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.
1/2 (I think you are the sole recipient of all of her multitags so far)
[ There's a pause here. Does the relic show the little typing dots? If it does, there you have it. ]
I'm sorry that happened to you. It's good that you're taking precautions. You're right in that it doesn't seem to make sense to try again when he's already decided not to kill you. I'm assuming he didn't explain his thought process to you?
[ Alternatively: WHO DID THIS, I WOULD LIKE A WORD. ]
It is an ongoing and relentless problem that my odds of getting an answer to a question are inversely proportionate to how personal that question is to my life. It took a decade to even get anyone to tell me my mother's actual name. And I asked. A lot.
I intend to find out though, hence wanting to know how to not get horribly killed in the process in case he changes his mind. I don't think he will but I didn't think he would the first time either.
[ ...so he was taken as young as she was too. She wonders if they told him the truth about his mother. They'd lied to her about it. And she'd believed them for years. ]
I see. I'm glad you didn't give up until they told you.
Approaching him with this will be difficult. He clearly had strong motivation to kill you and equally strong motivation to change his mind; assassins don't often do that. Your approach will remind him of an incomplete job, and that will likely add to his reluctance to talk to you.
Then again... he might also want something from *you*, likely related to whatever changed his mind. It's possible you can broach a trade of information.
[ Natasha debates about whether or not she should just ask who it is; in fact, she could easily offer to get Sephiroth the information herself, and she could probably do it, too. But... she's not sure that's the best course of action. There are clear complications here, and she needs to be careful.
But she hasn't seen any history of violent action committed by this fourteen-year-old boy in all of her scourings of the network, and whoever this assassin was went after a kid, no matter how highly trained or altered. That... deserves a question, at the very least. She's not going to be able to let that go.
And it's better not to make assurances when her hope is to continue to cultivate some kind of trust with this boy in order to better understand what's been done to him and maybe, maybe, be able to give him the tools to break free from it. He deserves to be able to make his own choices and deal with those consequences. ]
It's never a good idea to become so focused on an aspect of your plan that you forget your primary goals. [ This is possibly the last bit of strategic advice she's going to give him until she knows more about the situation. ] You don't want to be so focused on finding out why he is going to kill you that you encourage him to try to do it again. You have a life here to keep living.
I'm hoping explaining it won't last will prevent that. But if he tries again, I'm not going to stand by and do nothing this time. A Turk isn't a good matchup against a SOLDIER unless they can prepare ahead of time, and if I do the ambushing it'll eliminate that advantage.
[ ...she should probably just stay out of this. Death isn't permanent here. And he's right - against a super soldier, an unprepared assassin is in trouble. (If they are truly unprepared, that's on them.)
...she's not going to be able to stay out of this. ]
Be careful. I understand that this is not something that you're starting, and that you have the training and the capacity to pull off a successful ambush. But conflicts like these can tend to escalate, and death is only the last thing that can happen to someone, not the worst.
I also want you to recognize that by asking me these questions, you've involved me. I am not going to try to stop you, but I am going to look for more information. If you'd like to make that job easier on me, the name of the Turk would be helpful.
[The response is delayed. No typing dots, just a Read notification.
She's right, he's once again involved an outsider in his problems, whether or not he intended to. And if she went investigating and got hurt doing it, it would be squarely on his shoulders.
If that's the price of reaching out, then that was unacceptable.]
I understand.
Please allow me a day or two, and then I will do as you ask.
[ Natasha worries in that time that she came off a little harshly - that wasn't what she meant to do. But she wanted him to understand that he opened the door she's going to have to walk through. ]
It's not wrong to involve others when you are looking for a different set of expertise. But this is your life and your call, and I will respect your choice. Even if, as I said, it goes against a strong cultural and genetic imperative.
[ A beat. ]
You didn't ask me what I became once I stopped actively assassinating. I told you I was involved in crisis management, but on my world it has a more specific name.
Just as I am not responsible for your choices, even though I am concerned about your safety as you carry out your plan, you are not responsible for mine.
What people do with the information they are given is on them, even though it does not feel clear cut. I've found the best thing to do in those circumstances where I still feel responsibility is to attempt to find a way to work together.
[But that isn't something he'll win her over on, he suspects. There is likely something he can do to make sure nothing happens, it'll have to be considered for a while. He can be reckless with his own safety, but someone else's?
Even someone who specialized in 'crisis management'. An Avenger, by her world's terms, apparently.]
Yes. I prefer it if we can prevent the harm from happening. But if we can't, we can at least discourage it from happening again through the same individual. That's why we took on the name. And the responsibility that comes with it.
In the context of, if you were to tell me something and my actions were based on that information, yes. However you have not, therefore you are not. My plans haven't changed any.
There's nothing that requires avenging here. If there seems to be, then I have failed to adequately explain.
[ Natasha abruptly finds this whole thing very, very ironic and therefore just shy of hilarious. ]
Empathy and responsibility are important, powerful traits. Maybe now you see why it would be so difficult to tell someone that you are looking to avoid assassination without engendering concern. I've already told you I'll let you choose your course of action and wait to hear from you before furthering involving myself; I am a essentially a stranger, an adult, and highly skilled in assassination protocols, and you are concerned for me. I'd tell you not to be, but I don't think that would be effective.
Instead I'll tell you that I don't mind being involved. I may not be able to help very much since you've asked me to wait, but if the situation changes to something that does need avenging, I hope you'll let me know. No one's managed to assassinate me yet, and many have tried.
