[ At this point she’s not sure if he’s reaching out to this thought of being tracked and returned as a thing of hope, necessity, or just… conditioning. It’s hard when they train you to think they’re all-powerful to realize that their necks snap like everybody else’s.
(Incredibly satisfying, though, when that realization comes.)
So she doesn’t point out that tracking devices have a range. ]
A former Turk, perhaps.
Do you want to be returned to Gaia? If answering truthfully over the network makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer.
If it's true that time is paused here, which I have zero actual evidence of right now, then no. There's much I want to get done first so I'm better prepared.
However if it is NOT, then I've been derelict in my duties, and the team I'm assigned to keep alive may be getting into trouble. I should return if the opportunity arises, before someone gets eaten by a baloir.
That's a fairly sizeable "if", and why I wish to take precautions. Being shot isn't very pleasant, I'd like to avoid it.
If nothing else, it's not like it'll kill me for long. I'm sure sooner or later even a master assassin will get bored of trying to eliminate the same target over and over, and then we can have actual dialogue. Thank you for the suggestions.
[Nope, it's pure revenge and he hasn't really clued into that yet. You can't reason away revenge easily.]
…again, I hope you can see how statements like that are a reasonable cause for concern.
[ Natasha has already thought of over a dozen ways of dealing with someone who she wanted dead if they showed up here. The most pleasant of them involves a deep dark pit and spikes. She’s sure anyone else with similar training could come up with similar solutions. Sephiroth is not safe.
But she’s only met him via text. She’s seen the extent of his conditioning. She’s listened to the confidence with which he speaks of his own skills. She knows exactly how dangerous child soldiers can be, and the way he speaks of scientists makes her cautious. Natasha has seen too many unspeakable things to assume Earth holds the sole patent on them.
Still, he asks good questions. He’s a child. ]
Whatever other precautions you take, your best bet is still going to be finding out if he wants to kill you, why, and then working to see if you can eliminate that cause. Hopefully you’re right, and he will not engage in a futile exercise.
[..Clearly his wording needs work, of all the things left out of his education, simple things like interacting with strangers really could have used more time. Another thing to try out at school, practice was obviously needed.]
I don't, but I'll try to remember it for the future. I'm sorry if it's alarming, I'm really quite okay.
The rest will have to wait and see. This "trial" currently going on is remarkably distracting.
Shinra Electric Power Company is one of the major world powers to be had on Gaia, it began as its namesake and has since grown into a significant national presence, long before I was born. They still specialize in bringing modern tech to poorer regions of the globe, providing cheap energy, medical care, sanitation etc.
I have, but closely monitored and always with more experienced fighters, as is standard. I believe about ten? But don't take me wrong, it didn't happen often. Most of my education has been simulations.
No, it's more of a lack of a filter I suppose? Imagine you see a man with an absolutely terrible looking hat, and he asks you if you like his hat. You WILL tell him exactly what you think of that hat, whether or not you want to.
It's not the most efficient way of doing things. But many cities and nations welcome Shinra as well. Some actively lobby for reactors in their area.
There are others, but not many. Until now, most SOLDIERs are pretty standard recruit from adults who apply and pass basic training and can get through more advanced training. But better results can be had if you don't wait until a combatant is twenty before you start their training, then there's years and years of bad habits that need to be undone first.
We do have a public security force roughly analogous to most nations' armies, based on some searching I did to try to compare.
[ 'But better results can be had if you don't wait until a combatant is twenty before you start their training, then there's years and years of bad habits that need to be undone first.'
Wow. Wow. This is bad. This is... really bad. And she can't even get to his world to light it on fire.
And he'd try to stop her if she did. Man, they got him good. Shit.
(She bets they told him he was unique. She bets they told him he never failed. She bets they made him feel so special even as they were torturing him -- his attitude toward doctors? toward scientists? advanced results? -- that he believes they are his home and that everything that's been done to him has been done for some... greater good. Fuck.) ]
I'm only trying to make connections, not argue Shinra's policy.
Consider this for context: In most civilizations, the adult is stronger than the child. Whose responsibility is it to protect? The stronger or the weaker? Or is there a more nuanced stance?
Is Shinra also your world's governing agency, in addition to an extremely aggressive developer?
