Don't expect mercy from my government

[poll_the_stars]

One elf is starting to run out of time. The assassins plotting to kill her could show up any day now. She would really rather they didn't.

The irony doesn't escape her. She's still sending messages about her plans to sell off all of her lifespan and die to become a daeva with a lot of OTC currency. If she wanted, she could mint a ton of Ka, then let the assassins kill her. But the idea doesn't appeal. Some form of giving up, of letting them win. She's not often petty, but in this particular instance she thinks she'll indulge herself. Besides, it's not like they're the merciful type. She recalls Aisilian's perfect comprehensioned words. You were in quite a lot of pain...

No. No, she'll - not do that. She'll go spend a little while in Nexus.

She sends Miles a message.

So everything is packed and I have everything I need with me to flee my dimension before I get assassinated. Is now a good time?

Comments

[poll_the_stars]

Giggle.

"A bit, yeah. I wouldn't take a fifty-fifty shot at immortality or death, either. And I mean. There's considering and then there's considering. So I'll likely just throw up again and curl up in my room and probably eat a lot of misery food and suck it up rather than jumping aboard the suicide train."

[all_the_worlds_have]

"I would offer to mint that, if we actually had a sickness coin. But we don't."

She sighs.

"Is there anything else I can do to help?"

[poll_the_stars]

"Thanks for the offer."

She snorts. "I don't know, do you want to help me overthrow my terrible government so innocent people can stop being used as horrible tortured immortality fodder?" Pause. "Well. I suppose some of them aren't innocent, exactly, but - no one deserves that."

[all_the_worlds_have]

She half-smiles with a shake of her head.

"Sorry, that's pretty far outside company regulations, regardless of the whole torture thing. Unless you'd like to buy the services of some of our mercenaries? I hear they have the *GO! GO!*."

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet snorts.

"It's not actually the takeover I'm worried about. I can probably pull that off myself. It's the... Everything after. Fixing a government that's been awful for thousands upon thousands of years. Figuring out how to... The government's done a thing where they censor everything they touch, and don't give people room to grow, and give them this safe little world where they are technically happy but don't - grow up. As people. Anyone who tries... Well, they either get their minds changed, die, or end up like me, on the run. And that is sort of a hard problem to fix." Pause. "I mean that last one's easy, they just stop doing that, but - everything else. Not so much."

[lurkingkobold]

...

...

...

...

...

Perhaps Inavet has been improperly categorized?

...

Perhaps the kobold has been kind of an asshole.

Oh dear.

[all_the_worlds_have]

Eva goes on speaking, unaware of the fireworks inside the impreceptible kobold.

"Would you believe we have specialists in that as well? You might even be able to hire them for a discount: the OTC generally disapproves of theft like that."

[poll_the_stars]

"I have one or two good sources of help," says Inavet. "But I wouldn't turn down another. And I should probably do something useful with my large amount of magical money. I will keep the OTC in mind."

[all_the_worlds_have]

Eva smiles. "Well then, thank you."

She tilts her head.

"Oh, incidentally. This last part isn't OTC business, but... would you mind carrying this for me?"

She produces a smooth orange gemstone that neatly fits into her palm.

[poll_the_stars]

"That depends, what does it do?"

[all_the_worlds_have]

"It records your sense-impressions while you carry it on your person. Apparently you lead an interesting life. As a Sensate, I'm about preserving and sharing the kinds of experiences that you have when you lead an interesting life."

She smiles.

"Incidentally, if you do decide to go commit suicide once you hear from your rainbowy goddess friend, consider this an invitation to go sun-diving with me."

[poll_the_stars]

"Sun-diving. I assume that's what it sounds like?" wonders Inavet, amused. "Maybe. I'll think about it. Uh - does it just record, or do you get a copy...?"

[all_the_worlds_have]

"It records, and is also really amazingly indestructible. If you decide to go diving into a sun it will almost certainly be recoverable."

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet... Doesn't think she has a problem with this. Actually.

"All right. Then uh, sure. Sense impressions don't include thoughts, right?"

[all_the_worlds_have]

"No, your internal commentary on having tea, being shot, or carrying a big awkward heavy crystal around will be entirely yours: the crystal only gets the taste, the pain, and the heaviness."

[poll_the_stars]

"How does it handle magical senses?"

[all_the_worlds_have]

"It handles them well!"

Eva does not quite manage to hide the momentary flash of interest and envy.

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet considers her.

"Do you want to feel a moment of having my magical senses?" offers Inavet. "Though, fair warning, a part of them's still going 'Aaaaa your body is decayed aaaaa.'"

[all_the_worlds_have]

"I'm a Sensate. Having experiences is what I do. What, did you think that diving into the sun was entirely fun for me?" She chuckles.

[poll_the_stars]

"I felt it was fair to warn you!" she snorts. She holds out her hand for the gem. "How do I send you the experience?"

[all_the_worlds_have]

"Just hold the gem for a moment and then pass it back to me. It's practically foolproof."

[poll_the_stars]

"Easy enough."

She takes the gem, hums a little, and then hands it back.

The sensory experience inherent in it is definitely magical. Light is sharper, clearer, brighter without burning, and she can 'see' light without actually using her eyes. There's a crystal Ina's holding that is feeding her very tiny light-based information from the forum, though at the moment it's on the index page. Sounds are easier to pick out, easier to identify. At first it's just the sound of the breeze carrying through the trees, but then Inavet hums, and the magic identifies that the sound is coming from her, and it sounds clearer, with less of the distortion inherent in hearing one's own voice. The trees and plants are easy to identify, and have different sensory tastes, and also hints at tastes, like they can be prodded and there can be more. Notably, Inavet's carrying some things that taste wildly different from the trees - they feel some type of 'spicier', like they are built to do something other than be.

She can identify the breezes around them, and how they move, and what causes what. She can feel the blood in her own veins, and there's definitely an undercurrent of, 'broken, broken, broken, decaying,' but it's very subtle. She can locate Eva, and feel traces of the same information from her, amplified when a finger brushes Eva's skin while passing back the gem, but not long enough to tell anything specific. Just that she is alive. Separate from that sense is a sense of temperature, of things around Inavet but not directly touching her. The leaves on that tree are a little warmer because they're closer to the sun. The dirt underneath the rock is a little bit chilly because there's nothing to give it warmth. Inavet and Eva are both warm and alive and affecting the air around them, warming it slightly, and in turn, the air is cooling them.

There are more subtle things, too. A feeling of magical unity, a feeling of a system breathing slowly around them. Eva's door feels strange to this sense, other, some kind of intruder but also not, it belongs there, but isn't built ti stay. Then, quieter, a feeling of the strength of things around them, where they would break under pressure, what weaknesses could be shored up. Quieter than that, almost ugly-feeling, is a solidity beneath their feet, indistinct and not as clear as the others.

This appears to be what she feels all the time.

[all_the_worlds_have]

Eva stares. First at the gem, and then at Inavet.

"... How much do I have to pay you to get access to this?"

[poll_the_stars]

"The senses for yourself? Or, more senses through me? The senses come with magic, and uh, I am a little concerned about handing it out."

[all_the_worlds_have]

"The senses for myself. I will pay you whatever price you want. I earn a good wage, working for OTC. I have lots of Chrons stored up. What do you want for the senses?"