I...I don't know. I also received quite a bit of money some months back, which allowed me to invest in some of our efforts in the city. I've been a bit wary now that we received the mirrors.
[ As it means someone or something is watching them, knowing what they're looking for. Knowing what they need. ]
I don't know. The caretakers of Kelesis, whomever they are, seem grateful for our help. I wouldn't necessarily say they aren't compassionate in some respects...but I received money before we even found Kelesis.
[ So it has to be someone or something in Karteria, or something in the woods that's been watching. ]
Perhaps it's naive to hope that something wants this world to be saved somehow.
[Sure, maybe the idea of a world giving them mirrors and money is far-fetched, but they've all been dragged out of their own worlds and are turning into monsters, against all reasonable logic. Anything seems to be on the table these days.]
[ Mel is quiet for a moment, at war with the cynical part of her that feels this is possibly a trap, something that could be taken from her at any time. But a piece of her desperately wants to cling to some kind of hope when so little of it remains these days. So she gently concedes: ]
Maybe. I'd like it if that were so.
[ It would mean at least one part of this world was on their side for once. ]
When things die, what energy they've got returns to the world. It grows in the grass and trees, feeds the herbivores that eat them, transfers to the carnivores that eat them. And when they die, back into the world it goes, decomposition helping the plants grow again. The environment changes over time in a way that helps it support all the life there. It spurs evolution, gives monsters incredible abilities that seem impossible otherwise.
But sometimes, it does something unusual. Changes monsters in unexpected ways, transforming them into something new. Sometimes, they're an apex predator, something reckless and wild and too dangerous to leave alive. Other times, they're almost like a guardian, manifested to protect the world and those living in it.
[There's a soft sigh on his end. He can't help but feel a little homesick talking about this.]
Just something I've thought about from time to time when considering the Katalyth. Where it comes from, what it does to this world, and what this world might want of us.
[ That's...interesting, actually. It's not like the hexcore or the hexcrystals at all, but there's something about the explanation that resonates with her in other ways. If the souls they've been given have been 'naturally' influenced by the Katalyth in various ways, who's to say that their own changes aren't because of these aberrations? In an uncomfortable way, their changes can, through this logic, be gifts from the world itself in a bid to protect them.
It's a difficult thing to reconcile. ]
I want to believe we're here for some kind of reason outside of whatever it is Patho-Gen wants, specifically those who harmed our comrades and allies. The people in the lobby, those who interface with the public... They truly feel we can do something, even if they have no idea how we can help for the moment.
Perhaps we need to try to look elsewhere for those answers.
[ She doesn't want to push the science group to push their studies. But perhaps Kelesis will have an idea? Or...perhaps the world itself, if they can attune to it somehow. ]
Not sure who in Patho-Gen we could even trust for answers, aside from that Celia. And even then, I'm not sure she's as useful as she is well-intentioned.
[He thinks about that letter Eli found when breaking into the headquarters, how she was advocating for the Augmented. If it was just an act, she wouldn't have bothered to do that off the network, out of sight of said Augmented. She'd meant it.
Mel's right, though: for as angry as Pom is at Patho-Gen, as it's all too easy to blame everyone for their capture and augmentation, some people are just trying to live their lives, same as anyone, any monster, any organism. Maybe they should try to stay on the good side of those Karterians, the ones who showed up to riot alongside the Augmented and demanded answers for their treatment. Some folks are just trying to get by.
He'd do well to remember that and not paint them all with the same brush, despite knowing how people tend to be the most vile monsters of all.]
I'd say Kelesis ought to be a good place to look, if we can find the right person to talk to. Figure out who it is who's been trying to reach us.
[ From what she met of Celia with Palamedes, she doesn't know that Celia knows answers as it is. And for all that they ask of her, a target will likely become clear on her back soon enough. The Augmented may not have her for very long. ]
She still deserves to be protected because there is likely no one else. Or if there are some, they are not in a position to be vocal.
