It seems as if there are two orbs, or perhaps one orb split in twain. I do not believe we will be able to retrieve them before war breaks out — we are already at the boiling point.
๏ผ he has seen so many, after all, and had his hand in more than a few. ๏ผ
[She doesn't definite necessary, but there's the softest hint of a laugh before he adds on details about the orb.]
Sedorum's beyond the boiling point. The people here, they're capable of turning into monsters. Not real, actual monsters. Just...this place corrupts them.
No more than Taeum. There are those here convinced that they are now beyond sin upon arrival here, and that consequently, nothing is morally forbidden to them now. Most people seem to have descended into pure hedonism — with the exception of those who pin their self-righteousness on their superiority to the Sedora.
๏ผ his voice has not changed, it is still that selfsame deep, calm neutrality. but clara perhaps knows him well enough now to pick up on the faint, simmering anger just below the surface. ๏ผ
The propaganda circulating through both sides is considerable, I imagine.
[Oh, she can hear the anger there. It's enough to inspire a bit of frustration and anger to leak into her own.]
Entr'i is keen to start a war. And in my experience, when someone who's put themselves in a position of power wants something bad enough? The orb is ready to provide them an opportnity.
[She's so, so worried about that. Not just for everyone's safety, but for the fact she takes major issue with the way their crew keeps barging into planets and not doing their part to make things better before they obtain the orbs.
But there is one thing she's sure of. She'll do whatever it takes to protect one specific group of people, which should come as no surprise to him.]
There are children here, Itachi. And I have no idea how to go about protecting them when the time comes. Everyone that feels their right to hedonism and moral superiority are more important than innocent lives...I'm not sure they're any better than the people wanting this war.
[which makes her reluctant to engage with the cause at all, honestly.]
I don't believe she's keen to, exactly — but I do think she's focused on her goal to the exclusion of other possibilities, and I'm not sure I trust the judgement of those that have met her personally. It's very easy to pretend righteousness and decency when you can control the narrative that surrounds your ideals.
๏ผ they don't have enough information. the fact that so many seem to trust her blindly sits no better with him here than it did when they trusted the princess and remi in kilnan — even if his suspicions were ultimately unfounded there, he can't not entertain the possibility, it's too much of who he is. ๏ผ
From my understanding, the fighting will not be done in Taeum or Sedorum but a third location entirely. It may be that the children are left behind — we may not be given the choice to remain with them, if it comes to that.
[She's quiet as she takes comfort in his words. He may not have meant them to comfort her, to offer her some kind of peace. But she feels it all the same, giving off a quiet sigh of gratitude.]
I was attacked. I've been trying to help the people here by obtaining money for them. I thought they could buy their way up to Taeum, because they were so insistent it was possible.
[Which makes children being trapped in Sedorum even more painful and terrible, because it comes down to money in the end.]
But I was never able to give them enough. When I ran out of money to give...
[She trails off, a shrug obvious in her voice.]
I wish there was more we could do, other than barge into these planets and create chaos before grabbing the orbs and leaving. I feel like we do more harm than good overall. And I'd like to change that. I'm just not sure it's possible.
The orbs are already creating chaos. That is their purpose. Our presence is more analogous to a bone being rebroken so it can be properly set. However, there is a certain unavoidable arrogance in assuming that we know better than those whose lives and worlds and cultures are affected by our meddling. Our priority should be to cause as few ripples as possible.
๏ผ he understands why sabriel has called for the assassination of the high one — to one who has never known war, it seems the cleanest cut. but he has been that knife in the dark more than once in his life, has stirred up conflicts between nations, and it does not end the way she thinks it will. killing a dictator does not itself bring peace if there is no safeguard in place to nurture its nascent form. ๏ผ
[But it doesn't feel right to focus on that. Not when he's just said something important that resonates with her.]
Do you think there's a way to address the meddling? Every time I consider trying, I realize it's likely to be dismissed. Then I start to think on who here I can truly trust on the missions. And I'm not sure I like putting myself on that train of thought.
It is unavoidable that we would form different opinions based on our lives, cultural experiences and knowledge, and that those opinions would gradually create social fissures. Very few individuals here are capable of looking beyond themselves, setting aside their own feelings, and acting without pride.
