animus_network | 001 ☠ Video/Possible Action?

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001 ☠ Video/Possible Action?

[He's been staring and prodding at the terminal for the longest time, wanting to at least have a basic grasp of its function before fiddling too much with it, though as of right this moment, Barbossa will fully admit (privately) that he really doesn't understand it. Witchery, devilry, some sort of voodoo...He's not entirely sure, and really, given the circumstances, he doesn't really care. What matters is that he's pretty sure it's for communication. And communicate he will.

There are far more important things afoot, thanks to the letter he's tucked haphazardly into the sash around his waist, because in it, the worst is delivered. He cares not for the world, but his ship...That's enough to make his blood boil.

But none of that shows on his face - for now. He's already raged privately, before deciding it is, plainly and simply, false. Instead, he looks more than a little amused at the circumstances, as he taps thoughtfully at the screen with one long, black nail.]

So, it do seem me home managed to get itself blown apart like a dinghy hit with chain shot. Funny, that. [He doesn't believe a word of it, and it's evident in his tone, and the quirk of his mouth.] Ye'd figure there'd be a tad more warning. Trumpets. Horsemen. Jack Sparrow running away from the scene of the crime. Alas, can't say as I remember a speck of any of that.

So what be the truth of it, aye? Did our saviors rapture us from our dying homes, convinced of our purity and contriteness? Be we the lambs before the slaughter? [Hilarious.] Nay, there be more to it than that. And since it seems ye have me at a disadvantage, I'd be thankful for some...Insight.

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[At that, Tohko sighed. Not because the idea of people with such powers bothered her..but because she knew what Ruana did, how she felt about this whole operation..and that it would be difficult to explain, much less have other people understand.]

You're right. We never should have been brought here, at least, not without a choice.

[Even Wilhelm was better than that.]

And I know it's not easy to pull a soul out of a body unless you have the right abilities or tools.

As for this being a prison..you are right. However, due to our universes being destroyed and the weird mentality of Ruana, she thinks that this is a good rescue operation and that we're all in her debt. She's wrong, of course, especially once you learn how our universes were destroyed, but that's how she views the whole thing.

Aye? [Really, kid, this is either going to end up as information overload, a crash course in Dealing With Other Worlds™ in the worst possible way, or Barbossa's introduction to tinfoil, and hats made from tinfoil. Either way, he takes pause at that, tilting his head in thought.]

Ye say that, but I'm sure you understand I'll be needing to know just how me home was otherwise ended. At least, what that story on how it was done from this Ruana. [Which is a name to mark, and mark well. For future reference.] i get the feeling ye know quite a bit more than you've been willing to share thus far.

[Implied: You have pieces I don't, and I'll be taking those now.]

[While the thought of him making tin pirate hats is amusing, even that won't stop Ruana and her motley crew. Have another sigh though, Barbossa.]

..If you get that feeling, then it's just because the pieces I've been working towards haven't come up yet. As for how Ruana destroyed your universe..it was due to her simply observing it. We're not quite sure how her observation kills universes, but my guess is..that her consciousness was simply too big for the universe to handle, or her powers were too great. She overloaded the universes and fried them, if that makes any sense.

[He hopes she realizes how incredibly...Dumb that sounds. And he's heard some dumb things in his day. But he'll take it, because it's a scrap of information and he's not sure if it is or isn't relevant yet. It will all come together, he's sure.]

Aye, it makes sense, in that I understand the words you do be saying. What don't make sense is their meaning. Surely ye realize this whole things feels like a night terror, lass. Nothing more, nothing less. [It's a little bullheadedly said, but true, in his opinion.] I'll nary deny being here, but I won't say it don't feel unreal, either.

[She knows how weird it sounds too, Barbossa, but, after dealing with Wilhelm and his Testaments, the idea isn't that far-fetched to her.]

I know that it all sounds and feels like something out of a horror story, but trust me, this is reality, not fiction, even though fiction might help this situation.

Of course, there could be some piece to the story that I'm missing right now which will help things make sense later..but for right now, that's all I know about the cause of our universes destruction.

[You'd better start believing in ghost stories, etc. It really is kind of like a bad dream, and it's a damn shame he's too practical to try to convince himself of that.

But he gives her a somewhat skeptical look.]

