Fiat Justicia 1.1: Part ???: Talking with Natah and a Dream

[10:56]	Arkalest	Sabina Natah lowers thier head. "So, how was your trip to the planet?"
[10:57]	Sabina	"Dealing with Irene was. . . difficuly, but the later shopping trip was nice."
[10:57]	Sabina	*difficult
[11:00]	Arkalest	"Tell me more about her.."
[11:08]	Sabina	"I cannot say I approve of her arrogance, though I did not conduct myself without fault either. As a person she is. . . lonely, and I feel isn't" She traces her finger along the edge of the tea-cup "She isn't quite sure how to interact with Ikris, Mirah, and I. But she is trying and appears to want to place our initial conflict behind us."
[11:14]	Arkalest	"She comes from a long line of pacifiers, after all."
[11:15]	Arkalest	*peacemakers
[11:15]	Arkalest	"Her strongest suit seems to be sociality, but only Meridian-type.."
[11:16]	Sabina	"In fairness I was not inclined to think well of her."
[11:27]	Arkalest	"Why so?"
[11:33]	Sabina	"I found it supremely unpalatable that she would risk her entire community on the basis of her intellect? That she was able to determine if it was safe or not? It wasn't, as far as I can tell, dangerous this time, but what if it hadn't? She gambled with the lives of her entire community, I cannot look favorably on that."
[11:53]	Arkalest	"I could see that she is very strongly steeped in a sense of being superior- Or at least feeling more trustworthy than the rest of her peers."
[11:57]	Sabina	"And given her intelligence it is not. . a entirely unreasonable view. However involving myself in a argument with her was not place. I should simply have gotten the information and secured the artifact and left that to her guardians."
[11:57]	Sabina	*was not my place
[12:07]	Arkalest	They nod. "Yet, she piqued you deeply- Her attitude, her way of postuing herelf."
[12:07]	Arkalest	"ANd her belief in her knowledge of the artifacts."
[12:08]	Sabina	"I'm not sure why exactly. Though she did message me asking to meet up again."
[12:11]	Sabina	[Redact last]
[12:11]	Sabina	"Regardless of my own views, it was neither my place nor within my orders to do as I did."
[12:23]	Arkalest	"You still did.."
[12:23]	Sabina	"And that was a mistake on my part."
[12:33]	Arkalest	"Was it, really? Or did you learn more about her that way?"
[12:36]	Sabina	"> . . I did, though I could also have learned more without being as. . . quarrelsome."
[12:37]	Sabina	"At least it does not appear to have done lasting damage. She seems intent on meeting with me again."
[12:39]	Arkalest	"She probably inherited her genetic progenitor's propension for social grouping. It seems they were originally meant to be docile, sociable creatures."
[12:41]	Sabina	"Oh?"
[12:42]	Arkalest	Natah joins their hands. "From what I gathered, canine morphics have a reputation as peace-keepers among the New Meridian cultural variations."
[12:44]	Sabina	"In a social sense or a more. . physical one? Or both?"
[12:45]	Arkalest	"Both."
[12:45]	Arkalest	"It explains Tuissant's peculiar biology.."
[12:46]	Sabina	"So Irene would be, to a extant, predisposed to . . make peace rather than continue conflict? Insofar as these things have a effect on one's psychology."
[12:47]	Arkalest	They nod. "Or try to not be actively harmful socially."
[12:48]	Sabina	"Hmm. . ." She inspects her hands, long fingers flexing "Now I wonder how my morph type per-disposes me and my family. . ."
[12:52]	Arkalest	"Command and combat, subterfuge and outsider-inaccesible social cliques."
[12:52]	Sabina	She blinks "I can see the first 2, but the last feels. . somewhat out of place?"
[12:53]	Arkalest	"TIghtness breeds conformity which breeds strong social rules which breeds minds hards to break which breeds stronger wills."
[12:54]	Sabina	nods
[12:54]	Arkalest	Their index finger describes a circle. "It applies for us, it applies for you."
[12:57]	Sabina	nods slowly as she mulls over Natah's words. "Yes, I can see that, both in how my clan is, and how that would be useful, and a drawback as well."
[13:04]	Arkalest	"A drawback that does not matter much if it is meant to be a war-time clade.."
[13:05]	Sabina	"So it is, but then we are not at war yet either."
[13:05]	Arkalest	"But you were."
[13:09]	Sabina	"As our legends say, though the historical details have been lost."
