i'm looking for an easy thing [ OPEN MINGLE ]

[hyperlit]

Who: Anyone and everyone! Who wants to look at books?
What: BOOKVALANCHE
When: Let's say from the 25th and onward for simplicity
Where: The Storyteller's Temple, in addition to the library that's finally getting some much-needed attention
Warnings: Mark anything that comes up!



The library is finally getting some renovations! Between some new bookshelves (hope someone here is good at hauling) and a veritable cascade of all sorts of books and supplies, an awful lot needs to be transferred from the Temple to the heretofore unused library, and any help anyone has to offer is much appreciated!

But, of course, there's also so very much to go through for your own perusal. Just look at all this! Coloring books, puzzle books, stories of all sorts, comic books, fashion magazines, all sorts of survival texts...you name it.

This all needs to be put away and stored in those neat little waterproofing book protectors - shelves need to be moved, supplies need to be secured, and someone should probably take inventory. But also...there's a lot of fresh new reading material on an island that previously had none.

Isn't that worth looking over?

Comments

[forwearemany]

The Shepard-Commander here is not the Shepard-Commander we knew.

(Not the one who saved them. Not the one who betrayed them.)

[hyperlit]

[...]

[You've lost them.]

unclear

[forwearemany]

It is not clear to us.

(They understand the idea of alternate universes, but it is strange to them.)

She is Shepard-Commander, but her appearance has changed in ways not possible for Humans without surgical alteration. She has different memories of us.

[hyperlit]

[This discussion has officially escaped the Drifter's realm of expertise. They don't entirely process that, and by the time Legion has finished explaining, they've decided that they're ill-equipped to impart any advice on it.]

cannot advise

[forwearemany]

Acknowledged. Though your perspective is eppreciated, we primarily sought it regarding the heretics end their shift in behavior.

(They'll deal with Shepard on their own.

Or just avoid her forever. That seems more likely.)

[hyperlit]

what is done is done

[The past cannot be reworked, and old paths not retrod in any manner except in memory.]

cannot change what was done to them
only what can be done should it happen again

[forwearemany]

(But they still wish to know: how could they have become so different?

Perhaps it is better that the Heretics did not return to the Geth. But their destruction has likely also destroyed any chance of ever finding the answer.)

Yes.

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter cannot outline that judgment for them, no more than they could any other. They are oft blunt to a fault, and seldom do they dwell on that which cannot be changed. Even less are they inclined to do so for another's world and another's regrets. The Drifter hardly takes any steps to cope with their own, after all.]

any additional information

[forwearemany]

(Even if the Drifter could, it probably wouldn't be of much help to Legion.)

Yes.

The Quarian-Creators did not solely seek to reclaim their homeworld from the Geth.

They have also sought to colonize new worlds.

[hyperlit]

success or failure

[The Drifter is seldom helpful when it comes to imparting advice, aside from the simple default one they usually issue, which is to do something about it.]

[forwearemany]

Failure. Quarian biochemistry utilizes molecules with an opposing chirality to many biospheres, and their poor immune systems are unable to cope with environments high in microbial life. This limits the worlds they would be able to successfully colonize.

Additionally, the Citadel Council has blocked Quarian attempts to colonize worlds. Though they cite legal technicalities, it is our belief that hatred of and racial bias against Quarians was their true motivation.

(At some point during this explanation, the lights on the side of their head shift to red. They don't shift back.)

small cw for discussion of fantasy racism

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter returns to tapping in the information into their notes. Not all of those concepts are ones they understand - but the latter, that they do understand.]

unfortunate
but common

[forwearemany]

Yes.

(They chatter.)

It is possible that limiting opportunities for Creator colonization of other worlds fueled further conflict with the Geth.

(If it weren't for the mistreatment of the Quarians, their own people might still be here.)

[hyperlit]

cannot know

[...so why worry is what they do not say. Even the Drifter has enough tact to know that outright dismissal of another's regrets is generally considered rude. And they know, firsthand, that such regrets can be...difficult to push past, regardless.]

hypothetical
cannot be sure

[forwearemany]

Yes.

(It is a distraction, thinking about past regrets.

But this task requires thinking about the past. It is difficult to avoid.)

[hyperlit]

all additional information?

[The Drifter has the benefit of distance. They cannot dwell on that which they were not there to witness. They cannot even properly conceptualize the degree of that sort of mass suffering; they have only had to conceive of such things on a global scale, and never a galactic one.]

[forwearemany]

For now, yes.

(It's probably for the best. Galactic scale bullshit is a galactic scale headache.)

[hyperlit]

[A nod, and the Drifter closes their notes HUD briefly so they can open a newer, longer one.]

establish timeline
chronological proceedings

[forwearemany]

Acknowledged.

Suggested timeline:

Creation
Development of Geth intelligence
Morning War
Isolation of Geth and ostracization of Quarian-Creators
Contact with Old-Machines and schism with Heretic Geth
Contact with organics and destruction of Heretics
Destruction of True Geth

[hyperlit]

[They start blocking out sections according to that chronology, bit by bit. Then, they hesitate, and glance back at Legion with their head at an angle.]

and now?

[forwearemany]

(...headtilt.)

Elaborate.

[hyperlit]

you are part of the history
your history should be recorded

[They are still alive, after all, even if it is not in the same world as they once were.]

[forwearemany]

(Their headflaps lift, flutter. They chatter, turning away.)

Uncertain.

[hyperlit]

you are relict of the geth
part of history

[The Drifter doesn't have the words to describe that: the idea that Legion is a figure of import, and that their story should be remembered. They cannot describe it because the Drifter fails to recognize it as a quiet hope that they carry within themself, that their own story, their own sacrifice, might mean something and in some, small way, be remembered.]

[forwearemany]

Our history is the history of all Geth.

(Individuality was a burden that Legion took to help their people. Though it has become a part of who they are, they are hesitant to acknowledge it even now.)