ᴏᴏ2 ( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ) | ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀᴅ ǫᴜᴇᴇɴ

[insubordination]

So.

[ it is a public message, to the network, that pops up on the circle's watches and roy looks Less Than Pleased (tm) with the sudden state of affairs. the weather in the temple is absolutely out of control, there are apparently weird cakes appearing in the kitchens, and the fighting ring has turned into a magical court. great.

so, that may be the reason why roy's tone is particularly clipped, or even frustrated. but he seems methodical, in his words, and he is sitting at a table with a notebook, a glass of water, and a weird looking lizard on the table that has an odd rainbow-shift to the scales.

( ignore the lizard. it seems roy is. ) ]

The Circle is currently compromised of people of a variety of talents; soldiers, magicians, teenagers . . . all of us have particular skills to contribute to the cause of whatever it is we're meant to do here. I know quite a few people [ like maes, and barabas ] have been keeping track of various magical powers that we have been gifted, and organized some semblance of structure -- all of which is necessary. But we have to acknowledge what happened to Akvos.

[ he pauses, there. ]

Astoria has not been entirely clear with the Circle on what our purpose is. That may be an innocent error, or a purposeful move to win our trust. I'm not here to argue the merits of whether or not we should trust her, but we have no choice but to participate in whatever world she sends us to. Whether we like it or not, we are stuck there until she brings us back, and we have some opportunity to assist whoever is there. We cannot depend on her to figure out what to do in order to prevent another Akvos, or -- it seems, another El Minha, given King Kathashun is no longer in his own world.

[ roy taps the pen against the table once. ]

I don't have any solution as to what we did right, or wrong, or whether or not it was our fault in the first place. But I want to begin the conversation to work to prevent it again, and seeing as Astoria is either not willing or not capable of explaining herself at the moment, we need to learn to work without her. What are we missing? What do we need to work on? And what can we do in order to be more organized before our next world?

[ and, finally, roy feeds the lizard one (1) piece of lettuce, which it lazily seems to chew on. ]

I'm of a mind we need to organize fighters, healers, and transporters, but I'm open to ideas and suggestions -- and questions, about previous worlds to those who were not there to experience them. I have been to El Minha, Struxta, and Akvos. And I'm certain "older" members of the Circle will be happy to share their experiences, too.

( filtered to maes + riza )

[ almost immediately, his expression turns from serious and leaderlike to tired. ]

Who wants to keep notes?

[ PLEASE DON'T MAKE HIM DO IT :( ]

( end filter )

( ooc: please feel free to threadjack in this post! especially if you want to use this to foster CR and/or build "teams" that roy is looking to enlist. c: )

Comments

[bestaround]

[ He huffs, annoyed. ]

Does she ever? She's always avoiding us. [ Which does not strike him as a good thing. ] If that's an option, shouldn't we take it? Everyone always seems so resigned to all this.

[insubordination]

How do you propose we stop her?

[ it's a serious question. resisting Astoria has been on his mind since he got here, but with how the circle tends to shift around so frequently . . . it doesn't lend to much organization of active resistance. ]

We have a set amount of time before we are likely shunted off to another world, in her name. Attempting to prevent that could be doable, but we would need to figure out how to do it.

[ he pauses. ]

And we should operate under the assumption that she can also hear everything we say.

[ roy hasn't made his feelings about Astoria a secret, but organizing an active resistance against her would take some creative subterfuge that roy isn't entirely sure is possible, given the cards they've been dealt. ]

[bestaround]

[ He raises some fair points. 9S pauses, mulling for a moment. ]

To be honest, I... haven't dug too deeply into how. I don't think how she's doing this is right, but many of the others never seemed interesting in resisting her, so it didn't feel appropriate for me to further pursue the thought.

[ A part of him almost hadn't expected Roy to be on his side of the matter. Either way, the results of this past mission were too much of a disaster for 9S to idly sit by anymore. ]

[insubordination]

Questioning authority is usually appropriate.

[ said easily enough, given roy is usually in a position of authority, but he seems serious, when he says it. ]

You shouldn't silence yourself just because you feel as if you're in the minority; you'll find other people who agree with you if you speak up.

[ this gig sucks, 9S. ]

[bestaround]

[ Questioning authority is always something 9S couldn't help but do; he's gone behind their backs time and time again, despite how it never ended well for him. Growing outspoken about it, on the other hand—well, that's a little trickier. It's difficult to shake up the foundation of beliefs even 9S had, and it's harder to go against the wills of those he was built to serve—and there's a lot of humans here.

A part of him wonders if Roy says this because he doesn't realize what he's talking to. Another knows that's completely moot; for some reason, that never mattered to anyone. 9S nods once in affirmation, tentative. ]

Alright, yeah. I understand.

[insubordination]

Good.

[ he says it because he struggles with it -- or struggled with it, until keeping silent about what was wrong was no longer an option. you can only see wrongdoing so many times and not bother to stop it before you, too, become complicit. and while roy has been complicit in a lot, he has long since abandoned the idea of the silent majority.

speaking up is sometimes the biggest weapon that you have, in turning the tide. it's true in amestris, and it's true here. and, likely true in 9S' world, too. he knows full well how difficult it is, for the beings from his world to understand that . . . but everything can be learned, right? ]

So what do you think we should do, in order to do what's right, by both this place, each other, and the people we inevitably disturb in their own worlds?

