— 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

3/3

[webshoots]

—If you can feel that staying human is worthwhile, even when it can't have any result whatsover, you've beaten them? Or are we talking about Big Brother? Because boy, was that a terrible idea for a TV show.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Uh, I'd want to be something like a macaron, but honestly? I think I'm an oreo. I'm talking about both? Not cookies, but both of those. Staying human and about that really crappy tv show. Which, I did not know you knew about? Apparently bad concepts cross the barriers of the multiverse.

Big Brother and some kind of strategy for staying human.

[webshoots]

So you want to be fancy and frequently mistaken for a French president, but instead you're the backbone of terrible diets everywhere? And you'd be surprised at what sleeping irregular hours means for familiarity with awful TV...

I think we're okay on the human — or at least, humane front — if we agree to not sell out the universe for our own comfort.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

Well, I didn't think of it that way and really, I think you're overselling the oreo and underselling the other one. And really? I wouldn't. Not by much anyway. Usually, when I can't sleep- I read.

I really hope the first and for the latter? That's kind of the whole problem, isn't it? Someone here might be okay with that. With killing everyone if it means they get to leave. And just for the record? I don't think that you would, because you just don't really seem like the type. But there's a lot of us here.

[webshoots]

I think you're underselling Oreos, if I'm honest. They're not quite up there with Twinkies, but since we were talking about cookies, Twinkies don't get to enter the equation.

That's the thing — anyone that would be okay with killing everyone else if it means they get to leave would be counting on two things: one, hope; and two, that the World Eaters wouldn't be able to get to their home. I'm not saying there's no-one here— [ "stupid enough to buy into that second one" ] —that wouldn't be tempted, but—. [ a pause and a sigh. ] —Yeah, no, I'm not going to pretend to be so idealistic that I think everyone here's going to avoid picking the wrong option.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

What? Is that the cookie you'd be, if you had to pick one and not suddenly start talking about weird rules about what a cookie is? A Twinkie? And I meant an oreo like, the cookie most people know about but only eat when there's nothing else and you've already checked the cabinets. Twice.

That's the whole problem, isn't it? I think it's the wrong choice. You think it's the wrong choice... what do we do about the ones who don't think that? And I'm not just talking about, uh, should someone ask everyone in town? Or, should someone figure out a way to make a truth potion and slip it to everyone. But, what do we do if someone in town is actively trying to kill everyone else?