005 ♍ video

[glowsferatu]

[ kanaya's in the garage again, but the door's open, sunlight pouring through it. she's in a green tank and black leggings, a bandanna tying back her hair, various paint splotches on her arms hinting at what she's busying herself with today. on her workbench is a brush and easel, all of the colors monochrome and drab.

unlike her previous addresses, she's already put out her cigarette rather than in the middle of it. that should cut down on unwanted lectures. though the content of her message may bring them in an entirely different form. ]

You see, this is something I will never quite understand. Here we are, sitting at the brink of war, and all anyone can talk about is voting rights. Very typically American of you. [ not that some of the people loudest about it are even american. but america, democracy, she tends to conflate the two. ] The question shouldn't be why unsettled imPorts can't vote, but why can the registered? I am a registered imPort, but I'm not an American citizen, I'm not even a citizen of Earth! Merely a resident.

Think about this, we are temporary immigrants to this world. When more permanent refugees come to live here on escaping their native lands, they have long, complicated processes to undergo before they are allowed the benefits of citizenry. Should any of us be given better treatment of those? Should I be allowed to make decisions that may affect this nation's future when these are not allowed it, when I may not even be here to experience the full consequences of those decisions? I don't think I should, neither do I think any of you should. Wherever you have come from, we are all of us aliens to this world. That isn't something we should be forgetting. You should get used to the fact that you don't belong, like some of us have always known.

I'd much rather our attention be directed to the blockade threatening Alaska. The rest of this is little more than a distraction.

But if distraction is what you're after, as the world must continue should it not abruptly end, we are all aware of the season upon us. Ghastly ghouls are all about these days. So, should we not have all died by the time Halloween is upon us, perhaps you might join us monsters at the Devil's Nest in Maurtia Falls to celebrate.

[ she gets up to move the camera, and it shifts as she holds it, spinning around to face the wall. stretched out across it is a massive sheet of paper, painted simply in grey brick, only half dingy. she's still detailing. on the floor are a few paint cans and rollers. ]

I'm working on the decor now.

Drinks are 10% off, should you arrive in costume, and there will be a drinking contest with a $100 prize, for those who pay the $10 entry fee. But just imagine how much you may potentially get from that $10, even if you shouldn't win!

[ she turns the camera back around, in a sort of awkward selfie angle. ] Our hours will be 3pm to 6am, so come early and stay all night, as you please. We hope to see you there on the 31st.

Good luck in the meantime.

Comments

text

[kinesia]

[ This person says a lot of things. A good lot of it is over Grey's head (especially the parts about Halloween, devils, and exactly where Alaska is), but she's got a strange point of view. All he's heard for so many years is people talking about how they needed more rights. How they should have the right to choose, how they deserved more than what they had. How nothing about their lives was fair.

Here she is, saying she deserves less than she has. Who does that? ]

you dont want to choose who is in charge ?

text

[glowsferatu]

[ kanaya's lived her life by the general rule that life isn't supposed to be fair, there's no use whining or raging about it. you just work for what you have to and let what doesn't matter fall to the wayside. there are rights she would fight for, but voting isn't one of them. ]

Never In My Life Have I Been Able To Choose Who Is In Charge
And Even The Selections They Do Give Here Is So Counter-Balanced As To Be Irrelevant
I Think The More Important Thing Is To Ensure The One In Charge Accounts For What Must Be
But In The Current System There Are Far Too Many Cooks In the Pot To See That Done Effectively

[ darwinistic monarchies are so much simpler. ]

[kinesia]

[ That's...a lot of green text, how did she do that? He wants to do that.

He'll maybe ask her later, once he's parsed what she's actually saying. ]

then

what must be ?

