080314katesami

 -- abyssalArrow [AA] began pestering arcaneArtisan [AA] at 02:23 --

 [02:23] AA: Kate walks up to Sami off of the track. "Hello, Sami."

 [02:24] AA: "Hey. You drove well out there. Sorry you came in second."

 [02:24] AA: "Can't believe Ryspor crashed my car."

 [02:25] AA: She shrugs. "It's not a big deal. I didn't expect to win anyway."

 [02:25] AA: "I'm very pleased with how it turned out."

 [02:26] AA: "That new Fraymotif of yours sounds pretty scary, you know."

 [02:26] AA: She smiles. "How so?"

 [02:26] AA: She sighs. "But I guess it's not much different from what I've arranged with the Horrorterrors for Beau."

 [02:26] AA: "I see. You're worried they won't be the same person."

 [02:27] AA: "But you see, I'm quite capable of pulling a nearly identical teammate from another timeline whose sole difference is whether or not they were just injured."

 [02:27] AA: "Well mostly I'm just imagining how scary it would be to be swapped out for another Sami, and left in a doomed timeline."

 [02:27] AA: "It's all well and good for that Sami, but I'm pretty much screwed."

 [02:28] AA: "Which is why I'm still beating myself up over the Beau thing."

 [02:28] AA: "What you have to realize, Sami, is that at any moment you could become a doomed Sami. You're only in the alpha timeline for as long as you remain the alpha Sami."

 [02:28] AA: "Or at least part of it."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:28] AA: "The moment you do something outside of the purview of the alpha timeline is the moment you become doomed."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:29] AA: She sighs. "Yeah, you're probably right."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:29] AA: "I mean....I guess you ARE right. You're the one who understands this stuff."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:30] AA: "I wouldn't worry about it. I've seen what happens in doomed timelines sometimes. Once they realize they're doomed they stop trying and just enjoy their time with one another. It's kind of nice, actually."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:30] AA: "The only thing is they also know they have limited time."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:30] AA: "

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:30] AA: "Of course, if there's no time player to tell them they're doomed, they generally won't notice."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:31] AA: "Oh." She thinks for a minute. "I guess things could be worse....although I suppose if it happened to me I'd know immediately.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:31] AA: "Since I was swapped out."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:31] AA: "Oh well. I guess whatever happens happens." She sighs.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:32] AA: "It takes a certain attunement to the timeline to know when it becomes doomed, though." Kate nods. "Just don't fret about it too much and your timeline will play out as it should."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:32] AA: "I guess." She shrugs.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:32] AA: "Or it won't, and you'll be able to spend what time you have left with Beau." She smiles.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:32] AA: "Some timelines go on for years, you know."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:33] AA: She takes this in, but doesn't respond.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:34] AA: "You'd think doomed timelines fall apart somewhat quickly after becoming doomed, but it really varies. Sometimes it's a few seconds, but that's pretty rare. Most last at least eighteen months."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:34] AA: ((GMs if you care i'm pulling these numbers out of my ass because I assume they don't matter))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:34] AA: (( Yeah, the exact numbers probably don't matter. ))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:35] AA: "Just remember that for every timeline, there are an uncountably infinite number of doomed timelines."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:35] AA: "It's a little spooky how much more doom there is in paradox space than hope."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:35] AA: "Not that it's that surprising."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:37] AA: "Say....is it true that you and the rest of Maso made a bunch of babies to send to the post-scratch session?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:37] AA: Kate nods. "That's right. I'm excited to see how my descendant fares. I'm sure he's quite capable."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:37] AA: "I've heard others mention it, and I brought it up with Doir when I was convincing him not to try to get Dina pregnant, but I guess all I've heard is rumors."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:38] AA: "Oh wow. Your descendant."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:38] AA: "In a roundabout way."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:38] AA: "Genetically related as his mother, but not his actual mother."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:39] AA: "What, was he made from the you of that session then? Scarlet mentioned that there were versions of us on the other side."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:40] AA: "...and that that session's Beau and Sami weren't together." She looks a little irritated about that.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:40] AA: "No, it's complicated, but basically we made what are called paradox clones. We take the genetic material of players from our session, combine them in favorable ways, genetically, and ship them to the new session."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:40] AA: "Oh..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:40] AA: "I'd assume we'd continue that train if the next session fails as well."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:40] AA: "So it was all about what the best genes would be?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:40] AA: "Mostly."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:41] AA: "I think the Rilset Scarlet child was largely whimsy, but I tried to keep mine to be sensible from a genetic standpoint."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:41] AA: "Wow! I hadn't even thought about making cross-species babies!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:42] AA: "But don't worry, Sami. You do have a child mixed with Beau, I just don't know the circumstances of his upbringing."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:42] AA: Sami's eyes go wide. "Really?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:43] AA: She nods. "I have a list of all of the pairings, if you're interessted."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:43] AA: "Well sure! It might be fun to imagine what everyone's kids are like."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:43] AA: Kate brings a hand to her scouter and...

