fifthreturned | IC Inbox

It's been awhile. I went there before it got destroyed, when we were still allies with the Null. It's where we all met up to negotiate.

What was it like before it was destroyed? Did you pay attention to what lived there, animal-wise? ...And did you negotiate with other species before the Null?

There wasn't really much there. We had some buildings that we used to talk to the Null in, and there were some small settlements supporting that, but we didn't actually settle on the world. Not great climate for our hosts, you know?

I didn't have any reason to leave the embassies so I never saw any wildlife, but I think there was some. Probably.

And nah. We knew folks were out there, but we don't really explore a ton so we just figured they'd say hey if they ever came by. Like the Null did.

[ Hmm. ]

How often did you visit that planet? Were you working on those talks with the Null?

Not that often. We're a young group, for our species, so I wasn't included in all the talks. We had a pretty relaxed approach to diplomacy and all that, probably cause it was the Tranquilities involved.

Did they attack during one of the negotiation talks? [ This is a revision of: So, how many of you died on that planet? ]

Yup. There weren't too many people there when we weren't meeting up for talks, so I guess it seemed efficient or whatever.

I'm guessing they didn't give off any warning signs they were about to fuck you over, huh? I think I remember something about the Null hating you guys for your emotional shit—that they didn't like that it affected them—but is that really why they started this? I mean, the solution to that problem would have been really simple to solve without going through the hassle to kill you guys.

I'm not sure you really understand how the Null think, but hey, maybe they should listen to you. What would your solution have been?

Distance, Tranquility.

We've been running from them this whole time.

Not you, them.

Oh, I see. If you were them, you'd have just left us alone and gone off to do your own thing. Yeah, that would've been nice.

Yeah, but that would change if you somehow wronged me. Why is it that they hate you guys so much? I can't seem to remember. [ She vaguely remembers some bullshit about robots and emotions but, ultimately, she just remembers wanting to kill both parties and be done with it. ]

They removed their own emotions ages ago. But just like with you guys, being around us makes them feel things whether they want to or not, and they really didn't like that. I don't think it's hate, really - they don't feel that. They just want us gone.

Why would they bother trying to negotiate with your species, then? Were they unaware of the affect? Did you not warn them of the possibility?

And they may have gotten rid of their own emotions—jealous, by the way—it seems weird to turn on you if they were dealing with a bunch of boring Tranquilities.

None of us were aware of it. Until the Null, we didn't have contact with anyone like them, so we had no way of knowing.

And hey now. Tranquilities are the most fun at parties. But yeah, I get what you're saying. I think that's why it took them so long to figure out what was going on - my folks didn't have an obvious effect the way others would have.

Like them as in mechanical? But you've encountered other species you've affected, right?

[ Most fun at parties? Yeah, ok, she'll let him have it for now. ]

Uhh... our hosts, I guess. And you guys.

Even your... predecessors and shit never encountered other species?

I don't know, maybe. But we're not really explorers, you know? We met the Null because they came to us. Same with you.

We were forcibly brought to you, no choice or meaning on our part, try not to forget about that. [ different circumstances ]

Why do you not have a history? Why do you all come off as clueless about your own fucking past generations?

You wanna tell me all about what your kind did before they turned into you?

I could if you felt it would be helpful in understanding me and my kind. We learned that history forgotten is history repeated so we spend about 12 years going over major parts of human history. [ Granted, how accurate that information all is is all up in the air but she ain't gonna tell him that. ]

Sure, human history. And we know the history of our people. But I kind of doubt you know a whole lot of verifiable info about what happened before humans became a thing. Hey, I could be wrong, though.

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fogsong - 2019-01-05 15:19 (UTC) - Expand

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fifthreturned - 2019-01-08 02:52 (UTC) - Expand