Henry "Hotspur" Percy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hotspurred) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hadriel_logs2017-07-13 10:40 am
hotspurred) wrote in hadriel_logs2017-07-13 10:40 am
Entry tags:
I see the arrows fly
Who: The Guard
What: A meeting is called to discuss the Null.
Where: Guard HQ
When: 13th
Warnings: N/A (will edit them in if necessary)
It is past time, Henry thinks, that the Guard discuss the biggest threat this city faces. There has been chance enough for everyone to decide as individuals what they make of the Null. And maybe they cannot plan much, yet, but it is important to talk of what they make of this new development and listen to one another.
At some point they must decide how to proceed as a unified force.
Which is why Henry puts up an unmissable notice informing the guardsmen that they are having a meeting, with the specific time and day listed so that no one can miss it. He also tells each member in person when he encounters them, whether in the office or out on Hadriel's streets.
When the time comes, and he has everyone (or near enough everyone) in the same space, he takes note of who has shown and then opens the discussion with, "I presume you all saw what the Null had to say, even if you spoke not to them yourself. So let us begin with what you learned of them, and what you make of them."
What: A meeting is called to discuss the Null.
Where: Guard HQ
When: 13th
Warnings: N/A (will edit them in if necessary)
It is past time, Henry thinks, that the Guard discuss the biggest threat this city faces. There has been chance enough for everyone to decide as individuals what they make of the Null. And maybe they cannot plan much, yet, but it is important to talk of what they make of this new development and listen to one another.
At some point they must decide how to proceed as a unified force.
Which is why Henry puts up an unmissable notice informing the guardsmen that they are having a meeting, with the specific time and day listed so that no one can miss it. He also tells each member in person when he encounters them, whether in the office or out on Hadriel's streets.
When the time comes, and he has everyone (or near enough everyone) in the same space, he takes note of who has shown and then opens the discussion with, "I presume you all saw what the Null had to say, even if you spoke not to them yourself. So let us begin with what you learned of them, and what you make of them."
no subject
It's a simple response, given fast and without hesitation. Saber's used to making enemies and alliances alike as king, some more difficult than others, but her instincts now are guiding her towards the former. Her stance is rigid as she continues speaking, her voice firm.
"Nor do I trust the beings who call themselves gods. However, they have need of our presence here." Still, the distaste in her tone is clear. She doesn't like being used, even if she's used to that, too. Summoning them here to fight is one thing; toying with them so freely is another. "There is no reason for the Null to regard our lives as having worth. Those who did not perish in battle would likely be disposed of afterward, should they accomplished their goal."
Ota
"They are responsive to cold logic. And we owe no allegiance to the gods."
Her voice is soft.
"That is something to consider moving forward."
no subject
"It read like they were just feeling things out. They might come back soon with some kind of deal... and we'll have to be prepared if people want to take it. Whatever that means for the city." He pauses, shrugs a little. "I haven't been here long enough to have any allegiances but at least with the gods it seems like we have a symbiotic relationship. It's good 'cuz they need us alive... but they also need us here. Which means if the Null offer a way home, people might take that."
ota
"The gods are lawless. We are the only form of order in this city- and serving at the mercy of a regime without order makes our positions difficult."
There's an implication there, of course, that the Null will likely have a more rigid form of order- but whether it's suitable for them or not would be anyone's guess. Rome doesn't have an opinion on what exactly to do going forward, but the structure of the guard has always been important to him, and he knows that his service is made more difficult by the gods toying with emotions.
"I will, of course, follow with whatever our commanders decide."
ota
His hands are twitching slightly, fussing with his gauntlets. He doesn't have his helmet on and the absence makes him feel twitchy, exposed. Not just the scars, though that's part of it. The thought that somebody could just blow his head off and it wouldn't even be hard.
But he's here for information, so he'll listen.
Wander by and he'll strike up a convention.
"So what's your take on all this?"
open
"They want a war. The gods just want to use and abuse us and bring us back if we die. I'm not on either side here. When the Null said this isn't our war or home, I said like hell they weren't. We got pulled here, forced to live here, so it's as much our war as it the gods' now."
