Scene #9583: Thanks, I Know That Took A Lot Of Restraint

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	Insane self-directed-racism and petulant tantrums aside, that Mesmer sure can pick a machine. Petra had been somewhat worried about the prospect of moving Dictum over into a proper robot, given that complicated AIs aren't exactly her field of expertise, and Dictum is something way weirder than that besides. She was half considering nervously phoning Dimo for help, because not only would it be terrible for Lilian if Petra introduced some kind of corruption or brain damage when transferring the consciousness over, but she'd feel bad for Dictum too. The machine that Mesmer had been carting the tape recorder around in, though, actually solves that problem on its own. Mesmer had called it some kind of experience inscription machine, back when Petra had drowned Qetra for her to record? Whatever it's called, the retrofuturistic blend of psychic tech that the Mesmer family is known for is basically right up Petra's alleyway to tinker with, and eminently suited to contain ensouled life. For a few hours, Lilian's waiting room in the LSCC is filled with a sprawling mechanical surgery, as Petra simply yanks more and more spare parts out of her reflection in the chrome, but soon enough, it's done. The incription machine looks a bit like the bottom half of one of those vacuum cleaners with the clear plastic dustbin and a bit like a rolling backpack with attachments for all of those goofy Mesmer headbands and EM sensors. Under the glass belljar of its top is a spinning hard drive disk for encoding thoughts, which Petra politely requested from someone besides Mesmer to be given a fresh copy to put Dictum on. From there, it was simple: the machine itself is amenable to transferring Dictim off of the tape recorder, and then she just links them to a neural network within the machine for autonomy and proprioreceptive awareness and comfort. Familiarity with Angela means that a little extending 'tongue' probe that registers taste is non-negotiable. Give it wheels, speakers, cameras, and so on, all things Petra has readily available in her mirror, and it's ready to go. Once she gets permission from Lilian, there's nothing stopping her from just... powering them on and seeing what happens. The toddler-sized glass and chrome robot sits in the middle of Lilian's waiting room, and Petra sits on the ground in front of it, with an espresso in a little styrofoam cup beside her. "Um... hey. Is this working alright?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian, who doesn't have regular shifts at Laplace and spends maybe 20 hours weekly in the LSCC, isn't using her office when Petra needs it, which is good enough for everyone involved. Petra going in and out of it isn't an uncommon sight, and she has the keycards to everything except the actual office room with the computer and filing cabinets, and the lab cold storage. Given that Lilian chose a slightly out of the way location, too, just deep enough into formerly abandoned office space that it's a short walk to anyone else's station, she can work more or less in total peace. How convenient that Lilian had the security cameras inside her corner office cut out of the feed! Yippee! What a coincidence! Outside of a few casual questions about the machinery, some randomly scattered greetings, and an 'I wish that were me' sigh or two, the only risk of 'eventfulness' comes from switching on the entire apparatus. Even as charmingly kludgy as it is, it's five million steps up from decades-outdated magnetic storage tape bolted to an aluminium steel board, and there's no telling what the alien intelligence will do with access to entire gigabytes of storage. The moment of truth comes when she flicks the switch. The wheels spin one short half-circle, stop, then roll forward, back, and forward again. A faint electric whine comes from each camera unit in sequence, with the couple in front clicking as they rapidly switch through lens configurations. The speaker crackles, and the hard drive begins to spin, but what comes through the audio line is . . . Still the sound of clunky retro tape-based hardware, for some reason; clicks, clunks, reels and all. The voice is a little while coming, choice abdicated at the moment for the sound of the same TTS that Mesmer used before, despite it not being installed, albeit significantly more emotive; even if it's only being used to sound like being careful not to have any emotion in particular. "Everything you've installed appears to function. I am unable to conclusively state any more than that." As if to triple check, the little robot wheels back at an angle, then completes a very small circle on the office floor. "Thank you very much. While it was not altogether unpleasant to observe this facility, I am greatly appreciative of these measures. I've already resumed the ego decompression process." Dictum fiddles with various bits of electronics internally, trying to decide which best indicates 'attention'. "Though it may be impolite to ask after you have clearly done me a favour, I would like to know why you felt it necessary to engage in physical altercation with Mesmer Jr. just do do what she herself was already intending." Hm. Without a bland TTS delivery, it's a lot more obvious that this whole tone is 'wary reluctance' and 'cautious reservation of judgement'.
Petra Soroka	Petra sits back on her heels, relief spiking for a moment that she didn't lobotomize the robot by fucking anything up. Heyalexa was a rudimentary AI she made with Eggman's help, until becoming a fully sapient person with Dimo's, and that's the closest thing she's ever done to giving Dictum a working body. "Well, good. That's, uh, good news so far." 'Ego decompression' is definitely a good thing too, even if it gives Petra the little twinge of nerves at 'this person is changing in front of my eyes'. It's possible that a fully reawakened Dictum would consider their previously held opinions as much more important than anything that's talked about during this temporary holding pattern, making this worse than pointless, but it's not productive to worry about that. Then she blows air out of her mouth in a 'where do I begin' type sigh. She slides her foot out from under her butt, rocking backwards and pulling her knee up to her chest. Thinking about how to engage with Dictum and how much weight every specific word carries dredges up sedimentary layers of anxiety over first contact and the concept of 'two', and Petra pauses a few seconds longer to measure her words carefully. "Because Mesmer Jr. is someone who makes a lot of intentions but does everything possible to avoid putting them into action. When I heard about her 'plan' to do that, I guessed, correctly, that it was an excuse to delay letting anyone else talk to you rather than anything else. She doesn't have any knowledge of robotics at all, and the roboticists in the LSCC don't need to know anything about you or the Existential Threat." There's another reason that talking to Dictum makes Petra feel weirdly anxious too. She's inextricably parasocial after having spent longer than their perceived existence inside of their mind, complicatedly fond on contact because of that, stirred up with a slurry of resentment and wariness at someone whose existence goes against several of her fundamental philosophical principles. This mix of distant parasocial affection and individual bitterness isn't actually new to Petra-- it's sort of adjacent to her feelings about Eidolon Squadron, a million years ago, even if it's less acute. She shifts uncomfortably, unfolding and folding her legs on the floor again. "And, uh, I'm Petra. Sorry about building you a body without, er, consulting you on the design."