[ She must have an idea of what she wants the ones in charge to do, if they're not doing it already. ]

[glowsferatu]

[ it took her ages to figure it out, herself. she had to ask someone else when she got the new one. ]

More Things Than Any Of Us Are Likely To Consider
Most Imports Are Far Too Self-Absorbed To Consider The Full Needs Of This Nation
They Only Care About Import-Related Concerns And Pay No Attention To Whatever Happens Beyond That
Focusing On The Voting Rights Is A Perfect Indication Of This
Whoever Is In Charge Will Need To Account For Both
I Couldnt Even Blame Them For Being More Loyal To Their Proper Citizens Over Us

[kinesia]

[ So she doesn't know, actually. That's what he's taking from all of this, anyway. ]

why does that mean imports should not choose their leader ?

the person in charge will make decisions about us

we should be able to decide who they are .

[glowsferatu]

You Could Say That Of Anyone In Residence To This Nation
But There Are Limits And Processes That Many Of Them Are Subject To Before Being Allowed That Right
Are We So Special In A World We Are Not Of That We Should Be Given What They Are Denied

[kinesia]

[ No, of course not. But to his mind, that has a simple answer, and it’s not that imports should have fewer rights. ]

they should not be denied .

everyone living here should be able to choose .

[glowsferatu]

Its A Pretty Concept Im Sure But Realistically It Doesnt Work
Youll Find Most Earth Nations Have Complicated Processes Before Immigrants Are Allowed The Rights Of Citizens

While There Are Many Topics On Which I Would Agree With You About The Importance Of Choice This One Is Immaterial
I Would Rather Fight To Secure The Choices That Matter Than Waste Our Time And Effort On One That Doesnt

[kinesia]

but when i asked you couldnt say what those things are

just that theyre not this . freedom starts with choosing who your leader is .

[ Or at least, that's how it had been where he's from, and he really has no other frame of reference for this. ]

[glowsferatu]

I Also Have No Intention Of Myself Being That Leader
There Are A Multitude Of Decisions Someone In That Position Will Be Expected To Make And Anyone Who Would Take It Should Be Prepared To Know Them
But Not All Of Those Decisions Will Involve Us Either

If You Genuinely Believe That Then Your Definition Of Freedom Must Be Very Small
Freedom Begins Where The Shackles End
Only In Extremes Are Shackles Part Of Leadership And Here We Are In Nothing Like The Extremes Ive Known

[kinesia]

[ Nor like the extremes Grey has known, that’s true. He’s not sure how to answer. He doesn’t disagree with that. ]

people have much freedom here .

if we cannot choose our leader , that is a shackle
if we must register and fight to be equal , that is a shackle

accept one shackle and they will add another .

[glowsferatu]

We Arent Equal
Nor Will We Ever Be No Matter How We Fight

No
We Are Extraordinary

And I Think We Waste Our Energy Striving To Fit Ourselves To A Mold That Will Not Assume Our Shape
This World Isnt Ours And Theres Little Point Pretending Otherwise
So Tell Me What Makes It A Shackle
Why Do You Feel Its So Important That We Have This Inconsequential Input On The Leadership Of The Nation Weve Been Put In

[kinesia]

because they have authority over us .

[ That’s it, that’s the reason. This woman says so many things. It’s intimidating, in a way, and Grey’s not really a philosopher. Not to mention, he’s still not really used to talking to people at all. For him it’s simple; they should have a say over who rules them, just like anyone else. It doesn’t matter that they’re imports. If they’re under that rulership, they should vote on it. That’s what Gilliam would have said, but with far more eloquence. ]

[glowsferatu]

do they
they should like to think they do but whatever control they have over us is very tenuous
one might say the registration itself is a determination of whether we submit to that authority or not

many unsettled fight argue that authority isnt as acute as it appears

[kinesia]

i dont

[ Because he doesn't want to fight for them. They aren't his master. He won't be their enforcer. Registering would feel like signing up for the wrong side, except he doesn't even really know what the sides are. This is all just instinct. ]

are you unsettled ?