[13:14]	Arkalest	"Still you are the shadow of  a warrior, limbs for zero-g, minds for the vagaries of the battlefield."
[13:15]	Arkalest	"And still-" Their eyes narrow. "There's a phntom pain in you- There always was, baked in by your uprising, coddledby your genes. Though now.."
[13:15]	Arkalest	Natah slowly raises a finger and points at your wrist. "The ache is gone, now."
[13:15]	Arkalest	"The chords are finally out of your head, and into your hands. "
[13:16]	Arkalest	"And you feel nothing but nothing but nothing but /right./ "
[13:19]	Sabina	"We were not given the Instrament were we? We took it."
[13:25]	Arkalest	"Perhas.."
[13:26]	Sabina	"May I ask where or how you learned of this? I have the distinct feeling you are speaking with more than guess work."
[13:27]	Arkalest	"Is it not obvious?"
[13:27]	Arkalest	They lean back against the high-backed chair, shoulder slumping as they look at the ceiling.
[13:27]	Arkalest	"Because we did the same."
[13:32]	Sabina	nods. "I have little reason to doubt you Natah, and while this does not match our own myths and legends, those are hardly the most trustworthy of sources in the first place."
[13:33]	Arkalest	"You should perhaps rest on this.."
[13:35]	Sabina	"I will," She stands up and bows "Thank you for the tea Natah, I look forward to doing this again. May you have a pleasant evening."
[13:36]	Arkalest	"May you find what you are looking for.."
[13:38]	Sabina	"Thank you." She bows her head once before before leaving the apartment.
[13:45]	Arkalest	-------
[13:45]	Arkalest	Sabina Breathe.
[13:45]	Sabina	returns to her apartment and seats herself before the small shrine she's put together. Lighting some incense she begins to meditate. Lulling herself into a self-hypnotic trance to best commune with the Instrament.
[13:45]	Arkalest	A smell of salt and copper. Acrid. An undercurrent of sweetness beneath it all.
[13:45]	Arkalest	Breathe.
[13:45]	Arkalest	The air slowly tugs at your hair, at your body- Quiet, soft wind bringing the smell of something- Something foreign and alien and..
[13:45]	Arkalest	The sea.
[13:45]	Arkalest	Breathe.
[13:46]	Arkalest	SOmething rough and grainy under your fingers and feet, clammy and wet and sticky with mud.
[13:47]	Arkalest	In the distance, a sound rough and regular. Bellowing.
[13:47]	Arkalest	The crashing of the waves against the shore.
[13:47]	Arkalest	Breathe.
[13:47]	=-=	Arkalest has changed the topic to “// Current location: Terminus.// Current time: Before.”
[13:48]	Sabina	breathes, opening her eyes slowly.
[13:49]	Arkalest	Sabina There is no sun.
[13:49]	Arkalest	There is no blue in the sky.
[13:50]	Arkalest	Only an endless grey expanse.
[13:50]	Arkalest	And crucified against it, 20 figures.
[13:50]	Arkalest	They hang in the air, arms spread and heads dipped, purple robs fluttering in the wind.
[13:51]	Arkalest	Like a string of pearls on a necklace, outlined against the light grey sky- Against the endlessd grey sea, its water calm and t..
[13:51]	Arkalest	Yet you hear the sound of crashing waves.
[13:51]	Arkalest	Yet, the sand beneath you is not sand. It's pitch-black, grainy- And all around you, half-buried /things/ just out.
[13:52]	Arkalest	Carapace, metallic and hardened and sweeping. Chewed bones, gristle-covered and swolled with pitch-black tar. Half-melted weapons, their boxy shapes eroded and eaten and consumed.
[13:54]	Sabina	swallows dryly.
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[13:58]	Arkalest	Sabina |You know them?|
[13:59]	Sabina	|I don't know, who are you?|
[13:59]	Arkalest	A soft voice, carried by the wind- Barely a whisper, barely words- Female, slightly hoarse.
[13:59]	Arkalest	|You know who I am. You saw me.|
[14:00]	Arkalest	|In the depths. Chained.|
[14:01]	Arkalest	She speaks with your voice.
[14:03]	Sabina	|What you claim I know, and what I am aware of that i know are not in alignment. I will ask again, who are you?|
[14:03]	Arkalest	|I am the Instrumentalist.|
[14:05]	Sabina	narrows her eyes. |I see.|
[14:06]	Arkalest	Sabina The wind carries the scent of ozone and copper to you, and you see the figures quietly suspended in the air, quietly immobile.
