083114libbysami

 -- arcaneArtisan [AA] began pestering sanguineOracle [SO] at 01:22 --

 [01:22] AA: Sami comes into Libby's office and knocks on the door frame to announce her presence.

 [01:23] SO: Libby pokes her head out from behind the door. "Oh, come in, Sami!"

 [01:23] AA: "Hi Libby." Sami comes in, looking nervous.

 [01:23] AA: "I guess you either saw what happened, or one of them told you about it?"

 [01:24] AA: When she says "them," she looks in the direction of the Dome.

 -- sanguineOracle [SO] ceased pestering arcaneArtisan [AA] at 01:26 --

 [01:27] AA: When she says "them," she looks in the direction of the Dome.

 [01:27] SO: ((wht did she say before that))

 [01:27] AA: "I guess you either saw what happened, or one of them told you about it?"

 [01:27] AA: When she says "them," she looks in the direction of the Dome.

 [01:30] SO: "Oh, I can't speak to them. I'm an echo. Libby's hiding among them so Ryspor Prime can't finish her primer first."

 [01:31] AA: "Oh. I see. That's clever."

 [01:32] AA: "Huh. I had kind of hoped to talk to Libby about what it was like when it happened to her....but I guess it never happened to you."

 [01:35] AA: "Or....wait, I've never really been clear on how you echoes work. Do you not know everything Libby does? Or....maybe just everything she knows when she makes you? Or does she choose what you know?"

