= 8 =

[compos_mentis]

[Written]

Anyone know where I might find a fellow by the name of Norrington?
I'm due for a drink with the man.

[There is a pause. Her pen taps a few times before curiosity abounds, and then she just starts to write random terms. Someone, somewhere, must be curious enough to ask her, right. And after spending some time as Fergan, she sure needs

Comments

[Written]

[semper_cogitans]

[Pinged by the word "Terran" and the mention of extrasolar planetoids. That weapon is terrifying, too.]

Fascinating knowledge...

Terran Prime Year? That seems unlike the years that my Terra uses, so it is... a different Terra, perhaps. [A different Terra. That's a little surprising, but not too much so. There were multiversions of everything after all.]

Is that your... weapon? [The word is written with revulsion, if that is at all possible. Mr. Pacifist, here.]

[That death toll is horrifying.] So many killed... what a barbaric action to do. What sort of imbeciles would do such a thing?

[Written]

[compos_mentis]

That's a weapon [That underline is actually a double-underline. She's a professional man, she doesn't hold special attachment to guns just her voidblade

But that's just the first thing she thinks of write in response. The other stuff... well, the Terran inquiry bares no need for her to respond to that and if he cares that much he'll loop the conversation back to it. As for the last question...]

Kotar
Before current galactic civilization there have been others, most of which reached a peak and then destroyed themselves, some more completely than others. The Kotar are a remnant of a very ancient civilization. They were assumed to be wiped out at the same time as their primary rival, the Valanar. Turns out some of them survived and rebuilt.
Also turns out they didn't appreciate the Great Northern Race pushing at the edges of their territory

Re: [Written]

[semper_cogitans]

[All of this makes Robert think. Okay, everything makes Robert think, but ignore that.]

A weapon. That implies there are others. Not that I am surprised, if you come from a universe where that many can be slaughtered mercilessly.

[Robert would tsk if he were speaking.] Sapients, always needing to destroy themselves or another. Or both at once. It is always tragic and cruel to see the results of intelligence wasted on such horrifying behaviour.

Regardless, if these are the sort of thoughts that you must contend with on a regular basis, I have great sympathy for you.

[Written]

[compos_mentis]

Hold up there, you trying to tell me you're not sapient? [With a little arrow to the middle part. ]

Re: [Written]

[semper_cogitans]

If I were not sapient, it is unlikely I could have written this. [Robert's almost amused by this response.]

But I meant in general. Just, my particular universe's version of humanity seems to have overcome this tragic sort of behaviour.

[Written]

[compos_mentis]

[Written under "overcome" is ?? and then she crosses it out before penning in below that]

Tell me more.

Re: [Written]

[semper_cogitans]

Terran society is an inherently pacifistic one. Violence is viewed as the barbaric act that it is, and hence Terrans see no need to engage themselves in it. That neatly avoids most problematic situations involving wars and other such disputes.

[Oh, there are still wars and violence on Terra, but they're all verbal, or through tactics that still do damage - just not direct damage. But Robert isn't conditioned to view this as war.]

1/2

[compos_mentis]

[There is a distinct pause here, one in which she stares at that little passage incredulous glare. No violence? Pacifistic? Even the drak'nathul weren't that shortsighted- no, even the xenii weren't that shortsighted. And to think humans could pull it off? Oh that's rich. That's rich]

[voice]

[compos_mentis]

[There's a tap. She flicks on the voice as she finishes lighting up her cigarette. Exhaling, she presses into-]

Oh, I'd love to hear Ferguson's reaction to that one.

Re: [voice]

[semper_cogitans]

[That moment of silence was enough to set Robert at unease. What does that pause mean, exactly? Awe? Irritation? Silent mocking? Probably the latter.

And then he hears her voice - something he wasn't expecting. Why switch to voice? If it was meant to intimidate him... well, okay, Robert's easily intimidated so it's working.

Ferguson? That name seems like a human one, but better not to make assumptions.]

Ferguson... a colleague of yours, perhaps? And one that finds such a situation unlikely?

[voice]

[compos_mentis]

Ferguson is a sad little man who fancies himself the Solarian emperor. Sitting on his meaningless throne on Terra-Primaire and strong-arms the senate with his pet Illuminati, under some grand illusion that he controls anything of value.

[A deep inhale before she sighs again]

The guy issued a speech a while back about how humankind needs to militarily unite once more to fight back against eternal forces. Hell've a stir.

Re: [voice]

[semper_cogitans]

Sounds like a rather delusional individual. One can hardly deign to control much of worth by force, especially on such a small scale. [Robert's tone is somewhere between annoyance and disgust, though it's clearly directed at Ferguson - or at least, Nina's description of him.]

And judging from how most - [... said with a hint of disdain...] other-universe humans tend to behave, these external forces were most likely motivated to attack due to something this person, or whatever he controls, put into place to begin with.

[voice]

[compos_mentis]

Oh the galaxy's a lot more complex than that. The rondis hate the Walstock company for invading their homeworld, but the only reason they're a thread is they got funded by Overlord Diablos. The Gian hate pretty much everyone, but keep having crusades against the Solarians because they touched down on New Mars at the wrong time, but rewind the clock a little, and you have the brehmens showing up to harass the LCW due to trade interests in relation to hyperspace gate locations.

[That's all said in a few breaths]

Humanity's not special enough to have everything be their fault.

Re: [voice]

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert's thoughtful for a moment. All of these names - species names, he realizes, each with their own cultures and their own practises and probably their own prejudices. Mixing in the general idiocy of most non-Terran to Robert humans wasn't going to help matters.]

That certainly does sound like a... difficult situation. And presumably, there is too much aggression on all sides for attempts at diplomacy to be successful - assuming there are any attempts being made at all?

[voice]

[compos_mentis]

[Okay, she actually laughs here. It's short, cold, but she is honestly amused] Oh there's plenty of that too. Wars are costly, there's only a handful of peoples who would rather take out a gun than put some fancy trade sanctions on someone else when they're pissed off.

Even ignoring the good ol' Commonwealth, you get things like the CUP or that "mutually beneficial" alliance between the LPR and United Giastria, or even the zelgaren's knockoff Commonwealth.

Re: [voice]

[semper_cogitans]

[That laugh stings a bit. Pow, right in the ego.]

I see... That would be true, I suppose. Not that I know much about the economics of warfare, but all that mass production of weaponry would seem to be economically damaging - to say nothing of the environmental after-effects.

Your world has quite a few thriving sapient species, then... even with genocide on the scale you mentioned. [It's... a shocking thought, that 1. there could be genocide and 2. there could be species thriving alongside it.]