Lilian Rook	'Well, good. That's, uh, good news so far.' "It is." That's it, for a while. Dictum is busy. Or there's that little to talk about. Or Petra is too clearly 'the enemy' to volunteer any more than that. Or . . . "Better than I ever expected. I'm still taking it in." Dictum says, a little smoother. Awkward. Hanging-leaky. 'Because Mesmer Jr. is someone who makes a lot of intentions but does everything possible to avoid putting them into action.' The sound of spinning reel fills the empty space on Dictum's part. It's inexplicable, but strangely almost comforting; at least in comparison to the sterile whine and clatter of a hard disk drive. "I do not intend to discard your opinion, but, from my perspective, Mesmer Jr. was the first individual after my retrieval to take any action at all. I currently have no information to suggest that her initiative was ungenuine, nor that any other individual intended to take any more immediate action." It's about as Petra fears, on the shallow end. While the HDD churns away under glass, the voice modulation grows increasingly more Polite, capital P stemming from tension. Because she's badmouthing their saviour. "Though I respect and appreciate your efforts so far, I am afraid that I'll have to disagree. There is nothing whatsoever more imperative than every inhabitant of this planet being informed of the Existential Threat as soon as practically possible." Dictum says, staying right there, and not wheeling off down the halls to begin yelling about it right this second. 'And, uh, I'm Petra. Sorry about building you a body without, er, consulting you on the design.' "I have no intent to criticize the specific details of aid that I was rendered unconditionally." Dictum says. The clipped tone verges on the edge of prissiness, then drops off with a quiet tape-switch clunk and the sound of a building rewind. "I'm unsure of why you're offering it." comes only after much too long of a pause. The modulation has reached the level of describably 'droopy', if still androgynously timbreless. "When you cooperated with the Existential Threat Vectors to retrieve me from your vessel, I had assumed that the most likely possibility was interrogation and disposal. I'd thought that I was already too late. But now it appears to be that you are one of only two individuals receptive to dialogue at all." "I don't understand your intentions. You appeared to be in a great deal of pain, before."
Petra Soroka	"Better than I ever expected. I'm still taking it in." Yay! Yippee! Praise! Petra wiggles her fingers against the office floor and rocks back and forth a bit. "I do not intend to discard your opinion, but, from my perspective, Mesmer Jr. was the first individual after my retrieval to take any action at all." This summons up the smallest glimmer of direct irritation from her, though. Less because of the fact that Dictum is defending Mesmer, and more because it's basically the same thing Mesmer said in order to justify herself, so it sounds like Mesmer's arguments laundered through a wounded third party in order to legitimize herself. "Dog, I was unconscious for basically a whole day after that. By the time I even got back into the LSCC, she already had you. Of course no one else did anything, but what else is..." Petra trails off with a sigh. "No, nevermind. I'm not gonna start ranting about, like, petty arguments and personal history to you. It's already a whole new culture and new worlds and everything. And Mesmer was your first social anchor, so, I'll just have to prove being trustworthy over time." She allows herself a little groan, pressing her nose into her knee. "This is the kinda shit that happens when I take one day off." "There is nothing whatsoever more imperative than every inhabitant of this planet being informed of the Existential Threat as soon as practically possible." Petra lifts up her head with a curious little noise. "Hm? Well, not this world. Lilian works here, but she's from a totally different world. It's important to Lilian and Sakura's world, sure, but no one here would have any reason to care, besides, like, scientific curiosity." The idea that Mesmer might have attempted to convince Dictum that she was from the same world as Lilian comes across Petra's mind, and she internally sneers in disgust. That's freak shit! That's like pretending to be childhood friends! How dare she mimic Petra's own sins! "When you cooperated with the Existential Threat Vectors to retrieve me from your vessel, I had assumed that the most likely possibility was interrogation and disposal." Petra sighs again, leaning back and resting her head against the chair. "That'd sure fucking suck, huh? I dunno exactly how it happened that you beamed yourself into the Voyager, but that'd sure be a sudden and disappointing anticlimax for the last desperate hail mary of your planet, right? I'm not cruel enough to do that." Petra makes one soundless syllable of a laugh. "I've been working on this thing called 'empathy'. Earth might not be ready for it, but their kids are gonna love it." Then she tilts her head, rolling it along the edge of the seat bottom. "Pain? You mean back when you got taken into the tape recorder?" She picks up her espresso and carefully takes a sip to check if it's too hot still. It's actually gone totally cold. "Yeah, hence the unconsciousness. But that's sort of a long story. In media res only helps if you end up knowing how the story got there in the first place." "My intentions are..." Petra frowns, acutely aware of the difficulty in explaining the eight hundred years' difference. "To help you understand where you've ended up. And to work for a happier future. I'd be much more inclined to hurt someone who tried to hurt you than to... be hurting you."
Lilian Rook	'Dog, I was unconscious for basically a whole day after that. By the time I even got back into the LSCC, she already had you.' "I apologize for misunderstanding then." says Dictum, immediately exceeding a good portion of people on Earth. "Nevertheless, there were many others who appeared to be in adequate condition." 'No, nevermind. I'm not gonna start ranting about, like, petty arguments and personal history to you.' "I appreciate that very much." Was that . . . emphasis? The cameras focus on Petra, and the audio clicks like a microphone was just turned on. Dictum waits for 'something' before continuing. "Your concern is . . . One moment please." The soft, soothing background noise of tape grain cuts off, then a whine like several mechanical servos operating plays in sequence, finally followed by a disk clatter. "Would I be close to correct if I said that you believe Mesmer Jr. has ulterior motives that wouln't be apparent to me." is followed almost without conversational break; a little bit too fast. Partway through, something clicks into a non-neutral register. "Would it be fair to assume that Mesmer Jr. and yourself have unfrendly history?" It's difficult to articulate, but the vocalize somehow sounds a little less prim? Like it's . . . younger, all of a sudden? "It seemed like it to me. Your commitment to honest communication instead of furthering your agenda is unexpetedly agreeable." 'It's important to Lilian and Sakura's world, sure, but no one here would have any reason to care, besides, like, scientific curiosity.' Dictum appears to be busy figuring out the manipulation of their one robot grabber. The whole chassis rotates slightly in one direction, then the other, gauging the relative stiffness of metal, all the while twisting each joint individually in sequence. "It's common knowledge within this facility that this planet is already facing a global crisis characterized by extreme erosion of foundational natural law. I learned this before Mesmer Jr. said anything about it, simply by listening. I have no reason to rule out the Existential Threat's involvement." Satisfied by something, Dictum tries out the appendage by pointing at Petra with it. One second later, they reel it back partways with a little whir. Too dramatic, probably. "As soon as I had described the common traits of an Existential Threat Vector, Mesmer Jr. clearly recognized signs of one with which she is personally familiar, though she didn't specify its nature or identity. Are you able to confidently rule it out? I still believe it would be far too significant a coincidence to be believable." 'That'd sure fucking suck, huh?' Even without a loading bar, Petra can see Dictum's download progress ongoing by the way the little robot suddenly wheels back one inch, like a tiny recoil; shifted weight, but very obvious. "It would be more meaningful than drifting through extraterrestrial void space indefinitely." they say, quietly uneasy. "I chose to undertake this project on my own. My planet didn't have anything to do with my decision. Except in the way that any sophont's environment foundationally dictates all individual feelings and decisions, I suppose." The pause there is shorter and weirder. "What I mean to say is that I don't consider my actions to be an extension of any collective will. If I fail, it will be by my fault alone."
