— audio, open.

[webshoots]

@ parker

Uh, hey. For anyone that's just arrived, my name's Peter and I've had the dubious honour of having been here since the beginning of this group, so if you've got any lingering questions about how, why and what, I can't promise I can answer them, but I can do a very good job at pretending I can answer them.

Failing that, if you haven't already seen them, there are a few guides on the tablet that cover what we've been through a little more succinctly, which—

[ followed by a pause and the vague sound of movement — for what it's worth, peter's outside, as evidenced by the sound of wind in the background. for the more observant, or perhaps those with super-senses (oy), it might sound as if peter's somewhere a little higher up. ]

—is actually kind of my point.

[ a beat. ]

What I'm getting at is: this isn't the first time we've been caught on the back foot by the spirits. I don't really want to get into whether their actions were right or wrong, or whether they're operating on a morality that we can't comprehend because that doesn't really matter. The point is what we've been doing hasn't worked, so maybe we need to rethink tactics.

—But does anyone else think it kind of weird how the importance of unity has been touted since the very beginning, and then suddenly we've got two different groups vying for our attention? [ a beat and a huff of breath that's almost a laugh. ] I'd say something doesn't smell quite right, but that might be tempting fate a little.

Comments

[audio] @kingofwei

[pure_havoc]

[what up Peter it's about time they had a real chat]

Unity has been put forth as the primary protection against getting reset. However, I have thought for some time, as we learn more about our true foe, that people would eventually split into camps depending on who comes up with which tactic that seems the best for defeating the World Eaters. Of course, I did not anticipate that one idea would be so extreme.

[he puts all his snark on that word to convey that he's not down with it]

But then, the spirits themselves are not unified. We have since learned that the smaller ones fear and force themselves to obey the green-eyes. It is the nature of thinking creatures, I suppose.

[webshoots]

[ "as we learn more about our true foe". peter's not sure if it can be said that they really know much of anything about the world eaters — nothing new, at any rate. nothing that any number of the more permanent residents of beacon didn't already know, whether it be one of them or all. that said— ]

I don't know if I'd call Kimiko's plan a tactic for defeating the World Eaters, [ somewhere between sardonic and dismissive and it's clear, frankly, that peter doesn't consider it an option at all. it's punctuated by a slight pause, one where peter thinks of morlun and the inheritors, one where he thinks of how the various spider-people had, at times, managed to be divided in how they thought would be the best way to defeat them. ]

—And I don't know if I ever thought that everyone would agree on how best to approach this, but if experience has taught me anything, it's that our best shot is going to involve the utilisation of everyone's strengths. [ for as much as peter has a tendency to work on his own, has a tendency to prefer working by himself, he's perfectly aware that there are some situations that call for more than one set of hands. and eyes. and brains.

(what he wouldn't give to have reed stuck here with them, honestly.)

does he think that's necessarily realistic, though? not really. but he can hope. ]

That could be their undoing, I guess. Fear's not really all that much of a long-term motivator. [ beat. ] Or more accurately, I hear it's not that great at instilling dedication. Divisiveness, on the other hand... [ and stupidity. it can definitely lead to stupid decisions. ]

[pure_havoc]

[a soft, vaguely sarcastic laugh. They do agree, there] Certainly not. Her plan is to give up, to admit defeat, to flat out determine that not even the dead can do anything useful. But I should say that given how many resets have occurred, and how many years have passed, she has not yet managed to convince a single group to go her way. At least, not to any useful extent.

I can see how, given time, a community might eventually give in to despair. If years go by with no solution and only growing anxiety and depression among us, it can happen. She played her hand too soon.

audio; un: hedgewitch

[hedgeflowers]

[ oh, great. Politics. She's just arrived and everything's finnicky, so let her test the waters: ]

Where do you stand on the whole shebang?

[webshoots]

Uh—. [ oh boy. ] There's a long answer and a short answer to that. [ beat. ] The short answer is that I think the World Eaters need to be stopped, but call me paranoid — I don't really trust the Wild Hunt or Pluto's group. [ kimiko's goal is diametrically opposed to peter's beliefs, whilst the night market have access to technology and equipment that has him questioning their motives — or at the very least, dedication to stopping the world eaters in spite of pluto's recent proclamation.

and then there's robin: peter likes her, but he doesn't trust her, whilst solis is still far too much of an unknown entity. ] For a dead world that needs new souls to help save it, there seems to be a lot of people left over who aren't very keen to share information on what did and didn't work for them.

