❥ 008 video

[advocacy]

video - warden filter.

This whole...being paired without a file thing...

That's new, right? It's not something the Admiral is bringing back or anything like that? Because I'm not sure exactly what's supposed to happen here or if anything will.

video - ceres.

Okay, I'll be completely honest, I'm not sure how this is supposed to work since I don't have your file. So, I guess the first thing is just getting to know each other?

Comments

[warden filter]

[megamind]

Yeah, that's... new. New from about the last two years, anyway. Don't know if anything like that happened before. You'd have to ask Dean or the Marquis.

[warden filter]

[advocacy]

Good to know.

I hope the Admiral isn't just getting bored or something.

[warden filter]

[megamind]

Actually.... wait. One time in the last year. The last time the warden did... temporary pairings was right before Silent Hill. But that was different. Some people got two wardens, and it was more like he was tying us together for our own safety.

I think that was due to the nature of Silent Hill, though.

[warden filter]

[advocacy]

[Daneca is in the dark about Silent Hill entirely.]

So you don't think this is anything like that?

[warden filter]

[megamind]

No. Silent Hill was a very specific, announced thing. [ Daneca is lucky. Megamind lost a good, good friend there. ]

But I'd stay alert about your temporary inmate for their own good, either way.

[warden filter]

[advocacy]

Yeah, I'd say that's good advice.

[warden filter]

[megamind]

Good luck with her!

[warden filter]

[advocacy]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

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[heavenlymisandrist]

I will supply you with any details you need.

[ Most of them probably won't even be utterly misleading! ]

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[advocacy]

I guess I'm mostly curious if you feel like there's something I should know about you.

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[heavenlymisandrist]

Whether I deserve to be here or not is irrelevant. Without my hagoromo I will die. [ In, say, four years or so... ] The young woman with whom I share this body has committed no crime. She should returned to her body and her child.

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[advocacy]

You're not in your own body? And what's a hagoromo?

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[starofdarkness]

My own body died many centuries ago, when my hagoromo was taken from me. I cannot survive without it.

[ Did that answer your question even a little? ]

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[advocacy]

And your hagoromo...?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

It is not something that can be easily described. It is a part of me, but separate.

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[advocacy]

Is it something metaphysical?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

No.

[ Well, kinda. But it is a real, physical thing. ]

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[advocacy]

So what happened to it?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

A man stole it and threw it away, so that I could never leave.

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[advocacy]

Leave what?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

Him.

[ She figures this answer should be obvious. They are talking about a man, after all. ]

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[advocacy]

[Honestly, that's what Daneca was wondering. Not that she assumes that of most men, but there had to be some sort of reasoning there. Sex and/or love are pretty powerful motivators. Sometimes for good, sometimes for ill.]

So what did you do?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

I searched for it. For centuries, through countless generations of my own descendants I searched for it. It was almost in my hands before I found myself in this place.

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[advocacy]

If you get it back, what will happen?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

I will be free of this body, able to live out my days, able to return Aya to her own world. I may even be able to ensure she carries her child to term.

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[advocacy]

The body you're in is pregnant right now?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

No. I am unsure why.

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[advocacy]

Was it before you ended up on the Barge?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

Aya was with child when she was killed.

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[advocacy]

I'm sure the baby's okay. The Admiral just couldn't bring it here.

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[heavenlymisandrist]

[ She's quiet for a long moment. It's almost too much to hope. ]

You may be right. An innocent child should not be made so suffer a fate such as this.

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[advocacy]

Even the Admiral isn't that cruel. He does a lot of pretty bad and terrible things, but I don't think he'd do that.

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[starofdarkness]

You have a great deal more faith in him than I do.

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[advocacy]

I don't know if it's in him or just with people and people-like beings in general.

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[heavenlymisandrist]

The end result is the same.

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[advocacy]

Yeah, I guess that's right.

[A small beat.]

So, um. Is there anything you want to know about me?

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[heavenlymisandrist]

Anything you believe may help me to graduate.

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[advocacy]

I'm not sure if there's much about me that can help you do that. [A beat before she realizes how that sounds.] I mean information-wise. Not that I can't help.

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[heavenlymisandrist]

I understand.

[ She's not actually totally sure Daneca can help at all. But she's here, she's cooperating. By Ceres standards she's pulling out all the stops. ]

What do you suggest?

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[advocacy]

[Daneca is quiet, taking a moment to think. She tries to think of something, but there's nothing that comes to mind right away. Which is both awkward and embarrassing, but she remembers that she's new to this. And Ceres knows that. She thinks.]

I think for now, if you have a problem or you need something that I can get from the Admiral for you, you just let me know. And as long as we're both honest with each other, it'll work out.

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[starofdarkness]

I need my Hagoromo.