[14:06]	Sabina	peers more intently at the figures, trying to divine some measure of their identity
[14:06]	Arkalest	Sabina Long limbs. Slender bodies. Thin. Tall.
[14:07]	Arkalest	Familiar.
[14:07]	Sabina	|Perhaps the previous Instrumentalists? They have our morph.|
[14:09]	Arkalest	|Dead, but not forgotten. Not alive, but not fully cognizant.|
[14:10]	Sabina	|Mmmm.|
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[14:13]	Sabina	|Is this my fate then?|
[14:16]	Arkalest	|If you choose it.|
[14:18]	Arkalest	|And do you recognize this place?|
[14:19]	Sabina	|I do not.|
[14:22]	Arkalest	|Look at the trash here. At the memories. Half-digested.|
[14:23]	Arkalest	[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnrGMHhnqrw ]
[14:25]	Sabina	kneels down, brushing away some of the sand and mud
[14:26]	Arkalest	Sabina Something metallic and hard- Yet slightly warm. The sand sticks to your hand, revealing the white bone-like surface beneath- Etcvhed with angular circuitry.
[14:27]	Sabina	|This is. . the Instrament?|
[14:27]	Arkalest	|Yes.|
[14:27]	Sabina	|And what of them?| She looks up to her forbearers |What choice did they make?|
[14:35]	Arkalest	|They chose everlasting peace. No need, therefore no want. Only stillness.|
[14:36]	Sabina	|Stagnation.|
[14:36]	Arkalest	|Or stasis?|
[14:36]	Sabina	|To be called upon in a time of need then?|
[14:37]	Arkalest	|Yes. This is perhaps their eternal reward.|
[14:38]	Sabina	|And what was the other choice? To pass on?|
[14:39]	Arkalest	|Yes. To fully die, to fully leave.|
[14:41]	Sabina	|Not even in death does duty end it seems.|
[14:44]	Arkalest	|And do you find that comfortable?|
[14:47]	Sabina	|I do not find it disturbing. At what point can I say that I have done enough? Will I feel that I have done my duty in 20 years time? Or will I decide to wait and continue my work? I do not know.|
[14:49]	Arkalest	|...........You're......Young.|
[14:50]	Sabina	|So I am.|
[14:51]	Arkalest	|You should be out boozing and getting in fights with the gendermarie, not musing on the nature of life and death like this.| You feel a tug at your neck- A sensation that passess almost immediately.
[14:53]	Sabina	|You sound like my older sister. . .|
[14:54]	Arkalest	|You sound like an massively, hugely unfun /nerd./ |
[14:54]	Sabina	|I do not recall asking you for judgement on how I conduct myself.|
[14:58]	Arkalest	Sabina Your right knee twitches. |Maybe, but I am just that sort of person.|
[14:59]	Sabina	|So, is this something you do with all the other Instrumentalists?|
[15:00]	Arkalest	|Put a question mark on "All", but I am pretty sure that there /is/ a kernel of shared truth about whatever this process we are witnessing is.|
[15:02]	=-=	WolfieBed is now known as Pale_Wolf
[15:02]	Arkalest	|Which brings the question of what this black muck is.|
[15:03]	Sabina	|. . . . I had hoped you would know.|
[15:04]	Arkalest	|I am literally missing chunks of my brain, and I have tubes in places where most people do not have places. I am not exactly in a position to divine the nature of xenopsionic AR constructs.|
[15:07]	Sabina	aproaches some of the gunk and inspects it more closely
[15:09]	Arkalest	Sabina It slowly drifts upwards like smoke, leaving your fingers slightly warm. Within the handful you dug up there is a scrap of blue cloth- A suit- Burnt at the edges.
[15:09]	Arkalest	It smells of ozone and copper.
[15:15]	Sabina	flicks the guck off her hands with a disgusted look.
[15:16]	Sabina	|It's. . Ash, soot. . . . human remains. . . . .|
[15:16]	Arkalest	|People.|
[15:16]	Sabina	|Yes.|
[15:20]	Arkalest	|......Try to turn around.|
[15:23]	Sabina	stands up fully and does so
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[15:35]	Arkalest	  Sabina There is more.
[15:35]	Arkalest	There is so, so much more.
[15:36]	Arkalest	At first the piles are small. THe objects within smaller- Fragments of bones, pieces of nondescript metal- But they grow. Thery grow, and sickened trees grow out of them- Black bark, pulsating soundlessly- Grey leaves, angular and coming from noodly, twisted trunks.A  forest.
