a farspeech announcement

[yourattention]

Emotions. [The lack of introduction is partially because Connor rarely bothers anyways and partially because he's trying to minimize the amount of speaking he's doing.] They were banned on Ai'tuoh and I couldn't figure out why then but that's - the more you bottle it up, the faster the flowers grow. Every. Single. Time. You say "I'm f" -

[There's a hiss of pain and then a slow, shaky breath. Yeah, alright. That was maybe not a great idea, given that he knows that's literally how it's triggered.]

Every time you lie about how you feel, something new grows. Every time you tell the truth, I think - I think that's how you cure it. That's why the robots didn't get it at first. That's why the rates of dying were all different.

[Should he take his own advice? Probably. But he's not gonna.]

I have fluro, if you want it. It makes the nausea worse, but it makes it easier to breathe.

Comments

[tokenflavortownie]

.....I have fluro as well, if anyone would like to give it a try.

[In any other case, she wouldn't advise drinking a strange plant-killing solution]

[yourattention]

Tell anyone you give it to that you take it two ounces at a time no more than four times a day. [Supposedly. Is that what Connor's been doing? Ha.] More than that and it fucks you up more than it helps.

[tokenflavortownie]

[...There's a lot she can unpack from that, but she'll opt out of asking just how Connor seems to know that.]

I'll... make sure that point gets across. I'm not sure if there's even enough of it to make it last more than four times a day.

[yourattention]

There's a processing plant somewhere. We were looking for it, but we haven't found it yet.

[He hopes they do soon.]

[hellawrath]

[Here's somebody who's been saying "I'm fine" since day freakin one. Maybe that's why Lup's voice has a kinda throaty, wheezing quality to it? Or it's just coincidence.

Connor's theory is as good as anything they've got, with the added bonus of that connection to Ai'tuoh making the whole thing even more fucking bullshit.]

Alright, I'm into it so far. Hit me with some truth bombs, buddy.

[yourattention]

Doesn't it work better if you tell me truth bombs and verify?

[That's how Science™ works, right?]

[hellawrath]

[This is absolutely Science^TM for sure but if it was gonna help he was supposed to try it first? Fucking weasel ass boy, like she doesn't know what he's doing.]

I mean, it's your theory? I figured you'd wanna have a go first, save you the embarrassment of, like-- [She sighs, which is a mistake. Please hold as she fights down a coughing fit with a couple tense, measured breaths. This Is Fine.]

Your hair looks like the sewer rat that stole my only boot once curled up and died on your head, and one of these days I'm either gonna fix it or burn it.

[Weird, that was definitely a hot take but she doesn't feel any different.]

[yourattention]

Maybe it's got to be significant. [Ohhhh, if that's it he's fucked.] I dunno. I know lying triggers it and that's all I worked out.

[Well. He also worked out that being around Shion makes it worse, but he's not about to tell anybody that.]

[postictal]

[A hiss of breath through his teeth, something almost like a laugh. Lies. Of course. Fucking figures that would be the thing that does it, right?]

'Course it had to be lies. 'Course it had to be.

[yourattention]

[Because it's Tim, Connor's voice is suddenly light and almost breezy.]

Yup! We're fucked.

[postictal]

What kind of...truth do you have to tell to get rid of it?

[He'll be smothered in his own lies. It's poetic justice, at least. Finally, the consequences he's been waiting for.]

[yourattention]

Lup told me my hair sucks [Which, like. Fair?] and it didn't work so we're thinking like. It has to be the deep-down repressed shit. So like I said: fucked.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Somehow, you can just hear the exhausted facepalm Muffet is doing in her voice.]

They did say the animals succumbed to it last- less emotion for them to feel in the first place, I suppose. And one of the very first entries we discovered talks about how the robots were steadily becoming more and more complex, better at understanding the subtleties of human actions- there's only so complex a being can become without eventually qualifying as a person in their own right. They weren't affected when they were using the simple, early models, but once they hit that tipping point...

[She sighs.]

To anyone who'd like to try confessing something for their health, I'm currently on Umui, near the mana pool. I can promise you that whatever you say to me, I will do my utmost to keep it in confidence.

[tuskenlancer]

That's -

[ That's insane. That's ridiculous, even beyond the normal parade of ridiculous her life has become. ]

That's not how diseases work.

[yourattention]

Yeah, and suns are fuckin birds. Welcome to Ensō! It's a hellhole!

[He'd do jazz hands, even though she can't see, but his hand is fucked. As it is, he sounds super cheerful for no reason.]

[tuskenlancer]

Wh - I don't even want to know.

[ STOP HAVING FUN CONNOR this is serious. ]

Where are you getting this...this theory?

[yourattention]

If "Ai'tuoh" doesn't mean anything to you, I have to start at the beginning.

[Mostly because that'll give him enough time to come up with cover story for "I noticed because every time I hang around my crush, my condition gets worse."]

[ohshitsweetflips]

[What kind of Wonderland fuckshit is this island even on. Is it possible to lie just by tone of voice? Taako is certainly trying, in a completely unimpressed deadpan.]

I've got a truth for you: that is stupid as hell.

[Does he mean the idea of drinking poison, or the truth-feelings-bullshit in general? The answer is yes.]

[yourattention]

Don't you think I fucking know that? It's about as stupid as you being named like the terrible competitor of Taco Bell.

[He might be dying, but there is always time to deliver an insult.]

[ohshitsweetflips]

[He'd ask what's eating this dude but a) he doesn't care and b) he already knows the answer. Still, rude.]

So why don't I feel any different, then? It's your dumb theory and even you think it's dumb, so it's gotta be a true thing I just said! Checkmate, weed guy.

[yourattention]

Were you not listening? Lying makes it worse, so it's telling the truth about the things you fucking lie about that cures it. You can't just say shit you would say anyway, Doritos Locos. [I had to look up when the fucking Doritos Locos taco was introduced to make sure I could make this joke.] It's gotta be, like, your repressed shit. You know, "gather the fuck around and we're gonna have a fucking sharing circle" kinda shit.

[Which, of course, is why he thinks it's fucking stupid. That's literally the last thing he wants to be doing.]

[savedbyasong]

I'm still... This makes no sense...

[If he was still in any doubt about whether they were real or not this would settle it.

Emotions couldn't cure you. But flowers couldn't grow inside you. But if they weren't real... Love between people kept essence draining monsters at bay. Bonds to a long dead home world, love for those they left behind had been enough to restore them.

Truth could cure you. Lies could kill you.] Have you tried it?

[yourattention]

. . . Yeah. It's - it can't just be anything, we think? It has to be something, uh. Significant, I guess is the best way to explain it.

[It might have to be significant on both ends, but he doesn't have enough data to make that claim yet.He just - he knows it should be something big, not something you would have told that person to begin with. Eventually. When you were ready.]

[savedbyasong]

So not just truth but... What we don't want known... [It sort of figures. This us just a different variation on a theme. Using their emotions against them. Making them bare their souls or die.]

Do... We should talk... [Ceej is already worse off than Shion. If this can help him, Shion will listen.]

[yourattention]

[That's like. The last thing he wants? It's the last thing he wants, but he can't think of a way to tell Shion no without it being a lie. He's not sure how to talk without lying about something -]

. . . Probably. But we could also not and say we did.