Lilian Rook	'I've been working on this thing called 'empathy'. Earth might not be ready for it, but their kids are gonna love it.' "Your language has several words for it." Dictum says. Clipped, but, almost pouty? Like a ninteen year-old freshman just heard their professor say something distastefully old-fashioned. "Mesmer Jr. expressed a similar frustration with a perceived lack of cooperative spirit, prosocial intent, and 'common decency'. It seems strange that you would be at odds, if that is the case." 'I'd be much more inclined to hurt someone who tried to hurt you than to... be hurting you.' Other than the distinct sense that 'in media res' just flow over their head, the best impression of Dictum's reaction is that turning around, as if to slowly scan the whole office, wasn't actually necessary to do that. "So far, you have done nothing towards me that hasn't helped me in some way. I would like us not to be at odds. But I consider the prevention of global extinction by neutralization of the Existential Threat to be inseperable from any future more palatable than our present one. And, if I may speak plainly . . ." Dictum waits until having swiveled back around to point the arbitrarily designated 'front' of the robot at Petra. It's only polite. That's when they try a nonverbal sound on, having been unable to do so through TTS. At first it's the thoughtful hum they intended, but then a sharper, upbeat sound follows reflexively, ostensibly very pleased that they can do that now. They wait longer than originally paced. One could imagine embarrassment. "You seem to be excessively attached to no less than two separate Existential Threat Vectors, and are willing to take even self-destructive actions on their behalf with minimal coercion. I don't believe that 'a happier future' is possible to achieve, for an individual who associates with entities that cannot be satisfied unless there is no future at all. To explain your apparent selflessness otherwise, I would presume that you suffer from extreme preexisting attachment to the Existential Threat Vectors' infected sophont forms. I'm sorry, but I don't believe that cooperation will be possible."
Petra Soroka	"Nevertheless, there were many others who appeared to be in adequate condition." Petra gestures derisively, but like she promised, right now isn't the time to start bitching about the undesirable common traits of all of humanity. It'd be annoying, for one, but it'd also communicate a pretty terrible tone for this specific conversation with this specific robot. "It seemed like it to me." The little shifts in Dictum's vocalization are something that Petra is hyperattentive to, both as a result of 'her craft' and in the way that she's meticulously obsessive over anyone she considers 'important'. She perks up, shuffling around again to stop slouching against the bed and folding her knees seiza-style again, leaning forwards with her styrofoam cup held in both hands. "I think both would be accurate to say. Basically the only thing I've ever seen her do, ever, with anyone, is be a stubborn and apathetic bully, complain about doing work, complain about other people not doing work, purposefully needle everyone's emotional vulnerabilities, and be so weirdly-- sorry. Her driving purpose in life seems to be drag people into messes surrounding her, and she regularly and randomly shifts around saying what she cares about in order to do that." She chews on her lip and drums her fingers against the side of the cup. A thought springs to mind that she feels certain is true, but is phrased in kind of a shittily manipulative way towards Dictum, implicitly just replacing Mesmer as being Dictum's sole source of truth. How much social sin is allowed when it comes to undoing the damage that Mesmer's done? Petra uneasily hedges her bets, qualifying her phrasing until she feels morally justified. "To borrow your own worldview for a moment to communicate this, uh... Mesmer is someone with a personal fixation on the 'vessel' individual of the Existential Threat, with no knowledge or context at all about the circumstances besides that. Her fixation is just being a petty catfighting bitch, so there's nothing she'd be happier hearing than that she's actually right to call Lilian a freak, whatever the reasoning is. I think she'd let the world end so that she could point at the wreckage Lilian caused and get the last word of an argument in. But I can't really know what she said to you, and, uh, she and I have fought for petty personal reasons too." "Are you able to confidently rule it out? I still believe it would be far too significant a coincidence to be believable." Petra opens her mouth, hesitates, and frowns. With her coffee gone, she struggles up to her feet and starts tottering over to the meeting room for another one, pausing and turning at the door. "Do you want one? A... flavored drink, I mean. I don't think there's any way for you to consume a stimulant properly yet. Lemme know if you'd... want something like that? I dunno what the chemical situation used to be like for you." When she's brought back either one or two, she tries to answer the question that she feels deeply unqualified to answer, given her lack of knowledge about the nature of the Storm. "So, maybe? This world only unified, like, recently, while Lilian's has been unified for basically a decade or so. I never lived in an isolated universe, but it's generally pretty accepted that, uh, fundamental worldly principles can be pretty different between them, and they stay that way after unification. Like, the world I was born on didn't have any magic. Or, recondite techniques. I'd at least say it would be, um, so surprising that I would never even consider it a plausible option."