๏ผ people are, after all, inherently selfish.
he makes a soft, thoughtful sound. ๏ผ
As to addressing the matter, it is difficult to say. It should be done before the rift is too deeply rent to repair — but I do not know that a mission is the appropriate time to do it, as it would only create resentment and anger, and lead to people feeling as if they are being singled out or blamed while emotions are already high. It needs to be approached from the view not that events are going badly or have gone badly in the past, but how events might go more smoothly in the future — an attempt to marshal ourselves so that we might be pro- rather than reactive. The best candidate to deliver such a message would be someone who is both trusted by most here and capable of effecting humility.
Do you think there's someone like that here among us?
[Clara isn't so sure. There was a time when she would've leapt at the chance to do it. But she questions her choices so often now that it feels like she isn't trusted by others. and she isn't certain she's capable of the sort of humility it takes to address the growing rift.]
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to just let things happen as they naturally might. The rift would grow. But at least then we'd know for sure where everyone truly stands.
[because he's right. very few people there are able to look past themselves and set aside their own feelings. most of them act on pride and a need to fulfill something within themselves. she isn't sure if there's someone capable of acting as a unifier. which is a depressing thought, really.]
Finn, Jim Kirk. Yourself — although I understand that there may be individuals here less likely to listen to a woman.
๏ผ kunoichi are not inherently lesser, but he can think of only a handful throughout history that have really left their mark. women like tsunade senju and konan are rare, as most turn to childminding. the detriment of a population that is constantly being reduced by war, and requires replenishment. ๏ผ
If people are disruptive enough, however, especially at cost to the majority of our cohort, I believe they will be returned to their respective worlds.
[The fact he thinks highly enough of her to put herself in that list makes her take pause. And the fact that he recognizes the misogyny that can come along with being a woman in that position makes her smile.]
I'm hoping I won't have to pull out my teacher voice to give a big lecture. But if it comes down to it, I'll do whatever needs to be done.
๏ผ she has a good heart. a willingness to help others, to serve. she would have been a fearsome shinobi, if given power enough to stand in defense of her ideals. she does it anyway — even limited as she is by human frailty. she is quick and brave and clever, and he has not once doubted that she would die for a stranger.
his opinion on civilians has always been that they are a thing to be protected, and apart from. yet, clara is a rarified sort — he does not expect to have missed out on others like her, with his avoidance — but he does wonder what else he has been blind to.
he looked at his life like a road that lead him to its inevitable end. he was satisfied with how death came to him — an act engineered to the smallest detail, and asked of sasuke. it is only now, five months out, that he has turned his mind to other possible paths. things he once saw as inevitable, or necessary, or correct... he has begun to question. anything but absolute obedience is dangerous, in a shinobi. yet he has been dangerous for other reasons for a long, long time. ๏ผ
Of this I have no doubt. ๏ผ he pauses faintly. then: ๏ผ I have business to attend elsewhere, Clara-san — we will speak later.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[She gently points out, but lets it die there.]
It seems like Taeum isn't as miserable or dangerous as Sedorum is. The sooner we're able to get out of here, the better.
no subject
๏ผ since it certainly isn't so for him. ๏ผ
It seems as if there are two orbs, or perhaps one orb split in twain. I do not believe we will be able to retrieve them before war breaks out — we are already at the boiling point.
๏ผ he has seen so many, after all, and had his hand in more than a few. ๏ผ
no subject
Sedorum's beyond the boiling point. The people here, they're capable of turning into monsters. Not real, actual monsters. Just...this place corrupts them.
no subject
๏ผ his voice has not changed, it is still that selfsame deep, calm neutrality. but clara perhaps knows him well enough now to pick up on the faint, simmering anger just below the surface. ๏ผ
The propaganda circulating through both sides is considerable, I imagine.
no subject
Entr'i is keen to start a war. And in my experience, when someone who's put themselves in a position of power wants something bad enough? The orb is ready to provide them an opportnity.
[She's so, so worried about that. Not just for everyone's safety, but for the fact she takes major issue with the way their crew keeps barging into planets and not doing their part to make things better before they obtain the orbs.
But there is one thing she's sure of. She'll do whatever it takes to protect one specific group of people, which should come as no surprise to him.]
