03 | audio; forwarded to the 8th

[takeitslow]

It’s almost funny how you guys are rallying around Rinzler lately. All this talk about how what we did wasn’t right, how we need to fix the system here, how we need to be better people. So much outrage, you guys seemed like you really cared a lot about free will and doing the right thing.

And I could have bought it, I really could have, if it weren’t for what happened a few months ago. When the captains did the same thing to someone on board and well, I checked because surely if you’re so upset now it must have been all out war back then. [A small, hollow laugh.] But no. You guys were pretty calm about it. Not even a peep.

And so I started thinking, why? I mean, free will matters right? Justice matters.

There had to be some reason you cared more about what we did to a robot than a mutant, right? Because that’s what he was. A mutant. You even voted to suppress his mutation. Cure him. Temporary of course, because you’re not evil.

It's just, we are. We’re threats. We’re uncontrollable, dangerous. It’s not like we’re real people. Not like Rinzler. [He starts to get louder, faster. Something close to hysteria starting to seep through.] Our free will and DNA and heads, they’re okay to mess with! It’s okay to go after us! Not with a person like Rinzler though. I mean, there’s just a few of us, so it makes sense right? There’s so many of these robots and computers, and you humans out there made them. And that computer can attack and hurt people like us and whatever! The rest of you got to protect your tools.  Got to be able to use them again.

We’re different and everyone always fears what’s different. That’s what it is right? Right? Either that or you’re just a bunch of damn hypocrites pretending majority rule has ever been good for the rest of us. Just rather call out people like me and sit on your asses than ask yourselves why this kind of shit was let go on so long and why you never did anything before! Rather take it out on people trying to do something, trying to survive than fix your own damn mistakes!

So come on. [There's no pretense of calm anymore, but the rushed tone is gone. He speaks slowly, pronouncing each word with vitriol. He wants to be sure he's not misunderstood, that people are listening.]  Which is it?

Comments

[Video]

[devilofohara]

You're wrong.

[Robin her MID on video for one of the first times since she got the damn thing. She doesn't look particularly interested or impressed with what Peter has to say, though.]

Justice doesn't matter, Peter.

[She honestly doesn't care what Rinzler did or who he did it to. He's helping her, so she doesn't think he should be jailed or killed - and especially not brainwashed.]

audio;

[takeitslow]

[He laughs, low and bitter. He actually has a reason to agree with Robin. How strange.]

Not for the people who need it, no. It doesn't. Never has.

[deal]

Do I treat you like I'm afraid of you?

[Because that's the point that she's getting from his tirade.]

[takeitslow]

You haven't. But people don't have to show they're afraid to have a problem.

private text

[meyneth]

[Ugh, this guy again. So, this absolves whatever doubt she had left that he was the one who managed to get Rinzler to Alan. That was the one thing Fiora had wanted to prevent - another altercation between the two of them. So much for that.

Now is as good a time as any to engage him on this. She isn't good at debates or whatever... but she can try to just talk.]

I went after Rinzler too. Before you guys found him.

Why are you so set on this? So determined about dealing with Rinzler?

private audio

[takeitslow]

[He doesn't feel like taking the time to type, the MID responds far to slowly for him to deal with that right now.]

You went after him and you want to know why I want this fixed? Well geez, why did you?

[voice]

[notyoursupergirl]

Isn't like 2/3rds of the ship nonhuman.

[voice]

[takeitslow]

Because all nonhumans are totally the same species.

[text; encrypted]

[trap_factory]

[offline, Prometheus is laughing. He's delighted, this is exactly the sort of thing he lives for. He wishes fervently that Pandora was here to enjoy this--]

how does it go? it's not the gun that kills people, it's the person holding it. don't get too mad at all the humans waffling over their own morality, everyone likes to do backflips to justify themselves and their righteous fury.

hey kid. i see you're feeling worked up over people attempting to make themselves feel better about missing warning signs and jumping the gun. do we need to put you in a time out corner? /joke

[audio; encrypted]

[takeitslow]

[He can't force himself to wait for the MID to respond to his typing attempts today, so he opts to keep speaking. At least this person isn't trying to argue with him.]

If they want to be hypocrites, they have to own up to it. If they can't, there's no point in even this pretend justice system they're running. They might as well just let the chaos start now.

Shut the hell up. This isn't a joke.

action;

[skelepun]

[Since they both caught the broadcast in Peter's world, Sans' has been using his magic a lot more than usual. Sure, teleportation was something he abused enough already, but keeping up with a kid faster than the speed of light meant doing a lot of mental math.

Like a lot.

