xenologue 2 || video

[fauxmarth]

Hello.

[yes, hi. it's kind of overcast today? but not bad. nice enough to be outside here in chilly ol' Maurtia Falls.]

I've been informed by a good number of people that the season will be changing soon. And that it can be quite a sight out in the countryside, just outside the city proper. Would you say that's true? I'd like to see a lovely spring again. I hope it can be as much that as it could be peaceful, considering how...hectic life can be in this world.

The snow is fine, and even the warm climes farther south of here are pleasant as well, but... There's something special about spring, I feel. One where things refresh and renew, making the whole place feel and even smell different.

[her thoughtful smile twitches into a self-conscious grin as she looks from the sky back down to the screen.]

Is that naive of me to hope here? I'll hardly hide how still new I am to the world at large here.

Comments

[devoutish]

Half and half. It's a bit hypocritical, isn't it - but all the same, I wouldn't want my own sisters on a battlefield.

[fauxmarth]

And I'm sure they aren't very thrilled with the idea of their brother in the same predicament. All the more reason to trust in each other's strengths and work together to find an end swiftly.

At least--that's how I see it. Everyone who has a stake in strife deserves a chance to stand up for themselves, no matter their strengths.

[devoutish]

This is where I say that it's different for men, right, and you ask how, and I find myself at a loss for how to answer in a way that doesn't sound ridiculous to the modern woman.

[He shrugs ambivalently - then, remembering that he's not actually on video, switches that on so that they match. Hello.]

[fauxmarth]

Fair enough, sir-- [oh!

a beat, blinking, and then she laughs, waving.]

And well met. You've not yet told me what I may call you, actually, so this seems a more proper introduction.

[devoutish]

Alfie Solomons. Been here long enough to know the road, as far as the twenty-first century woman's role in society goes.

[fauxmarth]

Another veteran of this world? Or do you mean to say the world you came from is close in time and sensibility?

[devoutish]

My world's something like a hundred years behind this one - it's 2018 here, 1922 for me. But I've been here, in this world, since 2016.

[fauxmarth]

[ahh...she considers that for a moment, looking aside in thought.]

So, I've encountered yet another veteran. I must have good luck with that.

[devoutish]

Have you met any of those who have been here for six years yet? There's still one or two kicking about, I think.

[fauxmarth]

I... [head-tilt.] I believe I have, actually. Though--I can't actually recall exact numbers off the top of my head. Sir Beetle and Father Maxwell may well fit that mark, unless I'm exaggerating their stays here.

[devoutish]

Might be. Yeah. There was a girl as well - young. But she's gone now.

[fauxmarth]

And...hopefully to a home she'll be happy to see again. [...forgetting everything here in the process.]

[devoutish]

I'm afraid that that one wanted to stay.

[fauxmarth]

...Oh. [her eyes wince. she was afraid of that.] I'm...I'm sorry to hear of that, truly. This place...seems quite a double-edged sword for many.

[devoutish]

Well, I didn't know her well, personally, and it's not so much of one for me. But it's a kind thought all the same.

[fauxmarth]

Which is the best anyone can do for the time being, right? So I'm told.

[devoutish]

For the time being. Yes. For the future - who can say?

[fauxmarth]

Indeed, sir. I can't imagine things will always carry on the way they are; it may be only a matter of time.

[devoutish]

Yeah, it may be. But - I think it's gonna be a good long while, myself. Many people have been working, and not many answers have been found.

[fauxmarth]

[hm.]

Perhaps it is a matter that cannot be moved by our hands alone. There are greater forces at play, yes? A goddess?

[devoutish]

Mm.

[That's a yes, in Alfie-speak.]

Know much about them?

[fauxmarth]

Not enough, to be certain. I've been told she had hold of an entirely other world, bearing technology similar to what draws us all here now. That the world there was abandoned, and now she is housed here. But...beyond that... [she shakes her head.

and then tilts it, eyebrows lifted, a quiet inquiry. you, sir?]

[devoutish]

None like this. No. I've heard the story you've been told as well, but that was all before my time.

[fauxmarth]

So it remains still a second-hand mystery, should my source be reliable in his memory. I've no reason to doubt, yet all the same...

[devoutish]

But there are many stories, and they all sound fantastical, and we've got little context for what's likely and what isn't. Yeah.

[He gets it.]

Doubt a lot of things at least a bit, but be careful not to doubt too much.