 [01:36] AA: "I mean you don't seem to be like a puppet or anything."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:36] AA: "Otherwise I assume she would be the one responding to what I say THROUGH you."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:36] SO: "I know all she knows. And she has tangential control over me. But for the most part, it's fine."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:36] SO: "Tell me what happened to you?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:36] AA: "Um....well. I actually can't, kinda. Every time I try to tell someone, my tongue swells up. But..." Sami thinks about it for a minute.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:36] AA: "Here, maybe you'll be able to tell if I show you this."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:37] AA: Sami pulls up her sleeve, and shows the echo the "tattoo" that now graces her forearm.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:37] SO: She tilts her head.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:37] SO: "Oh!" She reaches down and lifts up her shirt, showing a similar pattern written on her stomach.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:37] SO: "I've learned to hide mine though."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:38] AA: "Well, these new jammies are long enough to cover it up for me. But I don't think anyone I know speaks this language anyway."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:39] AA: "I screwed up, trying to talk to my Denizen. It was Cocytus, who I guess used to be Libby's lover. I had talked to Meouet and Erzedbet about it, and they showed me the rookery and how Libby tries to help them all by nursing them until they're sane again..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:40] SO: At the mention of his name, Libby's cheeks flush.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:40] AA: "...so I figured that was what I should do with Cocytus, y'know? Talk to him, and help him deal with any pain he might be going through."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:41] AA: "...that turned out to be a bad decision. Which seems to be the case with all my decisions."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:41] SO: "Well, uh... Cocytus is a special case."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:42] SO: "He's the equivalent of a five year old."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:42] AA: "What, really? He looked fairly grown up to me."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:42] AA: "Or was that something that happened after whatever it was that turned him into a Horrorterror?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:43] SO: "Aah, no.... It's the way his race works."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:43] SO: "During childhood, they're male. They become female in adulthood."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:43] AA: "Huh. That must make reproduction awkward."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:43] SO: "He's a member of the royal family, which was more lightning rod than circuitboard, if you catch my drift."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:44] AA: Sami shakes her head. "I'm....I mean I've been studying a lot, but I don't know much about electronics."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:44] SO: "Aah...uh... Okay. So, you have a king. With a male heir."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:44] AA: "Okay."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:45] AA: "Wait, so that would be a boy king for them, right?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:45] AA: "Like a child?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:45] AA: "Because otherwise he'd be a Queen?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:45] SO: "As the king ages, he becomes a shee.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:45] SO: she*"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:47] SO: "She then has relations with the new king, the boy."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:47] SO: "And gives birth to a son. The Prince."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:47] SO: "She then dies."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:47] SO: "And the cycle repeats."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:47] AA: "Aww."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:48] AA: "So....I guess the Muse that Jack killed would've been the Queen, then. He called her his Mother-Wife I think."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:48] AA: "The Muse of Light, I think he said. I've never even heard of the Muse class before."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:48] SO: "Yes. She was his father, his mother, and his wife."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:48] SO: "Muses are rare. Like Lords, they're relegated to 2 player sessions."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:49] AA: "Wow....after a few generations, that seems like they would be really....uh....I mean....do they have genetic engineering like you guys?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:49] AA: "Hmm. Jack was a Lord, I remember. But he cheated his way into it, so I guess it makes sense."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:50] AA: "Sounds like Lords and Muses are supposed to be paired though. I wonder if the game ran into trouble trying to deal with a Lord with no Muse."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:50] SO: "THey didn't. The royal line was nearly carbon copies of each other."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:50] SO: Libby smiles knowingly, tapping the side of her nose.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:50] SO: "Someone's learning."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:51] AA: "Well, I'm trying." She blushes a little.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:52] AA: "So the game doesn't have any sort of....I don't know, like subroutines or whatever you call them to deal with that sort of thing?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:52] AA: "Or what do they call it....garbage collection?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:53] AA: "If lord=true then muse=true?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:54] SO: "Sami, I don't know if I can trust you yet."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:54] SO: "Or I would answer that."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:55] AA: Sami sighs. "Yeah. I get that a lot. I'm not even sure *I* can trust me anymore."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:55] SO: "You'll be fine. Just do as Cocytus asks, and he'll grant you power."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:56] AA: "I'm not sure if I'm a good guy or a bad guy thanks to THIS" she holds up her arm, "and even if it weren't for that, the way I keep making bad decisions, maybe even if I try to do the right thing I'll keep making things worse."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:59] SO: "It makes you a player. Same as everyone else."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:59] SO: "You make bad decisions because you don't listen to advice."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:59] AA: "I really tried to this time! I thought they were saying I should do like you. Help these guys out. Show them empathy."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [01:59] AA: "And then that fucker tried to drown me!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:00] AA: "And yeah, he gave me power and now I'm under their 'protection,' but I'm not sure how I feel about taking orders from someone who just up and tries to drown someone who's just trying to be their friend."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:02] AA: "Was it like this when it happened to you? You always seem like you know what you're doing way more than me."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:03] SO: She sighs. "Did anyone tell you what happened?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:03] AA: "And I know part of that is because you've been at this for a zillion years, but..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:03] SO: "On my end?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:03] AA: "No."