By the time he finally finds him again, Sans is sweating and Peter is talking into his MID. He only catches the tail end of the rant, from the point of we're threats on down. The kid was working up a real froth, and interrupting seemed like bad form, so instead Sans listens.

Sans listens and Sans cringes. For a variety of different reasons. He waits for Peter to stop broadcasting before making his presence known.]

Sure that was a good idea?

action;

[takeitslow]

[He jumps and spares a nanosecond thought to whether that's how most of his friends feel when he uses his powers. He whirls around, still breathing heavily. The audio must be enough to let people know he's upset, but in person there couldn't be any doubt. He's red faced with tracks from angry tears that dried on the run back.]

Why not? I can't just keep quiet about. They had to expect someone would notice how differently they're treating the situation.

audio

[saveyourserpent]

Ah, you got me. Jumped right into my time travel device just so I could help bring the gavel down.

audio

[takeitslow]

[Oh Liquid. And here he kind of liked you.]

So you weren't there at the time, still doesn't mean it didn't happen. Still doesn't mean that people aren't treating Rinzler like some kind of damn martyr.

video

[noassgardian]

Peter--

[Billy sets his jaw. He probably shouldn't be doing this on a public network post, honestly. It'd be best done face to face.

But he's rash and impulsive enough to jump on here and say what's on his mind, and Peter was the one who decided to post this in the first place, so--]

No one deserves having their free will messed with, no matter what or who they are. I have a lot of reasons, more than you can imagine, to be against messing with anyone's heads... and none of them are because I'm anti-mutant. Besides, that's a pretty broad statement to make when we're dragged here from so many different worlds.

video

[takeitslow]

[He switches to video only because it's family. It's clear he's been crying, but he's just a tense as Billy. He prefers to show the anger rather than the panic he's feeling internally.]

Yeah, then how do explain the outrage over this and no one saying anything over Ade? The guys was a jackass but so is Rinzler. What makes them different? Doesn't it bother you?

[Despite the look on his face, he's not yelling. He never likes fighting with people he actually cares about. He just sounds desperate.]

And what about what he was trying to do? What else was I supposed to do to protect her?

audio;

[keelahselai]

Why are you making this about...about mutants versus everybody else? [She likes Peter, but kind of wants to just shake him right now.]

No one cares about that - no one cares that I'm a quarian, no one cares about the other species on board or the biotics or the other synthetics or anything! [OK, Tali kind of cares about the synthetics, but none of them have done anything yet? At least? Except the obvious.]

You just did something that's...that's... It's terrifying! You decided it was OK to drag him off by force and try to have him lobotomised. And you're not even in the hold for it! You're out here, free to say anyone who thinks what you did was wrong and that the system is wrong is just...racist.

[She'd go on, but she's sputtered out into being just plain lost for words in frustration.]

audio;

[takeitslow]

Because it is?

The entire ship didn't care when it was done back in February to a mutant. It's just an issue now. How is that not an issue of people caring what we are? You can't say people don't care about what species they are. People always care. It's always a problem.

One kind is always going to be the odd one out. And then this stuff starts happening. If I was in the wrong over Rinzler, then everyone who was on this damn ship during that Ade's trial is guilty!

[Video]

[dragonspride]

[It's one of the rare times he's bothering with video instead of voice, mostly because it makes the slit pupils, scales, and sharp teeth he gained in Ryslig visible - normally things he'd rather NOT have be part of a first impression.]

You know, all the way around, this is a small ship for anyone to to try and rally Us Against Them, especially if you want to turn anyone not 'you' into 'Them'.

perma-audio

[takeitslow]

[If the video was meant to scare him, it doesn't. He's spent enough time around the monsters to stop being phased by appearances. Besides, he'd seen the blue woman on TV. It's not like his race always looked 'normal'.]

They already did that. And is the size supposed to matter?

[vengeance_driven]

Do you remember how I spoke to you about this justice system? How I feel that it's wrong, not only for the results, but because we don't know the stories of what motivates people? Why it is that they commit the crimes that they do?

Peter, I say this as a man that genuinely does not trust the punishment system. You got some bad advice. This was not a problem you should have dealt with yourself.

Right now, I think you should back away from more fights. For the moment.

[takeitslow]

No one else was dealing with it. No one else was doing anything.

And I wasn't doing it by myself.

[That's a sore sticking point, after so many of his friends and family yelled at him for going the first round alone. Like he hadn't involved Alice in the first place. This time it had been a group effort, an attempt to stick by the rules set down on him to stop doing things on his own.]

I'm not fighting. I'm staying put. I'm just telling everyone how it is.

text

[hohnkai]

Peter.

