002 ♍ In Which Our Correspondent Discovers The Function Through Which To Visually Broadcast

[mamadonna]

[ The video clicks on to show Dolorosa fussing with the computer. Well, most of her. Only the bottom of her head is visible, as whoever used this terminal last is far shorter than she is. After a few moments of this, the camera shakes and refocuses to show her face, and after double-checking it against the display on the monitor, she smiles and places her hands in her lap.

She looks tired, and the bags under her eyes have deepened from getting very little sleep this past month. ]

Well, I'm pleased to see they have heard and followed my suggestion to improve the cafeteria menu! The recent state of affairs has been simply atrocious, we can't have growing children expected to receive their necessary sustenance from such negligent offerings.

More than this, it allows little excuse for one to not eat healthfully, so I must encourage you all to observe your proper nutritional schedule each day. Should you require assistance, or perhaps more direct motivation, [ ie. her pulling you by the ear to the cafeteria ] my services remain available.

I'm glad to see local operations improving following the dreadful events of the past weeks.

[ Of course, she...doesn't know about the puffer fish soup... ]

Comments

[mamadonna]

In such circumstance, I can sympathize with the impulse. This is not a kind place, and perhaps it was rash of me to assume that even the smallest positive quality was without its caveat.

But it's a pleasure to meet you, Tara. I am the Dolorosa, and I will not hesitate to assist in the creation of such notices on the potential dangers now available.

[moontothetide]

Th-Thanks. I'll be sure and ask.

...but it's, i-it's good that you were worried. I mean...especially after last month. I think a lot of us, um, just have to get used to eating in the cafeteria again. W-We, we kind of got used to nothing being there.

[Or Tara certainly did.]

[mamadonna]

And it was quite the sorry state of affairs which inspired such a lack of expectation. A very unfortunate reminder that we are not as independently existing in this Tower.

Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to begin cultivating our own crops, should this recur in the future.

[moontothetide]

Oh! [Tara brightens just a bit at this last.] I-I was just thinking that, too. I mean, I even asked for some seeds. And, um, even if they don't give them to me, th-there's plenty we should be able to get from the other floors.

...I-I'm not that great, at gardening, but I-I'm sure someone else is.

[mamadonna]

[ Heh, I saw your request just after I made that tag, when I went to do the very same thing. ]

Well, Tara, then you display a commendable degree of foresight! I'm honored to have one of such intelligence to coordinate with on the matter.

As for myself, I have some limited knowledge on tending to a pasture. But hopefully there will be others who can augment against our lack.

[moontothetide]

[Let's hope one of them lucks out on the non-poisonous front!

Also, the compliments make Tara visibly blush.]

I-I'm not that smart. I, I just used herbs a lot, back home, and I cooked a lot, a-and I was reading some books, out of the library.

...I s-still have one, actually. I should probably put it back.

[mamadonna]

Well, you possessed the foresight to have arrived at the same conclusion, at the least. Being aware of the path at which we'll need to progress is just as important as accomplishing the progression itself.

Some supplication of our knowledge with the library's offering should be an excellent idea. If you're finished with that book, I might peruse it myself.

[moontothetide]

Oh, um, I-I'm finished. Or, um, I've made a lot of notes. I can just go ahead and bring it to you, if you want.

[Really, she's kind of enjoying keeping a book out of the library for a long time. It gives an illicit thrill similar to shoplifting.]

It's, um, just got plants from my world. But I, I guess th-that would be useful to you, since you're...

[...not human.]

...n-not from my world.

[mamadonna]

Yes, I'm sure there will be types I have yet to encounter, and so the information should be quite useful! Most of the human flora I have encountered, if that is indeed it's origin, are those flowers growing in the meadow.

[moontothetide]

Oh, yeah. Well, um, there's a lot more. Y-You should try spices. If you can, I mean. It can help the food taste a bit better, when it's not so...strange.

If you don't mind, um, what room is yours'? I-I can just, um, leave the book there for you.

[mamadonna]

The concept is not alien to me, though I could do with a familiarization on the specifics as it relates to a more human expression.

[ She glances offscreen, behind her, gesturing to where she's looking. ] It's the first room on the first floor, that being the one adjacent to this terminal.