[hedgeflowers]

[ This guy seems like he has a head on his shoulders, at least--Audrey doesn't have the kneejerk reaction of 'what an idiot:' he's breaking things down. Good. Useful.]

So, all cards on the table, you want...neutrality? Or a third faction to sweep you off your feet? I'm new here, just trying to get the lay of the land, so to speak.

@darkness | text

[evulsed]

That's the sharpest thing I've ever heard you say.

[webshoots]

Endearingly incompetent might just be a guy I play on TV.

[evulsed]

It's not that strange.

@username; voice

[immortalaccursed]

And what two groups are we talking about?

[webshoots]

[ oh, right. pluto's broadcast was before the most recent arrivals washed up on shore. ]

—Sorry, permanent darkness pretty much means I no longer have any idea of when one day ends and another begins. It's the Christmas holiday period taken to extremes. [ breath of a pause. ] A group that calls itself the Wild Hunt, led by a woman called Kimiko, and the Night Market, led by a woman named Pluto.

The Wild Hunt have just left, and the Night Market are on their way.

[immortalaccursed]

Ah, yes! I believe the dear soldier was telling me about this as I lay dreaming.

The Night Market has some plan we do not yet know about so that must make the Wild Hunt the group that aims to let the World Eaters do as they may.

My, we've quite a decision to make!

audio; @aetherblade

[redtwin]

It isn't that strange. The louder someone in power preaches unity, the more certain you can be that there are dissenting voices that might actually have the power to push their own cause.

[webshoots]

The Night Market and the Wild Hunt have both figured out ways to survive the resets, so I don't know if I'd say Robin has power over them.

[redtwin]

Not now, but they were like us once. And she definitely has power over us.

[Audio] @ SuprNerd

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Nice introduction. Okay, so that said? About the groups and the sales pitches that's been coming our way lately? [there's the sound of Quentin exhaling through his nose] The timing is suspicious? As was the ... uh, help? Sure, why not. Let's call what they did help. And whatever else I'm thinking about this? I'm really not all that willing up put up in public like this.

[webshoots]

Just wait until I break out the icebreakers. [ a pause. ] Sure, we can call it help. They assisted in helping us rescue everyone who'd been kidnapped. That's not not true. [ a beat and a hum of acknowledgement: peter can't blame quentin for caution, it's not like peter hasn't advised or even done the same numerous times before. ] My thoughts can be summed up in three little words and I promise you it's not the three little words that most people mean when they say that.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Do you really-- nope, forget I even asked, but you do seem like a guy with just a list of them and- and they might even work? That's- wow, that's not even important. Right now. [Whatever smile that might have been lingering on the edges of Quentin's voice fades, and it's hard, clipped words when he continues.] Meet me and tell me those three little words, Peter. Because this really isn't the place for it.

Is Orwell or '1984' a thing where you're from?

audio @cherylbombshell

[sweetwater]

So you think it's, what? A trap? A plot to divide and conquer?

[ it honestly doesn't sound far-fetched but it does sound like bad news for all of them. ]

[webshoots]

Confuse and distract, maybe. If it was just a case of dividing, there are easier ways of going about it.

[audio] @justfitz

[rereremembered]

I'm still getting up to speed here, but I've got...had a friend who was keen on third options. What's our either/or here, so we can consider the middle?

[webshoots]

Door number one is let the World Eaters win and move on to the next planet. Door number two is — uh, not that. Don't get me wrong, it could be a perfectly serviceable door but I'm a little wary on the basis that this is the first time it's been mentioned — and, you know, it came with a "we don't have time for weaklings" spiel...

@cuttingedge; audio

[knifecollecting]

I don't like it either.

[She doesn't think they should be splitting up, even ideologically right now.]

I don't think we should give up either.

[webshoots]

Giving up's basically what the Wild Hunt want us to do, right? This isn't life as we knew it, so what's the point? I mean, I get it, but I'm not really sure it's the healthiest outlook.

—Amongst other things.

@ven; audio

[reposer]

Hi Peter! I'm Ventus, but everyone calls me Ven. It's nice to meet you.

[ That needed to be said first because he's been taught it's important to be polite, but pressing right on: ]

Maybe it's because I just got here, but I don't get it. Aren't we all supposed to work together?

Isn't it real bad if we start picking sides and fighting?