wow that "fight" should've been "might", sorry

[glowsferatu]

you dont
but how long have you been in this world
how much of it have you seen and what effect has its authority had on you
because i was among the first to arrive and ive yet to be crushed under an iron fist

im not unsettled
when i arrived here it was after having lost nearly everything within the world i lived in
in fact id lost that very world too
an empty pledge for the resources to establish something with which to survive felt to me a very small cost to pay
only after had anyone tried moralizing their dissent
but every argument was founded on baseless paranoia and free of logic
nothing more substantial than "oh but i have such a horrid feeling about it"
and really its great that some seem to have the luxury to let their life be guided by bad feelings
but some of us cant humor every bad feeling when they have others depending on them
and at every turn that paranoia has been shown to be false
so if registration makes me wicked then i cant help but regard the "righteous" with some disdain
if we can leave the projection of morality over the decision then we might actually get somewhere as a community

[kinesia]

they took me

they changed me and marked me

now they say fight for them . you support this ?

[ Because that's not such an empty pledge. Grey has never known any kind of luxury, but he's wary of authority that pushes itself on people like that. He doesn't think the paranoia Kanaya's talking about is baseless. Or false. He thinks people have every right to be worried about the intentions of a government that plays so fast and loose with the notion of freedom. ]

[glowsferatu]

[ it's a paranoia based on a few mistaken assumptions. but it's not an uncommon one for new arrivals. ]

they didnt take you and neither did they change you
we were thrust upon them the same way theyve been thrust upon us
it isnt the government doing it
just the porter
and the fighting itself is really more figurative
few of us would really make effective soldiers

[kinesia]

[ This, he doesn’t believe. It sounds like more of their lies, the lies they’d told him when he arrived. His eyes narrow at this message, distrustful. ]

if they did not do it

why did they have the file that knew everything about me ?

including the power that they put in me . that wasnt in me before .

[glowsferatu]

all these "theys"
they did this they did that when none of it is actually true
you dont know that they did anything
all you know is that it was done
power was put in you that was previously nonexistent and a file was produced
you dont know how so it must be them
but it wasnt
it was more her than they
the machine
she isnt bound by their wills and doesnt act to their agenda
she brings us empowers us and makes her little files about us
she has been doing so since long before they were involved
and then we have to cope with being here and they have to cope with hosting us
honestly providing you the file is a courtesy
they didnt have to do that
they didnt have to do any of it
but we are all trying to make the best of a situation that is far from ideal

[kinesia]

you trust them too easily .

[ He’s seen it before. He’s seen it in the people who lived in the front carriages, in the voices of the children who’d sung for Wilford. So many people, putting blind faith in an authority because it worked for them, not caring about how little it worked for anyone else. That’s what her speech reminds him of, what all of this reminds him of. ]

what --she-- are you talking about ?

[glowsferatu]

you think i actually trust them
sunshine this isnt a line they fed to me
as i said before this has been carried out since before this government was involved
before even this universe was involved
the powers i have were given to me by the porter three years prior to my arrival here
the only reason we came here at all is because that world died
and this is where she sent us to make our escape
so i know all of this not because some propaganda machine has brainwashed me into compliance but because i personally experienced it
try learning something before you assume to be an expert
you only look like a twat otherwise

and i already told you who she is
its the porter lachesis
the machine responsible for everything you blame on the government

[kinesia]

[ He thinks she believes what she's being told, yes. Her insistence otherwise doesn't really faze him. Either she's deliberately lying, or she's wrong. What seems more likely, that a machine could be alive and doing all of this on their behalf? Or that the government are operating the machine? The second scenario is the only one that makes any kind of sense to him. ]

the government want to use us and our powers
they want us to be registered heroes

is that a lie ?

[glowsferatu]

[ of course, "on their behalf" is the main problem. if it was for their sake, the government would probably have preferred if she left well enough alone. ]

not a lie so much as a misconception
they do want us to be registered of course
but the use they put to us and our powers has been incredibly minimal
what they want is to minimize an inconvenience
this has only become abundantly more clear in the months between my arrival and yours

[kinesia]

so you think we should be grateful for what we have

and not expect to be equal ?