riverview | video, un: j.k. [post-butterfly effect]

[ On the screen is one Cain, also known as Romulus, commonly known in the city as Jacob Kane. He looks normal. Normal as he's ever looked, really, but the confidence that he lacked during the recent event is back in full force and he's very nonchalant about it all. He's at a flimsy-ish table with a laptop off to the side where the camera is obviously his propped up phone instead. ]

Hey! Long-time no talk, Riverview Quarantine. Just a few things. If you met me over the last week and a half or so, that was... technically me but not. You know that thing that was going on? Yeah, that. Don't worry about it. Forget about all that.

Quick catch-up for those who have (or haven't!) met me, I go by Jacob Kane nowadays. [ Not Romulus. Nope. This total 180 is completely normal considering he hardly looks any older or different at all. ] My job while I'm here is designing phone apps. I've been here for about two months now and I think this is my first actual post on the network. Anything interesting happen while I wasn't looking?

to Doom;
Still good for lessons?

to Shai;
Thank you. For everything you did.

to Natsume;
Seen anything like our colorful friend lately?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They have catapults, we have risen. It's their fault for being so superstitious about simple concepts.

Because catapults where you're from are also fueled by the souls of the dead?

How many times do I have to say that body and souls are different? We respect souls, they're people. They have lives and stories and it's not our business to bother them.

[Except for the part where she bothered Walter constantly when he didn't talk to her. And wouldn't let him just rest in peace even when she wasn't using his body.]

Bodies, on the other hand, are property. It's fair game to take a body that doesn't belong to anyone else, because otherwise it's simply going to waste.

Riddle me this, then: why did I have to salt and burn a body to affect and release the soul?

[At the word 'burn', she suddenly seems extremely apprehensive. Not guilty, but very, very nervous.]

How- should I know? You were the one performing rituals on him.

[ Interesting. His eyes narrow a bit but he'll let it slide. He isn't here to prey on her weaknesses, just poke her stupidity. ]

Because you wouldn't or couldn't release him.

You were just- severing his connection to his body?

[She's actually visibly shaken by the concept. Burning a body and breaking its soul's connection... is a very sensitive topic, it seems.]

Why?

Edited (why is dw broken) 2017-06-24 04:08 (UTC)

So he wouldn't keep getting dragged back by some force he couldn't stop.

[ Cain's not sure what the issue is, figures it's likely Letha's upbringing and what she was told to rationalize her magic's use. Walter seemed pretty for it. ]

And what if he didn't want to lose his body, was that not something you'd considered?

[She's bristling now, her face showing some mix of anger and anxiety.]

How could someone who speaks to the dead possibly tread on them so carelessly? Burning them is disrespectful and horrifying, and- and he'll never be able to contact the living on his own terms, now it will always have to be done through magic. Because you ripped that connection from him. Is that your form of helping?

None of that is normal here, Letha. Just like people don't get a chance to say their last goodbyes before they pass on. You can't force others to do what makes you comfortable.

He didn't want to keep being bandied about like a toy, and I know this because I actually talked to him. Do you recall you're the one who suggested it?

Well I wasn't expecting you to go through with it! [She groans, and brushes her hair out of her face with a stressed huff.] Do you know how much pain I went through when my body was burnt to ashes? No, you don't, because you wouldn't stop to consider that I know what I'm talking about. The things I do may not be normal but they are better, and they help people. [In theory maybe.] And you're horrible.

[ His lips twitch halfway before he schools his expression. He doesn't care if she sees the amusement, it just doesn't last all that long. ]

Being burned alive sucks. Being burned dead probably isn't too great, either, no. If you could listen to Walter being unhappy and would rather see about losing his body and getting some rest, and not ask yourself questions later, then you need more help than any armchair psychologist slash internet expert can get you.

[She does note that amusement, and it just serves to anger her more. His points are valid, and he just has to be cocky about it, and that makes her feel dumb and powerless and she hates it.]

Oh, go to hell. Everything was fine until you started poking your nose about. Really, what right do you have to steal from me and then lecture me about listening?

[ It's more for the "my pain is singular and impossible to understand" thing. He gets that people feel that way but no, he actually quite well knows what it's like to be burned to ash. S'up. ]

Again, people aren't property and Walter definitely made his own choice in that.

And it was a stupid choice, and you should have known better than to let him make it. I was putting him to his best application and when we met he made the choice of coming with me back to the Quarantine.

[She's not crying, you're crying. God, she hates that her eyes water when she's angry.]

[ He's familiar with people crying due to more than being upset. It just makes him tilt his head and regard her. ]

Drafting people into eternal servitude isn't ever a good choice. Your will does not supersede the will of another living, thinking creature, and I'm willing to bet he hadn't been given the whole picture of your plans for him when you brought him back.

Oh just shut up already, what do you know?

[It seems she's done using logic. Were Walter still around, he'd easily confirm that she'd simply suggested bringing him out of the wilderness and he'd agreed without thinking about it. And since that doesn't help her, she's not nothing to fight back with.]

A lot, actually. Like it's okay to make a mistake, just like it's okay to admit it happened.

I didn't make any mistakes. I did everything right.

[That anger is being replaced by a bit more anxiety and sadness each time she speaks. A bit like a child throwing a temper tantrum, she's less angry at him and more angry at herself, and now she just wants things to go her way again.]

Speaking on a technicality, I'm sure you did. The ethics of it were a mistake.

[She's no longer speaking. Instead, her upset has caused her child to revolt again, and she's ended up as dizzy and nauseous as she is ashamed and sad. She just ends up in tears, pressing her face to her knees and looking absolutely pathetic.

She doesn't want to be proven wrong, but she can no longer deny that she has been.. if only she'd stop getting sick every time she got particularly upset.]

Edited 2017-06-24 16:50 (UTC)

[ Cain sees that. Doesn't roll his eyes even if there's temptation, just sighs instead. ]

Try getting off the network for a while, Letha.

video, un: j.k. [post-butterfly effect]

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