You're upset and you have every right to be, but I have to ask. How many of us do you assume are human? You're lumping everyone together into the same small boxes and categorizing us unfairly. Adrian chose what happened to him and it happened only because he was dangerous, not because he had a genetic mutation.

There are many aboard the Moira that are not human, even if they appear to be, and I hardly doubt that the majority of the crew voted the way they did based on the fact that he wasn't human. He wanted to hurt others. He enjoyed killing and causing them pain. You are a mutant and so is he, but from what Ben has told me of you, you are nothing like him.

Your anger is clouding your better judgment and I would like to come to my room immediately so that we can discuss this further in private.

audio;

[takeitslow]

[There's a lot he wants to say, a lot he's going to say. Adrian had never implies choice and the fact his argument might be falling apart isn't something he wants to consider. There's a lot he doesn't want to consider, because that means calming down. And calming down means facing what happened at home.

Ben was wrong, he's not so different from Ade.

At least arguing with a captain would give him something to do, a positive progression. He can't fix what happened with the Sentinels and Erik, but he can fix what's happening here.]

Fine. I'll be there.

[private]

[warandpeace]

When I mentioned humans to you, I was doing it in a lot of anger. I'll tell you why.

I wasn't mentioning it for all humans. No. Venom Snake is my boss. Good person, loyal to his men. But he was a medic forced to carry the mind of a killer. Because it "had to be done". It sure as hell wouldn't have been done if I had a choice in it.

He'll never get his free will back. He'll never get himself back. Not fully, anyway. I was angry on his behalf.

[private]

[takeitslow]

[He takes a while to answer. He'd spoken enough with Venom to agree there's an issue there, even if he didn't understand it in full. Perhaps what happened the other night on the network was a part of it.

But it doesn't change his perspective.]

Were you here in during Ade's trial?

video;

[redshitlord]

Wh-hoaaaa dude... I don't wanna be that guy but.

Not all bots, okay?


What even happened?

audio;

[takeitslow]

Did I say all?

[He sort of still meant all, but whatever.]

Haven't you been paying attention to these things the past few weeks?

video

[aminerproblem]

You and your accomplices considered it acceptable to permanently destroy someone else's mind for the exact reason you claim fight against. A solution you called 'evil' just a moment ago, correct?

I suggest you examine why that logic makes sense to you.

[Organics have a saying about pots and kettles, don't they?]

audio;

[takeitslow]

We were trying to fix the problem. And yeah, maybe it's extreme but it was more than anyone else was trying to do. I'm complaining because only this was seen as evil. What happened to Ade wasn't.

How can we be wrong if everyone who was here at the time is still right? Can't anyone see how stupid that is? Either it's fair or it's not! They have to pick.

text;

[notglitching]

[The taunt of personhood is laughable. Rinzler knows he's a tool. His usefulness is all that matters, and it takes the barest scan of network traffic to recognize when this system flagged that as not worth it. He killed users. He exists to delete threats. And certainly, he won't argue that this user has made one of itself.

But as much as he's wanted to hunt this glitch down—since he met it, since it publicly flagged him as an animal in need of leashing on its first day—there's one assumption he's growing increasingly sick of. It's not something there's any point in defending against the system at large—users don't care, and as soon as he killed one of them, he lost any right to be acknowledged.

But when this glitch throws its lies on his communicator? No.]

You attacked.

audio;

[takeitslow]

[This guy.

What a perfect way to end an already shitty day, to have to deal with this jerk on top of it. Before he bothers replying, he has to laugh about it. Everyone's angry, everyone hates him. His world is falling apart, here and at home. And it's his fault. He just keeps making things worse, no matter what he tries.

So what's the point in trying?

He's supposed to leave Rinzler alone. That had been the plan. But there was no point in that anymore. For every way the people here were upset with him, they were glorifying Rinzler. The poor program. He needs help, Peter. He needs your understanding, Peter. Why weren't you trying to save him, why didn't you try to be his friend? Why do you keep picking on poor Rinzler?

Whatever.]

The last time, in the aft? Yeah. I did.

[Audio - Private]

[tearmeanewone]

If that's how you think of me, as someone who'd rather pretend I don't have anything to worry about instead of face what's wrong, boy do I have a shock for you.

But I imagine you don't want to hear that. You just want to hear that I agree I'm part of the problem, right? So that this whole situation makes sense to you. You versus me and everyone like me. Nice and simple.

...You don't know the first thing about anybody. No one does.

[Audio - Private]

[takeitslow]

You always take everything so personally.