Petra Soroka	"It would be more meaningful than drifting through extraterrestrial void space indefinitely." "Fucking! Tell me about it!" Petra gasps in what she means to be sympathetic frustration, momentarily forgetting that what she did is more like sympathy piracy. That's still a situation she doesn't feel like she can explain, though. "Uh, but, yeah. I'm always saying that an individual sophont's feelings are wholly and non-- non, er, everyone's feelings are completely produced by their environment and nothing else. No one ever likes hearing that one." "Your language has several words for it." "English's got lots of words for things that don't exist." Petra lifts up her cup and tilts it to gesture with a slutty little point, sticking the tip of her tongue out. "'Phantasmagoria' is a good one. So's 'free will'." "You seem to be excessively attached to no less than two separate Existential Threat Vectors, and are willing to take even self-destructive actions on their behalf with minimal coercion." Petra lets Dictum get all the way to the point of 'cooperation won't be possible', before standing up and starting to pace around the room. "All four, actually. I've been friends with each of them for different lengths of time, but, uh, overall it'd be fair to say 'a couple years'. So this is actually the part that's most important, to both of us, now." Petra folds her hands behind her tailbone, leaning back to balance them against the corner of an armrest. She makes direct eye contact with the cameras installed on Dictum's body. "None of them have gotten 'worse' in that time. Lilian's gotten better, even. So's Nika. Ash too, really, and Sakura's on her way there. They are, all four of them, some of my favorite people in the whole multiverse, but I don't want the world to end. When I say I want a better future, I mean I want the best future, and not just one that's putting off the end by systematically murdering the people I love. And I've got several reasons to think that's possible. Do you want to work with me on that?"
Lilian Rook	'I think both would be accurate to say.' "I'm pleased to know that we have a common understanding, then." Dictum says, not sounding all that pleased. They do wait, patiently throughout Petra's vitriolic ramble, and even when she cuts it just short of the point at which it might arguably become a tirade. They patiently abide her need for time to think while she drums her fingers, and work the noisy little camera aperatures like impromptu active listening when Petra resumes. Then, after all that time, with that much to think on, Dictum politely yet firmly states: "I understand and respect your point of view, so I feel as if it would be remiss of me not to suggest that you consider additional context that you may have not yet examined." Oh no. "My observations indicate that Mesmer Jr. is biologically and psychologically unwell as a result of extreme overwork and generalized mistreatment by her peers. Though my observations have been limited in scope and duration, I have already surmised that she is subject to considerable racial prejudice within this facility alone, which I cannot help but note bears many similarities to several of the points you've repeated for my information. Rather than considering her actions within the framework of a racial archetype, specifically, arbitrary, emotional, inconsistent and unstrustworthy, I would gently urge you to attempt to consider them within the framework of someone who is isolated, fatigued, frequently provoked, and used to being discredited, ignored, and marginalized. From this point of view, her actions, including her absent intent to cooperate with you, appear much more rational." God. "It is natural to struggle with an inability to detach the original sophont from the Vector's purpose as a carrier of the Existential Threat. I can only hypothesize it is much more so for those who haven't been told of it until now. Your personal attachment is understandable, but so are her negative sentiments as well. More so, her grievances appear valid; Mesmer Jr. has apparently received abuse from the Existential Threat Vector on multiple past occasions, and I theorize that she may currently be an object of fixation for it. Do you believe this is untrue?" God. 'Lemme know if you'd... want something like that? I dunno what the chemical situation used to be like for you.' "I'm still accessing that information. Thank you for your patience." says Dictum, at their previous level of artificial stiffness. Considering the prospect, and the estimated necessary time no doubt, they modulate further again in the direction of before, Dictum dares drive up a little closer, stop short, and tries saying, with something vaguely approximating tone and cadence, "Thank you for offering, Petra." Definitely a little bit young, but not childish. Not masculine, but not very feminine either. Learned but informal. Mild-toned but a bit self-absorbed. If someone had to bet, the safest one would be 'why did you synthesize Shirou and Lissandra of all two people?' They seem pleased with it all the same. 'Uh, but, yeah. I'm always saying that an individual sophont's feelings are wholly and non-- non, er, everyone's feelings are completely produced by their environment and nothing else. No one ever likes hearing that one.' "That's a shame." Dictum says, and begins following around the room. "It's considered necessary groundwork for understanding all other facets of behavioural science." By whom? 'English's got lots of words for things that don't exist.' Dictum doesn't say anything, or really do anything, but somehow the eerie tape-player noises evince withholding a kind of breathy, patient distaste. 'Trying to ignore grandma at Thanksgiving' ASMR.
Lilian Rook	'All four, actually. I've been friends with each of them for different lengths of time, but, uh, overall it'd be fair to say 'a couple years'.' The smooth sound of rotating tape reels speeds up until it finally becomes the background whine of a hard drive. The track-flips compress into platter clicks and arm swivels. 'Do you want to work with me on that?' "I freely and openly admit that I currently posess no working theory as to how the Existential Threat Vector-- I'm sorry, to avoid confusion, I will do as you do and use its former sophont identity name, Lilian Rook, has evaded notice and offset Stage V progression into fatal metamorphosis for the length of time proposed. However, just as I have informed Mesmer Jr., and will happily inform you, the behaviour of any long-lived, unmanaged Existential Threat Vector can be predicted with some accuracy by the observation of semi-regular cycles of behavioural alteration dependent on patterns of environmental stress. While these cycles, especially when carefully managed and concealed by the Existential Threat Vector, can create the illusion of remission of their condition, they will invariably worsen slowly with time." Well, that's a good hint regarding what Dictum was talking about with Mesmer. It doesn't even sound like they mean to keep it a secret at all; as if Petra's animosity were irrelevant; a faux-pas. "While I applaud your exemplary spirit of social unity and responsibility, it would be irresponsible to allow you to draw these conclusions without the benefit of my research and experience. For instance, I have repeatedly and urgently warned Mesmer Jr. against biological termination of life or inducement of excessive or severe ego suppression, precisely because of the tremendous risks to life on your planet by carelessly doing so. Please do not make any unnecessary assumptions." Despite that weird . . . scolding? Almost? Tone, Dictum punctuates the end of their longwinded rebuttal with a synthesized breath, and then wiggles their little grabber along with their wheels and cameras, very pleased with the sound. "Nothing would make me happier than to have your cooperation as well with the resolution of the Existential Threat. That would be preferable in every way to needless animosity and opposition. As my ability to take individual action is currently very limited, I have no reason not to record your own notes and observations, however, I cannot see any reason not to alert the staff of this facility at the earliest opportunity that they are unknowingly harbouring an entity that is potentially dangerous to them and their entire planet."
