silversnowfall | [75][action/voiced]

[It feels like she's been locked in that research room forever. Almost worse than legislative paperwork, turning five small piles of books about various worlds into something that might be useful. Synthesizing data, in a way that felt adventurously real at first before the familiar tedium of it all set in again. And there was more, left undone. There was always more.

Regardless, it will be a while before she attempts another mission. Even one that seems suited to her set of skills. Unlike so many others who go away on missions, Nephry walks herself toward home without difficulty. Thinking to surprise most of her housemates, she stops at the flower shop for something decorative and colorful. Anything to erase the lines of letters from behind her closed eyelids.

Once she does get home, however, there are some orders of business to address.]

Those of you who name your home as a planet called 'Earth': are you aware of just how many different worlds there are that share that name? That share most of a history, often an entire history save for one significant event? It was quite interesting. [Dull hours of reading aside.] Even more interesting that it doesn't seem to be true of most if not all of the other worlds represented here - there is only one Auldrant, for example.

[And now, the heavier news.]

When I returned a short while ago, I...I found Anise's room empty. It appears she has gone home.

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Maybe it's because... we've only just started to explore space. And so far, it's the only one we know that hosts life.

[Now there's a thought. Life, on worlds outside of their own, without some kind of strange collective space like Luceti to bring them together.]

That's also common to other Earths: that they believe they are alone, at least for a time.

[Ami nods, conceding the point easily.]

But it's rare. We know that for certain. There are countless planets and stars, and not all of them have life. [It hasn't begun yet on some, and it's ended already on others. Hers, too, once.]

So maybe that makes it special, like those other ones with life would be special, too.

Every world of origin for each person living here now is going to have life, or have had life for long enough to let that person exist.

That's why, if so many of them are from Earth, that's still a greater concentration and likelihood of life occurring on that planet. [Or at least something about Earth life makes it particularly suitable for Luceti.]

Do we know the name of this world?

I don't think so. We call the village Luceti, of course; but I don't know where that name comes from, or where it is, or what to call this world or even this country.

For a long time, we called the world Luceti, too.

It was the only name we had. Children do that, too. We all want to put something new into terms we already understand.

The difference is that children can grow and learn and reach past the boundaries of their age in ways that we, here, cannot.

I don't think that's true. [She doesn't let herself get too worked up over it, but something about her voice has more firmness than usual, suggesting the topic is important to her.] We can keep learning and growing.

Only within the constraints set upon us. If there's something they don't want us to know, then we will not, no matter how we search.

It might sound strange coming from me, but we can't just believe that. If we do, we might stop trying to look. I don't believe the Malnosso will share with us what they know; but there are other ways to find it than from them.

What other ways do you mean?

We've been able to invade some of their facilities before now. We could try it again, this time targeting their files and information.

Only to fail, when they destroy the information before we can reach it, or when what they give us turns out to be false. Unless my understanding of the extent of their influence within our enclosure is severely overestimated.

That possibility can also be accounted for in our plans. They could have moved their prisoners last time, but we were able to free them.

And if we don't try, then we definitely won't achieve anything.

Some things can be achieved through waiting.

[It's a matter of knowing which things.]

Maybe they can. However, we've been waiting for a few years now. It hasn't made us much progress yet.

Edited 2013-08-01 03:21 (UTC)

I think what we've been doing is making ineffective attempts. We do not manage to work together well unless there is a wide-scale crisis.

Even if everyone was willing, that would be difficult. We can't predict who'll be here tomorrow.

[And that makes it very hard to plan a coherent strategy taking into account their strengths. What if you're relying on someone for a key point, and they vanish?]

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