lastvoyages IC Inbox

[neverjoinyou]

Leave a message. I will hear you.

Comments

[tetractys]

I WANT YOU TO COME WITH ME WHEN WE GO THROUGH.

YOU SAID YOU'D HELP IF NOBODY ON THE SHIP GOT PUT IN DANGER, AND I'VE DONE A LOT TO TRY TO MAKE THAT THE CASE. A LOT!

[neverjoinyou]

Well of course I'm going with you. [Saves him the trouble of having to track you down.]

But Bill... are you sure? Your definition of harm isn't always the same as everyone else's.

[tetractys]

AM I SURE MY BEST IS GOING TO LIVE UP TO YOUR BEST? NO.

BUT I DID ASK SOMEONE FOR HELP THAT HAS "REAL EMPATHY" AND "VALUE FOR HUMAN LIFE."

[neverjoinyou]

...

Was it Ford?

[tetractys]

NOT AUTHORIZED TO DISCLOSE MY SOURCES, WINGS.

[neverjoinyou]

So that's a yes.

Okay. So you want to meet your... supposed creators. And you've hijacked the Barge to do your bidding, resulting in spacial anomalies. For months. How do you know it's not going to get worse?

[tetractys]

BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO ARRIVE BEFORE IT HAS THE CHANCE!

[neverjoinyou]

And after that? Are you going to be able to reverse the damage?

[tetractys]

TO THE SHIP? SURE! THINGS WILL GET MUCH EASIER TO CONTROL THEN. WE CAN JUST IMAGINE IT BEING FIXED!

[neverjoinyou]

Hang on.

What did you do?

[tetractys]

I DID WHAT I SAID I WAS GOING TO DO! I'M GOING TO GET US THERE, AND THEN I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE I'M REAL BEFORE I TRY TO ENGAGE ANYBODY ABOVE MY PAY GRADE. ONLY PROBLEM IS, IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE I GET MYSELF I HAD TO SET IT TO A PRETTY WIDE RANGE. LOTS OF OTHER STUFF IS GOING TO BECOME REAL, TOO.

[neverjoinyou]

So you've basically... made wishes come true? That's how you're doing this?

[tetractys]

YES! EXACTLY.

WE'RE USING A THING I FOUND IN FANTASIA! FOR WISHES!

SOME PEOPLE MIGHT MAKE THINGS BY ACCIDENT, TOO. HAD TO MAKE SURE!

[neverjoinyou]

Bill.

[He's trying so hard to keep his cool]

How do you keep that safe? That's... Gods. Anything could happen!

[tetractys]

THE ARTIFACT'S DESIGNED TO PROTECT ITS WEARER. WHEN I AMPLIFIED THE WISHING THING, I ALSO MAKE THE PROTECTIVE AURA GO WITH IT. NOBODY SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET HURT, OR DIE. STUFF WILL JUST BOUNCE OFF OF THEM!

SEE? I TRIED!

[neverjoinyou]

You--

[Deep breath, Luke.]

Yes. I see that.

Bill. I understand that you... feel you need this, badly. I also understand that you tried to prevent the worst from happening. But you do realize this impacts people, right? And I'm going to have to tell them what's going on?

[tetractys]

CAN YOUUUU WAIT A COUPLE MORE DAYS?

[neverjoinyou]

What if someone creates something that hurts them? I don't mean physically. What if, say, they're terrified of clams, and they think about clams, and now they're in a panic?

[tetractys]

KIND OF THEIR FAULT FOR BEING AFRAID OF CLAMS! HAHAHA!

UH, EH, OKAY. SERIOUS. I CAN'T FIX THAT PART, BUT THEY CAN IMAGINE SOMETHING THAT PROTECT THEM FROM CLAMS! OR SOMETHING THAT DESTROYS CLAMS! OR THAT THE CLAMS ARE FRIENDLY! THERE'S A LOT OF POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS BUILT IN!

[neverjoinyou]

Okay, even if I grant you that, they still need to know what's going on in order to implement them. Right?

[tetractys]

[BIG SIGH Luke found the loophole.]

YEAH...

LOOK, CAN WE AT LEAST PLAN WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SAY? I THINK PEOPLE COULD GET ONBOARD WITH THIS, BUT THEY'D NEVER TRUST ME TO TELL 'EM ABOUT IT.

[neverjoinyou]

[Okay he hadn't actually thought Bill would agree. He must really want this.]

Well, I was thinking, something like:

Attention residents of the Barge. It has come to my attention that the reason for the recent rash of gravitational and spacial anomalies is an attempt on the part of my inmate, Bill, to improve his situation. While I do not approve of the way in which he went about this, it's done now and it was done with safeguards in place to reduce the risk to all of us.

While I am dealing with this issue, you should know that you may begin to see things created by your own mind. Please keep in mind that they cannot harm you, and take precautions.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience this is causing, and I assure you I am going to take every available action to fix this.

[tetractys]

UH HUH. UH HUH. BUT WHAT IF WE DON'T SAY IT WAS BILL?

[neverjoinyou]

Right.

How long do you think it'll take them to figure that out? If I don't tell them, that's more time I'll have to take answering their questions.

[tetractys]

HERE'S MY PRIMARY CONCERN! I WANT TO BE READY WHEN WE DOCK. I DON'T WANT PEOPLE STICKING US BOTH IN A CELL SO THAT ALL OF THIS WAS FOR NOTHING.

WHAT IF YOU TELL THEM MORE ABOUT WHAT I THINK? WHAT IF WE CONVINCE THEM THAT I'M DOING THIS FOR EVERYBODY?

BECAUSE I KIND OF AM!