002 | video

[ringen]

[ Tonight, the video feed shows Gaby tossing a roughly palm-sized object up into the air and catching it repetitively; for those who venture to look more closely it's a door knob. For those who venture to look even more closely, there is a nearly-unhinged door somewhere in the background. Sorry, Heropa 006. ]

I'm curious. Now, I'm sure this question has been posed many times before, but I'd still like to know. How many of you already had powers before you were brought to this place? And how many of you were--for lack of a better term--completely ordinary beforehand? And how did you adjust to your newfound powers, if at all?

You see, I've been here for quite some time now, but still find it a little difficult to compensate for this--hm, unnatural strength? [ she doesn't want to call it super strength ] That I've been given. I assumed I would get used to it over time, but perhaps there's something more to it than just that.

[ She sighs, and stops tossing the thing up and down, now holding the broken-off doorknob up to be seen. ]

In other news, there doesn't happen to be anyone here with the power to fix doors very quickly, does there? I can certainly fix it myself, but I'm afraid I might make things worse instead.

Comments

video;

[oceanthief]

I'm still normal for a gem - but we can do a lot of things that humans can't. So I guess it's really about how you look at things.

[she shrugs lightly]

But some things you just never get used to.

[ringen]

I must admit, I've never met a "gem" before.

[ She tilts her head to the side. ]

What is it that you "never get used to," if I may ask?

[oceanthief]

That's not surprising; we don't seem to exist in most other worlds.

[an interesting quirk of fate and nature, one that Lapis wonders may only serve to isolate her further from the familiar.]

You can ask. [she frowns, quietly] I'm talking about this planet.

[ringen]

So you're from another planet.

[ She offers a sympathetic smile. ]

I'm sorry. I find it jarring enough to be here from fifty years in the past--I'm sure even more so when you come from a different planet. What's it like?

[oceanthief]

It was beautiful.

[the Homeworld she knew doesn't exist any more. Lapis is well aware of that - but it doesn't stop her from slipping easily into nostalgic reminiscence. recalling what would only pain her further had always been one of her weaknesses.]

Everything here is so backwards; we were so far ahead of anything I've seen humans put out. And it was almost all inorganic on the planet - crystal spires and geodes, even the warp pads.

[she sighs, seeming to fold in on herself]

But that's all gone now. It doesn't really matter much.

[ringen]

[ Her brow furrows with concern, her lips drawing into a thin line, and were this not a conversation over the network but one in person, Gaby would have placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to show her sympathies. ]

I'm sorry you've been separated from your home. You must have been here for long already, haven't you?

I don't think it's right to say that it doesn't matter much, though. It's clearly still an important part of you and who you are, right? Just because something is gone doesn't mean its significance just ends.

[oceanthief]

I was trapped on this planet for five thousand years, and then I was brought here. I can't get away from it.

[her hands flex, folding and unfolding into little fists just off screen. it's such a bitter thing to say, no matter how many times she retells it. but she won't stop telling her story. she can't let it beat her.]

The Homeworld I knew is something that I can't go back to. My memories aren't going to change the way things are here.

[ringen]

Five thousand-- [ Good lord. Gaby can't even fathom being alive for more than a hundred, much less spending that much time trapped somewhere you don't want to be. She spent a good portion of her life trapped behind the Berlin Wall, but that hardly seems comparable. ]

... I feel apologies are in order. I didn't mean to upset you. For what it's worth, I understand that feeling of being trapped somewhere you don't want to be.

[oceanthief]

I'm not upset - that's just the ways things are. Talking about it or not doesn't change anything.

[a soft shrug. Lapis does seem to be genuine even if her expression doesn't alter much from its stoic landscape. she'd been hurt, and it wasn't going to magically disappear by ignoring the past. whether she wanted it to be or not, that was a part of her as much as any happy memories.]

And you're right. It's not like I'm the only one who's ever been a prisoner.

[ringen]

[ Her expression may be stoic, but the way she had just been speaking with a hint of bitterness tells Gaby enough, and she silently nods. Then in an attempt to lighten things up a little, she ventures with a curious note: ]

What's the strangest thing you've find about this planet?

[oceanthief]

[an actual expression crosses Lapis' face now - her brow wrinkles ever so slightly and she tilts her head to the side, lips pursed in contemplation. that's actually a pretty difficult question, considering the vast list of things she still doesn't understand about this planet.]

...humans really like to make communication as complicated as they can. I have no idea why.

[ringen]

[ Gaby watches Lapis' expression progress through a much wider range than she'd shown before, and at length, she chuckles at the answer. ]

You aren't wrong about that, no, but it sounds like you've got a story waiting to be told there.

[oceanthief]

It's just - why do you all have to say so many things that you don't actually mean?

[figures of speech. Lapis is talking about how she's quite literally incapable of taking anything less than completely literally on the first go.]

[ringen]

[ While Lapis means figures of speech, Gaby thinks-- ]

Are you talking about how people tell lies all the time? Or something else?

[oceanthief]

No, lies are fine. [well, not fine, but at least comprehensible.] I mean something like counting your chickens before they've hatched.

[ringen]

Oh. Figures of speech.

I know how that feels, too. English is my second language, so some of these sayings go over my head, too.

[oceanthief]

...but you can't throw words.

[ringen]

[ Gaby huffs out a laugh. ]

Right, right. You can't. It's just another one of those sayings, meaning "I don't understand." I suppose it's something you just pick up the more you talk in the language?

[oceanthief]

[Lapis looks faintly pained. hurling one of those in a conversation about how she specifically didn't understand them is just unfair.]

I think it'd be easier if I could just get people to stop using them.

[five thousand years of English and this shit hasn't gotten any easier, ok]

[ringen]

[ that was a bit of a low blow wasn't it--oh wait. ]

A brave endeavor, but difficult. Why not... try to understand them, instead?

[oceanthief]

It's just not happening.

[ringen]

And why not?

[oceanthief]

If I couldn't do it in five thousand, a couple more years isn't going to suddenly do the trick.

[ringen]

You could get someone as a translator or something. But specifically for figures of speech instead of languages.

[oceanthief]

How much would that cost?