There are children here, Itachi. And I have no idea how to go about protecting them when the time comes. Everyone that feels their right to hedonism and moral superiority are more important than innocent lives...I'm not sure they're any better than the people wanting this war.
[which makes her reluctant to engage with the cause at all, honestly.]
no subject
๏ผ they don't have enough information. the fact that so many seem to trust her blindly sits no better with him here than it did when they trusted the princess and remi in kilnan — even if his suspicions were ultimately unfounded there, he can't not entertain the possibility, it's too much of who he is. ๏ผ
From my understanding, the fighting will not be done in Taeum or Sedorum but a third location entirely. It may be that the children are left behind — we may not be given the choice to remain with them, if it comes to that.
no subject
I was attacked. I've been trying to help the people here by obtaining money for them. I thought they could buy their way up to Taeum, because they were so insistent it was possible.
[Which makes children being trapped in Sedorum even more painful and terrible, because it comes down to money in the end.]
But I was never able to give them enough. When I ran out of money to give...
[She trails off, a shrug obvious in her voice.]
I wish there was more we could do, other than barge into these planets and create chaos before grabbing the orbs and leaving. I feel like we do more harm than good overall. And I'd like to change that. I'm just not sure it's possible.
no subject
๏ผ he understands why sabriel has called for the assassination of the high one — to one who has never known war, it seems the cleanest cut. but he has been that knife in the dark more than once in his life, has stirred up conflicts between nations, and it does not end the way she thinks it will. killing a dictator does not itself bring peace if there is no safeguard in place to nurture its nascent form. ๏ผ
Were you injured in this attack?
no subject
[But it doesn't feel right to focus on that. Not when he's just said something important that resonates with her.]
Do you think there's a way to address the meddling? Every time I consider trying, I realize it's likely to be dismissed. Then I start to think on who here I can truly trust on the missions. And I'm not sure I like putting myself on that train of thought.
no subject
๏ผ people are, after all, inherently selfish.
he makes a soft, thoughtful sound. ๏ผ
As to addressing the matter, it is difficult to say. It should be done before the rift is too deeply rent to repair — but I do not know that a mission is the appropriate time to do it, as it would only create resentment and anger, and lead to people feeling as if they are being singled out or blamed while emotions are already high. It needs to be approached from the view not that events are going badly or have gone badly in the past, but how events might go more smoothly in the future — an attempt to marshal ourselves so that we might be pro- rather than reactive. The best candidate to deliver such a message would be someone who is both trusted by most here and capable of effecting humility.
no subject
[Clara isn't so sure. There was a time when she would've leapt at the chance to do it. But she questions her choices so often now that it feels like she isn't trusted by others. and she isn't certain she's capable of the sort of humility it takes to address the growing rift.]
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to just let things happen as they naturally might. The rift would grow. But at least then we'd know for sure where everyone truly stands.
[because he's right. very few people there are able to look past themselves and set aside their own feelings. most of them act on pride and a need to fulfill something within themselves. she isn't sure if there's someone capable of acting as a unifier. which is a depressing thought, really.]
no subject
๏ผ kunoichi are not inherently lesser, but he can think of only a handful throughout history that have really left their mark. women like tsunade senju and konan are rare, as most turn to childminding. the detriment of a population that is constantly being reduced by war, and requires replenishment. ๏ผ
If people are disruptive enough, however, especially at cost to the majority of our cohort, I believe they will be returned to their respective worlds.
no subject
I'm hoping I won't have to pull out my teacher voice to give a big lecture. But if it comes down to it, I'll do whatever needs to be done.
exactly 209 words of introspection u are welcome
his opinion on civilians has always been that they are a thing to be protected, and apart from. yet, clara is a rarified sort — he does not expect to have missed out on others like her, with his avoidance — but he does wonder what else he has been blind to.
he looked at his life like a road that lead him to its inevitable end. he was satisfied with how death came to him — an act engineered to the smallest detail, and asked of sasuke. it is only now, five months out, that he has turned his mind to other possible paths. things he once saw as inevitable, or necessary, or correct... he has begun to question. anything but absolute obedience is dangerous, in a shinobi. yet he has been dangerous for other reasons for a long, long time. ๏ผ
Of this I have no doubt. ๏ผ he pauses faintly. then: ๏ผ I have business to attend elsewhere, Clara-san — we will speak later.