asgardeventide | 001 // voice. day 399.

Entry tags:

001 // voice. day 399.

[ Contary to popular belief, not all of her reminders are sudsy faux pas at raising morale by glossing over the near-imminent end of days with errant chore routines and rehearsed domesticity for the sake of her team, but swapping one apocalypse for another version of the Armageddeon was enough to induce internal hemorrhaging on both accounts (granted, if a certain Assassin hadn't already beat them to the punch). Ascended Fridge Horror was an eternal trope in her line of business.

But Stillman remains composed in her attempt to infuse some vestige of credibility into her message. Professionalism didn't cut slack for even post-mortem workaholics. ]

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lucy. I'm a ... researcher. In light of everything that's occurred recently, I believe it's high time that I become acquainted with you all, if only to extend my support in our shared endeavors. I'll do what I can to help.

That being said: would anyone like self-defense lessons? I realize it's not that much to offer, but if anyone needs a sparring partner, I'm capable of handling firearms, blades, blunt weapons, and hand-to-hand combat. I wouldn't be against polishing my technique with your assistance, either. Payment isn't necessary, but I do have a preference for fixed appointments. Let me know if you're interested and we'll hammer out the rest of the details together. [ There's a nearly pedestrian, lilting pause as she invokes the real intent behind using the network system to contact the general public in the first place. ]

I understand that, for better or worse, we were chosen and forcibly brought to Asgard. But the extenuating reasons behind that decision — whether it's by chance or through ulterior motives — are completely beyond me. I take it some people have had quite a long stay here, and others, like myself, have only recently arrived, but it seems we all share an equal opportunity to leave. The thing is? It isn't on our terms. Only random selection at any given time of day.

I'm open to all possible theories you might have concerning any Traveler's sudden departure, however.

And while I'm at it, is there anyone out there who's returned to Asgard from their original world on more than one occassion? If so, I'd like to ask a few general questions about the experiences in each iteration. Nothing major. [ A beat. ]

Thank you for your time. I genuinely appreciate it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Excuse you, she helped design that hardware. It's not intentional whitewashing, it's called being generic. ~~Animuses~~ ~~Animi~~ Those machines are extremely difficult to produce in bulk, even more so with all indigenous accents intact. ]

I might as well contribute. Having cold feet changes nothing.

To answer your question, I'm a genetic researcher. I study memories. Why do you ask?

[Well, design the next one so it doesn't give him an American accent centuries before America existed. Except don't because no one's putting grandbaby in an Animus anymore.]

Mainly curiosity. I've done a fair amount of research myself since arriving here—the library offers considerable resources.

I wouldn't have thought that memories and...'genetics' have much to do with each other, though.

[Okay yes he only knows what that word even means because of explanations from Desmond and Shaun, and even then, just barely. Mainly he wants to hear what she says.]

[ No one wants to see Desmond stuck in an Animus anymore, grandpa. She even left a call to Vidic about it. (Not that it did Mr. Miles any good, but hey, it's the thought that counts.) ]

It does. I don't know how to ascertain the validity of the Odin District's library, but as long as the information's compiled, it doesn't hurt to look.

[ You don't want to go down this road, Altaïr. Unless you want to be (forcibly) sermonized about every major proponent of neuroscience under the sun, you better flee the scene while you still can. ]

You'd be surprised. It's been referred to as a pseudo-science by many, but I hold the firm belief that's there's so much to learn from our culture — where we come from, our upbringing, and the connection we have with our ancestors. We're the result of thousands of people, timelines and generations all assembled to form the lives we have. A simple concept, but the magnitude of its implications — it's overwhelming.

It's no wonder, then, that there's memory in our genes. We recall the past in our DNA. ... Would you believe me if I said that there was a way to relive the lives the those that came before us, of people already come and gone?

[Forgive him if he doesn't fully trust your intentions.]

It would take more time than you or I likely have left in our lifetimes to verify all of it, but certain concepts can be tested, and those who come from certain worlds can speak in favor of the tomes written about them.

[Don't get him wrong, it's not that he's uninterested in the works written about Asgard itself, but a certain amount of knowledge can be gained just by living here. It's other worlds, other advances, other possibilities that capture his attention the most.]

Overwhelming, but logical, when you describe it like that. No doubt a great deal more complicated in practice. [A pause.] Say for the moment that I would. What would you do with such an ability?

[ Understandable. Not like inexplicably dying from a stab wound, stricken with the polarizing disparities of exsanguination in the course of a few seconds changes anything. No one's bitter here. No one. ]

So I've heard. I've seen and spoken with people I never believed I would in my lifetime, so I guess the alien fanatics were right all along. There are other worlds out there, some probably even beyond comprehension.

[ Lucy mulls over his statement, then acquiesces a slow, precisely deliberate answer. ] Understand what I can. Find the truth, for what it's worth. Learn from what the past has to offer. And finally, use that information to help others.

Of course, this prompts the question: what would you do?

[Life isn't black and white and people can make messed-up choices and even villains can be victims. But he'd be a poor grandfather and a worse grandmaster if he automatically extended the benefit of the doubt to a onetime traitor.

...he has no idea what she's on about with the alien fanatics, though. Sigh. Behind the times.]

It's a benefit of being here. If we must remain far from home and those we love, we can at least learn from others trapped by the same circumstances.

[Her answer is benevolent, if notably non-specific, but then he didn't ask for details, so he'll make a vague sound of acknowledgment before considering his own answer.]

There's as much to learn from the past as there is from other worlds—time and space do nearly as much to separate us from those who came before, don't they?

But perhaps I would do nothing. Every man's life is his own—one might consider revisiting that life to be intruding into his privacy.

