[ video ]

[hostage]

[This post goes up very shortly after Jesse comes out of his catatonic state, on the evening of the 23rd. He's a little frenzied, a little wild-eyed and panicked, but he has to know he didn't imagine all of it. There has to be someone else who saw it, too.]

Did anybody - Did anybody else just get back? I mean, like... Were any of you guys ported out, too? To the future, or whatever it was. I can't be the only one. I mean, I saw some of you there. It was De Chima, right? We were just in De Chima? But our bodies got left behind here, I guess. I dunno. What was it? Was it a dream, or... Like, did we seriously just see the future? Because I think that's what it was. I think that was the future. I wasn't alone. I mean, I know I wasn't alone there.

...Right?

Comments

[rathercommon]

It was really, really off. I don't know how else to describe it. I don't know if it was a real possible future or just something they wanted us to see for some reason, but it seemed like it was supposed to be some utopia run by imPorts. But there wasn't any dissent, was the thing. I looked into the politicians there, and none of them were allowed to speak up against us. If they do, the papers turn against them right away, and they get shut down and silenced. We got attacked at one point by this group, sort of like the Hornets - they called themselves Wyrd - and imPorts were just killing them and at the end they had their hands shaken and were sent on their way. Not even a question of if maybe they oughtn't have taken lives. I don't know. I think it was supposed to seem tempting and idyllic, but it just felt so, so wrong. Like the triumphal parade of a tyrant. It made me feel horrid.

[hostage]

[There is a long pause here while Jesse takes in all of that. All of that... so very different experience from the one he had. The opposite, in fact. It couldn't be more opposite.]



That's not how it was for me

[rathercommon]

How was it for you, then?

[hostage]

We weren't people anymore

Our tattoos just said IMPORT and we couldn't hide them

We weren't allowed to leave on our own

We had to do whatever they said or else

[rathercommon]

Or else what?

[hostage]

Pain

Or worse

[rathercommon]

Yeah...It sounds like there's someone out there who REALLY wants us scared of the government.

[hostage]

You think it was made up?

[rathercommon]

Two futures, completely different, shown to us at the same time. That means that at LEAST one of them was a false future, right? Which means at least one of them was an illusion. Which means, probably, that BOTH of them were illusions. I don't think it's impossible that they were real, but I think it's WAY more likely that they were manufactured. Probably to scare us.

I mean, look at the content, right - one was a vision of, oh, if you rule yourselves and override what the government wants, the world's going to turn out happy and shiny and beautiful, and the other one was look at how much the government is a threat to you, they'll imprison and torture you. That sounds to me like there's someone out there who REALLY wants us to act a certain way.

[hostage]

[It felt so real. But Jesse's been convinced of certain realities before. The things he believes and the actual truth are often at odds. Too often for him to argue with any kind of conviction here.]

I hope you're right

[rathercommon]

OK, but put hope aside a moment. What do you THINK?

[hostage]

I think everything I saw makes more sense than anything else

There's never been a good reason to let us be free

[rathercommon]

Yeah, except for the fact that we've got more power amongst all of us than about eighteen megaton bombs and could easily smash this country's entire army. They're not stupid. If they could subdue us, they would.

[hostage]

They have nullifiers and we don't even know everything the nanites do

[rathercommon]

So you think that they COULD tamp us down and enslave us if they wanted, they're just CHOOSING to piss off the voters by letting us destroy half their cities, and choosing to lose this opportunity to pretend to be strong for the Russians, and choosing to spend bloody millions of dollars to kiss our arses. I don't know...I don't buy it. I've seen wicked and duplicitous governments. This one just seems clueless.

[hostage]

They can't do it now but that doesn't mean they won't be able to in 10 years

[rathercommon]

That's true, yeah. God, I wish we'd stop giving them reasons to be afraid of us.

[hostage]

We're aliens from another universe with magic powers

Even if we were a bunch of flower power world peace hippies, they'd be scared of us

[rathercommon]

I don't think so. Honestly, I really don't. I know that it's possible for there to be harmony between different species. It's just that once these cycles of mistrust and hatred are begun, they're almost impossible to stop. And I wonder if we're not already in that downswing - if all the damage we've done to this world hasn't already driven things past the point of no return.

[hostage]

We're screwed either way

[rathercommon]

Oh, shut up. No we're not.

[hostage]

Yeah you're right we'll hug it out

[rathercommon]

Maybe we will! We're alive, aren't we, and we've got our wits and we've got a common tongue amongst us. I've seen worse enemies than us come to a reconciliation. We can do better than that and find real peace. We've just got to stay patient and kind and think of others as much as we think of ourselves. Peace can come, and I believe it will.

[hostage]

[If! Only! He! Could! Have! That! Optimism!]

Honest to god I want that to be true

[rathercommon]

Well, stop wanting and make it happen! Honestly! WANTING never got anyone anywhere. DOING is how things get better.