meadowlark | @clarke.griffin

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@clarke.griffin

Thank you to Yalena for getting us sorted. [Sort of sorted. Sort of.] Now that we've arrived in New Tokyo and we're stuck inside for a little while, I think we should talk about some new changes that we're facing. I can't be the only one.

But first: a good number of us are here unwillingly, but we have to wait until we're fully prepped before we can go anywhere. Heading outside in these temperatures while unprepared could cost you your life. We all hate being trapped somewhere. I think that's pretty well-established. We also hate having to do anything or be anywhere when we didn't ask for that to happen. At least it doesn't seem like we were drugged, though it wouldn't hurt for Katelin and I to take some blood samples to confirm that. We'll have to store them until we get back.

As for the changes in your lives: have you noticed any? For instance, apparently I'm a lab tech at Giles Bell. I tried to set myself up for a new internship there that I could get easily, but I got ... elevated. Or hired beyond that? I'm not sure what the right terminology is here. Has anyone else noticed this? Or had it happen to them? I got permissions to take leaves from both of my jobs. And no, I'm really not prepared to work as a lab tech. I don't even know the first thing about setting up gels.

As a bit of a personal request ... does anyone think we can make pancakes in the small kitchen here? I have a craving for them. I've not really had cakes of the "pancake" variety before, but I want them now. And if you think we can, can you make them?

[This last bit is Loki's fault.]

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Got it. Let me know when you hear back. I have some ideas for initiatives beyond this. Groups that we can put on tasks and not worry about them. One of those would be my own.

Is there anything you want me to look out for while we're here in New Tokyo?

You said elsewhere here that you don't think that reality is stable.

I have a question about that. As the only person who's "gone home," do you think that if I came from a time when reality was unstable, it could be affecting this world, too?

Was he on the trip before this? I wasn't.

That's why I asked.

I read her mind, Miss Carter.

Most of the knowledge she had was very specific to the life of the person she was speaking to, which supports the idea of a construct, or partial construct. But the details of the disappearance were specific, at least the when/where. It was precise and factual.

[ as opposed to a possible by-product of the emotional relay caused by the thing in their chests which he may get around to hypothesizing about in proper detail when he's not otherwise engaged. ]

If I were able to meet her again, in this version of reality, I might be able to gain some more concrete information. For now, I don't know the how or how far it goes. Just that according to the Maeda in that place, our lives aren't a secret to them. At least, not all of them.

And now we have two men who had no names who were never involved in the killing of strangers, never released and escorted from a police station to a safehouse belonging to an organisation who was just that night attacked by the UNA, who were observed and recorded by no-one, and who have since disappeared again from the city.

[It's hard to continue this conversation, but continue she does. His information is fascinating, and Clarke knows that she'll have to go back to it later to reread it. To truly understand it. Right now, it reads like a cluster of words she can't make sense of. Her mind wants to be elsewhere. She'd like to go off with it.]

Thank you again.

There are always good and bad leaders, but most often, they fall somewhere in between. Lexa was good. Legendary, even. The type who's not easily forgotten.

What happened to the dragons that made them extinct?

[Is it more environmental nonsense or thoughtlessness by humans?

Clarke wouldn't be surprised.]

Blood is always accessible. Lab or no lab.

[Definitely a joke on her end, too, but it's the same ... dark humor that she uses elsewhere here. But the situation kind of calls for it.]

This is for you to consider, not me. [Opening up with a disclaimer. When there was a decisive split between the Displaced and Morningstar in how they would function, she felt some relief. At least it was fully acknowledged on all sides that their interests wouldn't always intersect. Morningstar's business isn't the Displaced's business. They can come together as allies, but should be treated as separate "people."] But it might be worth looking into whether they hope these forms will corroborate evidence, or tell them what they couldn't get before. Are agents mostly on a need to know basis, and if so, what does that mean in light of this?

And if these people did know more, it might mean the government doesn't have the coercive drug we're all very familiar with by now.

[Even if the drug itself is not known by any particular name.]

As long as we don't lie about the pain.

Assuming they have the context necessary to deduce.

Since you mentioned reading her mind, do you know if she was aware of this information before you and this unnamed individual met with her? Or did this dream version of Maeda adjust to the situation, as dreams are wont to do?

[ Her dreamscape transformed around her, built off of what she gave it. The war is often an empty forest for her but the moment Fitz was introduced to it, it did its best to drive them apart. Doors locked or unlocked depending on who turned the handle, shifted accordingly. Dream logic.

She asks because she wants to have a better understanding of how their reality and the dreams are linked, especially if they mean to draw up comparisons such as getting Stephen close enough to read her mind. But for now, looping back to the murder fiasco is another puzzle. ]

And yes, our two merry murderers. Every trace of them wiped from the city as though they were never here, save for their post on the network. It's possible two different parties bailed them out and made them disappear afterwards and perhaps that theory is bolstered by your corporate one. But I won't chase it too far down the rabbit hole when it's strictly conjecture for now. Was it Gaby who informed you of all this?

