[Special 009: Voice] The inheritance of power
[To those who know her, or those attuned to it, Ami's voice seems to be struggling with its composure. The reason isn't evident at first; it's a straightforward question of the sort making the rounds lately.]I've been speaking with Hermione about magic in different worlds. We wondered who comes from worlds where magic power is hereditary, or from
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... And it figures that the Malnosso would kick her when she was down, if she had been. Aino Minako? Robert remembers her, vaguely, as one of Ami's very close friends - and the tremor in Ami's voice betrays that in a way that Robert can just about tell.
At first, he doesn't betray his own feelings, just answers.]
... My multiverse has no such thing as magic, as far as I was aware of.
... An experiment here in Luceti seemed to confirm this, if you would be... c-curious to hear of it, Doctor Mizuno...?
[Well, okay, "not betraying" isn't quite the right term for it. More like... not acknowledging out loud. The shake in his own voice says how he feels well enough, anyway. Says that he's sorry for being silent for the past week, for not making a better attempt to find her, for withdrawing into himself again like he used to do whenever he was terrified of everything. That he's sorry he won't be ( ... )
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You know, it's strange to think of, but I've been here for a year and a half.
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...
... Do you... ever get used to this place? I mean, it's been four months, and I still am not entirely... accustomed to it.
[He's come a long way, though... but sometimes he still remembers Professor Garcia's small smile as she studied his latest report, or his little residential unit, or some other detail from his Terran life, and he feels sad.]
... Th-though I... I have things here I... never had, at home.
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... and one could hardly be more insane than the Malnosso.
Perhaps it's why they are the way they are. [If the Malnosso have been here longer than even they have, it would explain that sort of insanity fairly well.
Robert keeps telling himself that at least he isn't alone here. He has friends. He has what feels like a family, something closer than his own parents were to him. But it just makes him more afraid that one day it'll all disappear...]
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What if she was wrong? What if they left her?]
I don't believe in the Malnosso's good intentions. I believe they're our enemy here. But I don't think it's insanity; I don't think insanity could create this.
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Still, I would overall agree with your assessment. The Malnosso, in general, seem to be cruel in the extreme.
... I hesitate to paint all of those associated with the Organization with the same brush, though...
... But I could be... m-merely being sentimental, in the case of... Ms. Molly. [He... genuinely finds himself drawn to her on some level, even if he doesn't entirely know why.]
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[If she can't relent even for the most important person of all, she won't relent for the all-but-strangers of the Malnosso.]
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Just... I wonder, perhaps, if there might not be some way to surmount the Malnosso... from the inside?
... If there are any Malnossian scientists that perhaps feel a little differently... ... But I would not know. [Robert is disgusted by the actions of the scientists as a collective, but a part of him hopes that there are some that are less abominable.]
At any rate, though, yes. Some method of stopping this has to be found. I only wish we could be seen as sapients and not chattel, but...
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It's impractical. There aren't any channels of communication that can't be monitored. Even when we're asked to believe certain messages are blocked from the Malnosso themselves, there's no reason to assume it's true.
That's why, we can't really plan that sort of thing.
[Ami: slow to trust pessimist.]
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... You're right...
... I just... I don't know. [Said with some mixture of awkwardness and anxiety and maybe just blind hope:] I wanted to think that perhaps there were some who would see us as more than that, but...
... You are certainly correct in that none of them can be trusted. They have not shown any reason to be trustworthy, after all.
[As much as Robert hates to admit it, that there are scientists in the world who can be this disgusting.]
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[She demands proof, with her own eyes; certainly when it's something this large, she can't take it on faith alone.]
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I am not certain how it would ever be possible for the Malnosso to prove themselves to us, though.
... However, I can think of things that would begin the redemption process.
[Such as cooperation instead of altercation.]
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[She'd only trusted Usagi could change things around because it was Usagi. In general, people change slowly, and not much, and sometimes not at all.
Oh, it's possible - she herself is proof of that, as are the shitennou. But magic had also been at work there, even if she knows her own faults, too. But it's not likely, and she's not willing to wait further years for it to happen.]
It's important to go home as quickly as possible.
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[Robert, for the record, doesn't mind spending time here in Luceti. He misses Terra, but for all intents and purposes, if he was to keep the knowledge of Luceti at home then he would be bringing a wealth of information in return, so he wouldn't have technically not been doing anything.
... By contrast, Ami has obligations and duties as a senshi that Robert can't really fathom yet. Give him some time; he may come to realize it eventually.
Some of it is Robert just... not wanting to lose the connections he's made here, though.]
I mean, you returned home once; were you still the same apparent age that you were when you were first indicted into Luceti, if you remember?
... Because, if you were, it raises questions about the mechanics behind the taking and releasing of people here... not that they would be easily answered, to be certain.
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Nothing seemed changed, and, no one mentioned anything strange either. I really did return to the moment I left.
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