26. LOL

[heisrisen]

[Public]

[The Emperor stands the hallway of Level One, awkwardly clutching a beehive shaped like a small griffon, with soot smudges on his face, dirt on his clothes, a few drowsy bees bumbling around him, and the door of his room, smoke billowing gently through the sliver of open door behind him.]

No need to be - alarmed.

[His breath catches wrong, and he coughs hard for a few seconds.]

Planned incineration. Perfectly contained.

If nobody claims the bees they're going to the greenhouse.



[Private to Barbara]

I'm going to need a new room.



[Spam - deliveries for Bush, Morgana, Hannibal, and Sylvanas.]

[Hours earlier, but not many- On the morning of the 10th, each of them will open their doors to find neatly potted plants. Bush recieves one elegant apple bonsai, less than two feet high. Morgana gets several pots of pansies, in different colors, arranged so as not to block the door, Sylvanas gets catnip, and Hannibal gets herbs - basil, sage, rosemary, and thyme.]

Comments

[heisrisen]

One year, one month, and twenty-six days. Gregorian calendar.

[walkingmeltdown]

And yet you thought a takeover was a good idea.

[heisrisen]

It was a brilliant idea.

You weren't here to see how near I got to succeeding. I drove us so close my home planet was bleeding through the walls. My will against the admiral's as he tried to haul us back on course and the barge stood still.

If Morgana had broken the stalemate instead of Iris, none of us would be here.

[walkingmeltdown]

Just stranded on your world, I assume.

[But still. Huh. Backtracking to reanalyze, then.]

You're...acquainted with Lady Pendragon?

[heisrisen]

Iris had her bus. She could have ferried any refugees who actually wanted to go home.

I consider her family.

[walkingmeltdown]

Ah. [In response to both answers, actually.] I see. Well. I'm friends, suppose you could say, with both of them as well.

[heisrisen]

We're an incestuous little petri dish, aren't we? It's probably inevitable.

[walkingmeltdown]

Maybe so. But it's one thing to know all of the same people. It's another to have actual things in common.

[heisrisen]

Are you referring to something in particular?

[walkingmeltdown]

Well, for example. You and I are both inmates, which means we're not exactly here by choice, and presumably we wouldn't mind getting out of here.

[heisrisen]

It's a common sentiment.

[walkingmeltdown]

But evidently, you're not content to do little more than whine about it.

[heisrisen]

It was worth trying.

It's not my current focus.

[walkingmeltdown]

So what is, then? Out of curiosity.

[heisrisen]

I want not to hurt the people I love any more than I already have.

[walkingmeltdown]

This is what happens if you stick around here too long, is it. You start thinking of it as 'home'. The fellow captives and jailers here as 'family'.

[Lurking behind his frustration and derision is a touch of genuine alarm. He's already as good as resigned to the idea he probably isn't going anywhere for awhile.

So what's going to eventually happen to him?]

[heisrisen]

That's also inevitable. Humans bond as a result of trauma.

It's brilliant, and evil, and it works.

[He's gone through the fear and fury and despair phases; this is calm, cold, clear-eyed assessment. Perhaps even a little admiration. The admiral's methods have a certain blunt, horrific efficacy.]

[walkingmeltdown]

[He's more or less past denial; he'll be stuck on anger and bargaining for a bit, though. And when he hits depression...that's a valley that's probably going to run rather deep.

Today though, he'll settle for being mildly irritated.]

Except for the people that slip through the cracks. The ones that never graduate, yet disappear anyway.

[heisrisen]

Except for them, yes.

[walkingmeltdown]

You don't think there's any pattern to it. That they're just the ones who...get away. Randomly.

[heisrisen]

People who've gone into multiple comas are more likely to vanish. The correlation is very slight, but statistically significant. No difference between inmates and wardens.

That's the only pattern that's ever been found.

[walkingmeltdown]

Have you ever been in one these comas?

[heisrisen]

No.

[walkingmeltdown]

[Just...sharp, thoughtful sound. He'll have to consider this further.]

Well. Thank you for your information, anyway.