[ it's an impossible question to answer, but hearing ideas is what forms solutions. spitballing is all they have, at this point. they may as well air it out. ]

[bestaround]

[ What does he think? That certainly is an impossible question; what could someone like him possibly contribute to that? Does he have any right to? But—Roy does ask for it; usually, 9S would hesitate, but after being told to speak up that likely isn't the appropriate response. It's... probably okay if it's asked for, right?

9S gives off a thoughtful hum. ]

I don't think it's wrong to assist– [ Disturb? ] –in other worlds—at least, I've never been to one that outright rejected it. [ ... By all sides involved, anyway. ] But for the people here, it should be of their own volition. If we continue what we're doing, Astoria shouldn't be the one to make any decisions for us.

[insubordination]

[ look at the little robots go :') ]

It's a sentiment a lot of people share, I'm sure.

[ ruefully enough; roy, too, wants to help, but he doesn't appreciate being shoved across the universe without a choice in where he goes, or how he helps, or what he can do. ]

I'm not entirely certain she understands that -- or how much she understands at all, really. [ he pauses. ] It's an impressive amount of power, for one person to wield. I would argue it's too much, but none of this exists, where I come from. I'm on just as much of a learning curve as the next person, and I've been here for a long time.

[ another pause. ]

If you could choose where to go, would you volunteer to assist? Would you continue on the mission, or would you choose to go home? [ and, to add: ] There's no shame in either answer.

[bestaround]

[ Shame? Fortunately, he has none; 9S has known for a long time now, before the Circle, what his decision would be.

9S pauses, in part because he hadn't expected to be posed such a question, but none of it out of hesitation. He picks his words carefully, then: ]

I don't have a reason to return to the world I'm from. As long as there's someone here to be of any use to... Assisting isn't so bad.

[ It isn't perfect—he knows this firsthand. But it's considerably better than the alternative. ]

[insubordination]

[ the answer earns a faint smile, reading between the lines to at least gather that home is not really an option. ]

Well, you'll find no shortage of that. People needing help, that is.

[ as warmly as he can manage, given the conversation. ]

And until we can figure out how to give everyone in this world the choice they deserve and return everyone home or wherever they'd like to go, we can focus on that immediate goal -- helping people, and keep the bigger picture in mind. Decent compromise?

[bestaround]

[ Compromise, like there's really an option right now. 9S would rather not wait, but that isn't the case for everyone else, it seems, and he isn't about to fight them on the matter either.

He slips out a resigned sigh, more audibly than intended. ]

Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.

( locked. )

[insubordination]

[ he's almost inclined to leave it there, but the situation bothers him . . . and so there's a slight pause, before roy puts on a filter. ]

It's frustrating, to see something wrong and not be able to do anything about it. I understand that.

[ he's not trying to minimize what 9S is feeling; quite the contrary. and as he continues speaking, the reason for the filter becomes fairly clear. ]

I come from a world where my country is ruled by a man who took it by force, and I was a member of the military that helped him do it. I decided I wanted to change that, and restore my country to what it should be, but one person doing that is an impossible task. I had to build a network, and build support -- and that meant I had to play the game with rules that weren't designed to let anyone else win.

[ king Bradley was not human, either, but he keeps that to himself. ]

A lot of people died, in the meantime. An entire country was subjugated, by him. It sometimes felt like resisting at all was pointless, but when you're fighting against someone, or something, that is more powerful than you will ever be, you have to be smart. And that means a lot of waiting, even in times when you feel like waiting is the wrong thing to do. You have to make sure you have as much in your favor as you possibly can, before striking.

[ he pauses. ]

We did win, in the end. Not without a lot of loss, but we did win. And we will win here, too. But not today. We need to focus on what needs to be done in this instant, and that's recovering from Akvos, and preparing for the next journey. After that, we can start to piece together the bigger picture. And I'll help you do it.

locked 4evr

[bestaround]

[ The filter is the first surprise; the story that follows is the second. He's silent, listening the whole way through without interruption, and it dawns on him that perhaps Roy truly does have a better understanding of the situation than he does.

The circumstances aren't favorable, but then, when were they ever? 9S' head slumps away from the feed—presumably, his hidden eyes fall as well—but he does end up nodding. ]

I understand. [ It's no bold response, but it's less tired, less frustrated. ] I'll stand back for now. But for the time being, if there's anything else you'd like for me to do...

[ Well, he's here, with nothing else to occupy his time with. ]

[insubordination]

[ the response earns a faint smile, and a chuckle escapes. ]

I think recovery is a good place to start. And, if you're less inclined to sit still than others, you can gather any information on our status here . . . people who have gone home, people who are still here. People who feel just as frustrated as you are.

[ and roy shrugs a shoulder. ]

The better grasp we have on our situation, the better chance we have to change something. There's no such thing as too little information, particularly from one another.