014 ♍ VIDEO

[glowsferatu]

[ Kanaya is sitting at her desk, with Ashiah laying down on it in front of her. The little grub keeps glancing around in various directions, while her mother's gaze and smile is fixed on the camera. ]

I've been thinking recently about the cross-section of the imPort community who aren't human, perhaps most particularly since the ambassador elections last month. There are a sizable amount of us, not a large group, but significant. I've spoken with many of you on individual terms, and while the resources Governor Kang and SELF have provided to those of us with more unique needs have been invaluable, I feel there is still something missing in our collective socialization. We live the imPort experience in a way that many others won't fully appreciate, and I think we could benefit from sharing those experiences with each other.

[ At this point, Ashiah tries to wander off camera, but Kanaya suppresses a giggle as she puts a hand on top of her and scoots her back into place. ]

I'm unsure exactly what form that would take, but putting us all in a room to share our stories would be at least a start. If anyone is interested, please let me know, and I'll see about renting some space. Of course, if you have any special dietary needs, in terms of snacks, I would like to hear those as well.

This is generally something I'd prefer to save until we're in person, but... [ She's interrupted as Ashiah turns around and nuzzles into her chest, then tries to climb up her shoulder. Kanaya stops and laughs to herself, then plucks her off and cradles her, despite all her fidgeting. ] Anyway, for those of you who I haven't had the pleasure with yet, my name is Kanaya Maryam, and this is my daughter, Ashiah. I'm an Alternian troll, specifically an awakened jadeblood, which basically means I'm a vampire. She's a Daughter Grub from the same planet. [ She raises a finger, shaking her head. ] And before you ask, no, she isn't a troll, and she won't grow up to be one, either. Once she finally pupates, she'll become a Mother Grub. They acted as gestational surrogates for trolls, while the jadeblooded caste were their caretakers and midwives. It's all a bit complicated, this is just a general summary.

So, hopefully we'll be able to put something together moving forward, and I'll be able to hear all of your stories, as well. I'll be looking forward to hearing from each of you.

Comments

[douchebag]

I've met aliens with fangs before. None of them bothered to try to talk to me before trying to kill me. Think that makes your species better already.

[ Plus she doesn't look like a big hairy ape. Or a lizard. Or a toad thing. ]

And I'm glad to hear we're not stuck with these stupid jobs. Did you just leave your hospital gig when you wanted to?

[glowsferatu]

For your sake, I wouldn't take that for granted if you ever happen to meet another troll. We could be a vicious lot sometimes, especially as you go further into the cool castes. Anything purple, probably best to avoid.

[ Not for being mindless beasts, just shitty aristocrats who don't value anyone's lives but their own. It was a whole thing on her planet. ]

The job was...a bit more complicated than that. [ She actually misses that job, but you tend to lose some things when you go to prison. ] But yes, there is nothing mandatory about the occupational assignments. They're really done more as a courtesy, so that we will have a steady income stream for our livelihoods on arrival.

If you want to quit, especially if you have a replacement arranged, there's nothing stopping you. I take it you were given an unsatisfactory assignment?

[douchebag]

[ These days, he doesn't take much for granted. Doing that got him killed. ]

It's not a difficult job. It's just... [ It's hard to go from a killer to a guy who sits around and gets facials all day. It's weird. ] Spending all day in a salon isn't my idea of a job.

[ Plus it's boring. ]

Are there other trolls here? Trolls and uh, what did you call them? Grubs?

[glowsferatu]

Ashiah's the last of her kind, actually. She would be the best hope for our future, at home.

[ She would have been, at least, if she ever had the chance to hatch in Kanaya's timeline. But that's part of what makes it doomed. There's another timeline, she knows, that has a much better chance for a happy ending. Maybe her equivalent there will get the chance to raise her. ] And me, I'm just the last troll here. There have been others, they've just all gone home.

