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

[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.