TIAMAT + DAWON

[soulping]

[At any time when they are not in the hot seat, PARTICIPATING MEMBERS may slip away to their dressing room. It's small and comfortable, with seats for everyone, and water. Otherwise, it's bare.]

[They will not be permitted to stay in the room when they are up on the hot seat.]

Comments

[evervigilante]

Both. But I generally have problems with authority that have too much power. Comes from being poor.

[fuhrinkaed]

Aha... then...

Since it may come up with the secrets game and all...

[sigh.]

I might have maybe accidentally invented a spell that could end the universe at any time.

I can't really call myself an authority figure, but. Um. It made me take a good hard look at the universe.

[evervigilante]

And what did you see?

[fuhrinkaed]

...Everything that exists is so... fragile.

Everything we do, we're lucky if it's still making an impact on things five years from after we cease to exist--and we will, everything does. Being remembered ten years after? Maybe. A hundred? Probably not. Even history coopts things and gets them wrong, and your legacy could be used by someone else for a completely different reason.

And the universe, as a whole, does nothing about it. Because it doesn't have to... because even humans, in the grand scheme of everything, will probably be born, exist, spread to different worlds, and die. All within the span of hundreds of millions of years. For us, it's an unfathomable amount of time.

For the universe, it's like waking up in the morning with a particularly bad rash, then getting it cleared up over a week or so.

The only things that could affect it long-term... for that long of a scale? They're not things people should do.

So.

In the end, the only thing that's final is our own unimportance.

Or... something like that.

[evervigilante]

Sounds about right. But even if that's the case, does it matter? It's not like the world or the universe needs to acknowledge our importance. Or would, for that matter.

It's people who do. It's why these games put everyone on edge. People see value in people.

[fuhrinkaed]

Mmn.

Or, as I came to, 'So everything's meaningless and it doesn't matter. That just means I should do what I can to make people happy now.'

But... well, echoes get that power and they don't necessarily have that same... reflection. There's no telling who they were before they gained that power. And there's no way to know how they'll use it.

[evervigilante]

That is kind of my problem with them. I don't hate them for what they are. But I'm not going to be a fan with what they do.

[fuhrinkaed]

Mmn...

I guess that's just a difference in viewpoints. It's hard for me to dislike someone for coming up with a different answer to the same sort of problem.

[evervigilante]

[ vaguely amused ]

All set out to hate me, huh?

[fuhrinkaed]

[He laughs.]

Nah.

Like I said, it's hard for me to dislike someone for coming up with a different answer to the same sort of problem--that goes for you, too. 'How to feel about things that control space and time' is a problem we share.

[evervigilante]

Pretty much. I'm not going to begrudge people for connecting with them. It's not for me though.

[fuhrinkaed]

[He looks away and that is a mild blush.]

Well.

They're humans, same as us.

Mostly. The human ones are.

[evervigilante]

Is that a subtle way of saying they have all the working parts?

[fuhrinkaed]

I meant that they can feel the same things as everyone else but if you must know, yes.

Yes, they do.

At least the one I like does.

[evervigilante]

I've got to say, my estimate of you? Has suddenly gotten way higher. I guess I'm not the only one who gets kiss cards from Echoes.

[fuhrinkaed]

[L-laughs at that, too.]

Lot more than kissing and a lot more than cards, but... yeah.

It just sort of happened, y'know? I mean. I never thought the representation of the fundamental force of balance would be so... cute. Back home it's a dragon.

[evervigilante]

Sooo you're saying you have a cute power kink. Yeah, I would have one of those too.

[fuhrinkaed]

W-well... it's not about the power.

It's that she can follow pretty much anything I say. Smart girls are hot, y'know?

[evervigilante]

I wouldn't know. I'm not a genius.

[fuhrinkaed]

W-well... I mean. I'm not a genius either...

[evervigilante]

Now you're trying to be modest?

[fuhrinkaed]

...argument for me being smart: I created a spell that could end the universe.

Argument against: by accident. Via casting it.

I'm no genius.

[evervigilante]

They do say happy accidents pave the way to the future. I think. Maybe I made that up.

Either way, why downplay it?

[fuhrinkaed]

Mmmn... that's a complicated answer.

The short version is that if the all-powerful person is an idiot, people either try to control them and use them to their advantage, or don' think much about it and make friends.

If they know you're bright, people assume you have an agenda. Couple that with power, and... well.

I'd rather be seen as an idiot. It's easier.

[evervigilante]

[ hmm ]

But wouldn't the Echoes know anyway? They do have the shards in their possession.