I must say, though, working in a salon doesn't sound too terrible, if it's your kind of work. It wouldn't be my first choice either, but I think I could manage it.

[douchebag]

It's not my kind of work. At all. Sitting around all day doesn't do it for me.

[ Maybe if he was a hitman masquerading as a facial cream tester it'd be tolerable. But he's not. He's got a little plastic apron to prove it. ]

But hey, how's that work? Going home? What if there isn't a home to go back to? Do they just, I don't know, kill you?

[glowsferatu]

[ Okay, she doesn't like the sound of just sitting and doing nothing, that would just be a waste. But his question seems a little more pressing. ]

Well, when the Porter decides it's your time, she sends you back where she took you from, back to how she took you from. Whatever you acquired here stays behind.

And if you're dead already, I guess...you just go back to being dead. I've never asked any of the numerous dead people I've known before.

[douchebag]

[ Well, that's... His expression of simple curiosity doesn't change, but some kind of icy pit opens up in his stomach. ]

Just like that? We've got no control over it?

[glowsferatu]

Does that really surprise you? It's no less control than we were given in coming here to begin with. Apparently there was a choice the first time this nation started bringing in imPorts, back when they could still control the Porter. That all changed when Lachesis came, and brought us with her.

How much do you know about the Fates of the Greeks?

[douchebag]

No, but I figured once we were here, we were here. Not that we'd get kicked out later.

[ He shakes his head. ]

Not a lot. But I know they have gods. Is that it? One of their gods is fucking with us?

[glowsferatu]

Whether one of their gods, or simply an entity that shares her name, and has sisters similarly named. The Fates were a trip of goddesses, perhaps the most powerful in the pantheon, who presided over lives and deaths both mortal and divine.

[ She looks around her desk, and picks up a spool of thread. It's always been a little funny to her that the Fates share a profession with her, but it works in demonstrations. She wraps the end around her finger, pulling it away from the spool. ]

Clotho would spin a thread for each new life. At the end, Atropos would cut it. [ Holding her thread tightly, she snaps it off the spool, then stretches it end to end. ] But, in between, Lachesis was the one who would measure the length of those lives, deciding when they begin and end.

The same could be said for the lives we have here. However long they are, it's all in her hands.

[douchebag]

[ He sighs a little as she finishes her demonstration, faintly disappointed. ]

That's all fatalistic and depressing, isn't it?

[ It almost sounds a little like his life in the military. Someone else always calling the shots, deciding who went into a warzone and who hung out at base. ]

So essentially, we're screwed. That's the gist of it.

[glowsferatu]

I don't consider it fatalistic, only realistic. To think that this means that nothing we do matters, that would be fatalistic.

[ Though, well, fate tends to be fatal, so perhaps it is a bit, but fatalism calls to mind a very different perspective. ]

Personally, I think it makes our actions matter all the more. If we're dead or doomed, this is our last chance to do anything meaningful. We may not retain our connection to this world when we leave it, but ithere.

We might as well be sure what we leave will be something worth keeping.

[douchebag]

[ That's one way of looking at it. A little more optimistic than Felix is used to, but he guesses he can see how it works. And he knows someone who would find such an idea appealing. ]

I guess that's better than the other way of looking at it, huh? Thanks for telling me.

[ About everything. ]

You've given me a lot to think about.

[glowsferatu]

Well, I'm glad to have helped a bit. It's all sort of a weird situation, but no one ever tells you quit how weird when you first arrive.

I suppose, if there's one thing I'd hope to convey, it can all be a bit fucked, but that doesn't mean it will never be okay.

[douchebag]

[ He chuckles a bit at that. ]

Well, you didn't too bad a job at it. [ A beat. ] And hey, listen. Anyone gives you or your daughter shit because you're not human, causes you problems, let me know and I'll take care of it.

[glowsferatu]

[ She returns his chuckle with her own. ]

I'll keep it in mind. However many may not be fond of us, it's always encouraging to have one more who's a friend.