[Her suppositions unfortunately, aren't at all wrong.. but it's not all words and platitudes. Sephiroth is the single most lethally dangerous thing Shinra has ever produced, the result of countless man hours of research and experimentation and lost lives. Little things like friends and family would simply get in the way, positive attachments would be a problem, curiosity could lead to questioning orders - the science department worked hard to create a perfect, obedient monster.
They succeeded.]
I see, my apologies.
Ordinarily it would be the adult, of course. They would presumably have the strength and education to do so, and even on Gaia that's the standard. It simply isn't the case with SOLDIER.
There's other nations and powers; we don't have a single world government. Shinra's merely the most recent power to rise.
[ When they'd told the same things to her, it hadn't been words and platitudes either. She was the Black Widow in a program that produced hundreds of them. However, for Natasha, the conditioning didn't fully take. Maybe it was because it had been interrupted. Maybe it was because it made her so angry, and she'd learned to bury it, folding it over and over like a steel-forged sword, deep in the forge of her heart, until she could use it. Even after Graduation, for those years that they had her... the first chance she took to escape, to tear them down, she took.
Here, she sees, terrifyingly, a mirror of what she could have been.
And she doesn't know how to help him. She can only work to try to get him to ask his own questions.
But he is asking them. And the conditioning is still so strong that even when he sees the dissonance, he swings back to the party line. What can work on this? (What had caused this?) ]
I think it's valuable that you recognize their policies would be a point of contention. No apology is necessary, although I appreciate it as an indication of your understanding. And that is, in fact, the correct social formula.
Why isn't that the case with SOLDIER?
Shinra is a nation, then, as well as a company with a 'national presence'?
One of my teachers was fond of telling me that you can lead a chocobo to water but you can't make it drink.
The strength and education we have to complete our duties far outstrips what others can do. It's not hyperbole! I could probably throw a small car at someone if I needed to. I can't accept that simply because I'm young I should stand by and allow those more fragile than I to be in the way of danger.
We have a similar saying about a horse. I am not sure what a chocobo is.
It's admirable and appropriate to want to protect those who are weaker than you, especially if they are in your care. I've known quite a few people who are younger whose physical abilities and training outstrip those who are older, so what I am about to say is *not* a reflection on your abilities. You wanted to know why what you were talking about was something that was upsetting even though it was not a live scenario. It's a question of care, purpose, and responsibility.
In my experience across most cultures, children are viewed as precious. The purpose of a child is to exist and to grow. As they grow, they take on responsibilities that, hopefully, benefit the community, but they are still *children*, and given the opportunity learn in an adjusted manner. They are vulnerable. There are those who would exploit that vulnerability for their own pleasure and purposes, and it is the responsibility of the adults in their communities to prevent that exploitation and abuse. As you are still fourteen, danger to you falls in a powerful cultural and genetic imperative that, although your abilities and training are no doubt formidable, is not so easily overridden by simple facts. What makes that worse is that you are speaking of a danger which is incredibly specific: For me, it makes me think that something has already happened to you.
And I don't like that.
[ Natasha is well-aware that what she's said is risky, but she hopes she's couched it in enough cultural terms that Sephiroth will be able to listen to it. She is attempting to explain her position, after all, not attacking Shinra. ]
A domesticated, herbivorous monster used for transportation and companionship.
[So basically a horse. The rest though, takes longer to process, and leaves with it a creeping sense of unease. Was she just guessing, or did she already know what she was writing to? Some of it suggested she viewed him as many did, just a child in need of sheltering and care, but other parts..
No. She wasn't trying to tell him to not act like a monster. Just.. act like a child.]
I think I understand. In that case, no amount of attempting to reassure you that I am in fact alright is going to help, is it? Rightly or wrongly, everything I write would by necessity be viewed through a lens of suspicion that I have been misled or on some level don't understand.
[ Well, at least he's still talking to her. Natasha had worried that his conditioning was so strong that even as carefully couched as she could implant the ideas, he'd not only dismiss them out of hand, but feel compelled to sever the connection or even attack her. ]
Not at all. To assume that just because someone is a child they have been mislead or are incapable of grasping the nature of their situation would be a grave miscalculation. Besides, that is not your only defining characteristic. Not all of us have had typical childhoods, and those experiences must be taken into account. As we said before, people are complex.