[ One voice over that post seemed male in some way, but it could be anyone. For all they know, it could be Georges, but it sounds as if Celia knows Georges is missing. ]
Let's see about getting over there sometime. I've...been meaning to send them a message as Gojo and I did months ago. I don't know if they'll respond, though.
I can go with you. Can help with scouting out a place for the other mirror, too.
[He'll leave the 'finding someone in Kelesis to talk to' to her, though. That seems more her forte than meandering through caves and coves looking for a good hiding spot.]
Yeah. Probably be good to get a network of them, especially if we end up needing to go west rather than east. Was thinking of doing some exploring out that way, helping map it better.
Are you doing that with Momo? It sounds like he's taking over for Gojo's efforts. I told him I'd try to help depending on the location and timing but...
[ Well, she is still trying to work on the other projects, and can't spread herself too thin. ]
You don't want to bite off more than you can chew.
[He knows, Mel. He'd rather her focus on what she can handle for now. She's been through enough.]
I got in touch with him, yeah. Told him to just assign me someone to work with. Folks like you and him keep busy, so the least I can do is do what I'm good at, help take something off your plate.
[Better mapping and scouting than some of the other things he's good at.]
I want to give what I can to what I'm capable of. I've...never been a hunter or a tracker. While it'll be important for me to learn, I don't want to slow anyone down.
[ ...In reality, she shouldn't want to be either of those things, but that itch inside of her tells her it would be right for her to do so, and so it's no terrible thing to want to try it. ]
We also shouldn't have everyone invested in everything. It means if something happens, if more of our number are taken or disappear...we won't be left unable to complete what work we can.
[ Meaning that if she goes missing, someone has to be able to run her projects in her absence too. ]
I'm glad you're helping, truly. I trust you - and Momo.
[But he knows she'll argue with that, so he continues without a beat.]
You got a point, though. Better to have more hands working on projects than a single set, just in case that set up and vanishes one day without rhyme or reason. The trick is finding folks who can — and should — handle it. Some people are good at planning, organizing. Some are good at bringing people together, uniting them for a cause. Some of us are just the tools that get the job done.
[That's language that's started to seep back into his description of himself, in particular. It's not that he likes it - it just is how it is.]
[ The silence on Mel's side is longer than she intends it to be and perhaps it becomes uncomfortable, but the weight of guilt — old wounds and new — keeps her quiet for some time. And then, eventually, she murmurs: ]
To look on people and to see them as tools is something I once did frequently. Not that I didn't see them as people; I did see them that way. But from a distance, objectively, I can see someone drilled down to their strengths and their weaknesses, and how best to nudge them into places where they might best fit.
[ It's why Pom and others trust her to make difficult calls, she supposes. Because she can attempt to remain objective, no matter how much it might hurt her now as she walks among the pieces she maneuvers across the chess board. ]
But no one is 'just' a tool. We walk with dreams and memories and good pieces in all of the fractures of ourselves. You are not a tool to me, nor are you 'just' anything. And if you are just the tool that gets things done, then what does that say of someone who lets others get their hands dirty for them?
[ They're not a tool at all. They're barely a set of eyes. If anything is useless in the bunch, it's them. It's her. And she's understood that since she stepped foot here. ]
I wish you could see how I see you.
[ Maybe then he wouldn't see himself as a monster, though she has no room to fight him on that these days, not when she feels all wrong in her body and feels like something is trying to split her skin and bone open at the seams. ]
[There's silence on his end too, a moment where Pom realizes what he said and how he said it - and worse, how it makes Mel feel.]
Sorry.
[He'll be coming back to the rest, but... that needs to be said. It takes another few seconds before he manages to continue.]
It's just... I trust you to put me to good use, I guess. Not as a tool, but... knowing where I oughtta be and what I need to do when I can't figure it out myself.
It's all right, you needn't be sorry. I know what I've done and where my strengths are.
[ What is expected of her. People look to her to make the difficult choices and to make the decisions no one else will. And it's...deserved, she thinks, for her to take that burden. It lets others walk without guilt because Mel has made the choice for them. It goes hand-in-hand with understanding how people are, where they can work and be their best. She understands what Pom is saying.
