Day 162, closed first, then open. | Come get in more trouble with Colin!

[freedom_engineer]

Who: Colin, Paarthurnax, and others later
Open: Closed, then open
What: Colin wants something dead, and he wants a team to do it
When: Day 162, after Rin's been stabilized and things have settled. (Gosh, sound familiar?)
Where: The Dragonfield, then the Monument as he looks to grab people
Format: Any

PAARTHURNAX!

[The urgency in Colin's tone was evident. He'd taken another bath to get the blood off him, but that scent was unmistakable.]

I need you, we need to hunt!




[Now that Colin had enlisted his air support, it was time to get a strike team. He had no snacks for bribery this time, just an eerie look of serenity on his face as he headed to the monument to track down some heavy hitters. He snagged his amplifier from his lab, so that when he speaks, he's not going to be hard to hear.]

HEY! I need our big guns out here, post-haste! We've got a mission, search and destroy time!

[Dare you approach?]

Comments

[freedom_engineer]

It killed one demon, and nearly dismembered another one before it was driven off. As near as any of us can tell, the attack was unprovoked.

[Colin's tone isn't harsh, and he can appreciate her concern. He's not trying to win her to his side, just stating the facts.]

I have no doubt here that some people are going with me for revenge. As long as it doesn't blind them, I'm not worried about it. Anyone who tries to attack something that didn't do this is going to have to get through me first. Along with the new Ryu, from the sound of it.

[He gives her a sad smile.]

I have considered this, Aoi. Your concerns aren't falling on deaf ears. But we're in danger with this thing out there. Especially since there's a blood trail leading right back here...

[amphibian]

[With each sentence she gets louder and louder, more and more upset.] It—it doesn't bother you at all? That people are ready to put a whole mob and an execution together and call that fair and right?! It did something terrible and it's dangerous...b-but it's still a living thing! And thinking that way about something alive... It's horrible! It's too cruel!

[freedom_engineer]

The world has ended, Aoi. There is nothing nice about this situation.

Identifying and pacifying or eliminating a threat your survival is the third priority in this scenario.

I am not bothered by seeing to that priority. I'm bothered by the thought that there is one less of us than there was yesterday, and that if this thing stays alive, there will likely be even less of us left alive at the end of next week.

[All this is said calmly, even a little sympathetically.]

If this were a perfect world, or if we weren't in a post-doomsday scenario, I would be encouraging a different tactic. But neither of those apply to us right now.

[amphibian]

No! You don't get it! [That calm attitude is just making her more upset, and that sympathy, as though she needs to be pitied, just makes her angry. Tears bubble up at the corners of her eyes and she quickly blinks them away.] You...you really don't think there's anything wrong with taking a life like that...and having so many people just want to kill...

[Even at the trials, there was never any bloodthirst, not even rage—it had all been screaming and crying and silence. No one ever looked forward to an execution. Death was always fear and misery, never vengeance, never justice.

It's just a Gasfella. It's just a Gasfella, but how could everyone behave like this? How could anyone?

She goes quiet and takes a step back, but looks no less emotional.] ...It...it really isn't a priority at all...

[freedom_engineer]

Priority one: Shelter and food. Priority two: Sanity. Priority three: defense against external threats.

This is not like the world you came from. In spite of this relatively serene place we've eked out a home in, the world has ended. We cannot afford to lose ANYONE. And we already have because of this thing.

This is a post Doomsday scenario. There is no government left to protect the people, there is no law enforcement to see to our mundane safety.

Nathan's room was ransacked, NOTHING is going to be done about that.

Night is dead. NOTHING can be done to take that back.

All we can do is make sure that the thing that killed Night and almost killed Rin doesn't have the chance to do it to anyone else.

I'm sorry to be harsh, but right now, our survival is more important.

[amphibian]

You...you don't know anything about the world I came from... [Her hands clench into fists, though not of any violent urge; she can't imagine her anger ever burning so hot. But there should have been protection, someone should have been watching their safety, but somehow that world was gone even before the Calamity struck her.

If he could just acknowledge any kind of conflict, it might be okay—maybe. Prioritization is one thing, but not even having it as a concern...]

Just don't tell me you're sorry. ...I-I hope everyone stays safe out here. [Certainly not a be careful meant for them alone, absolutely not a good luck. But she can't stand to have anyone, anyone at all hurt.

She storms off past him, back towards her apartment. It's about time for some sports.]