reach the residents

[ximilian]

● ● ● REACH THE RESIDENTS

For any questions you want to ask Viveca or Degar and receive an IC response, please direct them here. Please indicate in the subject line who you are trying to contact.

// VIVECA

Hi, what can I help you with?

// DEGAR

Today was gonna be the day, but they'll never throw it back to you. And by now, you should've somehow realized what you're not to do.

▶ NAV

Comments

[vivecai]

Finn, hi. It's good to see you're doing alright, now.

[ as opposed to... being blind. ]

Yes, if the orb has an unfinished bargain, whoever has made that has to willingly relinquish the orb for you to be able to bring it back. So-Yeon did that, of course... and when I was looking into Braccia's history, it seemed that no one had made a bargain with it, so I assumed stealing it would be enough.

[hatejakku]

Thank you...

[ He's not sure how she knew about the blind thing but he's not surprised. Probably just tapped into the network or something. ]

I was thinking along the same lines when we arrived. It seemed like no one had used it but people in power had it in their possession. It just didn't line up...

What if they don't willingly relinquish it?

[vivecai]

Then... you'll just have to force their hand.

[ by threatening them — or something worse. ]

[hatejakku]

[ Welp. That's the exact answer he was hoping to not get. ]

And if we don't? What happens if we fail? Other than just not getting the Orb, I mean.

I'm not here to make more regrets.

[vivecai]

If you fail — then, you'll have to go back, eventually. We can't leave the orbs out there. If you leave it, it'll cause many, many more deaths than what you would.

[ she sighs. ] Please know that I understand. I don't like the idea of people having to die, either. Or you having to potentially kill people. But your mercy will leave the orb on the planet, where it will continue to cause chaos... possibly enough to end all life on the planet, if you leave it for long enough. Are you willing to take that on your conscience? That by sparing one person, you doomed the planet?

[hatejakku]

... I'm sorry, Viveca. The problem is, I don't know if I can believe that.

We know that the last Orb was on Braccia for a very long time. Yes, Cheri had some sort of plans with it, but it took awhile for any action to take place. And even then, all it took to stop her was the person she loved needing her to.

I'm not saying things would have been fine without our intervention. I'm just not seeing a guarantee that it wouldn't have been.

[vivecai]

And you think everyone who died in the gang war was an acceptable loss? That Dnria H'ia and An'alya deserved to die? That Otto and Alora Alonetti deserved to die? That Brom Featherstone's ancestors deserved to be wiped out, until only one survived and ran away to save herself? The orb was behind all that.

And what of Gyeongje? If you'd gone there in time to prevent Lord Suk-Ju from using the orb, if you'd had to kill him to get it... would you have left it there, in his hands?

[ there's a gravity to her words, a bone-deep tiredness. ]

You're right, Finn, there's no guarantee things won't be fine without your intervention... but there's no guarantee they will. The Orb seeks chaos... and it will achieve that, one way or another. That you can't change.

[hatejakku]

[ Finn sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Yeah, sure, she can say all of that, but it's still difficult for him to believe her based on what proof he has.

So he ignores the rhetorical questions and skips straight to the point. ]

Then why do you want them?

I've heard the spiel already. Save these places, fix our regrets. But we know a fraction of the power that one can hold, and now he has two.

[ He being whoever it is in the North Wing, the guy that seems to be running this place, more or less. And maybe Finn shouldn't be so suspicious, certainly shouldn't be voicing it, but he's tired and doesn't want his list of regrets to get longer. ]

[vivecai]

He does, yes. And currently he's doing all he can to make sure their power is contained safely in the North Wing.

[ she sighs, too. ]

I know we can't expect your trust immediately... but when I say he's the last person to ever use the orb for anything, I mean it. We want the orbs here so that they're not out there. That's it.

[hatejakku]

[ Why? Out of the goodness of their hearts?

... Maybe.

Either way, Finn continues to have no choice but to trust them. But he'll continues, regardless. ]

Okay... Okay, I'm sorry. Trust is- [ Difficult. Especially these days. ] I'll trust you.

[vivecai]

... I know. I don't blame you, Finn.

[ she knows his past... and she knows this isn't easy for him. ] If it helps, think of us this way: the creed of the jedi is to keep the galaxy in the balance, isn't it? Balance above all. With the orbs out there, there is no balance. Our job is to get them back here, to restore the balance and safety to the worlds they're in right now.

Is it so hard to believe we might want to do that? For the worlds? For the people living in them?

[hatejakku]

[ He's not even going to be surprised about the amount of stuff she knows... He's also not going to admit that, yeah, this is kind of hard to believe. But trust has to start somewhere, no matter how wary. ]

... I can't speak to the Jedi, but that's something I would want to do. I think you would, too.

[ See? His opinion is changing already. ]

If we're here to restore the balance, though, I have to wonder how things went wrong in the first place, how the orbs got out there. Do you know?

[ Finn actually understands if she doesn't and, really, that alone proves he's trying to do this whole trust thing right. ]

[vivecai]

... thank you.

[ that he's willing to extend at least this sliver of trust means a lot to her, already. ]

I do know. A lot of things went wrong at once, and the orbs were able to scatter to different worlds. Right now, the Commander and I are working on making sure nothing like that happens again... sealing off the North Wing is part of that.

[hatejakku]

And we're sure they weren't scattered for a good reason?

[ Sorry, sorry. He knows what you said, Viveca, about containing them and such. ]

I do believe you. That they need to stopped and contained safely. It's just that... I don't know enough about the past in this situation.

[ None of them do, and they're making some very serious decisions based on not knowing these things. ]

[vivecai]

They don't belong out there. Whatever the reason that sent them out there... all that matters is that they can't be there, corrupting planet after planet.

[ there's true concern in her voice. ]

I understand. But there's a limit to what I know, too.