[Somewhere, he's pinching the bridge of his nose and rolling his eyes. He's being a shitty teenager in how he goes about this but there had been a list of people he found exempt from his anger. She was on it.

Either he believed they can no hand in the vote, too close to something strange themselves for him to think they would have weighed in either side, or the most likely. He was just willing to overlook whatever trouble he felt they'd caused. For all he wants to scream the people here were hypocrites, he was the biggest one of all.]

I want people to realize there is a problem. And I have to piss them off to do that? Fine. I'd rather have them angry and reacting than everyone just continuing to let things go.

I know that the people here want to act like one person is worth rallying behind and another isn't. I know that people here think trying to kill someone is a lesser offense than trying to fix a problem with non-violence. I know that's screwed up.

[skatebird]

[ Aside from talking to Tex, Yata hasn't followed the fallout from the wake of Rinzler's trial. This is the first he's heard of something similar happening in the past. ]

If the captains can take away powers, why did we get to vote to take away Rinzler's weird disks?

[ It's less a question for Peter and more of an observation. It seems like it would have been a more even handed solution than both the official punishment and the attempted recording. ]

[takeitslow]

[At least this is one person not fighting with him.]

Because the guy who killed one person is apparently less of a threat than the guy terrorizing people for months.

[His tone is dripping with sarcasm.]

[voice]

[highlyintuitive]

[ It's hard to listen to Peter angry, it's like a hornet's nest replaced the boy she's started thinking of as family and she can't touch without getting stung. But she knows what it's like to have someone try and unmake her. Even if Rinzler is bad she doesn't like it.

Her voice is quiet when she finally speaks up. ]

...you want him changed because he's dangerous. Not a bullet to the brain but good enough to make the bits go squish.

[ She lapses into chinese, trying to hold herself together. She's been good for a while, something resembling a normal girl but there are threads pulling loose and she doesn't want to lose the whole picture. Doesn't want Peter to see what's underneath with all the cracks and fissures.

She swallows down the panic, the bits of her that want to spin off and make things indistinct are pulled together so she doesn't fall apart right away. ]

What if it was someone else? Someone you liked and didn't want to kill?

[voice; private]

[takeitslow]

[The quiet of her voice, the tone, it scares him a little. He didn't do any of this, not since the beginning, with the desire to upset family. He'd been trying to protect it, keep it whole and together and safe.

Her question stabs at him, makes something break. It's just as everyone had lectured him, he'd done the opposite of making them feel safe. Maybe even make them feel like he wasn't safe for them.

His reply comes out choked and near pleading, no attempt to pull back on his emotions.]

I would never hurt someone I care about River. I would never let anyone else hurt them. This was to protect Wanda. I wouldn't do this to anyone who wasn't trying to hurt one of you.

audio;

[hatesimprovising]

It's wrong for that to be done to anyone, no matter who they are.

[ Wash's voice is mostly calm, with just a hint of some worry hidden in it. This...is not what he expected to happen as a result of this whole mess of a situation. ]

It's possible that what happened a few months ago wasn't as widespread as what's happened with Rinzler. I haven't seen or heard of any problems with race here--and I'm not saying that means it doesn't exist, because it might--but for the most part, everyone seems to be pretty accepting.

It seems like you're blowing this a little out of proportion.

[ He doesn't really want to get into an argument, but he doesn't like the idea of this kind of unrest hanging around the ship, either. Ultimately, he's naive and just wants everyone to get along. ]

audio;

[takeitslow]

There was a trial, people voted. Either they weren't paying attention to what they were voting on or they didn't care. They can't make an excuse for not knowing.

[And as far as he's concerned, if they didn't vote they still didn't get a pass on not paying attention to the ongoings of their temporary home.]

And everyone making a big deal about Rinzler isn't blowing it up too? I'm allowed to be angry and tell everyone that I am! If people can call us out on these things, I can do it right back!

video;

[dualtone]

[ he has been trying his best to stay out of this ENTIRE MESS but, well, he sort of likes Peter (and Yata likes Peter, more importantly). ]

... do.

You want some coffee, or something. [ decaf, maybe. it's Fushimi's best attempt at being friendly without getting involved. ]

voice;

[takeitslow]

[It's such an out of the blue question he actually has to stop and stare at the MID for a whole 15 seconds.]

What?

[At least he sounds more confused than angry.]

text;

[dislocked]

[ It's always been Bucky's intention to stay out of this -- conflict, not his thing. Especially not all of this when it hits far too close to home. A threat, uncontrollable and dangerous; it's not difficult to know how he'll be dealt with if the Soldier ever surfaces.