[15:36]	Arkalest	It is...Famniliar..
[15:37]	Sabina	"What in the nine hells. . . ."
[15:37]	Arkalest	And so is the angular shaped buried beneath the soot and grime, angular chimneys and tall walls.
[15:37]	Arkalest	The compound.
[15:42]	Arkalest	Its walls are thick with black grime, literal stalagmites and stalactites of the stuff- And past that, familiar mountains...
[15:42]	Arkalest	Past that, on the grey horizon- A single structure raises above  the mountains, endless.
[15:42]	Sabina	|Do. . do you see this as well?|
[15:43]	Arkalest	|.......Yeah.|
[15:43]	Arkalest	A sphere- Massive, white. A single hole through it, ragged edges on the white metal revealing dangling purple veins and innards made of black and red metal. Arkmatter.
[15:43]	Arkalest	Something /shifts/ and you feel a gust of wind hit your back- Quietly, softly.
[15:44]	Sabina	|I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. . .|
[15:44]	Sabina	|But it does not bode well.|
[15:46]	Arkalest	And then-
[15:46]	Arkalest	|who is there|
[15:46]	Arkalest	A voice that is a ragged whisper, a soft breath
[15:48]	Sabina	|I would ask the same of you stranger.|
[15:48]	Arkalest	|stranger|
[15:48]	Arkalest	|but there is no other place |
[15:49]	Arkalest	|where are you from if not|
[15:49]	Arkalest	|what are you|
[15:50]	Arkalest	|but you are a human|
[15:50]	Sabina	|My name is Sabrina Norland, Instrumentalist of my people.|
[15:51]	Arkalest	|Instrumentalist...|
[15:51]	Arkalest	You feel a slight breeze against your neck. A sound. A shuffling of robes.
[15:53]	Sabina	|And with whom am I speaking to?|
[15:53]	Arkalest	A deafening silence.
[15:54]	Arkalest	|...I don't know.|
[15:55]	Arkalest	|I know this- This place does not look right. Nothing does.|
[15:56]	Sabina	|I agree.|
[15:56]	Arkalest	|I.......Remember something. A warm light- A...A fireplace? No. Something...Holograms? Holograms of fire.|
[15:58]	Sabina	stiffens. |. . . I remember that as well. I saw. . . two visions, as if my mind were split in twain.|
[15:59]	Arkalest	|A fireplace. A woman. I........She was frail. Wasted. A pit. Something chained. Something given- Something taken.|
[16:01]	Sabina	|I. . I don't remember. The details are. . . fleeting.|
[16:03]	Arkalest	|Then-W e are the same. Instrumentalists.|
[16:04]	Sabina	|We are. What do you remember about yourself?|
[16:04]	Arkalest	Sabina You feel an ache in your dominant wrist.
[16:04]	Arkalest	|A place- A....Walls covered in plants. The rain outside the window- A never-ending twilight.|
[16:06]	Sabina	|Home. That is our home. Eternal twilight beneath Sifor's gaze.|
[16:06]	Arkalest	|And the days pass by. I remember the hydroponics- Blue plasteel domes. |
[16:08]	Sabina	|And the pounds with water lilies like pearls and amethyst adrift the ripples. . .|
[16:10]	Arkalest	|The willow-trees, bent under their own weigh- Over the concerete roads, over the trenched fields..|
[16:11]	Sabina	|Yes, yes, our home. The sound of music and song drifting in after dinner, the warm crackle of the lanterns and the dancing green and purple lights of the fire-bugs.|
[16:13]	Arkalest	|And I remember a child. Brown hair- Long brown hair. He would- He showed so, so much potentiall.|
[16:14]	Sabina	|Alexi Norland. He was the Instrumentalist before I.|
[16:14]	Arkalest	|And- Oh.|
[16:14]	Arkalest	|Oh god...|
[16:18]	Sabina	|What is wrong?|
[16:18]	Arkalest	|I...........Was before him.|
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[16:19]	Sabina	|You were. I know you, Daniel Morson. You are my grand-uncle in fact.|
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[16:22]	Arkalest	|Your mother- Your mother is Annemarie, right?|
[16:22]	Sabina	|Yes.|
[16:22]	Arkalest	And his voice becomes stronger- More pronounced. More confident, the slightly twan of his accent there. |Thanks god.|
[16:26]	Sabina	|I am glad that you are recovering.|