IV: Bride of Chucker | [Voice | Action]
[Mike is... better than he was. The events of the AU were like the best dream he'd ever had, and waking up to harsh reality was all the more painful this time because everyone else remembered the dream too. It was like being stripped bare in no way he'd ever experienced, nudist that he is, and he doesn't like it one bit.
she knows
After thinking ( Read more... )
she knows
After thinking ( Read more... )
The main method of filtering a message is by enclosing the contents of the message that you wish to filter; said contents can essentially be anything from text you have written to voice or video files you have made. You then specify the people you wish to direct the filter either away or toward; that is, you can either filter a message so that it broadcasts to everybody except those you specify, or broadcast it to only those you specify.
After you enclose the contents you wish to filter, you design a passcode, numeric system, or similar method of deterring those who would wish to see it... Take note that the relative strength of the filter is dependent on the complexity of whatever passcode or equivalent you've designed.
[After a moment, Robert adds:]
... Likewise, you could choose to try to access a filtered message by attempting to enclose the area you think is filtered, and then inputting the text "hack". Then you would have to attempt to decode whatever filtering had been put on the message...
[He's only done ( ... )
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... But it might not bother you. [The tone isn't accusatory, just... faraway and a little sad.]
... A-And this is what I remember of the prototype mining suit I constructed for Ms. Daisy. Or rather, what I thought was a prototype mining suit...
... [He makes a bitter, mirthless little noise that might almost be a laugh.] To think that I thought I had made this with Don's help.
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[And that's all he'll ever admit to you.]
So what is it really, then?
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... Terrifying. [The most terrifying part is that Robert thinks he might actually be almost barely beginning to understand violence.]
... And... it is a... h-highly dangerous weaponized set of w-war armour, from what I could see.
...
I-I don't think it was nearly so dangerous when I built it in that falsehood world, but... but... i-it could still kill.
[So much horror in Robert's voice. Though it's the quiet, cold sort of horror.]
... I... I was friends with Ms. Daisy there. Very close friends. Violence was... a part of that f-falsehood's life...
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[What?]
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The fact I could hurt somebody. Willingly.
That's... [It's one of the central tenets of Terran dogma, and Robert had it essentially ripped out of him for awhile.]
... I even wanted to hurt Helios at one point, because... [Robert trails off awkwardly. He's not sure if he should relate this particular story.] ... Well, I was threatened physically.
... B-But that isn't a justification...
[Even if Don and Helios both insisted it was.]
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... It... was... d-during that f-falsehood only.
[Whelp, he's going to have to explain it now.]
I-I... presume that during that time Helios was... n-not very enamoured of the closeness I had with Giles...
He, er, a-attempted to kill me due to... this reason. O-or perhaps something... else. [Something awkward that Robert would rather not mention unless he has to.] I am... n-not truly certain anymore. In fact, I am n-not sure if that other self was aware.
... A-Afterwards he expressed m-much regret for how it had g-gone and... a-and tried to apologize... he would never d-do that sort of behaviour now.
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[He doesn't wanna know.]
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[Robert shakes his head slightly, his voice a little trembly still.]
... R-Regardless, I should never have wished to cause i-injury to him, or anyone. For any reason.
[Do you hear the shame in Robert's voice, Mike?]
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[Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.]
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... That's wh-what Don told me, but I don't understand.
[Robert can finally put words to his taboos now, after four months. So he says them.]
All m-my life, I've... always thought that violence was despicable, for any reason... I-I was always taught that anybody who c-could fight at all was a barbarian, could only ever be cruel and abominable...
...
... Th-the second part... d-doesn't seem to be true here. Because... because I've m-met many people who... w-who somehow can fight and still, still are good people...
[It goes against everything Robert was ever told, everything Robert was ever taught, everything Robert's society ever dictated. And it confuses and frightens him because he cares deeply about these people, loves one of them almost obsessively now... and yet he can't understand this. He can't understand how that works.]
...
I-I... I don't understand how, but... but.
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...
I-It's just... difficult.
[Robert has never had this concept before. For him, standing by is the only way to deal with violent conflict. Martyr yourself rather than fight back. Don't hurt anybody because that would be stooping to that hideous level.]
... I... d-don't understand how that works...
... Is this like the... "Principle of Least Harm" that Don told me about?
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[Hoboy, deep discussion time. How had Splinter explained it to them when they were little?]
If you see your brother about to be attacked- or, you know, someone you care about- and you don't do anything to stop it, then you're worse than whoever's attacking, because it's like you're saying it's okay for them to attack your family.
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On the one hand, the argument seems... ... Logical. Upsettingly so, because it contradicts so much that Robert thinks.
On the other hand, everything he knows says that that kind of thinking leads to the kind of rampant violence that pre-Terran worlds had.]
...
But... how is it any more justified of me to attack them when they have their own families...?
I would still be harming a person...
[He's definitely looking for holes in this logic, because he's afraid of what accepting it would mean.]
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