Everyone always defaults to that one.

["Princess."]

Admittedly, I wasn't intending to be. I'm not sure who I should get pancakes from. We'll have a surplus. A massive one.

More samples is better than less. I'll make sure Katelin and I get some from you soon.

[ She's aware of the distinction and lays it out for people the moment they express interest in joining Morningstar. It's important, when the organisation is based in this world and its problems and signing up to help alleviate them is voluntary — not a requirement for the displaced and not a requirement for them to benefit from Morningstar's resources, either. She says our because they are her agents now, but perhaps she should have said my. Semantics to some but necessary moving forward with this new restructuring of an entire city's resistance network. ]

Information is carefully divided so as to not compromise the whole, yes.

[ Which isn't a secret, per se. It's the only explanation for the crop of local operatives who were untouched by the raids. Whoever the leak was only had access to a certain list and knew nothing of the displaced, which is why they were spared. Or it was intentional. Hard to say. ]

And that's an excellent point regarding the drug, Ms Griffin. I hadn't considered it. [ Not the government. Possibly not corporate. Private, with a foothold in both? She'll work with that. ] I understand you've been looking into tracing the manufacturer?

I'm not convinced our answers lie with the government, but I think it should help us in other ways.

[So, no. His reasoning is pretty sound, however.]

I've been working on it since day one, but I haven't had any luck. I don't believe the components are going through the typical filters, or else someone among us would know already. I knew someone who went poking around as a janitor for a while before he disappeared. He didn't find any clues.

I may not be asking the right questions, but this means that the government may not be able to force the right questions.

Honestly? It adds up. We've already shown that they like to make things appear to be more ... above board than it really is. [Desperation versus outright coercion, basically.] Kate and I looked into how their soldiers are recruited. It fits.

Honestly, the people in farm station were something else. But we still lived off limited rations. Working out something that could help ailments was more important than figuring out how to competently grow sugar. Or so I assume.

Marijuana has a lot of uses for pain and mental health. We had a limited medical staff and even more limited supplies when it came to treating people, so I believe it acted as a good middle ground. But you needed to be prescribed it, rather than make off with it on your own.

Berries are surprisingly resilient. We had to learn a lot about them before we got down to the Earth. They were most of our diets when we weren't eating smoked meat down there. I think you can do them easily on a balcony. [And New Amsterdam loves balconies so that people can grow a lot of green stuff.]

[Wow.]

At least that kind of business won't be disrupted by the Displaced Disappearing Act.

[She sends that before sending along another reply.]

Though if we could track when those are likely to happen, you could incorporate them into your very different kind of act.

It's difficult to answer that question. Besides being a little difficult to pin down, her thoughts weren't any different to translate than anyone else's might be. They could've been memories or creations of the moment but they were real for her.

[ reading Maeda's thoughts had been odd only in that they shifted, never quite settled, consistent with the context of a dream. besides that, a mind like any other. ]

I suspect that even if Maeda's information is true, they're likely just capable of tracking our IDs and making note of when/where we disappear rather than actively sending us away. Still concerning.

[ a quick check to make sure none of the details he's given allude to the secret Gaby shared with him through a coercion that somehow paved the way for trust... no, clear. ]

It was.

It's possible she or El still have access to the security tape of that night. I imagine you'd be cleared to see it if you asked.

[ it seems like something one of them should look at for themselves and she and Fitz have been building a solid relationship with Morningstar. if it's become confidential, they're the most likely candidates to be granted access. ]

it's your whole vibe.

[ what does that even mean, caroline??? ]

give the pancakes to your people. let them eat cake, right?

Apparently it is.

[She's not even arguing. AIs have gone on long rambling manipulative speeches based on this. It's really not the first time.]

I don't think you're using that last bit correctly, though.

what? pancakes are totally cake.

[ and she's totally missing the point ]

So, if I served you a plate full of pancakes on your birthday, you'd find that acceptable?

[They sure don't on Cutthroat Kitchen!]

[ there's a beat. a moment in which caroline nearly hits send on a message, but then realizes this is still a public conversation. at least she's figured out how to make it private by now. ]

sure, if you're including the delivery girl as part of my birthday meal.

[ ... caroline that's really sapphic of you ]

[The only reason she doesn't take that as flirting is because of the nature of every other conversation they've had in a very short period of time.]

Not that I'm opposed to the general idea, but you may want to reread that.

[ s2 of tvd was an early time. there were no gay women yet on the cw. caroline doesn't even consider the possibility. she's not inherently opposed, just... extremely sheltered. ]

i know what i said.
it's not my fault you're offering yourself up on a silver platter for the taking.

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@clarke.griffin

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/ private ∞

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