notglitching | IC Contact: thisavrou

[He'd been wondering if something like this would be coming. Apologies (excuses). Lies. Certainly, Rinzler can't begin to trust these words to be anything more. He should ignore the transmission. Leave it. Anything else is stupid, anything else is asking to be tricked or worse again.

...

He can't quite do that either.]

Why.

[ Nihlus stares at the text for a long while, trying to sort through and find the right words. This was... so delicate. After everything that'd happened between them.

But it was necessary. More than ever now that they were in a place with a denser population than they had been on the Moira. ]

Because I don't want this to keep happening. I don't want to break your trust, but I will if it means making sure you kill another teenager.

That's what we need to talk about.

[Break your trust. What does that mean? Attacking him? Stealing his code? Or changing it—changing him, to something incapable of causing problems. Something unable to harm any category of user that this one prefers.

Nihlus is a programmer. Nihlus is willing to cross lines to make sure of his objectives.

Nihlus went for his disk first.]

I won't let you.

[It's too sharp. Too weak.]

I'll kill you first.

[Better.]

I don't want to fight you.

But this will continue to be a problem in the future if it isn't resolved now.

Please, let me explain.

I don't want you to get in trouble like before.

[If the user doesn't want to fight, he can start by not laying a hand on Rinzler's code. But there's no point saying so—no point in saying much of anything. It's already like before. A user attacks, and it's Rinzler's problem. Rinzler's fault if he fights back.

Nihlus won't receive an answer. Still, Rinzler's TAB won't go offline. The message would be much more obvious in person, but if Nihlus can't understand, Rinzler's not inclined to offer him an easy prompt.

If that's what he cares about, explain.

Nobody's stopping him.]

[ Well. It's a chance, and Nihlus has to take it. Needs to take it. He needs to try.

First things first: try and establish a baseline. ]

What is Program culture's stance on offspring and family?

[Culture? Family? That's the excuse he's running with? Rinzler eyes the line for half a micro in sheer, incredulous loathing. He should have shut off the TAB already.]

Family: code-siblings, bonded counterparts.
Offspring: user value.

Offspring: often intricately linked with family in a lot of species' cultures. Offspring are often born almost completely helpless. Family is needed to protect and raise them.

Many species have limited lifespans. Raising and/or protecting offspring is imperative to securing the future of the species. People who are willing to hurt young are generally seen as a threat to their society and their futures.

This is extremely simplified, but most users will react poorer to you trying to hurt the young vs trying to hurt an adult for this reason.

Additionally, younger members of the species also haven't completed mental and physical development. There are numerous ethical concerns about involving them in violence where it can be avoided.

Edited 2017-05-30 03:11 (UTC)

[So it is about user values. User values, and user weakness. User excuses, so impersonal on their side. Many species. Most users. Nothing specific, of course—nothing that might connote a fault.

Such a sharp contrast to that you.]

Relevance?

It seems a lot of your conflicts involve legally underage humans.

I mean, asides from all of the issues previously mentioned, wouldn't you prefer more experienced people to pick fights with? You're a thousand years old, they're under 18 and plagued with hormones, growing pains and a lot of bad decisions.

Also, there's generally less unpleasant consequences for engaging in violence with legal adults.

[A lot. Peter, Rinzler had known about—could hardly not have, after that message he'd been sent. Chara too, perhaps—though how (if?) Nihlus learned about that remains a mystery. But the user's implying... was that one supposed to be in beta too? It was larger than either of them.

...no. It's a distraction. Irrelevancy. It doesn't matter, and it doesn't answer his question at all.

Not the one he'd asked first.]

Why did you take my disk?

As far as I could interpret the situation, you were going to kill her with it.

[ Is he wrong? ]

[As far as he could interpret. Rinzler stares at the line, lets out a breath, slow and furious. He wants his voice back. He wants his voice back, so he could snarl out the words.

Text feels much too calm for this.]

You didn't ask.

Didn't wait.

You didn't tell me I should stop.

[He just took it. Took Rinzler's disk, like that was the only way to make him stop. Took his weapon, took his mind, like he was that animal the users called him in the first place. Stupid and mindless, violent and lethal and in such desperate need of someone's leash.

That's how you solve problems. That's how you save lives. It's the obvious solution, right?

He hates it. It takes longer than it should to type the line.]

Why?

Should I have waited before or after the disc hit her?

[ Because Nihlus still vividly remembers the smell of J's and Peter's blood, the gleam of Rinzler's disc off of the growing pool, the then-girl's neatly halved body on the floor.

And Rinzler isn't telling him he's wrong about the assumption. ]

I saw a deadly weapon flying towards a kid. It was either your trust or her life.

That's not a choice for me. It will NEVER be a choice for me.

And I know she was intent on murdering you too but it's not

She's a kid

You aren't supposed to kill kids

Not ever

[ There's a beat, Nihlus quietly recomposing himself. ]

I didn't attack you afterwards and I asked you both to stop. If I'd given the disc back to you immediately, she would have interpreted it as me taking your side and attacked us.

I put myself between you and her so that she wouldn't hurt you. I was gambling that she would trust me enough not to attack again as she'd think I'd taken her side.

I shouldn't have taken your disk. I'm sorry.

You could have blocked. Could have moved her. Give it back

[A kid. It's fine if she kills him, because she's a kid. Fine if she hunts him or tricks him, fine if she takes what's his, fine for Peter_Maximoff or Nihlus or anyone. Because they're users, because they know what's best and who matters.

Because their trust and minds and lives will always matter more than his.]

I will kill anyone who takes my disk again.

I could have Overloaded you from the start.

If I really thought she was completely blameless, if I really thought you were the sole cause of the problem.

Rinzler, you would NOT have known what hit you.

It would have been FAR easier than trying to stop the fight by mediating.

[ Because Nihlus is a sniper and snipers didn't win by throwing themselves in the fray, spirits dammit. ]

I didn't because I value your trust. I just can't choose between it and a kid's life.

I have seen too many dead children. It's NOT a choice anymore.

I was not trying to trick you. I was not trying to take your disk hostage.

[ ... ]

And you could have killed me.

I was close enough.

[ He knows he had been. Rinzler could have run him through faster than he could've blinked, that close and with his back turned. ]

The girl threw me because she thought I was going to hand you your disk back.

She was right.

I thought you'd just take the disk and run at that point, but

[ You were scared.

So scared. ]

You should have.

[Attacked him. Overloaded. Derezzed him, if that's what it took. If Nihlus really thought Rinzler was too stupid to be reasoned with, too dangerous to trust. If he believed there was no other way to save his precious, faulting user kid.

It would have been better.

Rinzler should have killed him, too. He doesn't say so. There's no point. He'll do better next time. Or he won't, and the user can keep doing this. Or whatever else he needs to.]

Did run.

[So it worked out, right?

The user got what he wanted.]

IC Contact: thisavrou

Private; Text

Private; Text

Private; Text 1/2

Private; Text 2/2

i just noticed the typo i made omg i'm sorry

ffff no worries, it was pretty great!

sorry for the slow! thought i replied to this...

Not a problem!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/3

no subject

3/4 actually

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

1/3

2/3

no subject

1/2

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)