[ The irony isn't lost on her. Mel doesn't wince but her gaze softens, regretful. ]
True enough. I...worry that at some point we'll need to leave this city. But being beyond the barrier for long stretches of time, alone and otherwise, likely won't keep our changes under control.
[ Not that they're under control here, either. They're all fumbling along and trying to figure things out. ]
I think it was just after you arrived. There were people missing in the district, with people wearing suits wandering around. The Velvet Claw asked us to investigate. Rather, citizens put in an ad to get help. We... [ Her throat closes briefly. ] ...I don't know if the people we found were connected completely. But there were bones and pieces of bodies in the Asphodel Fields, in the marshlands. And, further out, walking corpses. Creatures without souls or thought any longer.
[ Mel stares straight ahead because she knows if she looks on him, he'll see the agony and horror in her eyes at the memory. How her newfound ability to see souls only made the reality all the worse. But her hands, folded into each other, are clenched tight enough to bleach her knuckles; her lips are pressed so firmly together that they could shatter stone. ]
[Vander hums, considering this. It's possible. He wonders why Patho-Gen didn't just put them in their own little city outside the barrier in the first place. To keep better surveillance, maybe.]
We might. They may decide enough is enough and exile us. So long as we all had each other, I think we'd be alright.
[But there's a bit of pain in his voice. It brings up memories of Zaun, of being barred from participation in higher society, kept down in the dirt where no one had to look at them. Treated less than human. It'd be hard to go through all that again in a new place.]
Gods... That's horrible.
[He's looking at her anyway, her tense expression, the pain in her eyes.]
[ Alas, as cynical as she is, she doesn't know that she believes it. And Vander's tone is worth noting: she imagines it won't be so different from home, being a part of a group outcast from 'civil' society. Something else to be remorseful over. Silco would love to see her and Jayce experience the same suffering and perhaps it's deserved. But Vander shouldn't have to go through it all again.
Mel shakes her head to his question. ]
Not as far as I'm aware. We imagine they were kidnapped. I've asked for some Augmented presence in East Sophia to try to keep an eye on things. In fact, I'd like more of our presence throughout the city just to get eyes on things, be available to support, make ourselves as 'friendly' helpers.
[ Be indispensable, so when the time comes for them to be ostracized, it will be that much harder to convince the common person to let the Augmented be pushed out. ]
It's... I don't want to say it's impossible. We don't know enough yet. I don't know that it does, though. I think we would have seen a great deal of activity long before this if that were the case.
[ That's what she's desperately hoping will be the case. The alternative is just too painful. But to what Vander says, Mel seems a little less tense. She even offers a smile, a much more genuine one. ]
I'm glad. What happened was...terrible, so anything we can do for them would be of help. I don't want them to be abandoned by this city. Or by us.
[ She can't even begin to fathom what caused it, what happened in the sky that night. What might happen again. ]
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no subject
Date: 2025-08-03 06:22 pm (UTC)True enough. I...worry that at some point we'll need to leave this city. But being beyond the barrier for long stretches of time, alone and otherwise, likely won't keep our changes under control.
[ Not that they're under control here, either. They're all fumbling along and trying to figure things out. ]
I think it was just after you arrived. There were people missing in the district, with people wearing suits wandering around. The Velvet Claw asked us to investigate. Rather, citizens put in an ad to get help. We... [ Her throat closes briefly. ] ...I don't know if the people we found were connected completely. But there were bones and pieces of bodies in the Asphodel Fields, in the marshlands. And, further out, walking corpses. Creatures without souls or thought any longer.
[ Mel stares straight ahead because she knows if she looks on him, he'll see the agony and horror in her eyes at the memory. How her newfound ability to see souls only made the reality all the worse. But her hands, folded into each other, are clenched tight enough to bleach her knuckles; her lips are pressed so firmly together that they could shatter stone. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-10 07:32 pm (UTC)We might. They may decide enough is enough and exile us. So long as we all had each other, I think we'd be alright.
[But there's a bit of pain in his voice. It brings up memories of Zaun, of being barred from participation in higher society, kept down in the dirt where no one had to look at them. Treated less than human. It'd be hard to go through all that again in a new place.]
Gods... That's horrible.
[He's looking at her anyway, her tense expression, the pain in her eyes.]
And still no clue how this happened?
no subject
Date: 2025-08-11 06:17 pm (UTC)[ Alas, as cynical as she is, she doesn't know that she believes it. And Vander's tone is worth noting: she imagines it won't be so different from home, being a part of a group outcast from 'civil' society. Something else to be remorseful over. Silco would love to see her and Jayce experience the same suffering and perhaps it's deserved. But Vander shouldn't have to go through it all again.
Mel shakes her head to his question. ]
Not as far as I'm aware. We imagine they were kidnapped. I've asked for some Augmented presence in East Sophia to try to keep an eye on things. In fact, I'd like more of our presence throughout the city just to get eyes on things, be available to support, make ourselves as 'friendly' helpers.
[ Be indispensable, so when the time comes for them to be ostracized, it will be that much harder to convince the common person to let the Augmented be pushed out. ]
sry for the delay
Date: 2025-08-27 04:37 pm (UTC)Hm. Not a bad idea. I've been trying to help out some of the folks who went blind.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-28 01:55 pm (UTC)[ That's what she's desperately hoping will be the case. The alternative is just too painful. But to what Vander says, Mel seems a little less tense. She even offers a smile, a much more genuine one. ]
I'm glad. What happened was...terrible, so anything we can do for them would be of help. I don't want them to be abandoned by this city. Or by us.
[ She can't even begin to fathom what caused it, what happened in the sky that night. What might happen again. ]