002 action - Backdated to the 14th
[Knuckles browsed though the bookshelves in the library, the guide had said he probably wouldn't find my information here, but he was going to try anyway. The few people he'd met seem to expect him to take what was writing in the guide as fact. But Knuckles couldn't not check, just like he couldn't pretend his time here was a “vacation” like
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... It's just too bad that it's on paper. Robert doesn't think he'll ever be completely used to paper. It just makes him wonder how many trees had to die.
At any rate, though, a fellow skeptic is definitely appreciated, and so Robert would totally empathize with what Knuckles was doing - if he noticed it, anyway. Right now, he's rather engrossed in a book about chelonian health and anatomy. (Were Knuckles to know Robert a little better, he might be able to guess why he's reading it...) Or at least, he was engrossed. The sight of a dimunitive, bright red, spiny looking non-human sapient definitely grabs his attention.
But the first thing he does is ask, in a nervous, halting, but clearly curious voice:]
E-Excuse me, but... might you, er, need some... a-assistance perusing those books?
[Robert's not exactly tall, either, but he's probably taller than Knuckles.]
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I can manage. [And indeed he does manage to get the book he was reaching for.] Thank you.
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He looks over at the shelf, then studies the book Knuckles is holding with some interest.] Ah... might you be r-researching something as well? Perhaps I could... be of assistance.
[Robert, of course, tried to look for information on Luceti himself... and got thwarted fairly readily.]
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I'm looking to see if I can find any useful information about this place.
[Knuckles' isn't having any more luck than Robert did.]
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Unfortunately, that seems to be n-nearly impossible...
The Malnosso are... quite diligent about keeping that information out of our reach.
[Robert sighs and presses a hand to his forehead. He remembers scouring the place for even vaguely-helpful books, and finding nothing.]
And asking them is likely even less helpful...
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I expected as much, and I wouldn't believe anything they told me anyway.
But I can't not look.
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And searching for information is... c-certainly more useful than just accepting things passively... A good scientist always analyzes the situation.
[So saying, Robert gnaws his lip gently and sweeps his eyes over the shelves.]
Information is a precious commodity in this place... we have so little of it, comparitively, about our situation... which is infuriating.
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No one's ever compared me to a scientist before.
[And seeking information that's not there to find is sadly something Knuckles is rather used to.]
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[Robert studies the books on the shelf Knuckles was searching.] I am still s-somewhat... unused to books. I suppose I will be for some time yet...
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[Knuckles looks down at the book in his hands.] You don't read many books?
[You sure look like the bookish type.]
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... They were phased out after an environmental disaster called the Great Cleansing... Amongst other d-damages done by my imbecilic ancestors to the environment, the tree cover on land suffered a dramatic drop of almost two-thirds...
Suffice it to say that after those incidents, the T-Terran Government put extremely strict regulations on the u-usage of tree products... including paper.
[And this might explain why Robert touches the books so carefully, with an almost disturbed reverence reminiscent of somebody handling a pelt from an endangered animal.]
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Did your world recover?
[Knuckles is careful too, but more from the fact he's used to dealing with ancient scrolls than mass produced books.]
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... There is a r-reintroduction process going on, though. But it is slow; it has to be, to a-allow... environmental stability.
[Wistfully:] There are species of trees here that are extinct on Terra...
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...Maybe you can try to sneak some back with you?
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[He pauses thoughtfully at this.] I h-hope, one day, that there will be... open t-transportation between the multiverses here and Luceti.
... There are people here I... w-would not wish to leave for anything.
[He wants to either take them home with him, or take him home with them.]
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