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:04] AA: "I know you once told me it was a higher price than you were comfortable paying, and shuddered, like you regretted it."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:04] AA: "But I didn't get the details."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:06] SO: She sighs.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:06] SO: "I know I've gone over how I lost my eyes. But how I died was another matter."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:06] AA: "Yeah. You definitely told me about your eyes." She shudders.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:09] SO: "Well, A while later, he came to my Land."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:10] SO: She scratches her scalp and wanders over to a teapot, looking about for a mug.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:10] SO: "I still had feelings for him, thought he'd finally come for my primer."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:10] SO: She finds a mug, and waves it in your direction. "Tea?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:11] AA: Sami winces a moment in sympathy at that. But she accepts the tea when it's offered. "Thanks."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:14] SO: Libby hands it over, then pours herself a glass. "Apparently, GodOS Core had determined I was no longer necessary for the session. So he killed me."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:15] SO: "I was bleeding out when one of Them picked me up, and offered to save my life."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:16] AA: "Jeez. Just 'no longer necessary?' Like it wasn't even that he saw you as a liability?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:16] SO: "Exactly. I was no longer part of the solution."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:16] SO: "They offered me the same bargain, and I was saved."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:16] AA: "That sucks. I would be more shocked, but Jack's fuckery is well established at this point."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:17] SO: "I knew Jack would come for me, so I used a piece of shenanicite, deprototyped the archive core, and fled to the furthest ring."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:17] AA: "So I guess it WAS kind of the same thing. Only I didn't even make the decision myself."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:17] SO: "You chose to put your fate in their hands, Sami."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:17] AA: "Yeah. I did."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:17] AA: "I gambled....and I guess I lost. But I didn't die. So I guess I could've lost worse."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:19] SO: "You ended up like me. Do you really think that's losing?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:19] SO: She sips her tea.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:19] AA: "I don't know yet. You don't seem that happy about it."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:20] AA: "You shuddered when you talked about the price you paid."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:21] AA: "From the outside, it seems like ending up like you wouldn't be so bad. Helping players to survive their sessions, helping those whose sessions end to deal with the pain when they become Horrorterrors..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:21] AA: "...but I get the impression that it looks a lot different from inside your head than it looks from the outside."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:24] SO: "You could say that."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:25] AA: "Do you think I lost? Do you ever wish you hadn't agreed to their deal?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:25] AA: "Even knowing it would've meant you had died there?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:26] SO: "If I had died there... That would have been it. My life would have ended. I'd be nothing but a footnote in the archives."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:27] SO: She turns her face towards her bookshelves. "But, because I did... I'm the Oracle. I am not a footnote in History... I -AM- History. The living record of creation."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:27] SO: "That which does not kill you makes you stronger."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:27] AA: "Yeah. Okay."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:29] AA: Sami sips at her tea.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:30] AA: "But am I going to be able to use that strength to help my friends? Or is it going to end up being turned against them just because the Horrorterrors tell me to? Do I even have a choice to resist if they do?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:33] SO: "You can resist, subtly. You'll have to learn what Cocytus does and doesn't notice."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:34] AA: "I see."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:34] SO: "Cocytus may be able to exert control over you sometimes. Be careful."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:34] AA: "So I'm his servant, rather than the servant of 'The Horrorterrors?'"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:35] AA: "This is more of a boilerplate notice thingy than a legal contract."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:36] SO: She laughs.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:36] SO: "You can be loaned out though. That's the rub. I've been loaned out so many times, they don't remember who holds the actual contract."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:37] AA: "Oh, wow."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:46] AA: Sami finishes her tea.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:47] AA: "Thanks for listening, Libby. It feels good to tell someone about what happened."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] AA: "I hate that I'm having to keep a secret from my friends. I feel like I'm lying to them. I mean....part of me is grateful that they don't know, because I remember what happened with Doir and Nate after I grimdarked the first time..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] SO: "It's better this way."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] SO: ((sorry phone))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] AA: "...but the other part of me feels like....they should have the right to shun me, if this scares them."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:48] AA: (( No worries. ))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [02:50] AA: "They could be in danger one of these days because of me. They should have the opportunity to choose for themselves if they consider being around me to be worth the risk."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:02] SO: "Part of the responsibility is taking that risk for yourself, Sami."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:08] AA: "Which means if I end up hurting them, it's my own fault for not having gotten away from them while I still had the chance."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:08] AA: She sighs. "Pretty much just like grimdarking, then."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:09] AA: "I think....I think I need to get to the point that Cocytus will trust me. So he can tell me what his plans are. At least then I can know how much danger my friends are in from me."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:10] AA: "...and I guess the only way to do that is to obey him when he gives me orders, for now."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:28] AA: "All right. Thanks for the talk, Libby. And you know, I know you've got Meouet and Ryspor to help you out when you need it, but if there's anything I can help you out with....well I mean I feel like things still aren't square between us, and I'd like to work on that."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:28] AA: "So just let me know if there's anything I can help you out with."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> -- sanguineOracle [SO] is now an idle chum! --