maskormenace

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[ Here's Kitty, wearing a smile and giving a little wave to the camera. ]

Hullo. It's Kitty here. I was just thinking about how it's about time for us to get another wave of new people - and then I remembered how last December, we didn't get any, and then I realized that I've now been here for over a year and that was just mad to think about.

It's easy to focus on all the horrid things that happen to us here. Because there are so many horrid things - that's true. The war with the Soviets is just terrible, and sometimes you just want to take the President by his shoulders and shake him until he stops - and those groups that detest us, they've made things a bit hard at times, as well. [ There's a little sideways twist to her lips as she says that; that's a grotesque understatement from a girl who had quite the history with one of those groups that detest us. ]

But it's always easy to remember the bad above the good. That's how the human brain works, isn't it - it's designed to remember hurts so that it can avoid those hurts in the future, which isn't bad, but which means that we sometimes lose track of the fact that there is so much more kindness than cruelty in the world. So I was just sitting and remembering all the good that's come to me over the past year.

Because this year, in this world, it really has been filled with impossible goodness. When I first came here, I was so scared, but there were people who took me in and helped me and protected me until I got a little more courage. And now here I am. I've made so many friends, amongst them someone I thought was my direst enemy. I saw people whom I'd never done any good for - I saw them forgive me when I was cruel and wicked and spiteful towards them, saw them risk themselves to help me and to save me.

And I've lived amongst the people of this world, who have been so good to me. So good. I've made friends amongst them, too. I've been kept on at work when I really have been the worst employee, when I've been unreliable because of my other obligations. And we've been allowed to speak our minds, speak freely. We've been allowed to travel far and wide. We've been supported in everything we do, which is far more kindness than has ever been extended a group of refugees at any time in any world. We've lived at peace. We've lived well.

So -

[ She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. ]

I'd thought - if I could trouble you all - that we could spend a little bit of time, all together, remembering the good turns that people have done us.

Talk about whomever you'd like. Talk about the people who have been kind and helped us when they didn't have to. Talk about the wealth that is the other people we know here. And I thought we could talk about the natives, too - I was thinking I might put together a little something, a few quotes, that we could pass along to the natives of this world, so that we know that we appreciate them. Let's take some time to overcome our brains, and remember the good - focus on the good and remember how kind the world is to us. How well we live. How strong and brave and honest we can be here.

[ Translation: 'All of this is a somewhat underhanded but well-intentioned PR thing that will let me package some stuff to make the natives less furious at us in an ongoing attempt to avert all-out war between us and this world.' ]

Anyway. There's that, if you can spare some time. Oh, and, erm - come by Krakatoa, while I've got your attention. Best club in town, bar none. And the employees are simply gorgeous.

[ A quick, half-sheepish grin, and then she gives a little nod and waves her way off. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

helping them survive and keeping their predatory sire away??
what about that could possibly sound like not a right thing

It's taking over someone's life. The lives of several people, even. How can you be certain you're the best one to do it?

youre arguing from ignorance there
tobias is the one who took over their lives
im trying to help them take those lives back

But you're not. There's no going back for them. Everything's different. It's just different, now, in a way that you shape. So how can you be certain you're shaping it right?

because i dont shape it alone
i have influence on it but there are other factors youre discounting
namely themselves
these are not infants that ive become the parent of
i already have that to worry about literally

they are fully grown adults who have suffered a drastic change
but they are still people with their own thoughts decisions and desires
they are active agents in their own lives
what has changed is a facet and its a facet i can help them manage
but aside from now being forcibly nocturnal they are still capable of living among other humans

if there is one thing i can affect
it is that their doing so does not create a danger to others
but also that others do not create a danger for them because of what they are
if that isnt the right shape then i dont think there is one

I suppose.

no you dont
you wouldnt sound so noncommittal if you didnt in some way disagree

It's not disagreement. The stories the two of you are telling are simply so fundamentally dissimilar that I simply don't know how to reconcile them. And your purposes are so completely at odds that it's simply impossible to take any sort of stance that's neutral. Or take any action that's neutral. So all I can do is listen. And feel bewildered.

when one side is a predator whose been deflecting blame for months
of course his story would be dissimilar
he doesnt know anything about how ive approached the situation of his progeny
and not without reason

if you accept that his narrative could be sympathetic instead of manipulative then it may be difficult to reconcile both accounts
he only told you it to begin with because he wants you to take pity on him

He's been very good to me, Kanaya. Quite consistently. I can't simply decide that, no, he's a wretched horrible predator. Especially since - and I don't say this to be cruel - you've got a tendency to portray people you don't like as being completely wretched and irredeemable and worthless.

then get a second opinion
someone who isnt dorian
andrew warner would be a place to start
but im sure there must be others who see him the same way

you cant let the fact that hes been nice and i havent be the only thing to color your perception of the matter
i may not be nice
but i know my priorities

Right, Andrew Warner called him an arsehole and refused to give details, and afterwards I found out that they were sleeping together. That's not BRILLIANT in terms of people who can give good accounts.

Anyway, it's not about him being nice and you being not-nice. It's a matter of accuracy. You've said cruel things about people that I didn't think were accurate, so I'm just a little skittish of your opinions. That's all.

that depends on your definition of cruel
i certainly dont toss about freely the sort of serious accusations i am now

Not quite so serious. No. That's true.

get a second opinion kitty
this isnt coming out of nowhere
ask edgeworth about it i spoke to him a few weeks ago
even sabriel if you have to
(probably not sabriel if you can help it)

[ If only Kanaya knew about Laurie and Sasha, or all the others. ]

[ And then a sudden sharp right turn: ]

Hey, Toby's powers being nullified turned him human again. What if we could get our hands on nullifiers for them?

them being the fledglings i assume
but it wouldnt work
theyre all natives i mentioned that didnt i

So what?

well its rather important to the way nullifiers operate
if youre familiar with that
the porters chief engineer
may she rest in peace
explained to me once that the function by interacting with traces of radiation the porter left when it brought us in
thats why they thought this radiation was the source of our powers

but since that radiation wont be present in a native
a nullifier wouldnt really do anything

I think we should try.

and how do you propose we test its highly dubious effectiveness
shove one out in the sunlight and see if they dont pop

Are there not physical changes that come with his world's brand of vampirism? Fangs, coldness.

i still have my fangs when im nullified
theyre much smaller
and im inexplicably human
but i still have them
i might not be a good indicator though because i was hatched with it

but these are still symptoms that could be difficult to really measure to satisfaction
we would need a lot of observation to be sure it works
and if it doesnt work it will mean getting their hopes up for nothing

[ The solution there is easy, get Kanaya to tell them. She won't communicate any hope whatsoever. ]

Getting your hopes up is hardly a bad thing. Hope is quite nourishing, I find. Anyway, we'll ask Toby; remember, they're not vampires like you, they're vampires like him.

but this isnt a small sort of hope
its the type that can make a person vulnerable
and when that type of hope is dashed it can be devastating
if we do this we have to be smart about it

only one of them knows about it until we have something conclusive
they will be our test case
and they will be fully aware of what a long shot it is

we might have tried with my nullifier but i dont know how to alter the intensity
and however youd measure if someone is only one-third a vampire i cant rightly imagine

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private. i don't know if kanaya knows kitty's powers so i'm erring toward no