But the pain in Peter's voice is raw, the anger and the rage is another spark against a powder keg in this ship. He can't ignore it -- he likes the fellow well enough. ]

What do you want to do to fix it?

voice;

[takeitslow]

[He honestly manages to start off almost calm, or at least he starts off not screaming. The question isn't a direct attack on him, doesn't feel like one, so he can let the anger die just a little. That is until he starts getting in to it, talking longer and letting the irritation slip back into his tone by the time he's hitting the last notes.]

For them to acknowledge that it's no different than what happened to Ade. If I'm damned for this over Rinzler, then everyone who let it happen to Ade has to be too. Either we're all guilty or none of us. It can't be just one!

text;

[hyperkinesia]

First of all, because it doesn't sound like you know the whole deal, when it was done to Adrian it was with his expressed agreement and informed consent. No one forced him, no one did it against his will, so you can't even begin to compare the two situations.

Regardless, it happening before doesn't make it alright now. You don't want to consider Rinzler a person, that's up to you, Peter. Believe me, this isn't the first nor will it be the last time that people bring up the issue of an artificial intelligence actually being considered a person, an individual with rights and duties just like everyone else. And maybe his creator didn't even think to that extent, I don't know, I haven't met the man.

I haven't met Rinzler either. Is he dangerous? Yes, that's been made abundantly clear so far. And if he insists on putting lives at risk then it's only fair that we want to protect ourselves— and when I saw we, I mean humans, mutants, quarians, autobots, or any other synthetic lifeform. It has nothing to do with splitting people up into groups or races or whatever else. I'm not saying everyone here is the same, obviously, but you're rushing to lump us all into the same group. Do you really think that's right? Throwing it into people's faces that we discriminate, even those of us who don't, and then you go ahead and you do the same, just the other way around.

And in the process, it looks like you're about ready to start a war on board, or create a divide big enough that we'll be at constant risk of fights breaking out that could compromise the safety of everyone on board or even the integrity of the ship itself. Good job on wanting to keep people safe, by the way.

I don't blame you for wanting to protect yourself and those around you. But don't use that as an excuse to wipe off someone's conscience like that's nothing. And don't use the fact that it's been done before to to excuse it being done now, because it's not alright. As it wouldn't be alright either if some politician split up people by race and sent specific groups into concentration camps, even though it's been done before.

voice; private

[takeitslow]

He never said that. How do you know it wasn't forced?

[There's some desperation in asking that. They both know so much of his argument relies on that fact. Thus he doesn't want to believe he could be wrong. He doesn't want to accept his mistakes.

Not yet.

He wants to keep being angry. If he stops being angry he has to start feeling guilty. He has to start thinking about home and his mistakes there. His mistakes here. An absence of rage at the world means he can only rage at himself.]

If you didn't vote on it, then I'm not making it about you. I wasn't making it about you in the first place. You're-

[Practically family. Part of that little group Peter holds above even his own moral outrage, above his own views of right and wrong.]

You wouldn't do that.

[And even if he did, if any of that little group did, Peter would find some way to look around it. Pretend it was different, forgive and ignore.

Somewhere he's pacing, trying to hold the line between his anger and the fact that this is Bruce. He likes Bruce, he trusts Bruce. And because it's Bruce, reading that sarcastic line about keeping everyone safe hurts. Because Rinzler's still the same and all his efforts have meant nothing. Wanda's still got a target on her back and every choice he's made has only pushed him farther from the things he wanted.]

I know I didn't make them safe. [The anger here is tainted by desperation and a deep seated self loathing.] I made it worse for her, I know that! I was trying to fix it.

But I can't. I promised I wouldn't fight him anymore so this was supposed to be the better way.

[He has no excuses to offer for himself or what he's done. No way to justify what he'd been trying to do. He doesn't think Bruce will except that he did it for his sister, that in the name of family he stops caring about right or wrong and only looks for results.

He doesn't think Bruce will care that he himself doesn't care about whatever fights he'll cause. That he welcomes the chance to let out his rage against everyone else. That he's already started a war at home and this had been his misguided attempt to stop the same from happening here. Fear had gotten the best of Peter, and terror lead so quickly to stupidity.

Instead he only offers on more thing.]

You'll be happy to know Alan didn't do it. Rinzler's still intact and the same as always. We failed.

text;

[a_shadow]

Fear? Isn't fear of Rinzler what made you decide to attack him?

Don't give people labels when those labels would fit you better.

voice;

[takeitslow]

Fear of a group is a hell of a lot different than being afraid when someone threatens a person close to you. Don't try to act like it's the same.