74. [voice/written]

[silversnowfall]

[Some say too much deep thought begets deeper problems.]

I've been thinking.

[Nephry has a piece of paper in front of her, as well as a book open to a marked page.]

Mm, I should say that reading has been making me think. Indulge me for a moment, if you will: there is a relatively small portion of our population living in this village that arrived more than three Luceti years ago. It's an easy number for me to choose, because I fall into that category as well. I don't know many of those sharing a 'cycle year' with me as personally as I might, but-

[Here she stops, taps the page of the other book, and tries a new direction. Included in her explanation is a description of the formula she mentions.]

Something I read about and didn't understand prompted a bit more research on my part. I'm interested in testing whether this...theory, I suppose, of mine happens to prove true. In another world, there is a kind of formula for determining how ready one is to accept the inevitable. I believe that, with some exceptions of course, one 'step' in this formula enacts itself in the space of one Luceti cycle year. [Then she illustrates what the heck she means by that, expanding upon a chart she found in her research.]

[A half-laugh. Actually it's quite a sad sound.] Doesn't that sound strange? And yet I remember being in complete disbelief that such things were possible, and then worrying about my friends and hating the Malnosso for what they do to us, and then wanting nothing more than to use our limited knowledge as some kind of wager for the chance to change-

And now...to a degree, I still feel all of these other things, and yet- [No. Perhaps it's best not to go into that so publicly. It's unbecoming of a governor for certain.] Well, now I'm asking the rest of you. No matter how long you have been here. Does this hold true for you?

Comments

[redjacketthief]

...you know? I can see that.

[Lupin hadn't thought about it in quite those terms, but it fit. Though the had only been there for a little over a year himself, he was starting to come to terms with how this world broke people...both by experience and by observation.

[silversnowfall]

It certainly surprised me. How long have you been here?

[redjacketthief]

A year last November. There's a theory like that back home, but I only heard about it in passing. It wasn't something that looked interesting then.

[silversnowfall]

At first, I didn't think much of it. Otherworldly psychology isn't something I would usually consider applicable. ...One runs out of things to read, however.

[redjacketthief]

Running out of stuff isn't hard to do around here. [It was part of the reason he even bothered trying to even contact the Filial spirits.]

But sometimes psychology from anywhere can be useful. People from any world can be very similar.

[silversnowfall]

And yet, remarkably different. So different that it can be used as a weapon against us - against organization. This collection of different histories and worlds makes us poor cooperators.

[redjacketthief]

That's because people let it. People that we all have something very big in common around here, and that only makes more problems for all of us.

[silversnowfall]

I don't know if all of us have that thing in common. Some prefer this life to the one they left behind, though that may surprise you.

[redjacketthief]

Oh no, we do.

We've all got them to worry about. Even if people like it here, it's not exactly a nice place to live.

[silversnowfall]

I've just spoken with someone who feels that it is a nice place to live. So we can't even all agree on that. It would worry me, but not surprise me, if some of us here even liked the Malnosso and wanted to be...friends, of a sort.

[redjacketthief]

I...see.

Huh. It's hard to believe that people actually like having their minds and bodies turned into playthings.

[silversnowfall]

That isn't what they see. Instead they see a world more peaceful and whole than one torn apart by war, or perhaps the chance to live when they otherwise would not.

And some have had no bad experiences with the Malnosso, other than their preferred brand of teasing.

[redjacketthief]

Yeah, that's a good point.

...Guess freedom can be too much for some to handle. It's too big.

[silversnowfall]

Implying that it isn't too big for you?

[redjacketthief]

Are you kidding? [He laughed.]

I don't like rules...but, you know what? Without them I wouldn't have near the fun that I do have.

It's all rules. Why does everyone have to follow the ones we have here?

[silversnowfall]

We have comparatively few rules here, when you consider life in a structured city or town. [No form of government, for one thing - and look how well they do. This would be an interesting lesson for some people Nephry knows at home.] Do you have fun within the rules, or in trying to circumvent them?

[redjacketthief]

Breaking them, of course. [There was nothing better...]

I meant the rules that we didn't place on ourselves. Well, they're more like conditions...but I've never been good at playing by any rules.

[silversnowfall]

[Breaking them. Of course.]

Then this village must feel like a cage to you.

[redjacketthief]

[Now she understood.]

It's not just me. There a lot of people here who feel cramped in this little bubble, and not all of us are the kind who want to break the rules.

I'd think that people would find common ground here, even if it's only so we don't feel so cramped and without say in what happens to us around here.

[silversnowfall]

Some would probably say they already have found common ground. But it isn't enough, is it?

[redjacketthief]

You tell me. I don't think so, and it's probably why all large scale plans end up failing. Someone crucial is sent away, and no one else can fill the gap...if other people were even up to it.

[silversnowfall]

That depends on how much information those crucial people choose to share, and how much they keep to themselves. Certainly, if only one person knows the entire plan, that person would be essential to completing it.

[redjacketthief]

It's not just information that I'm talking about here.

[silversnowfall]

[Nephry doesn't say anything for a moment or two.]

Do you intend to continue? If your opinion on what else is important isn't yet ready for words, that's perfectly fine and we can revisit this another time.

[redjacketthief]

Charisma. Not everyone has the drive to make systems work, and the ones that do don't always get the people going.

It's why we do need more consensus, because relying on details and personalities doesn't work.