that's exactly how it works. Use your brain for once." to Staren, and nothing else. For Kelly's benefit, Lilian explains a little extra for Ishirou. "I had a little talk with him. My apologies, but it concluded in recognizing that the Earth Government is not the underdog being pushed around here, and that attempting to force three people to have dialogue with any representation of nine billion voices would be utterly pointless; the sides aren't even. The weight isn't even." A weird smile follows. "Though, my thanks for not blowing Staren's brains out a minute ago. It'd get on my clothes." What the hell does she know? "When you've had enough of this, I wouldn't mind talking to you about joining people who'll agree with you, rather than make excuses. And, sorry about your machine. But those can be fixed more easily than people." Lilian laughs with Marc's early remark. It's surreal how relaxed it sounds. "I'm glad you forgot. That means I'm finally back to doing something right. With any luck, one day I'll forget too." Then she contemplates him for a while, as if suddenly seeing something about him she didn't notice before. "I think I get it. Sort of the opposite of how I won't bring out Night Mist for a fight that isn't serious enough. You have fond memories of it, don't you? That's interesting. And a little bit cute?"