I'm fairly sure there be quite a bit missing to the story, lass. It's like a book with the middle ripped out. Ye know the beginning, ye know the end. What happens in the interim is a mystery, unless ye find yourself another copy.

[Have a grin in return, Barbossa.]

Oh, there's quite a bit missing to this story. Someone has ripped out some of the pages, and a few will probably never be recovered. And there's no second copy, I'm afraid. The story was never reprinted.

However, I'm sure we'll find whatever missing pages we can soon enough. And if we don't..we'll just have to write the middle ourselves. I'm sure that's been done with a lot of book restorations sometimes. Besides, we don't know how this story will end yet.

Nay, lass, this is the ending. But the epilogue still has yet to be written. [And he doesn't ask for happily ever after; his luck doesn't run that way, and he knows it. He'd settle for sailing off into the sunset.]

But those missing pages, whatever can be salvaged, needs to be done. I'll not sit here idle, the play pretty of mad things.

[Have a puzzled look, Barbossa.]

..Then don't sit there idle. Help people, and yourself, salvage the missing pages and re-write the middle. However, what makes you think that this is the ending, with only the epilogue left to write?

[Help people. That's funny. But it always seems to work out that way, anyway. Either way, he doesn't think she'll take the idea that Barbossa does what's best for Barbossa very well at all, and as absolutely hysterical and surreal as the entire situation is, there's no reason to stir the pot too hard.

He says nothing for a long moment, instead folding his arms and side-eyeing her.]

Not every book ends with happily ever after, lass. Sometimes it's just not in the hand ye've been given, despite what ye might have liked for yourself. And the epilogue can be where all the pieces have come together, fit nicely, and a better situation for yourself can be shaped.

[He pauses.] And I never said there wouldn't be a sequel.

[Actually, Tohko had met people like that before, and while she didn't approve of that sort of mindset, she wasn't the type to smack people for it.

However, at his comments, she sighed, even though she didn't stop smiling.]

I'm the book girl. I know not every story has a happy ending. The Little Prince, for instance, can be looked at as having a bad ending, and things didn't work out in The Great Gatsby either.

However, since we don't know what part of the story we're in exactly, it's best to keep on going and working towards a happy ending, even if it may never come. After all, if that happens, we can at least have a wonderful sad ending, assuming there isn't an epilogue or a sequel.

..But it is true that you didn't mention a sequel. I wonder what that might be like, if it even exists?

[The stories, books...Whatever they are mean nothing to him, despite being a somewhat voracious reader of whatever he can get his hands on usually (after all, he's so loquacious for a reason), but he supposes he understands her meaning. And perhaps it's on him, for assuming because she's female, that she would be expecting that fairy tale ending.

But he says nothing of that. And for the moment refuses to think what he wants his own sequel to be. Flight and fancy is all, and that has no place except for the dark hours of the night when a body wonders how things went so wrong as to end them where they are.]

The only way to know, lass, is to do it. Talking of it is all well and good, but then ye might find your hopes fly with the gulls only to come crashing to earth when ye least expect it. Better to stay practical. Focus on the task ye've been given.

Edited 2013-03-14 23:11 (UTC)

[Tohko, being a book girl, read all sorts of tales, even if they were horrible, and thus, had been exposed to a wide variety of endings. And she had met a real-life Oba Yozo, so she had some experience under her belt with actual bad endings for people.

Tohko had no sequel in mind for herself. This story was already so rich and delicious that there was no was she could think about a second meal-life, story-right now.]

Oh, I will. I have no intention of letting Dax's final wish go ignored, and I have no intention of letting others shove me away either. I'll work hard..but talking does sometimes help. After all, talking with you gave me an interesting idea for later.

And that be the best attitude to have. [He guesses, anyway. His usual mode of operation is smile and nod when his ideas get vetoed and then go ahead and do them anyway, and damn the consequences.

Then again, he's known to play fast and loose with everyone's lives, his own included.]

Best not to get lost in tavern yarns and what-ifs at the best of times, at any rate. And especially not in the bad. For meself...I've had better days.

[At that, Tohko scratched her head.]

I'm not sure if it's the best one to have..but it might not be a bad one to have.

[Since Tohko was now in a leader's position, she would try to not gamble away everyone's life. Try.]

I imagine you have, if this is your first day in the Tower. However, it is good to get your head out of the stories so you can actually help people with what you learn. No sense in finding out about something in the tavern only to end up drinking until dawn.