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[02:43] -- abyssalArrow [AA] sends arcaneArtisan pairings.xls --

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:44] AA: Sami looks over the list.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:44] AA: "I have a kid with Balish?!" She sounds surprised and confused.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:44] AA: "I don't remember if I chose that one or not, but it seems sensible. Consider that you are levelheaded, but not very... strong. He's the opposite. Perhaps we could have the best of both worlds."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:45] AA: ((20 minute warning))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:46] AA: "I guess....but we also sort of have/had things....wrong. In our heads."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:47] AA: "Also, you think I'm levelheaded?" She sounds flattered.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:47] AA: "Certainly. Not as much as Beau, hence the earlier pairing, though I think your relationship also factored into that one."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] AA: "Well whoever did it....I'm grateful to them."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] AA: "What's this '????' next to Doir?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] AA: "Scarlet felt it would be funny to mix mystery DNA with Doir."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] AA: Sami rolls her eyes. "Oh, Scarlet." She sighs.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:49] AA: "Hey Kate....did anyone ever ask her what the deal with her talking to Jack was during the fight?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:49] AA: "I doubt she would do something stupid and mix with Jack, so I wouldn't worry too much."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:49] AA: "Oh man. I hadn't even thought of that!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:49] AA: "I don't even recall that occurring."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:50] AA: "You don't? During the fight, when Scarlet came on the screen and said something about Jack 'breaking the deal,' and I action line'd him into his deathtraps while he was distracted?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:50] AA: "You might have been distracted. It was right before you did all that crazy shit."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:50] AA: "Oh, right. Yes. Probably a deal not to hurt Rilset."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:50] AA: "You have to remember that fight was at least four times longer for me."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:51] AA: "Hmm. Do you think we should be worried about what her side of the deal was?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:51] AA: "You bring up a good point, but I still doubt it would be making a Jack baby."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:51] AA: "She's not stupid."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:51] AA: "Oh, I didn't mean to imply THAT."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:51] AA: "I just meant....I don't know. Do you think it's something that could come back to haunt us?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:52] AA: "Oh, shit! Kate! That deal Ryspor made with Jack!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:52] AA: "That was for one one of these kids, right?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:52] AA: "Without going back in time and looking for answers, I can't know. Besides, that would doom the timeline and could get me killed."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:52] AA: "Yes. The Ryspor-Rilset child. That's a curious situation itself."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:53] AA: "Do you think the kid is safe now? Since Jack is dead?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:53] AA: Sami sighs and shakes her head. "Who am I kidding? Of course he's not."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:53] AA: "There's probably some part of Jack still alive out there."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:54] AA: "I thought that child would be fairly tame, given Ryspor's disposition." She shakes her head. "No, Jack is most certainly alive in the next session. We killed our Jack, but just as split timelines create effective copies of people, I'm sure Jack has figured out a way to have multiple instances of himself."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:54] AA: "The good news is, we're getting 20 new players and many of us are god tiered. Plus, Beau's coming back."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:54] AA: "We'll find him and kill him early so we can actually play."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:56] AA: "Yeah....Beau." Sami sighs. "Assuming she comes back right."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:56] AA: "She will, hopefully not too different."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:56] AA: "And the Horrorterrors aren't going to bring us the Beau from the Evil Universe. Or the Bear Universe. Or something worse."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:57] AA: "I don't think doomed timelines work that way."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:57] AA: "At least I haven't seen them work that way in my experience."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:58] AA: "I hope you're right."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:58] AA: Kate puts a hand on Sami. "It will be fine, Sami."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:59] AA: "There's no way it's this easy, Kate. There's going to be some price to be paid. More than the one the Horrorterrors already asked of me. I just hope it's going to be me who pays it and not Beau."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:59] AA: "Or one of you."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:00] AA: "If there's one thing I've learned from doing all this time bullshit, it's this one simple thing: Don't worry."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:01] AA: She smiles at Sami.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:01] AA: ((I need to go can you post?))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:01] AA: (( Sure. ))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:01] AA: ((ty ty))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:02] AA: "If you say so."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:02] AA: ((end there?))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:02] AA: (( Yeah. That's fine. ))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:02] AA: ((k was fun :D ))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:02] AA: (( Yeah. Thanks for doing it. ))