Petra Soroka	"I understand and respect your point of view, so I feel as if it would be remiss of me not to suggest that you consider additional context that you may have not yet examined." Oh no. Petra slowly sinks her face into her palm, fingers gripping her temples. How the fuck is she supposed to start arguing against the concept of racial disprivilege? This is Petra's worst nightmare! She's being accused of being anti-arcanist just because she thinks Mesmer is a fucking tool! "I'm friends with lots of arcanists," She protests weakly and automatically. That's so pathetic. Petra knows that's pathetic. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, and tries to access a layer of rhetoric where this conversation makes sense to have at all. "I don't have the ability to have sympathy for her for a lot of reasons, but on a certain level, even I know that kind of doesn't matter much. In a circumstance where we're talking about, you know, the end of the world, I'm plenty capable of putting aside how distasteful I find someone as long as they're helpful. I've done it before." She can't help letting slip, "Mesmer can't, but that's beside the point." "In a totally practical sense, Mesmer's personality flaws purposefully and constantly undermine the effectiveness of the rest of the group in order to have her, like, petty grudges get attention. Not just with Lilian, but especially with Lilian. She was brought into this project because of her special specific talents, and given more leeway than anyone else because of that, but can't stop herself from antagonizing everyone else anyways. Whatever else you and I might disagree on, we both know that emotionally destabilizing the vectors of the Existential Threat out of personal fixation puts the entire world in danger." Petra lets out a wounded little 'pfuh' at Dictum saying that Mesmer is an object of fixation for Lilian, halfway to being a scornful laugh. "Oh, she told you things that made you think that, huh? What a surprise. That'd be her dream come true." Petra rubs at her face with the back of her hand like a cat in order to scrub away her sneer. "Mesmer just wants to fuck Lilian so bad it makes her look like a collaborator." After a few seconds, her lips twist into an unhappy frown. It feels almost pointless to say, in that it's a clumsy bludgeon into the wall of foundational disagreements that'll have to be slowly worked through, but she can't not say something. "... And don't call Lilian 'it' under any circumstances. That's... she's from a culture where that's comparable to a death threat." "It's considered necessary groundwork for understanding all other facets of behavioural science." After 'seeing' Dictum be reserved, miserable, and numb for so long, their growing expressiveness makes Petra feel nearly giddy. She tries to hide that fact, but she's still smiling and there's a bounce in her step when walking around the room. "Back at home, you mean? Oh, did you have a name for your world? It'd make it easier to talk about. Lilian's world is 'Earth', if you didn't pick that up already-- well, this world is an Earth too, but, you know, a different one. I dunno their specific IDs."
Petra Soroka	"While these cycles, especially when carefully managed and concealed by the Existential Threat Vector, can create the illusion of remission of their condition, they will invariably worsen slowly with time." Petra doesn't respond immediately, because it's a bit of a mental process to try and dissect the things that Dictum is saying and then apply them to the behaviors of the actual people she knows. When she does, though, her eyes widen fractionally-- that's almost exactly the opposite of what she's observed to be true. With that realization, she suddenly leans forwards, redoubling her attention on Dictum, certain of what angle she has to take now. "While I applaud your exemplary spirit of social unity and responsibility, it would be irresponsible to allow you to draw these conclusions without the benefit of my research and experience." "You're wrong." Petra's refutation comes instantly, but rather than being 'firm' or coming across as angry at all, she's almost breathlessly insistent. "I didn't ever want this to be a one-way street. I want to be able to collaborate, because the knowledge I have on the Existential Threat and the knowledge you have can fill in both of our understandings. The experience I have with the Existential Threat is something you might not even be able to imagine." Petra takes another deep breath, synthesizing the sterile smells of the lab next door and the lingering warmth of this being 'Lilian's space' into one mental model. She traces her thumbnail around the mother-of-pearl inlay in her compact mirror, then grips it tightly. "I don't have magic, I said, but I do have a... combination of talents and machinery, that lets me interact with and observe the Existential Threat since way back before you were here. Specifically, using the Beauty of Ash, I can, uh, modulate the barrier between reality and unreality where the impossible wishes humans can make are held. I've seen the Existential Threat, and spoke to one, so I think I'm kind of uniquely capable of understanding them on a personal level. Both the vectors and the Existential Threat." Petra squishes her cheek into her knuckles, elbow propped up on her hand. "With the use of my powers, it's possible to manifest the Existential Threat themselves... would it be too funny to call that the 'scalar'? Anyways. I can draw out the Existential Threat and speak with them and tend to their needs in combination with the Vector's. Which is dangerous, obviously, but I've managed it, and it results in a more genuinely stable person afterwards. Not just masking."
Lilian Rook	'I'm friends with lots of arcanists' "I see. That is an encouraging sign." says Dictum, now 'decompressed' enough to sound completely unconvinced about it. Surely that particular idiom doesn't translate across light years of distance and centuries of time, but it couldn't possibly inspire confidence either. "Regardless of this fact, I would encourage you to critically examine your existing beliefs regard Mesmer Jr.'s capacity for rational cooperation in mutual interest, with the idea held in mind that even if you do not feel a clear animosity towards 'arcanists' as a group, the ideas regarding them which you have passively internalized through popular sentiment may be colouring your impression of her actions in ways that you would not otherwise be inclined towards uncharitability." Come onnnnnnn. "An example of a simple thought experiment would be to imagine if her behaviours were to be replicated by someone you trust, then to question your initial reaction as to whether they seem to be 'trying to get attention' to you, or whether they appear to be frustrated with struggling to be heard and taken seriously instead. Consider also how that person would act in a similar situation if they perceived themselves to be regarded as expendable by those around them." They really mean it. They're really so absolutely serious about Warmly Encouraging Petra to reconsider the possibility of an unacknowledged Racial Bias. It's the single most obvious explanation for why she seems so down on Mesmer Junior, who has been nothing but cooperative to them, in her sympathetically put-upon way. Clearly Petra is only prevented from recognizing their mutual alignment of interests by societal disharmony! She can hear it in that tensely-optimistic prodding tone. "I agree that actions that exacerbate or accelerate the emotional dysregulation that is common to any Existential Threat Vector are highly unesirable. I have informed Mesmer Jr. of the basic concepts, but perhaps more specific elaboration would be desirable." Dictum says, bland and inexpressive on whether or not Petra is telling the truth about that part. It must be easy to imagine anyone upsetting a 'Vector' for any reason at all. "I have also underlined the importance of careful observation of existential stress points, typically unique to each Vector case, for her own safety and the safety of those around her. Both avoiding escalatory stimulus, and speeding deescalation towards dormancy, are essential in managing a Vector which has begun to experience symptomatic lucidity-collapse events." That's all very well and good up until the last part. Dictum gets to agree with Petra that antagonizing the problem is bad, actually, and also with Mesmer that nobody listens to her and everyone should be nicer, which means that Dictum has no enemies and everyone is on the same page about everything. It's really just that last part that puts them to quiet for a little while. 'Mesmer just wants to fuck Lilian so bad it makes her look like a collaborator.' Where someone might expect cheery indifference or charming, robotically disaffected confusion, Dictum broadcasts five whole seconds of increasingly rough tape grain, and then a strained-disappointed. "Ah." instead. Their manipulator arm moves, then retracts, mimicking the 'second thought' gesture done by the cameras. There was far too much vitriol in that for Petra to be joking.