Starting fights with an unseen enemy, ready for war at a moment's notice. Ol' Gilbert never changes.
"But..." He sighs. "We don't have a lot of ground to stand on. Metaphorically. I think we oughta wait til Delight 'n Rage get back, and see what they find out."
no subject
"I asked this Null-spokesperson a few questions, trying to ascertain what the Null's real intentions are. It finally admitted that their purpose in contacting us was to determine if we will be an obstacle to their killing the gods. It claimed that it didn't care if we lived or died, but my impression is that if we are an obstacle or an actual threat, or if they even think we might be, they will simply kill us, too."
"I especially find it disconcerting that it says to every person who shows reluctance, Your resistance is noted. Why would that need to be noted, if we are of no interest to them? I think the answer is that they are tallying up the number of people who might be worth eliminating. But I suspect that means that if the score goes over a certain number. . . say, two!. . they'll simply consider us all as cockroaches to be exterminated."
He doesn't mention that he did his part to be counted as resistant. But anybody who read the archive would see that.
"I didn't even consider offering to help them. As they said, they don't need our help, even if we were willing. I don't believe they'd keep any bargains they made with us. Assuming they even made any."
"I don't trust the Hadriel gods, but I think our chances of surviving are better if we resist the Null. Once the gods are destroyed, even if the best possible scenario comes to pass -- that is, the Null only kill the gods and then hightail it out of here without stopping to kill us as well -- we will still die. Some of the installations, such as the electrical power plant, are the work of Hadriel residents and might continue to function. We could continue to tend the orchard and the vegetable gardens, and we could keep killing tunnel creatures for protein. But much of our food actually appears in the stores, courtesy of the gods. And what about the river? That's our sole water supply, and where is it coming from? How does it continue to flow out of the rock? That would be the gods' intervention. And what about the very air we breathe? -- that has to be the gods' doing as well. If they stop providing these services because they are slain, then we will die here."
"Unless, of course, we can find the Door and get control of it. Then we could leave. But to date, we haven't even found it, so far as I have heard, much less put our experts to work on it. And if the gods are dead, we might not have enough air, water, and food left to give us time to succeed in escaping from Hadriel."
"Mind you, if we help the gods fight the Null, and that effort succeeds, then in the long run, we still have the gods to deal with, still have to work out how to free those who want to leave and how to make this place more livable for anyone who actually wants to stay -- assuming anyone does. But maybe we'd have enough time to solve those problems, without the Null."
open!
Needless to say, Nick is uncomfortable with all this. He does his best to subdue it and not let his discomfort show, but those who know him well can probably spot the tension in his brow, the quiet distance in his glowing eyes as he stares at the pen in his hand. Taking notes usually helps him clear his head and put his thoughts in order.
Not this time. It's too close to home. It's all be too close to home lately.
"Just about everyone knows my feelings on the gods," he starts, "but the Null made it clear they don't care about us any more than someone might care about an ant on the pavement. We can cooperate with them all we want, but that same cold logic they operate on is what'll make them turn on us the second we're not useful to them. They aren't even capable of compassion, and they view it like some kind of disease... one that everyone is better off without."
His nose wrinkles; given what he is and what the Null are, he knows he has no room to talk about what it is to be human, what it is that separates them from most machines. Hell, he's stuck somewhere between those two identities, damned to it by the Institute. They were willing to wipe entire settlements off the face of the Earth to get their way, and who was to say the Null wouldn't end up doing the same if they thought it was convenient?
"Either way," he continues, his voice a rumble of thunder, "there's no guarantee for the safety of the people living here. That's our priority."
no subject
The transmission was strange and although Jill didn't interact with them, many others did and the overall vibe doesn't seem that positive.
"They don't see to want us here. It's not our world. They're right about that. It sounds like they have their own business here and don't want us getting in the way. That could play to our advantage, but I wouldn't exactly call them an ally or trustworthy." Not yet. "I'm sure this isn't the last we've heard of them."