Stop Having Fun, Guys

[failgoyle]

[It doesn't take all that long after the return to Liminal Space before someone starts flipping out over the psychic network. The only delay might possibly be his trying to figure out how to do this, a few particulars about his new surroundings, and getting his thoughts in order, though it's not like he spent that much time on the latter.]

Okay, you know what? You know what? Everyone who told me this wasn't the work of the True Fae was wrong. So, so wrong! Stop deluding yourselves! I don't care what you call 'em, Trumps or whatever, they're still True Fae! Then there's goblin fruit all over the damn place in here, and if that's not more evidence this is all the work of the True Fae, then I don't know what is! There is nothing that exists out there that thinks this sort of screwing around with people's heads and bodies and making random people think they're something else entirely and leaving freaking magic fruit lying around is a good idea!

Because giving a guy a pop-off arm and genetic hallucinations and hallucinations from all the pop-off arm and all the other tech is just such a great idea to someone out there, sure, sure. Hell, is this even happening right now? Are we even really back? Or am I just dreaming all this again? Because that's totally a thing that could be happening right now! I could be ignoring something on fire and venting us all into space for this!

And I still have the damn arm! Loose. Sitting here. My flesh-and-blood one came back. So if anyone needs a hand, there you go. There you go.

Comments

[awitchdidit]

Hm. Well I will say that the Voyager Witches I'm thinking of never kidnapped, to my knowledge. Everyone walked into their torments of their own will...although I'm not sure about Featherine.

Tell me about the True Fae, though. I gather that they must be similar in capability to the Trumps to prompt this reaction. How do they behave?

[failgoyle]

The True Fae don't care what people want. They just take. They...don't operate on anything we'd consider logic. They just do what they want when they want it, regardless of whether or not they've got to bend the laws of reality to do it.

[awitchdidit]

I suppose that might be a difference. On the other hand, a human with incomplete information might say the same of a Witch, if he was sufficiently awed by our cruelty.

In any event, though, I think we - Witches, Fae, and Trumps - are the same genre of creature, just at different levels of influence.

[failgoyle]

Why you would even want to be compared to the True Fae, I don't even...

[awitchdidit]

Because, sir, the more basis of comparison we have for the Trumps, the more we understand them, and the more we can deduce about their motives and next moves.

No matter how inhuman something is, if it can think, it will take action according to some set of goals and rules. If we can understand the goals and rules, we can start to play the game from our side of the board.

[failgoyle]

No, that's just it, the Fae's way of thinking is inhuman. It's literally incomprehensible.

[awitchdidit]

Useless!

[She catches herself before stealing someone else's catchphrase...although it was pretty appropriate for this guy. She wonders if he knows how to tie a tie any better than he knows how to think.]

If you've given up trying to understand your opponent, you've given up thinking! If you've given up determining what's real and what's not, you might as well die!

[failgoyle]

[He is remarkably unaffected by being called useless. Beatrice is not the first person to throw that word at him, nor will she be the last.]

That's what Arcadia is! It's...it's...unreality!

[awitchdidit]

Is it? Or did the rules on what's real and what's not just change?

[failgoyle]

They crawled out the window and escaped for their own sanity, for the most part. Arcadia's where sanity goes to die.

[awitchdidit]

[System 0.mp3. No, wait.]

Clearly it overwhelmed your senses, at any rate. I suppose I shouldn't expect any more, but if you had information pertinent to our situation and not just screaming, perhaps we could do something about it.

[failgoyle]

Just--

--look. If you see any thorns, that's it, that's the way back. Go through the thorns, and you get out of this crazy place.

[awitchdidit]

Thank you, I'll bear it in mind.

...is now a good time to point out that large sections of Liminal Space are now rose gardens?

[failgoyle]

Rose gardens, not gigantic walls of thorns. There's a difference.

[awitchdidit]

Oh, so size does matter. Good to know.