May Event: Lost in Translation

[lifeaftr_mods]

MAY EVENT: LOST IN TRANSLATION

Who: Everyone!
What: Crash.
When: May 21st to May 30th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: Mark as needed!

I Have No Words
Feel free to use this post as an event catch-all for any misfires, island-wide broadcasts, or glitching Stone shenanigans you'd like your characters to get up to! Remember that the Stones of Farspeech do not currently have a texting feature...but that doesn't mean the screen they use to display Caller I.D. can't display text, on occasion. Bear in mind that this screen is small and therefore has limited display options.

If you have any questions, feel free to look over our OOC event post here, and ask any questions as needed!

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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[hyperlit]

[Ah.]

[So that's what their Stone has been whispering. The Drifter drops their gaze and regards the ground impassively for a long moment. Seemingly impassively.]

not question of regret
question of hurt

[forwearemany]

(Hurt?

Their head tilts to the side for a moment, flaps rippling.

...That's a hurt they're very familiar with, so it doesn't take them long to realize.)

You are referring to the experience of loss?

[hyperlit]

yes

[They have endured it. They had not, properly, not truly, until they had made a friend who gave them everything and requested nothing in return - and then died, slowly, painfully, spitting rasping, feeble coughs up onto the dirt and grass underfoot.]

[Then, just when they had thought there might be a hope in their arrival - ]

[They lost them again.]

[It is hard to say which is the worse hurt.]

[forwearemany]

We are familiar with this sensation.

(Perhaps moreso than anyone on Enso, being all that is left of the Geth. Or did the Drifter forget?)

Though non ideal, loss is acceptable. We will "deal with it".

[hyperlit]

have lost much already

[Why should they add to that burden? Is that acceptable? Is that ideal? Is that charitable?]

[forwearemany]

Yes. And we will continue to experience loss regardless of your potential contribution.

Though the degree to which we have experienced it is unusual, loss is common and inevitable.

(People are dying every second of the day, and many had at least one person who loved them.)

Your attempts to prevent it are illogical, unproductive, and ultimately futile.

[hyperlit]

no

[That's their only response to that. Illogical. They don't choose to believe that. Unproductive. Nothing they do is ever unproductive. Futile. All of existence is futile in its own right. That doesn't rob it of all meaning.]

[forwearemany]

(Growling chatter.

For several moments, they are silent, as their programs mumble and sift through memories, suggest ideas, and try to think of the best approach to this.

To confront the Drifter about their own obvious grief is an idea discarded: the Drifter is likely to get more defensive in such a situation.

Perhaps...)

Drifter, do you agree that a child should live at least as many years as its parent?

[hyperlit]

should does not matter
many do not

[They know this from experience. They know this because too many children, the Guardian's child, are outlived by their parents and there is no escaping it.]

[It cannot be changed.]

[forwearemany]

Yes. However, that is not what we are speaking of.

A child that lives as long as its parents did will eventually lose them. It is the same with grandparents, other older relatives.

You do not possess these connections: perhaps loss is new to you. However, it remains an inevitable aspect of life. We neither need nor desire protection from it.

(Not when it comes at the cost of abandoning allies. Not when it would require, on some level, being alone.)

[hyperlit]

not new

[It is said with a small, subtle narrowing of their eyes, the sole indication of their offense that Legion would imply otherwise. Their world, or what was left of it, was a sick, dying, twisted thing that drained the life from all who walked upon it. Their world was desolate, torn and blistered by war and by pain and by sickness and by death. They were created for war, and Legion knows this.]

[Loss has never been new to them. They were born from the rancid core of it; from it, and to create it.]

[That's their only retort. Their real response lies in the act of turning away.]

[forwearemany]

(They do not particularly wish to anger the Drifter. However, they are increasingly weary of this argument, in all its permutations.)

Then your experiences have not informed you of the necessity of it.

(They do not appreciate the refusal to accept their decision, and it's own implication that they lack sufficient knowledge to judge whether they are capable of handling additional loss.)

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter does not care to respond. They are poor at words, at speech, at untangling the lines of their logic. If Legion wishes to gauge the validity of their argument on their inability to articulate it, then the Drifter has no means of countering it, rendering this entire conversation pointless. Rendering all of pointless, and therefore unworthy of further discussion.]

