Maketh Tua (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mismanagement) wrote2016-01-25 02:02 pm
mismanagement) wrote2016-01-25 02:02 pm
Entry tags:
IC Contact Post [Hadriel]
This is Maketh Tua. State your business.
Oh yeah? What's it like?
[Also is she implying people in her world travel to other planets? Because that sounds awesome and he's all about that.]
[Also is she implying people in her world travel to other planets? Because that sounds awesome and he's all about that.]
Hot. Frustrating. [Maketh grimaces. She was born there, sure, but that doesn't mean she has to like it.] There were a lot of problems. I would have rather been stationed elsewhere, on one of the inner planets, but those positions are very competitive.
[She pauses.] Does your world have space travel? It seems rare, from what others have said.
[She pauses.] Does your world have space travel? It seems rare, from what others have said.
[Huh. He's still curious, but it seems kind of like a sensitive subject so he lets it go for now.]
We have space travel but it's really limited. Like, we can get to our moon but we haven't done it in forty years or something, but there's plans to go to one of the closest planets in the next few decades or something.
I'm guessing there's a lot better spaceflight where you're from, though.
We have space travel but it's really limited. Like, we can get to our moon but we haven't done it in forty years or something, but there's plans to go to one of the closest planets in the next few decades or something.
I'm guessing there's a lot better spaceflight where you're from, though.
[Maketh rests her chin on the heel of her palm, considering this.] It's commonplace. Has been for a very long time. But you only have one planet? Truly?
[She has trouble imagining that. It must be very crowded.]
[She has trouble imagining that. It must be very crowded.]
That's awesome.
[Seeing other planets, especially as just a normal part of life, would be super cool.]
Yeah, just one planet, Earth. There's eight planets total in our solar system and then like, some ridiculous amount of dwarf planets, but Earth's the only habitable one. The others are gas planets, freezing, scorching, have no atmosphere, or any combo of those things.
[He really liked his gen-ed astronomy class.]
[Seeing other planets, especially as just a normal part of life, would be super cool.]
Yeah, just one planet, Earth. There's eight planets total in our solar system and then like, some ridiculous amount of dwarf planets, but Earth's the only habitable one. The others are gas planets, freezing, scorching, have no atmosphere, or any combo of those things.
[He really liked his gen-ed astronomy class.]
That's...strange. [The universe is so vast to be left unexplored. Certainly there uninhabitable planets back home, but there were always more that could be taken if needed.] Your entire population on a single planet. How was your government structured?
[Tell her details, Chris. All the details.]
[Tell her details, Chris. All the details.]
Yeah. I think there's like seven billion people now?
Geez, now you're asking the hard questions.
[He's not nearly as good at this subject, but he'll try and answer he question anyway.]
The planet's split up into lots of different countries, and they all have their own governments which are all kind of different. The country I live in's called the United States and we have a whole complicated voting system for a president and a senate and representatives. Other countries are like, monarchies or dictatorships or communist or a whole bunch of other things.
Geez, now you're asking the hard questions.
[He's not nearly as good at this subject, but he'll try and answer he question anyway.]
The planet's split up into lots of different countries, and they all have their own governments which are all kind of different. The country I live in's called the United States and we have a whole complicated voting system for a president and a senate and representatives. Other countries are like, monarchies or dictatorships or communist or a whole bunch of other things.
Oh. That's not as many as I expected.
[Still substantial, of course, but Maketh has been to places that had almost twice that. She supposes the planet might not be physically large enough for more. Maketh leans back in her chair, clearly fascinated.] That...that is hard for me to imagine, so many different types of government in a single place. It sounds...chaotic.
[Though perhaps not bad. Just different.]
There are...other ruling bodies, of course, but their power is minimal in Empire controlled space.
[Still substantial, of course, but Maketh has been to places that had almost twice that. She supposes the planet might not be physically large enough for more. Maketh leans back in her chair, clearly fascinated.] That...that is hard for me to imagine, so many different types of government in a single place. It sounds...chaotic.
[Though perhaps not bad. Just different.]
There are...other ruling bodies, of course, but their power is minimal in Empire controlled space.
Do most places where you're from have more people than that?
[He's totally curious]
Yeah. Chaotic's a good word for it. Unfortunately there's a lot of fighting between countries because of it, but at the same time like... There's lots of totally different cultures that find ways to work together, too. A lot of our space and science things are joint projects between tons of different governments.
[He considers her statement a moment.]
So this Empire runs most of the planets? What sort of government is it?
[He's totally curious]
Yeah. Chaotic's a good word for it. Unfortunately there's a lot of fighting between countries because of it, but at the same time like... There's lots of totally different cultures that find ways to work together, too. A lot of our space and science things are joint projects between tons of different governments.
[He considers her statement a moment.]
So this Empire runs most of the planets? What sort of government is it?
The inner planets tend to, yes. It...varies greatly. Some are barely inhabited at all.
[The universe is very large. Even the Empire has trouble keeping track of them all.]
That...hmm. That is very different from what I know.
[Whether it's good or bad, she can't say. Maketh is quiet suddenly, focused on her hands. Finally she looks up. The truth remains what it always has been, and she has to acknowledge her part in it.]
You'd call it a military dictatorship, I believe.
[She had believed it the best way - the only way - for a long time.]
[The universe is very large. Even the Empire has trouble keeping track of them all.]
That...hmm. That is very different from what I know.
[Whether it's good or bad, she can't say. Maketh is quiet suddenly, focused on her hands. Finally she looks up. The truth remains what it always has been, and she has to acknowledge her part in it.]
You'd call it a military dictatorship, I believe.
[She had believed it the best way - the only way - for a long time.]
