[⌖ 001] - Video (Backdated to the 27th)

[provenworth]

What in Shiva's name…?

[When the video turns on, the figure is clearly frustrated and distrustful, if not looking very exhausted. Honey-colored eyes are dulled and strained, her skin a ghostly shade of pale, a single bandage pressing against the right side of her cheek. Fingers grasp at the top of the note she had been reading, lips pulling in a frown.]

This.

This can’t be right and it isn’t funny. I’m in no mood for jokes right now, so I demand an explanation for this.

[Lowering the note beside her on the bed, Elena gently rubbed at the side of her head, giving a slight wince. She had been under constant watch for the last 48 hours, being pumped full of Cure and Restore to mend internal and external injuries. But clearly she wasn’t entirely healed, which earned a frown.]

Also, what was with the paralysis? Did somebody drug me while I was sleeping to perform a relocation? This isn’t the room I was in last…

Comments

[ravenmaker]

[He's in the habit of simply monitoring the video feed without participating, but this-- oh, yes another Turk. This one looks to be as full of wrongheaded bluster as the rest of her lot. He doesn't recognize this one-- but something makes him speak all the same. Perhaps it's hearing the same reaction over and over again, perhaps this time from yet another of the Planet's ungrateful children. Fuhito sighs, setting aside his notes, straightening his glasses.]

You seem to have discarded your "explanation", without analyzing it. The note is verifiable in some ways, not in others. You are indeed a prisoner here, Turk.

[midgarhorizon]

Leave her alone.

[ravenmaker]

[Fuhito is heard to sigh once more.]
You seem to have forgotten. AVALANCHE operatives aren't subject to authority if the Turks. Such as it is.

Shouldn't your colleague feel comforted by the knowledge that the destruction of the Planet is unverifiable? It's that knowledge and my research into this prison and its creators that sustain me here, separated from Gaia's Lifestream as I am.
The motivation behind my actions is to return to the arms of the Planet. Can you say the same?

[provenworth]

[And Elena will just watch this little interaction with mild curiosity and confusion. Just who was this person and just what did they do to get Reno all riled up?]

[midgarhorizon]

If you were that stupid not to get my point, that was a threat. Stay away from Elena.

[ravenmaker]

[This outburst earns the smallest of smiles from Fuhito.]

Oh, yes? What will you do, Turk-- threaten me with bodily harm, or with death?

Having joined Gaia, and abiding as I must by the physical laws of this place, I have nothing to fear from either.
Or from you.

[midgarhorizon]

There are worse things than death here, Fuhito.

[ravenmaker]

I'm in a far better position than you, I think, to judge what is and what is not "worse than death".

I do not fear physical pain. However severe, however prolonged, it's only a temporary state, after all.

dafsfa Oh Fuhito...

[midgarhorizon]

[Reno is just smiling now- he knows something Fuhito doesn't.]

I wasn't talking about pain.

He's such a kidder!

[ravenmaker]

[In the background, a long, chuckling laugh can be heard. Professor Hojo's laughter is very distinctive. He obviously finds this exchange, and particularly Reno's contribution, amusing.

As for Fuhito, his quiet scorn is evident.]

Is this mysterious measure something you are capable of carrying out?

There is very little that can touch me in any meaningful way.

asdfaf this may result in something bad

[midgarhorizon]

Care to find out?

Haha, if in doubt, check my permissions please!

[ravenmaker]

[Really.]

Usually, I find that things worth finding out are best found on my own.

Please clarify. Is this a threat, a challenge, an invitation to view propaganda-- or, what, Turk?

Actually thinking more of a plotty thing if you're interested

[midgarhorizon]

Continue bothering us, you'll find out.

I enjoy plots! I'll probably be game, just let me know what's up! Plurk me: xixdegrees

[ravenmaker]

So, a threat-- and a vague one at that.
How un-Turkish of you. Your kind are usually more direct, and more talkative. Government thugs aren't known for their subtlety.

Though I have enjoyed-- working closely with some of your colleagues in the past.
[A faint, but horrible smile.]
Perhaps our renewed association might prove interesting after all.

[provenworth]

[Its his tone that sets immediately her on edge, hair bristling on the back of her neck. It didn't help, either, that he confirmed what she both suspected and fears.]

This small note is hardly worthy to be called an "explanation". It gives no details, no further information than giving a single statement that my home is destroyed. There is hardly enough to earn my trust in it.

[ravenmaker]

Precisely my point. That the note is short on detail, that its author expects you to accept it at face value, that that author has everything to be gained by your acceptance-- these are the very things that should cause you to question its contents, Turk. As I said, the only verifiable fact is that you are a prisoner in this place.

Where does place exist, by whose will were we brought here, or why, or even how-- well, those questions remain unanswered for all of us. But, fundamentally, as a scientist and a true child of Gaia, I do not accept the idea that the Planet has been destroyed. The available "evidence" is provided by our captors and is therefore tainted-- I am conducting my own research.

[Pointless not to identify himself, as the red-haired Turk will doubtless brief this one. It's true, he would like a test subject from his own world, and the element of surprise would help that along. But he is a patient man. So very patient. There is nothing he would not risk to return to the Lifestream, to his beloved Planet. But there is so much time now. An infinity of it.]

My name is Fuhito.

[provenworth]

....Ah.....

[My, this person was quite the talker who seemed more than willing to give a winded speech. But she listens, carefully too, to the information he appears to be more than willing to provide. Key words make her ear twitch, clues that he is, at the very least, from some version of her own world.

Oh, but it was important to remember the altercation between him and Reno. To get Reno in such a mood, and so protective to boot! Just what was this man's history?]

Well, Fuhito, I'm impressed to see somebody with such knowledge working diligently to conduct research. What, may I ask, are you researching?

[ravenmaker]

[Fuhito sighed inwardly.]
My knowledge of the Tower comes from simple observation, logic and reasoning, and application of the scientific method. It's hardly a feat of intellectual prowess to question what one is told in this place.

The subject of my research is of general interest. I wish to return to the Planet.
As I'm sure you do. Though of course those returns will be very different, Turk.