@clarke.griffin

[strove]

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.]

Comments

[retravel]

[ keith condenses many of fitz's stray thoughts and theories into a singular case study, encapsulating the elements of the dreams that involved flowing between each other, collapsing and interacting.

and he extends the potential of the other areas: the ruins of this world and the shipwreck of a scientific facility. symbolism and abstraction abounded, but the universe is cosmos, not chaos. things have order and meaning, even if humans struggle to perceive them. ]

This is helpful to know. Thank you, Keith.
I think you're onto something.

[ dangerously close to a bullseye, even. ]

Did you have a strange dream before the other night? I know several who did, including myself.

[gasping]

what is it with you and this apology thing? you could have killed me too, but i don't hear you apologizing for that either, so you can drop off that high horse any time now.

and the platter thing? i made a joke, you went with it, i figured you were offering. surprise, i was wrong. unlike you, i let it go. maybe you could consider that once in a while?

[ "why would i offer to sleep with you???" ]

[daemonized]

Quite. Until then!

[selfimage]

Well, it seems to me that the water isn't stagnant, rather that your ripples will run into many others.
It's a little harsh to say that it's all quiet waters.

So, rather, let's see how these ripples intersect, hm?
There are high expectations all around.

[secondnature]

I didn't, but my roommate did. He told me about it.

Were they all different?

[strove]

If I attacked you out of nowhere and you defended yourself by throwing me against a wall, would you owe me an apology?

The answer is "no," by the way.

I'm not letting it go because it seems you're oddly incapable of seeing where you did wrong. Instead, it's about how protecting myself was the bad thing. I'm sorry that I was successful at that.

[It's in text, but there may be the sense that those last words are added with an eyeroll.]

[strove]

I know how to grow things, but we typically left it up to the people who handled those things on farm station.

[Or the few of them that were alive following the second tragedy at Mount Weather. Clarke doesn't have a green thumb herself.]

I can try to remember some of what Monty told me. Maybe we can work on it together?

[strove]

Unless you attract a lot of eager children.

[Could be a problem.]

[strove]

No.

Though I'm not surprised that someone in another world would use that.

It's very biblical.

[Way, way too casual because she doesn't Get It.]

replies for posterity

[revlon]

Do let us know how you two get on, then.

[revlon]

It's a good incentive to join, especially if your family needs the help. With the reputation the UNA carries in this world, I could see it as softening a hard choice.

If you find out, would you let me know?

[rehandle]

Struggling to determine whether you're mocking me or identifying a genuine concern.

[ leave him alone clarke this is bullying ]

[strove]

Having children in a bar could be bad for business.

Though, yes, I can see how you'd perceive that as accidental mockery. It was accidental that time.

[The other time up thread? Not.]

[strove]

I will.

One of the points that Kate made was that we need to remember these soldiers are human. I've fought wars, and I know it's not always as simple as that.

But knowing if they have family out there means we might need to make arrangements for them.

["We." Not because she's in Morningstar, but because, as Jack will later make clear, they might serve as the Displaced's enemy. Might. Clarke is still reluctant to assume they have to take them on just yet if they can avoid it.]

[revlon]

I never forget who's on the other end of a gun, Ms Griffin. It's the politics that complicate a war.

And yes, we ought to look into that as well.

[windowsills]

Is Monty a friend?
I would enjoy that if we could, yes.

[strove]

I'm glad to hear that. Not that I thought differently. Bu moving forward, I know I might have a hard time remembering, too.

[Even so: everyone has a reason to kill. Everyone has a reason to survive. It's hard to see what the UNA tell themselves to justify their actions, but Clarke is positive there's something.]

I'll hit up some people who answered my questions before to see what they say.

[strove]

He is. A friend, engineer, and one of the kids who got in trouble for stealing some of that marijuana.

[Clarke smiles remembering it.]

I'll look into it once I'm back. I haven't really spruced up my place much. I never planned on spending time in there.

[IE Clarke has never really had a place to call her own. The rover? Her room where she lived for a year in solitary confinement?

No. Those don't really count.]

[gasping]

if i hurt you, i'd apologize.

[ but she hadn't hurt clarke. clarke had hurt her on impulse, in expectation for a pain caroline never intended to let her feel. there was the difference. ]

i don't know what your deal is, but i'm not the heartless monster you seem to think i am.
i told you, you wouldn't have remembered. you wouldn't have been in pain. but you're the one who decided that fighting back with your creepy soul sucker powers was the way to go, and now you're mad i didn't make it easy for you. you didn't exactly let me.

[rehandle]

Bear with me. I need to verify my information.

[ it's a delicate position - withhold information and damage the opportunity for trust, present information and damage existing trust. before he can make a choice he needs to properly understand the value of what he may or may not choose to share, or if there's anything he can offer that pertains to them all but not without breaching privacy.

he's not spilling secrets if they'll do nobody any good. ]

[revlon]

[ The fact that he's given her as much as he has only to become tight-lipped about it now tells her this is likely personal and she's brushed up against it (unintentional; she didn't even know about the Maeda issue until he brought it up). She understands they all have their loyalties. But that doesn't lessen her concern about the potential threat this poses to their group as a whole if there's a sliver of truth to it. ]

Very well. But if someone high up in corporate has truly taken a special interest in the displaced, that isn't something to be taken lightly or kept between us.

[ Especially considering the circles she moves in back in New Amsterdam. She can't afford to go in blind; none of them can. ]

And there's the UN's new anonymous tip box to consider. They may be targeting Morningstar but I wouldn't put it past them to try and weed us out, too, especially if we don't know who could be in the know with Maeda. Assuming that is what we're dealing with.

[ They still don't know how much weight the dreams bear in the waking world. But if there's truly a ripple, then they need to know what they're walking into when they return from New Tokyo. There's nothing to be said until they have that confirmation so she won't; but she knows Stephen cares about everyone's well-being as much as she does, so: ]

Either way, do let me know.

[revvedup]

i guess that's true, if you wanna get creative in how you collect it.
but then how would it get tested?

[daemonized]

[a good assessment of this man in general probably]

Then by all means, send them my way. I assume that means you're something of a Pulsar man yourself?

[daemonized]

Of course. I'd not ask for you to make the trek and have it come out of your own pocket. What kind of man do you think I am?

[daemonized]

[waves vague canon hands why do you ask me the hard questions ellie]

We were an empire at war with another country called Lucis; which means that while I had little power over the military might of Niflheim, there were plenty of tasks delegated to me by the way of opening up avenues for negotiation and liaison at the time. Beyond that, it's all very much organizing the many moving parts under the lead of a single figurehead, turning his whims into functioning execution. I was where the Emperor needed me, when he needed me.