...that said, I'd probably feel a lot better about it if you could tell me why you're so sure an assassination attempt won't happen. Some people tell me I'm a difficult person to reassure.
Oh. Because it already happened, and he didn't finish the job when he had plenty of opportunity. He brought me to a hospital instead. It wouldn't make much sense to try again.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
getscooperation) wrote2024-04-01 07:14 pm
no subject
(Incredibly satisfying, though, when that realization comes.)
So she doesn’t point out that tracking devices have a range. ]
A former Turk, perhaps.
Do you want to be returned to Gaia? If answering truthfully over the network makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer.
[ She just wants him to think about it. ]
no subject
If it's true that time is paused here, which I have zero actual evidence of right now, then no. There's much I want to get done first so I'm better prepared.
However if it is NOT, then I've been derelict in my duties, and the team I'm assigned to keep alive may be getting into trouble. I should return if the opportunity arises, before someone gets eaten by a baloir.
no subject
In that case, if his purpose is to return you, then your purposes are aligned. That should present you with little difficulty.
[ Or, you know, NOT, depending on if that actually is why he wants to kill you, which she very much doubts. ]
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If nothing else, it's not like it'll kill me for long. I'm sure sooner or later even a master assassin will get bored of trying to eliminate the same target over and over, and then we can have actual dialogue. Thank you for the suggestions.
[Nope, it's pure revenge and he hasn't really clued into that yet. You can't reason away revenge easily.]
no subject
[ Natasha has already thought of over a dozen ways of dealing with someone who she wanted dead if they showed up here. The most pleasant of them involves a deep dark pit and spikes. She’s sure anyone else with similar training could come up with similar solutions. Sephiroth is not safe.
But she’s only met him via text. She’s seen the extent of his conditioning. She’s listened to the confidence with which he speaks of his own skills. She knows exactly how dangerous child soldiers can be, and the way he speaks of scientists makes her cautious. Natasha has seen too many unspeakable things to assume Earth holds the sole patent on them.
Still, he asks good questions. He’s a child. ]
Whatever other precautions you take, your best bet is still going to be finding out if he wants to kill you, why, and then working to see if you can eliminate that cause. Hopefully you’re right, and he will not engage in a futile exercise.
no subject
I don't, but I'll try to remember it for the future. I'm sorry if it's alarming, I'm really quite okay.
The rest will have to wait and see. This "trial" currently going on is remarkably distracting.
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Would you like me to explain why it's concerning? It may involve asking personal questions.
What aspects of the Trial have been distracting?
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Did you know a toy appears every time you eat a potato wedge?
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[ ...a toy? ]
No, I didn't. What kind of toys?
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Keychains with cartoon dogs on them mostly, so far. And a knitted tiny truck. I'm trying for a stuffed animal so I can give it to a classmate.
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How long have you served as a SOLDIER? How many combat missions?
I'll have to give it a shot. I like potato wedges.
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All my life. I was raised by Shinra for this purpose, but my first solo deployment has only been right before I arrived here.
They're quite good. I don't recommend the icecream, as tasty as it is, it can make you say embarrassing things.
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What is Shinra?
Have you been active in the field before this deployment? If so, at what age?
What kind of embarrassing things? Random noises?
propaganda!!
Shinra Electric Power Company is one of the major world powers to be had on Gaia, it began as its namesake and has since grown into a significant national presence, long before I was born. They still specialize in bringing modern tech to poorer regions of the globe, providing cheap energy, medical care, sanitation etc.
I have, but closely monitored and always with more experienced fighters, as is standard. I believe about ten? But don't take me wrong, it didn't happen often. Most of my education has been simulations.
No, it's more of a lack of a filter I suppose? Imagine you see a man with an absolutely terrible looking hat, and he asks you if you like his hat. You WILL tell him exactly what you think of that hat, whether or not you want to.
no subject
How long has it been standard for Shinra to use children as soldiers - or SOLDIERS? Were you the only one being raised this way or were there others?
I am asking to establish context. I'll attempt to explain why shortly.
...I see. Yes, I think I will avoid the ice cream.
no subject
There are others, but not many. Until now, most SOLDIERs are pretty standard recruit from adults who apply and pass basic training and can get through more advanced training. But better results can be had if you don't wait until a combatant is twenty before you start their training, then there's years and years of bad habits that need to be undone first.
