「 oɴᴇ ☼ vıᴅᴇᴏ ⫻ ᴀᴄᴛɪoɴ foʀ ɢᴇfıoɴ ᴘᴀʀᴋ 」

[corona]

[ It's not unusual. The video just opens on a face: nose, freckles, green eyes the brightest of pretty, muted features and darting nervously back and forth. But anyone in the area may notice the trail of blonde hair leading from somewhere in the middle of the park up into one of the tallest trees where Rapunzel is sitting, relishing her surroundings and hiding at once. ]

So… Is — This is working, right? I mean - I've never really used a bracelet to talk to other people before and - [ she laughs nervously, toys with her hair ] Actually. I've never really talked to other people before in general. It's kind of — Well - [ sigh ] I just really have to ask and - [ she winces ] Sorry.

I need to know if anyone's seen a chameleon around. My chameleon. Well - my friend who is also a chameleon. His name's Pascal. And this is his first time outside too so if you could do me an amazing favor and send him to…Freyr House I think the person said? Or just - return him? My name is Rapunzel and… I would be extremely grateful.

[ And then the brilliant speech segues into a faint half-smile, a smile that eventually freezes as something occurs to her and, feigning bravery, she narrows her eyes, scowling to say loftily: ] But if anyone finds him and doesn't give him back? Or - Or they try and hurt him? I. Will hurt you. Because uh - I have a frying pan? And I am so not afraid to use it.

[ beat ]

Al…so. What's - a god?

[ooc; all-day driving, but tags will come later!]

Comments

[deputychief]

It is perpetually growing, of course -- at least, for the time being. Perhaps there are simply people you don't know about at home.

[corona]

I don't know any people at home.

[deputychief]

None whatsoever?

[corona]

Nope.

Well — unless you count Flynn Rider. But I don't. He ditched me after all. [ HARSH!!! ]

[deputychief]

Well, surely he still counts as a person. Assuming he is a person. Though it was, I'm sure, absolutely cadlike of him to do such a thing.

[corona]

I only really knew him for ten minutes, though. Otherwise? No one.

[deputychief]

Ah, well, I suppose that's more of an acquaintance, then.

May I ask then how you learned language?

[corona]

Oh! Mother taught me to read and write. Unless you...mean speaking? I thought everyone could speak. But does she count as a person?

[deputychief]

I don't know. Why would she not count as a person?

[preparing for something outrageous...]

[glistens]

Oh! Because she doesn't want to cut my hair or boil me in oil.

[ outrageousness achieved ]

[deputychief]

[As much as he could have hoped for and then some.]

Is that what most people want to do to you?

...May I ask what kind of oil?

[corona]

[ This earns him a Look. ]

Does it matter? Oil is oil. It's irrelevant what kind. Stop - [ she hesitates, searching for the right word ] - toying with me. That is what most people want to do to me. Most men.

[deputychief]

Toying with you? I'm very sorry if I gave you that impression, Rapunzel. It seems important to me if it's, say, bath oils or cooking oil. I can readily imagine you in one, but not in the other.

In any case, are most people are men in your world, then? Or perhaps most women are not people?

[corona]

No. Most men in all worlds are cruel.

[deputychief]

Perhaps you're right. Cruelty is as much an innate human capacity as kindness is, but, owing to the patriarchal development of most societies, it seems that it has fallen on men to debase themselves in such a way. It can even be observed in chimpanzee societies. Violence is often the way of society even when it is not, strictly speaking, necessary. But there are forms of solutions to be observed in nature, as well. The case of the matrilineal society of bonobos comes to mind. Humans, however, have not generally been so fortunate to evade such an occurrence. With the development of civilization, however, such unfortunate proclivities have at least been relegated to the subconscious and the background, such that I, for example, assure you I try my best not to be cruel. The extent to which that development truly presages a kinder society is, of course, yet to be seen.

1/2

[corona]

[glistens]

[ Oh finally. Someone is speaking her language! And to think she'd been missing her geology book for the lack of pure, clinical, easy-to-understand, scientific jargon. ]

Then - my suspicions are warranted. Aren't they? Even Mother says people are more like animals than they want to admit. And she would know. If people haven't learned how to - how to be good in all this time...

[ But she looks down. Because despite all this and despite her own words she'd really been starting to like the Outside World and the feeling of trusting others. It felt nice not to fear everything. ] I really...can't expect any better of this city. Can I?

[deputychief]

[---That's a new reaction. It's like he accidentally used an elemental attack that she's immune to...]

Among humans in the most probable of worlds, it seems to be true. But I wouldn't lose hope if I were you, because this place seems to be the most improbable collection one can imagine. Even if it were not composed of unusual people, its small size alone would give one hope, but as it is, it seems like rather exemplary people have been chosen here. Certainly it seems to have naturally fallen under the rubric of "civilization". People have suggested legal systems in the works. All in all, this kind of development mitigates the baser human instincts significantly.

Even if not, the development of social ties is the natural way to push back against this -- and that seems to be happening here, as well. So there is much cause for optimism.

[glistens]

I don't know if the idiosyncrasies of the city or - or the simple fact of making friends - [ Which isn't to say she isn't completely thrilled with doing so or hopeful that what he's saying is true because she totally is. ] - is going to make people better. Is it...?

I mean if that were true wouldn't... Mother have said so? I don't think she would've been as worried as she is if so. Not that it's just her who's worried! We are totally in agreement about that. But. Um. Aha. It just seems...kind of a funny thing to hope for.

[deputychief]

Who knows? People are very much determined by their environments. There are many cases of people dying simply to meet social requirements or expectations, and probably countless others which are less dramatic than the examples I am thinking of. Certainly what they call "human nature" can be subverted by such factors. Perhaps it will even make them better.

It is, perhaps, a funny thing to hope for, but not a bad one.

[glistens]

What do you hope for? [ she looks up abruptly, frowning ] You've been leading me through talking about myself and my world all this time but...I don't know anything about you or yours.

[deputychief]

Me? I hope for world peace, of course.

You know that there are nearly seven billion people in it, Rapunzel. There is an enormous biodiversity besides; I've heard that the total mass of all the ants on Earth is roughly equal to that of humans, or in other words that there are perhaps several quadrillion ants on the planet.

[glistens]

Heh. [ her laugh is just this side of nervous ] Are you sure those aren't just - statistics? That...kind of number - that amount - it doesn't seem real.

[deputychief]

They are both statistics and real, I assure you. Those numbers are small compared to the populations of microorganisms on the planet... And the planet itself is simply one of many in the universe. The universe's scope is exceedingly vast -- mine is, at least, and I see no reason to question it here. Over forty orders of magnitude, in terms of the length scale; and then, there is the matter of time.

[glistens]

Time?