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[metaphorbia]

[ David has used mobiles before, but posting to a public network? It's been ages. So he ends up staring kind of hard at his comm with the feed on, debating what to say. He hopes it makes him look pensive and thoughtful; mostly he looks like a dumbass. ]

So - okay. One question. A lot of questions, but let’s just go with one for now. Is it really true that people cope okay with their powers? And every ImPort gets them?

[ He shifts a little in his chair. Very awkward, a little uncomfortable. He knows he’s asking basic questions, but he just has to. At least he looks friendly enough, though his ragged, patched clothes give him away. Kid’s from a post-apocalyptic world and it shows. ]

Where I’m from, absolute power corrupting absolutely is really, really literal. So getting to keep the superpowers without the psychopathy just seems kind of nuts to me. Awesome nuts. Like - nuts with pop rocks in them. Pop rocks exist here, right? I haven’t had those in ages.

[ Focus, David. He needs to focus. ]

What kinds of powers does everyone have? And do you have trouble with it at all? I mean, if you don’t wanna tell me, that’s fine. I’m just a little bit jealous.

[ And excited, too. Even in this situation, David can’t help but be the world’s biggest superpower nerd. ]

Comments

[selfconducts]

Yeah. Don't know what that means for the state of things here, though things seem more stable than I'd expect under these conditions.

What are your powers? Your new ones, that is.

[metaphorbia]

I'm kinda in the same boat. Uh, with being surprised, I mean. It definitely wouldn't work like this at home.

[ And that question. Is extremely valid, given what he's been asking, but he's visibly reluctant to answer that question. ]

There's an Epic I killed back home. A real monster, the guy who murdered my dad. ... I've got his stuff.

[selfconducts]

Oh. That's fucked, sorry. I can imagine how that would feel.

[ Not that a "guy" killed Baal's dad, but-- he understands in general. ]

Think you're still going to use them?

[metaphorbia]

I can't see how it would end well. Like, at all. If they follow the same rules as back home, that could end really, really badly.

[selfconducts]

Yeah. [ No argument there. ] What kind of rules are they? Could be that they're different now. That's happened before.

[metaphorbia]

[ David's way more comfortable talking about rules. ]

Using Epic powers drives you crazy eventually. You start off feeling cold and just - not caring about other people. They're like ketchup on an ice cream sundae to you, except you have infinite ice cream sundaes, so you just flip them off the table until you get one with chocolate instead.

[ ... He's also not very good at metaphors. ]

[selfconducts]

[ Baal has a complicated relationship with rules, but he can accept The Things Are and How Things Have To Be, the types of rules you have no choice but to follow.

More or less, anyway. ]

How long does that usually take?

[metaphorbia]

Depends on the Epic. And how much they can hold themselves back from using their powers. And if they care about holding themselves back in the first place.

[selfconducts]

[ Wryly: ]

So basically, you can't know until you try. There's always a catch.

[metaphorbia]

Basically, yeah. But I've only met three that even try not to hurt people.

[selfconducts]

If they can do it, you can do it. There are worse odds out there.

[metaphorbia]

[ That's ... not bad advice honestly. But. ]

You really don't know how bad this guy is. He took over Chicago and turned it into his own personal city state.

[selfconducts]

How big is Chicago? [ Baal isn't super up on US cities. ] Like I said, I can imagine. I've some experience with destructive forces of nature that leave death in their wake. Not human ones.

[metaphorbia]

Three million people in the city proper. Ten million if you count the suburbs, which he took over too. But we lost about half the population during the takeover.

... I don't think there's much nature can do compared to that.

[selfconducts]

Maybe not yet. If left unchecked, it's supposed to consume the world and everything on it. But-- [ He pauses, then exhales slowly. ] That's back home. Not here, as far as I know.

[ He's had concerns about the Great Darkness following them here, but nothing definite. ]

No one's successfully managed to take over a city here for long yet. So even if you were to lose control and try it, there's enough people around to stop you.

[metaphorbia]

[ David's eyes widen a little at that. Sparks, don't just talk about something consuming the world and expect him to let that go.

He'll focus on the more comforting part of that response first. ]

I guess if everyone has powers but nobody's crazy, then they could defend themselves.

[ Plus David is severely overestimating how strong his own abilities are. ]

[selfconducts]

[ Dire shit does make for a grim, though effective, ice-breaker. Baal smiles thinly, but nods. He can tell you all the Great Darkness sometime if you wanna hear it, David, but perhaps it's best saved for not-the-first-conversation. Maybe. ]

I think anyone that's mad here probably arrived that way. With or without their powers. [ He pauses. ] Not that I can know that for certain. This place may not do anything but delay the inevitable, but that's not the worst thing.

[metaphorbia]

[ Okay, but he's gonna ask one day. Just saying. ]

Delay's okay too. Delay's better than what Epics usually get.

[selfconducts]

[ The rest of the Pantheon might still have their doubts, but Baal has a lot to say about it. A lot. ]

I won't complain about it either. Extra time's better than what a lot of people get.

[metaphorbia]

... Two years, you said. Has anyone gotten longer? Figured out an exception? Other than coming here.

[selfconducts]

[ Baal shakes his head very matter-of-factly. ]

Two years exactly. Often it's less. [ He pauses. ] But for circumstantial reasons.

[metaphorbia]

What kind of circumstances?

[selfconducts]

The standard reasons. Usually murder.