[And so they only keep walking, resolute.]

[They're done here.]

[forwearemany]

(Legion isn't, not quite.

It is clear that this argument is ineffective, pointless, that continuing it will make things worse between them. But they can't quite bring themselves to just leave.)

Drifter.

(Somewhat hesitantly, they start after them, though they do not attempt to stop them.)

[hyperlit]

[They're not about to abandon Legion outright - they're not that much of a jerk, no matter how high their temper might be running currently - but they don't slow down. They only lift a hand, sharp and noncommittal, to denote that they are still listening.]

[But only just.]

[forwearemany]

(This argument is pointless, they are increasingly aware.

Their own spike of anger is rapidly subsiding-Geth are not made to be angry-and they're realizing that this is not only counterproductive, it is completely contrary to what they intended at the start, which was a message of love for their friend.

Where did it go wrong?

Uncharacteristically, the Drifter will get over half a minute of silence as they follow them and consider this, consider what to do, consider how to at least try to redirect this back to where and what it was supposed to be?

The fault, they know, is at least partially theirs.)

It did not initially occur to us how cruel and offensive it was to imply that you were not sufficiently familiar with loss while you are obviously grieving.

Our abilities in this area are limited. We are sorry. Our words and assumptions were "out of line".

[hyperlit]

[A slight pause. The Drifter angles their head until they can now keep Legion in their periphery. It's clear that, with the apology, Legion is sincere. Legion is always sincere. Even in their humor, they are consistently sincere. It is one of those similarities that the Drifter can consistently relate to.]

the pain of loss is greater than any one feels
wish to spare others that hurt

[Far more than any death or illness or pain the Drifter has ever experienced - the pain of losing the ones they came to care for hurt more than anything else.]

[forwearemany]

(Arguing is pointless, so they don't.

Instead, they think of Zidane's words, and accept it.)

Your efforts are appreciated. However, Geth are communal: we cannot survive without allies. You have seen this.

(Remember how difficult it was for them to repair themselves on their own? Would they have even been able to manage it if the Drifter had not stepped in?)

Loss is an acceptable trade.

(For Geth, it's actually loneliness that's the worst pain.)

[hyperlit]

yes
not acceptable
not ideal

[This is why it is better, in their opinion, to endure distance. To cut themself from everyone and everything.]

[They ought to have considered that, for a collective, this would not be as clear-cut.]

[forwearemany]

(The collective is gone, and they are surrounded by short lived organics. It is debatable how long they will survive, in an environ unsuited to them, with the possibility of being returned permanently to the state of death at any time, but if they survive for long enough, they will experience the loss of all of them.

There is no avoiding this, save via death.)

Drifter, if you avoid others with the intent of preventing loss, then they have already lost you.

(Alive or dead, their presence is already gone.)

[hyperlit]

hurts less
when one is unknown

[This is why they do not try, why they have never intended to try - but they never had this problem before. They never faced a group of individuals so resolute in their conviction that the Drifter is not only their friend, but one they wish to keep.]

[In Buried Time, very few would so much as suffer their company.]

[forwearemany]

You are not unknown.

(They chatter.)

Irrelevant. The vast majority of species are short lived in comparison to Geth. Between loss and isolation, we have chosen loss. We do not wish to be contested on this decision.

(Isolation from other Geth is death of self.They contain sufficient programs to avoid this, but they still cannot and do not wish to survive alone.)

[hyperlit]

was

[The anonymity of a drifter's occupation was, in some ways, a blessing. It was a blessing because they never had to accept the agony of loss, or fear inflicting such a thing on others. Now that they have become painfully and utterly acquainted with the feeling, they know without a doubt, now, that they would never willingly impose that agony on anyone else.]

it was better

[forwearemany]

You are certain?

(They don't buy that, even if the Drifter keeps insisting it.

Intelligent creatures are social. The Drifter is not only highly intelligent but also clearly cherishes their friends.)

[hyperlit]

yes

[It hurt less. It hurt so much less.]

would not hesitate to do what must be done