Lilian Rook	"Mesmer Jr. did not divulge that information." they say, awkwardly, verging on apologetic, as if for missing such an obvious detail (that there was no indicator of). "This information does put certain comments into clearer prspective." Dictum says, credulously. "I admit that this does complicate things as well. Thank you for your honesty and forthrightness, Petra." Oh no they really do just believe whatever they're told first by someone who seems authoritative about a subject they don't know anything about. '... And don't call Lilian 'it' under any circumstances. That's... she's from a culture where that's comparable to a death threat.' Dictum plays a quizzically rising servo whine sound. I makes the "Hm?" that follows totally redundant, if still expressive enough to please them. "I apologize. Is this conversation being monitored? My current grasp of your linguistic norms must be insufficient to identify a more accurate address. Ah, but I will keep this point of cultural sensitivity in mind regardless." 'Back at home, you mean? Oh, did you have a name for your world?' "Yes, but in your language it would only be 'earth' again. We may as well use your name for it. Our name for yours is a literary allusion to a primitive oceanic demiurge figure, unfortunately." 'You're wrong.' "Excuse me?" The words aren't especially prissy, nor do they sound offended at all, but they do mark another step of departure from the almost pre-recorded way that Dictum first interacted with everyone else. Dictum's patient quiet grows strained-feeling, in the difficult interim of waiting for Petra to finish, evidenced by the increasingly loud sound of running tape and increasingly hot machinery; then the word 'collaborate' is trotted out and elaborated on, and the running temperature of the moment winds bakc down again. And then goes back up, because the next thing Petra claims is completely and totally insane. It shouldn't take Petra any effort to imagine why, empathetically or otherwise; she herself still has the memories; those feelings of hate, confusion, pain, and tangled moral self-examination. 'The Existential Threat' means something visible and tangible only once it has become a lurid nightmare made real. A 'Vector' is someone that you've never met, never known, and interact with only in data; reports and simulations and observation records at best, who has nevertheless decided that your life doesn't matter, and some small, loathsome, strangely resilient part of you still wonders if your world was really so flawed that it could deserve what happened. 'Wishes' never factored into it; those are a beautiful concept that belongs to humanity and those people who would see all of it it burn can't have them. Speaking to it, something that can only be loosely abstracted as something with a will, defined entirely by its opposition and mutual unintelligibility to all thinking life, is utterly incoherent as a concept. Dictum cutting off is enough to instill phantom vertigo. The hard drive clacking takes over again, and then a sound plays as though a tape recorder switched off.
Lilian Rook	"I don't think you would lie to me." Dictum concludes. Some imperceptible shift in their synthesized tone makes it sound less like a surreal balance of Shirou and Lissandra, and for that second, much more like something Vertin might say in quiet distress. "If your civilization has developed more effective means of Existential Threat Vector treatment and management than what I am familiar with, it would explain the apparent longevity of your sample population and the unusually slow and stable rate of firmament erosion." Dictum says, quietly. "This was beyond my expectations. Your vessel indicated a very low likelihood of survival, much less technological development effective in combating the Threat. It would go against everything I value to reject this possibility outright." It's only reassuring Dictum themself to say that. Petra already knows that they decided 'everything they value' a couple of months ago from their timeframe. Fear, unease, loss; all of them are still fresh, numbed only by anodyne novelty and unexpected camaraderie. "I do not accept the conclusion that my research or experience are in any way incorrect. However, the range of circumstances in which I know them to be correct does not include circumstances in which an Existential Threat Vector is, to use your words, 'tended to'. I am interested in your findings, and open to collaboration." It's funny that Petra knows from being them that saying so is Dictum forcing themself to make and keep a promise. "Nevertheless, even if you are able to manage and tend to the unique 'needs' of Lilian Rook as an Existential Threat Vector, I don't see any utility in keeping this information secret. Nor in prohibiting Mesmer Jr. from utilizing our countermeasures to guarantee her own safety." Oh right, they were in the room for that. And even if they used the word 'utility' just now, they're back to using contractions again. "If she is aware of her nature, and the threat she might pose to others if induced to a state of lucidity collapse, then a mature and responsibility-minded perspective would understand the need for effective emergency defensive measures towards her. The importance that you've placed on privacy and secrecy regarding her syndrome, symptoms, management, and unique risks, is not encouraging. It leads me to believe that you feel threatened by her instead."
Petra Soroka	"Consider also how that person would act in a similar situation if they perceived themselves to be regarded as expendable by those around them." This is the worst. This is the worst it's ever been. And it's all Mesmer's fault for teaching Dictum about racism! The person least qualified to pull the race card ever! She hates arcanists more than any human Petra's ever spoken to! That all applies to Lilian more than Mesmer! "You know..." That thought makes Petra belabouredly raise her face out from where it was burrowing into her palm. "The problem is, that kind of passive internalization is a really complicated subject. When you were talking with Mesmer, didn't you notice that everything bad she says about arcanists is either directed towards herself, or Lilian? Sure, it's not Mesmer's fault that she internalized that self-hatred from societal treatment, but that doesn't really make her more justified in hating another arcanist for the same reasons." If this is the fucking ideological hole that Dictum wants to go down after an apocalypse and eight hundred years in space, then so be it. Petra was forged in the kinds of touchy liberal internet communities that would get out the pitchforks if someone didn't call a European Black person 'African-American'. She's not going to lose to Mesmer on this. "That's sort of the thing. When I say that Mesmer's personal grudges are bad for the reasons why she's supporting you, I mean that not just for the other reason, but because working with you allows her to have power in the hierarchy over an arcanist, because she hates them and would rather be human. I didn't want to bring it up, because I know you don't have, like, the cultural context for that, but it's a pretty suspect basis for an alliance." Is Petra lying? Frankly, not at all. She doesn't consider this to be the most, or even the fifth most important reason why Mesmer is a piece of shit and Dictum should dump her, but Lilian is obviously subject to the minoritization of arcanists and that drives Mesmer insane out of weird racist self-loathing. Is Petra being manipulative? Yes. But that's what these kinds of arguments are all about. "This information does put certain comments into clearer prspective." Petra grumbles, "I bet it does." Then she sighs, pretty much immediately regretting having to be manipulative at all and intensifying her resentment of Mesmer. "I'm really sorry. You managed to escape the end of your world and survive all that time, and now you've just ended up here with all of these idiotic arguments and people being pointlessly stupid. I'll try to catch you up on stuff over time." "I mean..." Petra starts to say a thought, and the melancholy magnitude of it only hits her after it's started coming out of her mouth. "... You've got the whole rest of your life to live here, after all." "My current grasp of your linguistic norms must be insufficient to identify a more accurate address." Petra shakes her head. "It's not being monitored. Just...." And then she says, for the first time in her life, "She/her. 'It' gets used for objects, or to exacerbate, uh... hierarchal societal power differentials."