[Emily hadn't exactly asked him to do anything, though he also hadn't said he wouldn't. So after a bit of debate he does eventually decide to send Maketh a message, because he needs to work this out now instead of just letting things be--or get--weird.
His voice and expression are both a little tense, but not angry. Not friendly though, either.]
Okay, so, I'm gonna like... Assume you have more to the story than what Emily told me.
[Mostly because he knows Emily can be difficult. There'd have to be something very large that Emily left out in order to change his opinion on the whole thing, but he should still give Maketh a chance to tell her side of things.]
His voice and expression are both a little tense, but not angry. Not friendly though, either.]
Okay, so, I'm gonna like... Assume you have more to the story than what Emily told me.
[Mostly because he knows Emily can be difficult. There'd have to be something very large that Emily left out in order to change his opinion on the whole thing, but he should still give Maketh a chance to tell her side of things.]
[In way she's been expecting this. A reckoning of some kind. She hadn't thought Chris would be involved, but there you have it. Things never go according to plan, and this is an abject lesson in the price of failure.
Maketh's face is perfectly blank when she responds.]
There is nothing to discuss.
Maketh's face is perfectly blank when she responds.]
There is nothing to discuss.
[He gives her a flat look that's somewhere between genuinely unimpressed and mockingly unimpressed.]
Maketh, come on. You know I don't like, take just being brushed off on this stuff.
Just talk to me, okay? I'm trying really hard not to be pissed, so can you at least like... Respect me enough to tell me what the hell happened?
[This is all way too familiar--and personal--to him and so keeping his tone even is difficult, but he's doing his best.]
Maketh, come on. You know I don't like, take just being brushed off on this stuff.
Just talk to me, okay? I'm trying really hard not to be pissed, so can you at least like... Respect me enough to tell me what the hell happened?
[This is all way too familiar--and personal--to him and so keeping his tone even is difficult, but he's doing his best.]
[She's drawn too flat to have any real reaction to his words, emotional or otherwise. At the moment, Maketh is operating on protocols and muscle memory. Part of her feels asleep.]
I struck a civilian without provocation.
[It's really quite simple.]
I struck a civilian without provocation.
[It's really quite simple.]
Yeah, okay, sure. But why, exactly?
[Part of him is sympathetic--a lot of him is sympathetic--but not enough to let this go.]
[Part of him is sympathetic--a lot of him is sympathetic--but not enough to let this go.]
Doesn't matter.
[She hit a civilian. There is no excuse.]
[She hit a civilian. There is no excuse.]
Of course it matters why. There's a ton of reasons why it matters.
[Sometimes why is even more important than what.]
[Sometimes why is even more important than what.]
[She just gives him a flat look.]
The only cause to strike a civilian is sedition or threat to one's safety. There was neither.
[It does not work like this, the system has rules that must be followed.]
The only cause to strike a civilian is sedition or threat to one's safety. There was neither.
[It does not work like this, the system has rules that must be followed.]
Yeah, I'm not asking because I think you had a good reason.
[There's just a hint of sharpness in his tone this time, but he still doesn't sound angry.]
I'm asking so I can understand why you did it anyway.
[There's just a hint of sharpness in his tone this time, but he still doesn't sound angry.]
I'm asking so I can understand why you did it anyway.
[This time, it takes Maketh a while to come up with a response. Part of her just wants to turn the damn phone off and go to sleep. It's the middle of the day still, but she's tired and maybe if she takes a drink or three, she won't have dreams.]
The--
[She's quiet again]
Wendigos. Were discussed.
The--
[She's quiet again]
Wendigos. Were discussed.
Okay.
[Emily told him that much, but it's a start.]
And so you were... Mad? Freaked out? What?
[Emily told him that much, but it's a start.]
And so you were... Mad? Freaked out? What?
I don't remember.
[It's not that she blacked out - Maketh can list the events as they happened, has already run through them in her head a dozen times - but that she can't recall exactly what she was thinking. There must have been a reason. There's always a reason.]
[It's not that she blacked out - Maketh can list the events as they happened, has already run through them in her head a dozen times - but that she can't recall exactly what she was thinking. There must have been a reason. There's always a reason.]
[His eyes flicker briefly; he doesn't disbelieve her, because he's had his own experience with that.
But it's not a good enough explanation, because there's still this twisting feeling his stomach that's way too familiar. The only way he can keep it--and all the emotions swirling with it--under control is so focus on trying to resolve the problem.]
Okay. So how are you going to make sure not to do it again?
But it's not a good enough explanation, because there's still this twisting feeling his stomach that's way too familiar. The only way he can keep it--and all the emotions swirling with it--under control is so focus on trying to resolve the problem.]
Okay. So how are you going to make sure not to do it again?
[Maketh was sitting on the couch when she got the first message. She's lying on her side now. It's more comfortable. It would be nice to go to sleep, she thinks, and ignore this for a while.
Not that she will. Unprofessional.]
I won't speak to her again. Unless needed.
Not that she will. Unprofessional.]
I won't speak to her again. Unless needed.
That's totally not an answer.
[But he's starting to lose patience, not specifically even with her, just the situation. His thoughts are drawing more and more inward, to other memories and experiences, and it's making it difficult to stay as neutral as he's trying to.]
But fine. For right now like... I guess that's best.
[He almost adds something else, but he can't make himself say it and that's probably for the best.]
[But he's starting to lose patience, not specifically even with her, just the situation. His thoughts are drawing more and more inward, to other memories and experiences, and it's making it difficult to stay as neutral as he's trying to.]
But fine. For right now like... I guess that's best.
[He almost adds something else, but he can't make himself say it and that's probably for the best.]
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