[ They all make mistakes. Consider this: Altaïr's less-than-supbar, douche canoe era of his life that got several dozen Assassins murdered, including his (eventual) close ally's younger brother killed. While they differ in areas of ideology, they're all prone to their humanity. She doesn't realize she's familiar with him, but at least he's entertaining her speculations.

It's A-OK, Grandmaster. You're doing pretty great for a 900 year-old man. ]

Likewise. If nothing else, we can work together.

[ She's always wanted cooperation, more than anything else. Maybe that was why she was so affected by the desolate isolation that came with her mission as a one-time Assassin, the steepling loneliness of severed ties in a world where she could die so easily and it wouldn't even matter. ]

Witty. But where I come from, we don't have that option. No one's made contact like this world has. If I returned back home, alive and retaining memories of this place, I don't think there would be a single, wholly sane soul out there that would believe my account.

[ Although it goes unseen, she raises an eyebrow. ] Possibly. But sometimes you've got to make that choice, if just to recover portions of history that might otherwise be lost to time. If we don't take into account the past we all leave behind us, we're bound to make the same mistakes in the present, and subsequently the future.

[Yes, yes, he knows. =n= And while that also led, eventually, to numerous good things in his life, that doesn't mean he won't always have his regrets about it. Consciously or not, he's keeping all this in mind as he tries to develop his own read on her.

Thank you, whippersnapper.]

Even if they would, it's not likely that you'll have the chance to find out. No one I know who's returned home and come back here has remembered their time in Asgard while away from it.

Personally, I believe our experiences here may still affect us when we leave, if not consciously, but even if they do not, does that take away the value of what we can learn?

[You weren't there for the second Animus trip through Altaïr's memories, Lucy, so you may no be aware that he is a huge nerd.

Equally unseen, he nods.] That's a fair assessment. [Honestly, it is. Learning about Desmond's time reliving his own memories in the Animus was strange, but not once did it occur to Altaïr to be angry at him.] It's likely you can gain knowledge of the past more directly here, though—people have been brought from many different times. Speaking with them is another way to learn.

[ The dogma variance between an Assassin-turned-Templar and a douchebag-turned-Grandmaster (wizened and smartened by his years, who would've guessed) can't be typecast to anything resembling conventional, but yeah, they have had their own share in homicide. Indirect (and unintentional) murders were apparently big last season.

At least you're not senile (yet), Altaïr. The little things. ]

I figured as much. If only they bothered to fine-tune the explanation of the process — something tangible and concrete to work with. I'm pulling guesses out of the air.

No. But if no one is around to remember these experiences, they become voided, in a sense. So much of our past has already been lost because those who knew it died out without leaving anything behind.

[ u fuckin nerd. but u forget: the whole assassin team (sans desmond miles, the token american) are equal dweebs, well-versed in some form of poindexter-oriented idiosyncrasies. it's in their nature 2 be astute but lame dorks. ]

Agreed. It was the main point of this network post, actually. What better source to glean info from than the people themselves?

I can't deny I'm curious, though. At a rough estimate, what era would you say you hail from?

[She makes intelligent points, and he approves of the way she approaches the strange and unknown here. She doesn't strike him as the type to become a traitor to any cause she believe in. Which, he realizes, would only make her betrayal more effective.]

I'm not certain I fully agree with you, but you make a point about the preservation and retrieval of knowledge. As for when I'm from...

[What will she become here, away from her life and a war in which she played but one small part? Altaïr can't say. But it's time to end this deception-by-omission.]

I would say around a thousand years before you.

[His voice hasn't prompted recognition, because why would it? Even the accented speech that Asgard's language geas has left him with is unfamiliar. But the face that shows when Altaïr carefully changes the bracelet's setting very much is.

The lack of hood and the scar on his mouth could fool you into believe he's Desmond, if you didn't know any better. But Lucy does, so she should know exactly who this is, waiting for whatever reaction she might have. He's patient; if she chooses to continue sharing only her voice, she'll be able to conceal some of that reaction, but he has to imagine there will be some surprise.]

What do y — [ The most honest lies are the ones people never say.

After disinterring recollections of days spent in the stuttering livelihood of both Templars and Assassins, she couldn't have claimed that her death had arrived as a complete shock. Moreover, Lucy was exhausted of being indebted to the broken cognition of loyalty; tying herself up in the tottering ideals of the greater good or obligations she'd never wrestle free from never did anyone favors.

But this? This was a sick apprehension skipping tracks on syncopated vinyl, a heady kind of disillusionment that left her — vehemently indignant, of all things. For someone who betrayed the confidence of others often enough, it should've been expected that eventually the action would be reciprocated, but the karmic value of just rewards didn't equivocate to excluding the truth in some bait and switch attempt at serrated fraudulence.

When she speaks again, her voice is clipped in vitriol and saturated irascibility. ]

Give me one good reason why I should even listen to anything you say from here on out. If you knew who I was and strung me along like this, then why couldn't you at least attempt to be direct about it?

[Altaïr waits patiently, seemingly not perturbed that she can see him but not the other way around. He expected this; she can take the time she needs. When she does eventually speak, he seems equally unbothered by her tone.]

There is no reason for you to do so if you don't wish to. I did not speak with you to influence you, Lucy Stillman. I wanted to hear what you had to say.

[To get a read on who she is. To know how she would speak with a stranger. Conversations over magic jewelry don't reveal the heart of a person, but instincts mean something and they have to start somewhere.]

You know who I am, and I know something of who you are. We both know it would have changed things had I shown my face immediately.

[She would have been even more guarded. As it is, he's not foolish enough to believe she doesn't still guard herself. But if he can't truly know her yet, he at least has a better idea of her than he would filtered through Desmond's guilt-ridden descriptions and her own increased wariness.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

001 // voice. day 399.

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice;

voice; -> video;

voice.

voice. now private.