[There's that help people nonsense again. He barely squashes the cynical smile that threatens. For someone who's made such tall threats, she certainly is wide-eyed and optimistic.

It would be endearing, if he actually cared about that kind of thing.]

Aye? Then ye've never drank 'til dawn in the places I have, lass. [Not that...She'd probably do well in those kinds of places anyway, but that's another story altogether. And not that he's going to give any details, either.] Besides, me wrecked liver don't allow for such anymore, so I don't really have that option. I find tinkering with what I get much more interesting these days.

[Tohko only gave the threats to ensure that everyone else in the plot would be protected. Not that she would have any problem delivering on them if need be.]

Well, I'm not of age, so I wouldn't go in those places anyway..not unless I had to in order to get a snippet of a story.

[Tohko then sighed.]

I'm sorry to hear about your liver..but you know..I was just making a comparison. But working with what you have and improving it usually is the best option.

[Well, she took that more literally than he's intended. And he actually chuckles at that, shaking his head.]

As was I, lass. But I don't expect ye to see the humor in it. But this, what we have here, it's not much. [He pauses and wrinkles his nose, before giving a sigh.] I've worked with less, you'll understand, but nothing so scattered completely. Are ye keeping any sort of record, other than your own mind's log. If not, it may be time to start, if ye have a place you can hide it away.

[Barbossa's suggestion was pretty good..if one wasn't factoring in the other residents, or even the other Administrators finding said records. Tohko sighed as she thought.]

You're right: it's not much, and I'm sorry that the pieces we have aren't in chronological order and scattered. But that's not a bad idea. Writing things down helped me with Wilhelm..maybe writing out the days will help me think about the Tower. I won't write down anything too important though. Dax told me to destroy the note he gave me, so we have to assume that written records of our plot shouldn't be kept.

[Feel free to ask about Wilhelm. Don't expect a short explanation though.]

Then ye write it simply. No details, as far as anyone can see. Ye'd think you've never heard of code, lass. [Come on, kid, you seem pretty pert for a girl. Don't fail him now.]

Ye've mentioned this Wilhelm before. In a context similar to this one. If you have something to share with the rest of us on that, lass, I suggest you do.

[Okay, Tohko managed to chuckle a little at that.]

I can probably force myself to write in actual Japanese..or use Elvish or any other fantasy language or code I've heard. Or make a mix. I'll be alright then.

[Tohko then sighed..but she didn't stop smiling.]

Sorry..he's a friend of mine that's taught a little, so I tend to mention him without thinking sometimes. He's..basically the human will to live personified. Something born from the Collective Unconscious and tasked with protecting humanity at all costs. He's a chessmaster of his universe.

[He has the feeling there's an entire story there he's not sure either of them have the time for, so he sticks to the simple things.] I suppose he taught ye a bit of strategy then, that's good.

What's not so good is that life is rarely like a chessboard. Far too many unpredictable factors.

[Tohko always had the time for stories. Other people, not so much. There was a reason she was the book girl. However, she sighed at his comments.]

..With Wilhelm, nothing is unpredictable most of the time. At least, that's what he'll claim. It comes with having something that tells you what'll happen in the future..even if that object's powers probably are limited here.

..But I'm getting ahead of myself here. You are right-talking with him has helped my strategy..at least, I'd like to think so.

The entire game of chess be centered around predicting your opponent's moves. Because they're predictable. There only be a fixed number, as it stands. Much the same with tracking a ship ye want to- [He breaks off there, waving it aside.] All it is, lass, is a cheap form of mind-reading, to a certain extent.

But the truth of it be that when you have other factors, and it be more than you and the prize, things tend to get a little messy. Strategy is good, thinking on your feet is better.

[Barbossa, Tohko isn't an idiot..and she can handle stuff like this.]

A ship you want to plunder. Really, I've been in the Tower for six months now, and I am a book girl. I can handle you talking about things like that. And..I think chess is just the best human example I can make with Wilhelm. I don't think tapping into the Collective Unconscious is a cheap form of mind reading, especially with how strong Wilhelm is.

However..I digress. I think the best mixture would be one of both strategy and thinking on your feet.

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[Action] sorry for my slowness ;u;

[Action] Don't worry about it! It's alright!~

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