She just doesn't want him to see himself as a weapon or a tool, when he is a person and not a monster. ]
I'm glad to be beside you and to support you in finding the places where you fit best. It...means a great deal to me that you would trust me.
[ But she won't ask him to do what she did last month. Not again. ]
I don't begrudge anyone's unwillingness to trust me. As I've said, I know what kind of person I am.
[ But that's... No, she can't leave it like that. She said she would be open with him and she has to. Mel closes her eyes. ]
What I did to you last month was inexcusable. Asking you not only to go to Patho-Gen to deliberately provoke their attention but then to ask you to put yourself in danger, to kill creatures that once were people like you and I... I'm sorry, Pom. I shouldn't have asked it of you.
[As much as he appreciates the apology — because yeah, the whole thing was more harrowing than he ever thought it'd be, to the point where it's kept him up at night — he knows better than to let Mel take all the blame for it, as much as she wants to. She's said the whole time that she'd bear the weight, but guilt is never so kind as to keep to one person.]
If someone else asked you to do it, would you have? Or did you choose to because I asked it of you, and you trusted me to steer you in the right direction?
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[ As it means someone or something is watching them, knowing what they're looking for. Knowing what they need. ]
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Seems like there's something out there that wants to help us. But why?
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[ So it has to be someone or something in Karteria, or something in the woods that's been watching. ]
Perhaps it's naive to hope that something wants this world to be saved somehow.
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[Sure, maybe the idea of a world giving them mirrors and money is far-fetched, but they've all been dragged out of their own worlds and are turning into monsters, against all reasonable logic. Anything seems to be on the table these days.]
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Maybe. I'd like it if that were so.
[ It would mean at least one part of this world was on their side for once. ]
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[Pom, generally a pragmatist, feels that cynicism too; it weighs on him all the time, especially without Purl to balance it out.]
You ever heard of bioenergy? That a thing where you come from?
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[ She's wondering if it's anything like the hexcore or the crystals. ]
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But sometimes, it does something unusual. Changes monsters in unexpected ways, transforming them into something new. Sometimes, they're an apex predator, something reckless and wild and too dangerous to leave alive. Other times, they're almost like a guardian, manifested to protect the world and those living in it.
[There's a soft sigh on his end. He can't help but feel a little homesick talking about this.]
Just something I've thought about from time to time when considering the Katalyth. Where it comes from, what it does to this world, and what this world might want of us.
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It's a difficult thing to reconcile. ]
I want to believe we're here for some kind of reason outside of whatever it is Patho-Gen wants, specifically those who harmed our comrades and allies. The people in the lobby, those who interface with the public... They truly feel we can do something, even if they have no idea how we can help for the moment.
Perhaps we need to try to look elsewhere for those answers.
[ She doesn't want to push the science group to push their studies. But perhaps Kelesis will have an idea? Or...perhaps the world itself, if they can attune to it somehow. ]
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[He thinks about that letter Eli found when breaking into the headquarters, how she was advocating for the Augmented. If it was just an act, she wouldn't have bothered to do that off the network, out of sight of said Augmented. She'd meant it.
Mel's right, though: for as angry as Pom is at Patho-Gen, as it's all too easy to blame everyone for their capture and augmentation, some people are just trying to live their lives, same as anyone, any monster, any organism. Maybe they should try to stay on the good side of those Karterians, the ones who showed up to riot alongside the Augmented and demanded answers for their treatment. Some folks are just trying to get by.
He'd do well to remember that and not paint them all with the same brush, despite knowing how people tend to be the most vile monsters of all.]
I'd say Kelesis ought to be a good place to look, if we can find the right person to talk to. Figure out who it is who's been trying to reach us.
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She still deserves to be protected because there is likely no one else. Or if there are some, they are not in a position to be vocal.
[ One voice over that post seemed male in some way, but it could be anyone. For all they know, it could be Georges, but it sounds as if Celia knows Georges is missing. ]
Let's see about getting over there sometime. I've...been meaning to send them a message as Gojo and I did months ago. I don't know if they'll respond, though.
