the 002nd. || voice

[implemented]

[ Much like Nigel's first post, there is only silence when the device first clicks on. Eventually, though, the young man on the other end of the connection clears his throat. His tone is politely curious. ]

I've been told that the dead do not stay dead here and in ways much more involved than the occasional curse. Which leaves me wondering, City: is

Comments

[misterblackbird]

I suppose you'll have to find another way to make yourself useful, then.

No, there's far less of a need for undertakers here.

[implemented]

That's rather unfortunate. I have a very limited skill set besides.

My schooling had very little mind for practicality.

[misterblackbird]

It's unfortunate for you and any other undertakers who might find themselves here, certainly. I know a few people who might disagree. It does go against the idea that the undertaker alone will always be assured of his necessity.

And that's rather the case with most schooling, I've found.

[implemented]

[ That actually gets Nigel to laugh. Mostly just breath, but audible. ]

I've learned there's very little considered sacred in this place. Even the most universal truths find themselves overturned. [ A beat, considering. ] Save, that deities rule, of course.

I'd hate to be a psychopomp marooned here.

[ On his end of the line, unseen, Nigel grins at the thought. ]

[misterblackbird]

And perhaps the first 'universal truth' to go is death.

You're close enough to that, aren't you, as an unemployed undertaker?

[implemented]

[ Again, Nigel laughs. Amused perhaps by being called an undertaker a second time. ]

An unemployed undertaker who's never had an opportunity at employment. My father-- [ A sharpness to the word; there and then gone again. ] --would have never approved.

[misterblackbird]

Twice the pity, then.

[implemented]

Mm. [ The sound he makes is somewhere between agreement and disagreement; he doesn't bother clarifying. ]

It's my understanding that adolescents are not required to find employment here in the City. Is that true?

[misterblackbird]

It is true, yes. I suppose it's an act of mercy that the 'deities' or the City or whatever one wants to say have seen fit to do that much.

[implemented]

For varying definitions of 'mercy'.

They say idle hands are the devil's playground, so I'm left to wonder what sort of lesson we're meant to learn from them. [ Not that Nigel wouldn't find ways to keep himself busy. ]

[misterblackbird]

I'm sure you'll find some way to occupy yourself. Most of us have.

[implemented]

And what do you do to pass the time?

[misterblackbird]

Besides seeing to my household, my sister's education, and our well-being during the curses, of course I've acquaintances I like to speak with, the Network to amuse me, and a cafe to oversee. It isn't much, but it is something.

[implemented]

'Your household'. Are you a royal or a domestic?

[ There were other options besides, but Nigel's upbringing meant he automatically assumed a patriarch or a servant of some kind. ]

[misterblackbird]

I'm hardly a royal, but I am an earl.

[implemented]

An earl. [ Nigel mulls over this, trying to decide how he feels about it. It takes him a moment or two to make the connection, but eventually he does. ] Are there many earls in the City? A friend of mine had been meaning to make introductions to one for my benefit.

Cain, I believe his name was.