We do have a public security force roughly analogous to most nations' armies, based on some searching I did to try to compare.
???
1/2
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh boy.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh boy.
Wow. Wow. This is bad. This is... really bad. And she can't even get to his world to light it on fire.
And he'd try to stop her if she did. Man, they got him good. Shit.
(She bets they told him he was unique. She bets they told him he never failed. She bets they made him feel so special even as they were torturing him -- his attitude toward doctors? toward scientists? advanced results? -- that he believes they are his home and that everything that's been done to him has been done for some... greater good. Fuck.) ]
no subject
Consider this for context: In most civilizations, the adult is stronger than the child. Whose responsibility is it to protect? The stronger or the weaker? Or is there a more nuanced stance?
Is Shinra also your world's governing agency, in addition to an extremely aggressive developer?
no subject
They succeeded.]
I see, my apologies.
Ordinarily it would be the adult, of course. They would presumably have the strength and education to do so, and even on Gaia that's the standard. It simply isn't the case with SOLDIER.
There's other nations and powers; we don't have a single world government. Shinra's merely the most recent power to rise.
no subject
Here, she sees, terrifyingly, a mirror of what she could have been.
And she doesn't know how to help him. She can only work to try to get him to ask his own questions.
But he is asking them. And the conditioning is still so strong that even when he sees the dissonance, he swings back to the party line. What can work on this? (What had caused this?) ]
I think it's valuable that you recognize their policies would be a point of contention. No apology is necessary, although I appreciate it as an indication of your understanding. And that is, in fact, the correct social formula.
Why isn't that the case with SOLDIER?
Shinra is a nation, then, as well as a company with a 'national presence'?
no subject
The strength and education we have to complete our duties far outstrips what others can do. It's not hyperbole! I could probably throw a small car at someone if I needed to. I can't accept that simply because I'm young I should stand by and allow those more fragile than I to be in the way of danger.
It is now.
no subject
It's admirable and appropriate to want to protect those who are weaker than you, especially if they are in your care. I've known quite a few people who are younger whose physical abilities and training outstrip those who are older, so what I am about to say is *not* a reflection on your abilities. You wanted to know why what you were talking about was something that was upsetting even though it was not a live scenario. It's a question of care, purpose, and responsibility.
In my experience across most cultures, children are viewed as precious. The purpose of a child is to exist and to grow. As they grow, they take on responsibilities that, hopefully, benefit the community, but they are still *children*, and given the opportunity learn in an adjusted manner. They are vulnerable. There are those who would exploit that vulnerability for their own pleasure and purposes, and it is the responsibility of the adults in their communities to prevent that exploitation and abuse. As you are still fourteen, danger to you falls in a powerful cultural and genetic imperative that, although your abilities and training are no doubt formidable, is not so easily overridden by simple facts. What makes that worse is that you are speaking of a danger which is incredibly specific: For me, it makes me think that something has already happened to you.
And I don't like that.
[ Natasha is well-aware that what she's said is risky, but she hopes she's couched it in enough cultural terms that Sephiroth will be able to listen to it. She is attempting to explain her position, after all, not attacking Shinra. ]
no subject
[So basically a horse. The rest though, takes longer to process, and leaves with it a creeping sense of unease. Was she just guessing, or did she already know what she was writing to? Some of it suggested she viewed him as many did, just a child in need of sheltering and care, but other parts..
No. She wasn't trying to tell him to not act like a monster. Just.. act like a child.]
I think I understand. In that case, no amount of attempting to reassure you that I am in fact alright is going to help, is it? Rightly or wrongly, everything I write would by necessity be viewed through a lens of suspicion that I have been misled or on some level don't understand.
no subject
Not at all. To assume that just because someone is a child they have been mislead or are incapable of grasping the nature of their situation would be a grave miscalculation. Besides, that is not your only defining characteristic. Not all of us have had typical childhoods, and those experiences must be taken into account. As we said before, people are complex.
...that said, I'd probably feel a lot better about it if you could tell me why you're so sure an assassination attempt won't happen. Some people tell me I'm a difficult person to reassure.
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1/2 (I think you are the sole recipient of all of her multitags so far)
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he keeps leaving out the important bits
lol, like names XDD
whoops~
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