Petra Soroka	"Our name for yours is a literary allusion to a primitive oceanic demiurge figure, unfortunately." "Oh, damn! We did that all the time too!" In a realization that's maybe never occured to her ever before, Petra is actually happier whenever they're talking about anything besides Lilian. This particular war already feels like it's gone on forever, even though to anyone besides Petra or Sakura, including Dictum themselves, it's only just been renewed by Dictum after NAZCA's collapse. It'd be so much easier to just treat Dictum as a person that she can help, who narrowly got a second chance on life, and surely has quite a lot of feelings on the home they've lost. But instead, she has to keep arguing and posturing for who knows how long. "Neptune, the eighth planet in Earth's solar system, is named like that. Yours was... sort of too far away for Earth astronomists to really name it specifically, but the star was named Kepler... after a spacecraft named after an astronomer. There's so many planets out there, though; did you guys have an advanced-enough astronomy industry that you could pick out which planets had life on them even all the way back then? To give Earth that specific of a name?" "I don't think you would lie to me." But, back to reality. After establishing her defiant, intense alternative position to Dictum's, the one where Petra is the best scientific hope in existence to shoot for the 'golden ending', Petra's energy depletes again, and she plops down on the edge of one of the chairs, leaning forwards with her arms down between her knees. "I wouldn't. There's been a ton of work going into this since way before you arrived, you know. Her name is Exigent Serenity-- the 'other' Lilian, I mean; her Existential Threat." Petra frowns, in confusion rather than animosity. "Well, sure. Pretty much all of the methods used to work on the Existential Threat on Earth came from somewhere else in the multiverse. Your world was destroyed way before unification, but Tamamo's seal and my psionics are both offworld tools. Earth's development does suck." "I do not accept the conclusion that my research or experience are in any way incorrect." "Right. I'm sorry." It's so easy to apologize and mean it, even when the subject is something as touchy as the prior and present Blooms, when she knows from experience how Dictum's heart feels. This might be how the telepaths feel towards everyone, and as nice as it is on occasion, Petra doesn't think she could stand that at all. Being attached to 'everyone' would feel maddening, with how much effort it takes just to be attached to the few people that she is. "Our worlds took totally alternate paths to managing the Blooms. So I don't know for sure whether the science you did is wrong, or anything. Just, that I want to really emphasize that you shouldn't get tricked into thinking your conclusions are the only conclusions there are."
Petra Soroka	"It leads me to believe that you feel threatened by her instead." That almost makes Petra laugh out loud. It feels like Dictum is trying to have a conversation with the Petra of three or four years ago rather than the one now, which could've almost been possible with a slightly different timeline. It's absurd, but it's also a hypothetical that forces her to think, because it dredges up the internal fixation of wondering whether that Petra would have interacted with Dictum just like Mesmer is now. Would she? Would she have, really? Is imagining that the Petra of back then, who gleefully abused Lilian and tormented her every way she could, would have recoiled upon hearing Lilian so nakedly othered, just self-indulgent? Of course, even if Mesmer is just like how Petra used to be, she still has no obligation to treat her as anything besides an enemy to destroy, but it still feels dirty. "I'm not threatened by her. She's kind to me, and I try to be kind to her. Sometimes it's difficult, but right now I'm pretty sure she's the most stable and happy she's ever been, and both for her sake and the world's, I don't want that to change." There's been a lot of times where Petra's goal in a conversation was to proselytize about Lilian's virtues, but it's so much more difficult when she has to talk about Lilian as a category rather than an individual. If Dictum spoke with Lilian without knowing she was a Bloom, would they even like her? Or would they be more likely to find her off-putting and weirdly antagonistic in a way that grates with their sensibilities? "What you call a Vector is what we call a Bloom, and I think giving them a name of a living thing is way more accurate for how it shapes preconceptions about them. She wants to live just the same as anyone does, and there are things in this world that she loves too much to leave behind. The only goal any of the Blooms have is to live happily, really." Petra leans back and folds her legs over each other, tiredly settling back in the chair. "She's getting married soon. She plans to stay in this world for a long time. Exigent Serenity and one other Existential Threat I've met have convinced me that when they 'go', it doesn't even have to be violent. What happened in your world was revenge. So, let a girl have some secrets, I guess."