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[He'll leave the 'finding someone in Kelesis to talk to' to her, though. That seems more her forte than meandering through caves and coves looking for a good hiding spot.]
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[ And she isn't altogether certain she wants one on the Kelesis end. ]
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[ Well, she is still trying to work on the other projects, and can't spread herself too thin. ]
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[He knows, Mel. He'd rather her focus on what she can handle for now. She's been through enough.]
I got in touch with him, yeah. Told him to just assign me someone to work with. Folks like you and him keep busy, so the least I can do is do what I'm good at, help take something off your plate.
[Better mapping and scouting than some of the other things he's good at.]
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[ ...In reality, she shouldn't want to be either of those things, but that itch inside of her tells her it would be right for her to do so, and so it's no terrible thing to want to try it. ]
We also shouldn't have everyone invested in everything. It means if something happens, if more of our number are taken or disappear...we won't be left unable to complete what work we can.
[ Meaning that if she goes missing, someone has to be able to run her projects in her absence too. ]
I'm glad you're helping, truly. I trust you - and Momo.
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[But he knows she'll argue with that, so he continues without a beat.]
You got a point, though. Better to have more hands working on projects than a single set, just in case that set up and vanishes one day without rhyme or reason. The trick is finding folks who can — and should — handle it. Some people are good at planning, organizing. Some are good at bringing people together, uniting them for a cause. Some of us are just the tools that get the job done.
[That's language that's started to seep back into his description of himself, in particular. It's not that he likes it - it just is how it is.]
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To look on people and to see them as tools is something I once did frequently. Not that I didn't see them as people; I did see them that way. But from a distance, objectively, I can see someone drilled down to their strengths and their weaknesses, and how best to nudge them into places where they might best fit.
[ It's why Pom and others trust her to make difficult calls, she supposes. Because she can attempt to remain objective, no matter how much it might hurt her now as she walks among the pieces she maneuvers across the chess board. ]
But no one is 'just' a tool. We walk with dreams and memories and good pieces in all of the fractures of ourselves. You are not a tool to me, nor are you 'just' anything. And if you are just the tool that gets things done, then what does that say of someone who lets others get their hands dirty for them?
[ They're not a tool at all. They're barely a set of eyes. If anything is useless in the bunch, it's them. It's her. And she's understood that since she stepped foot here. ]
I wish you could see how I see you.
[ Maybe then he wouldn't see himself as a monster, though she has no room to fight him on that these days, not when she feels all wrong in her body and feels like something is trying to split her skin and bone open at the seams. ]
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Sorry.
[He'll be coming back to the rest, but... that needs to be said. It takes another few seconds before he manages to continue.]
It's just... I trust you to put me to good use, I guess. Not as a tool, but... knowing where I oughtta be and what I need to do when I can't figure it out myself.
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[ What is expected of her. People look to her to make the difficult choices and to make the decisions no one else will. And it's...deserved, she thinks, for her to take that burden. It lets others walk without guilt because Mel has made the choice for them. It goes hand-in-hand with understanding how people are, where they can work and be their best. She understands what Pom is saying.
She just doesn't want him to see himself as a weapon or a tool, when he is a person and not a monster. ]
I'm glad to be beside you and to support you in finding the places where you fit best. It...means a great deal to me that you would trust me.
[ But she won't ask him to do what she did last month. Not again. ]
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You say that like you think I wouldn't.
[He's keeping his tone light, but it's a genuine concern.]
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[ But that's... No, she can't leave it like that. She said she would be open with him and she has to. Mel closes her eyes. ]
What I did to you last month was inexcusable. Asking you not only to go to Patho-Gen to deliberately provoke their attention but then to ask you to put yourself in danger, to kill creatures that once were people like you and I... I'm sorry, Pom. I shouldn't have asked it of you.
[ Or Hubert, frankly. ]
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You didn't make me do it, Mel.
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[ That's the distinguishment. ]
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I lost this somehow???
No worries at all! Notifs have been a m e s s
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