malnosso | [Locked to Luceti Residents]

My dear people of Luceti --

An invasion, all under the guise of a fantasy. What’s been done will not be forgotten. Certainly not by you, and not by the denizens of a dozen other enclosures who suffered similar attacks at the same time. As we speak, programmers and engineers hard at work combing through the barrier’s nuts and bolts. If the Cultists and his Lordship exploited some natural weakness in the dome, they will find it. Patch it up. Curious, isn’t it, that the Count chose yours to invade with his own two feet?

But there are other matters to discuss. I spoke with some of you only a few months ago. Let me announce more completely what I, back then, only intimated. I’m Carol, and I intend to spend some time in our little town. If you like, you can consider my resolve to continue my work here a sign of good faith. I remain unarmed and -- I assure you -- wholly peaceable. In this way, I hope I may have faith in you as well. After all, we are kin in a strange kind of way.

It is my duty -- as well as my pleasure -- to be Luceti’s liaison with the Organization. You must have many questions, concerns, and many many curses. Bring them to me, and we’ll see what can be done. We can talk here. But if any of you find the journals distasteful, you can also come have a seat with me at the sweet little tea shop. I’ll be there for the afternoon.

[As usual, this voiced post has a neatly typed 'written' section as well.

A thread with CJ can be found here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Pepper closed her eyes for a moment, letting that question sink in. The difficulty of it came with all the potential consequences; it's not the first such conversation she'd had, but this time she was speaking to the representative of an organization that could so easily toy with all of their minds, send droids to drag away whomever they saw fit for fighting or experimentations--even potentially twist things so that those here might never realize she existed at all.

"I might very much mind, depending on what happens if my presence is deemed unsafe."

"For my part, I would much rather work with you than against you."

Of course, this gave no guarantee of her superiors' minds.

Her smile tightened because Pepper did indeed recognize that carefully worded answer. She had far too much experience in business not to understand the basics of hierarchy. "And as a liaison, how much sway do you have in what is ultimately decided?"

"More than you might expect and less than I would like."

"I see." She tapped her fingers absently on the table, one soft round of four, composing her true response carefully in her mind. In so many ways it felt like a press release, or maybe a business negotiation--only worse, because this was about her life.

"I hope you'll understand, Carol," And here Pepper wished the woman had offered a last name, as a person simply couldn't say the first in the same ways, "that I'm hesitant to offer up any information when the potential consequences are vague at best--particularly after what has just happened." Another slap in the face, a reminder that Pepper had so little control over anything. It made her all the more aware of how precious the life she had cobbled together was.

"And by no means must you offer up anything. If you'd rather, you can take your time. Think about it. Let my presence become more common place, if you like, before you share anything. I only add that the sooner I know, the sooner I can try and use what small influence I may have."

"You mean before they potentially decide without your input?" Or Pepper's by proxy. She shook her head, her doubt evident. "I'm not exactly trusting of your organization at this point."

Of course, there was the reverse to that position that had to be considered. By not talking, Pepper put on the appearance of making an awful situation worse than it was. That aspect had to be considered as well, and Pepper mentally tempered her emotions. She had too many wounds, old and new alike; she couldn't let them get the better of her.

"If your superiors decide I pose too great a threat to the village in my current condition, what happens?"

"It's possible that you would be removed. Or it's possible that they would do nothing, and let the drama play itself out. After all, those more wilfully dangerous -- pardon my presumption when I believe you are not -- are often allowed to remain."

"But it's possible they wouldn't." Which was exactly what Pepper feared most. Her fiance, her friends--her life was in Luceti. She couldn't lose that. Not again.

"Do they know that someone is working on a cure for my condition?" That the Malnosso themselves helped fuel the effort, through their payment of points in exchange for services rendered. "And you're right. I don't want to hurt anyone. Which is why I'm doing everything I can to get this under control."

"...Have you considered speaking with the scientist in residence, here?"

"The scientist?" Pepper couldn't immediately put a name with the title, though she thought she should. She went over the notable names among the Malnosso she'd heard during her tenure, both spoken and written in the guide. After several moments of silence, she ventured a guess--which would likely answer Carol's question whether Pepper was right or wrong.

"Do you mean John?"

He is a leader in many fields. Smarter by far, some say, than the rest of the Organization's scientists.

"But he's still part of the Malnosso, isn't he?" Although that didn't seem quite right in Pepper's mind. But details she'd never had true reason to focus on were elusive, particularly now when her entire reality had so recently been shifted and reverted.

"Maybe. But he's someone the Organization grants far more autonomy than me."

The silence stretched after that, Pepper considering the option.  So many of the arguments she might have made were invalidated simply because it was the Malnosso providing the doses of Extremis that kept her alive.  They clearly already had access to it, and they were free to use it however it they wished.  Pepper could do nothing to prevent that by refusing to make herself a test subject.

But she couldn’t say yes.  The reasons were far more complicated than simply what was morally good.

“I don’t know him.”  And in turn, Pepper didn’t trust him.  She’d been at the hands of scientists already; it was how this had all come about.  There were things she had to provide, blood samples and data for Tony’s research.  The thought of doing the same for someone else—or perhaps more—made her stomach twist into knots.  She couldn’t meet Carol’s eyes, but her answer would be clear enough in how she shook her head.

“No.  Tony is working on it.  He’ll figure it out.”

"...As you will, Miss Potts. I'll be here should you ever change your mind on the matter."

She doubted she would, but Pepper nodded, attempting to at least be polite. “Thank you.”

The offer—and the fact that it did end as an offer—had her considering the woman across from her for a moment. Like most, Pepper was no fan of the Malnosso. But in her broadcast Carol had indicated she was choosing to live among them. Pepper took a sip from the tea that had arrived during the time they spoke, mulling over what that might mean among her organization.

“Do you mind if I ask why you’re here?” In this place, taking this assignment, particularly after what had just happened. The enclosure had been left reeling, and though the Malnosso weren’t to blame this time, certainly they would be again in the future.

"It's my job. I'm hardly about to abandon it in the face of what's happened -- that would be an awfully faithless move on my part. And it would prove me to be very unreliable indeed. To the Organization and to you."

[Locked to Luceti Residents]

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