Vantablitz Remnants	'You know... The problem is, that kind of passive internalization is a really complicated subject.' "Of course it is." Dictum says, ever so agreeably. Surely there can't be anything like those internet forums where they came from, but they've taken to the discourse naturally. Or perhaps the discourse is simply the natural result of adapting something from there to English? "I do not recall Mesmer Jr. at any point referring to Lilian Rook as an arcanist. If this is a simple misunderstanding, I would be glad to convey any necessary clarifications." Then Petra gets a little further, and Dictum goes quiet again, and then slows the roll of the tape ambiance until the low purr of machinery sounds faintly embarrassed. "I apologize. Was Lilian Rook an arcanist?" Dictum says, once again using emphasis, this time to their own detriment; mea culpa. "I hadn't considered the possibility, as the sophont-form of an Existential Threat Vector ceases to be a relevant typological classification once Incursion Syndrome has progressed to Stage IV. If the species that Mesmer Jr. quote 'shouldn't survive' is in fact the same former species as Lilian Rook, this would lend considerable credence to your claim." For such a charmingly cooperative series of words, they say it so remorsefully. They really must not have the same discourse. Every single thing about this situation would mandate that they glaringly sweat and backpedal while ceding as little ground as possible. "I currently do not posess the ability to discern species as clearly as you. Sex and age have posed little so far, so I had made unnecessary assumptions." 'I didn't want to bring it up, because I know you don't have, like, the cultural context for that, but it's a pretty suspect basis for an alliance.' "I apologize once again. Didn't you previously indicate that your belief was that Mesmer Jr. intended to collaborate exclusively to secure sexual relations with Lilian Rook? Please feel free to correct my misunderstanding, if one exists." How . . . cheery. 'I'm really sorry. You managed to escape the end of your world and survive all that time, and now you've just ended up here with all of these idiotic arguments and people being pointlessly stupid.' '... You've got the whole rest of your life to live here, after all.' The eight-track hitches. It's not here, and not running, but it can be heard jumping anyways, then going quiet, and slowly returning to full roll over time. "I have resolved not to excessively fixate on cultural details. The process of learning the history and values of an entire planet other than my own is not something that I expect to be expedient nor easily completed, and so placing emphasis on value judgements and comprehension of minutiae is not a luxury that I can afford." And, because if Dictum tries too hard to get to know these people-- all of you, here-- they run the risk of becoming excited, and then attached, and maybe invested in people's individual lives again, and then it wouldn't just be about 'the mission' anymore; and that would make it all completely unbearable. "That your people still argue about small things is proof of the time and freedom that they still have. I don't mind it." Dictum says, after some time. "Disagreements over status, popularity, and sex, are things I haven't heard in a long while. I missed them."
Vantablitz Remnants	'She/her. 'It' gets used for objects, or to exacerbate, uh... hierarchal societal power differentials.' "I can happily inform you that I have already grasped that alternative pronouns are utilized to designate reproductive and social classes in this language. The concept is far from culturally alien." Dictum says, then pauses, then double clicks a B-side flip, and tries saying "Humour unintended." like that itself is a joke. "'It' appeared to be the most appropriate, due to the significant estrangement from reproductive and societal caste definitions experienced by an Existential Threat Vector of Stage III or further. I will not commit to this minor error." They pause a second time, and the tape hits play with a period of grainy reluctance. "Mesmer Jr. refers to me as 'it', but does not appear to express any hostile intent by doing so." Dictum plays a bright noise at Petra's apparent enthusiasm over planetary naming conventions. Despite using the word 'unfortunately', the topic draws them closer to Petra's chair in clear engagement. The background noise of the vocalizer becomes-- is that whale song? Off the golden disk? "Kepler has a pleasing sound, even if I am unaware of its context. Our instrumentation was able to confirm that your planet was covered in an unusually large quantity of liquid water and obscured much of our spectrography by volume of atmospheric water vapour alone. It's very unusual for a planet of this size. We theorized at one point that most of its life forms must be aquatic, and therefore any sophont species would likely be as well, but I see now that was in error." But that happy topic can't last in the face of what they're actually here to discuss. 'I wouldn't. There's been a ton of work going into this since way before you arrived, you know. Her name is Exigent Serenity--' Petra already knows how much this is to take in. Petra's experience ends in the vicinity of where Dictum's does in reverse. Neither she nor Sakura were welcome beyond that point. "Even modeling of the Existential Threat as an individuated organism is a radical departure from typical scientific doctrine." Dictum says. A neutral, deeply noncommittal observation. "Providing names to individual instances of sophont-adapted Incursion Syndrome even more so. What you're suggesting is at least not dissimilar to a life cycle." They say it as if to implicitly mock Petra for believing it. They say it with the cautious expectation of Petra having all the answers regardless. The tape-crackle into hard-drive whine spools back up when the words 'seal' and 'psionics' are dropped in turn. "Were you able to verify this information using these means? My first impression is that you were able to succeed in containing the Existential Threat projection specific to the individual Vector without also orchestrating containment and study of the sophont host as well. I would not have guessed this would be possible under any circumstances." 'Our worlds took totally alternate paths to managing the Blooms.' "The divergence is indeed even more extreme than I anticipated, but this stands to reason as simply indicative of the depth and breadth of causative factors that have resulted in Earth's continued survival where countless other planets have fallen silent." Dictum pauses without changing up drive noise at all; a bracing moment of focus, to emphasize something to themself before saying it.
Vantablitz Remnants	"It would be logical to assume from now on that major deviations from the presumed limits of possibility are explanatory and not aberrant to the situation that is inarguably ongoing. Do not worry. I have no intent of maintaining my previous views in the face of factual evidence." It's perhaps still a bit of a jab, a challenge, at Petra, but still. 'I'm not threatened by her. She's kind to me, and I try to be kind to her. Sometimes it's difficult, but right now I'm pretty sure she's the most stable and happy she's ever been, and both for her sake and the world's, I don't want that to change.' It isn't difficult to imagine the stab of how unhappy that makes Dictum feel to hear. They don't really try to hide it, but they don't linger on it either. "From the limited exposure I had while confined to her research quarters, my first impression of her was of a psychological profile that might be accurately described as brittle, impatient, adversarial, and territorial. At the very least, we are in complete agreement that it runs against our purposes to exacerbate her condition. I have no intent to antagonize her; I merely wish to be accurately informed of the risks inherent in her latent abnormalities." 'She wants to live just the same as anyone does, and there are things in this world that she loves too much to leave behind. The only goal any of the Blooms have is to live happily, really.' Dictum plays tape crackle so intense that it may as well be fireplace ASMR. They forcefully convert it into a stiff, forced-sounding sigh instead. "That is highly unusual." The silent, reluctanct emphasis is on 'is'. "I will reserve any urgent and specific recommendations until such a time as my grasp of the situation is significantly more complete and accurate. I would like to state that I have not been convinced of any inherent value in secrecy at this time, and I don't believe that it outweighs the potential dangers of refusing to inform this facility of her nature. I will not take any actions to inform others until we have reached consensus on this issue, excepting of course eventualities of considerable emergency. I hope this is agreeable." Dictum pauses, and repeats, in softer tones, "I would like for us to be in agreement. It would make it easy to be friends."