[Sephiroth is obviously very used to rules applying to him and not to other people, even ones that are just self-imposed. He knew exactly how durable he was. She ... as far as he knew, was perhaps very skilled, but only human.
Maybe he should ask. She might not be. Either way, he had to work on his impulsiveness before it got someone killed.]
And what if the situation needs avenging, but it is me who must be stopped, and not him?
I don't like hypotheticals, especially ones without details. But if you feel you need to be stopped from doing something, I hope you'll talk to me before you do it. And if you feel you need to be punished for doing something, or kept from doing something you've done again, then you can speak to me about that too. My answer may not be one that you like, but it will be truthful.
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getscooperation) wrote2024-04-01 07:14 pm
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.
no subject
1/2 (I think you are the sole recipient of all of her multitags so far)
no subject
[ There's a pause here. Does the relic show the little typing dots? If it does, there you have it. ]
I'm sorry that happened to you. It's good that you're taking precautions. You're right in that it doesn't seem to make sense to try again when he's already decided not to kill you. I'm assuming he didn't explain his thought process to you?
[ Alternatively: WHO DID THIS, I WOULD LIKE A WORD. ]
he keeps leaving out the important bits
I intend to find out though, hence wanting to know how to not get horribly killed in the process in case he changes his mind. I don't think he will but I didn't think he would the first time either.
lol, like names XDD
I see. I'm glad you didn't give up until they told you.
Approaching him with this will be difficult. He clearly had strong motivation to kill you and equally strong motivation to change his mind; assassins don't often do that. Your approach will remind him of an incomplete job, and that will likely add to his reluctance to talk to you.
Then again... he might also want something from *you*, likely related to whatever changed his mind. It's possible you can broach a trade of information.
whoops~
I'm beginning to think investing in one of those one time spell scrolls might be a good idea. Sleep is a great equalizer..
no subject
I'm not familiar with time spell scrolls.
[ Natasha debates about whether or not she should just ask who it is; in fact, she could easily offer to get Sephiroth the information herself, and she could probably do it, too. But... she's not sure that's the best course of action. There are clear complications here, and she needs to be careful.
But she hasn't seen any history of violent action committed by this fourteen-year-old boy in all of her scourings of the network, and whoever this assassin was went after a kid, no matter how highly trained or altered. That... deserves a question, at the very least. She's not going to be able to let that go.
And it's better not to make assurances when her hope is to continue to cultivate some kind of trust with this boy in order to better understand what's been done to him and maybe, maybe, be able to give him the tools to break free from it. He deserves to be able to make his own choices and deal with those consequences. ]
no subject
Maybe I'm overthinking it. There's preparedness and then there's doing things that might make it worse.
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...she's not going to be able to stay out of this. ]
Be careful. I understand that this is not something that you're starting, and that you have the training and the capacity to pull off a successful ambush. But conflicts like these can tend to escalate, and death is only the last thing that can happen to someone, not the worst.
I also want you to recognize that by asking me these questions, you've involved me. I am not going to try to stop you, but I am going to look for more information. If you'd like to make that job easier on me, the name of the Turk would be helpful.
no subject
She's right, he's once again involved an outsider in his problems, whether or not he intended to. And if she went investigating and got hurt doing it, it would be squarely on his shoulders.
If that's the price of reaching out, then that was unacceptable.]
I understand.
Please allow me a day or two, and then I will do as you ask.
no subject
It's not wrong to involve others when you are looking for a different set of expertise. But this is your life and your call, and I will respect your choice. Even if, as I said, it goes against a strong cultural and genetic imperative.
[ A beat. ]
You didn't ask me what I became once I stopped actively assassinating. I told you I was involved in crisis management, but on my world it has a more specific name.
no subject
That she herself is a trained killer is largely irrelevant.]
You are very kind to say so, but if others get hurt because of my questions then it is indeed wrong. I won't shirk that responsibility.
Crisis management seemed concise enough of an answer. Is there another term?
no subject
What people do with the information they are given is on them, even though it does not feel clear cut. I've found the best thing to do in those circumstances where I still feel responsibility is to attempt to find a way to work together.
Yes. I am an Avenger.
no subject
[But that isn't something he'll win her over on, he suspects. There is likely something he can do to make sure nothing happens, it'll have to be considered for a while. He can be reckless with his own safety, but someone else's?
Even someone who specialized in 'crisis management'. An Avenger, by her world's terms, apparently.]
Do you?
Take vengeance, I mean.
no subject
Yes. I prefer it if we can prevent the harm from happening. But if we can't, we can at least discourage it from happening again through the same individual. That's why we took on the name. And the responsibility that comes with it.
no subject
There's nothing that requires avenging here. If there seems to be, then I have failed to adequately explain.
no subject
Empathy and responsibility are important, powerful traits. Maybe now you see why it would be so difficult to tell someone that you are looking to avoid assassination without engendering concern. I've already told you I'll let you choose your course of action and wait to hear from you before furthering involving myself; I am a essentially a stranger, an adult, and highly skilled in assassination protocols, and you are concerned for me. I'd tell you not to be, but I don't think that would be effective.
Instead I'll tell you that I don't mind being involved. I may not be able to help very much since you've asked me to wait, but if the situation changes to something that does need avenging, I hope you'll let me know. No one's managed to assassinate me yet, and many have tried.
no subject
Maybe he should ask. She might not be. Either way, he had to work on his impulsiveness before it got someone killed.]
And what if the situation needs avenging, but it is me who must be stopped, and not him?
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