[moontothetide]

Oh, y-yeah. I can find that. [Tara tends not to linger on the dormitory levels, since she doesn't really know where anyone else is, but she's confident that even she can find the room.]

I'll come right up. I'm, um, I'm not doing anything important.

[mamadonna]

I'll be certain not to wander off too far.

[ And she'll be sitting at the computer, tending to the post still when Tara arrives. ]

[moontothetide]

[...and, really, it's not exactly easy to miss someone like the Dolorosa. She looks even more imposing in person, and so Tara winds up holding the book in front of her almost like a shield and...well, inching forward.]

Um, h-hi. I'm Tara, and...here's your book.

[Tentatively holding it out, now.]

[mamadonna]

[ It probably doesn't help that Dolorosa has a good foot on her, even before the horns, and rises to her feet to greet Tara with a bow once she sees her.

She takes the book with a smile, giving it a quick flip-through. ]

You have my gratitude, Tara. It has been enlightening for you, yes?

[moontothetide]

[It doesn't, not much. Tara herself isn't particularly short, but she has a tendency to hunch into making herself look a good six inches shorter than she is.] Y-Yeah. Um, really enlightening. I-I don't think I really could have made it through the last few weeks without it.

...so, um, I-I hope it helps you, too.

[mamadonna]

[ She frowns and holds the book against her chest, and the weariness settles back into her face. The last few weeks haven't been easy on anyone, from the sound of it. ]

I imagine it will. My apologies for being unaware of your own trials previously. The Tower's inactivity was a trying predicament to survive through.

[moontothetide]

Oh, um... [Tara looks decidedly startled, at this apology, and hastily shakes her head.] I-It's okay. I mean, um, w-we all kind of had it bad. I-I even didn't have it so bad, f-for a couple of weeks - I was in Dax's pod.

[Of course, after that had been a small private hell, but for very specific and personal reasons.] It was, um, hard on all of us. I-I hope you were okay.

[mamadonna]

I spent much of it routing the beasts that would attempt to terrorize the residential halls. Once the Hounds were loosed, there was little I could offer beyond a warning to those who would dare wander them, however.

I'm afraid I'm largely unaware of what occurred in the pods.

[moontothetide]

Well, um, so am I. I mean, I only heard about the other two, and I was only in Dax's f-for two weeks. Then... [A half shrug.] W-We lost. We, we had to vote people out, if we lost. [Tara, anticipating this, had talked to just enough people to ensure that it would be her.]

Y-You mean the things made out of fire? Yeah, I, I tried to fight those off. Couldn't do a lot. I mean, I mostly just...shot them w-with the shower head, and ran outside.

[mamadonna]

Those would be the very same I refer to. I attempted to impale one, but it seemed unfazed by the injury. Running is really the best response, I believe.

[ She knits her brows with a frown. ] They selected you for their banishment.

[moontothetide]

W-What? Oh! [Tara hastily shakes her head.] N-No, I...I-I, um, kind of selected myself. I-I just had to, to make sure enough people w-would vote for me. Otherwise...well, they'd decide randomly, a-and that...I-I thought that would be worse.

[mamadonna]

Ah. That's... [ Pretty much exactly what Dolorosa would do in that position. ] ...An admirable course of action. Not everyone is capable of putting herself at risk to ensure the safety of those around her.

[moontothetide]

Admirable...?

[Tara wonders if it is. Her reasons had been in part out of concern for the safety of her podmates - her teammates. She knows she wouldn't have been able to bear seeing some of them killed, even if Dax's method had turned out to be as painless as it looked.

And, yes, part of her desire to get out had been due to a fear of hurting them. But it had been partly motivated by a fear over her own mental state, her own capacity to contribute and survive. In the end, she hadn't been there to help.

Was that really still admirable?]

Th-Thank you. It, it meant asking a lot, f-from people, so...I-I'm glad you think so.

[mamadonna]

[ Of course, with her experiences, she has a very funny perspective on it. ]

It can be difficult, seeing those you care about perish when you can do nothing to prevent it. You will often wish you had adopted their position instead.

Perhaps it would be easier for them, they're knowing you were accomplishing that very thing for their sake.