I can never come up with good titles (backdated to the beginning of September)

[forwearemany]

Who: Legion and you! (+closed prompt for Faust)
What: Maintenance and repairs
When: Beginning of september
Where: Legion's house on islet 2
Warnings: ...Damaged and busted robots? If there's anything worse than that it'll be mentioned in the thread.

A) Self repair (OTA)

(For anyone who decides to stop by Legion's house today, they will find two Geth; one being the robot everyone knows and loves ... and the other being that same robot's corpse.

When the Drifter's shadow killed them so many months ago, they saved their remains to use to repair themselves should they ever need it.

Now, apparently, is that time.)

B) Gun repair (Faust only)

(And while they're at it, once they finish fixing themselves, they decide to work on the Widow. Carefully, they take the gun from it's usual spot in their house and unfold it, before gently beginning to work on cleaning and maintenance. They get pretty absorbed by this task: they won't notice that anyone is approaching, or even standing in their doorway, at least not at first.

It's probably more than a little disconcerting, seeing them lovingly caring for an absolutely massive gun like that.)

Comments

[forwearemany]

The required components were damaged.

(When the Drifter's shadow shot them, they hit something vital.)

[hyperlit]

[...ah.]

[The Drifter lowers their head. Returns to their work.]

understood

[forwearemany]

(They watch the Drifter for a moment. This time, they pause before speaking.)

Drifter?

[hyperlit]

[What are they to say? Whatever they say will be insufficient. Words are insufficient. They cannot mend or alleviate the damage that has already been caused, months prior. The aid they venture now is a poor substitute.]

cannot fix

[forwearemany]

(They chatter softly as they stare at their friend.)

You did not murder us.

[hyperlit]

a piece who did

[Their Shadow didn't spring from nothing. It was a manifestation of something they never wanted to face, and it hurt others just as harshly as the Drifter could.]

[forwearemany]

And many that did not.

(They continue to focus all their attention on the Drifter.)

You are a good ally to us.

[hyperlit]

[They find that assertion...debatable. But who are they to contest it? That isn't their expertise, their job. Someone passes judgment. They accept it. It seldom matters if it is correct or not.]

[Regrets do not change anything. They do not change anything.]

will not allow it to happen again

[forwearemany]

(It is partially a matter of perspective anyway. The Drifter is unquestionably a better ally than the people they fought alongside in their home universe.)

Acknowledged.

(Their headflaps ripple.)

Manifestations of your "shadow" appear to be unacknowledged fears, hurts, and desires becoming redirected toward allies, primarily in the form of aggression.

Suggest acknowledgement.

[hyperlit]

it has been acknowledged

[Acknowledgment does not fix it. They were able to do away with their other half, eventually. It was only...too late to mend all that it had wrought.]

does not erase hurt

[forwearemany]

(The Drifter has steadfastly refused to admit fear at any point, as far as they're aware, but where has arguing gotten them?

It is possible that the Drifter has acknowledged more than they know.)

Yes. The past is immutable. However, with acknowledgement, there is opportunity for hurts to heal over time.

[hyperlit]

do not have time

[They tap at the center of their chest. They're still dying, after all, just slower than before.]

[forwearemany]

Your time may be limited, but that does not mean healing cannot occur.

(And perhaps there is more that can be said there, but something has occurred to them.)

Query.

[hyperlit]

[Healing. What is healing, in the grander sense? There is no healing in their world. There is only the stopgap measure of a vial of regen slammed into their veins, knitting together perforated skin and ruptured organs. There is no permanently purging the illness that scourges them - only wiping away the lesions that slow them down.]

?

[forwearemany]

(Perhaps it will be up to the Drifter to figure that out for themself.)

In this location, death does not appear to be a permanent state. Is it not possible that death resulting from disease is also temporary?

(It's not the sort of question anyone other than Legion would ask.

They aren't sure whether such a thing is desirable: though the Drifter appears to desire life above all else, it is likely that their illness would not be cured. To be revived only to eventually die again of sickness seems ... unnecessary. Would they want such an existence?)

[hyperlit]

will not stop death when it comes for good
already dead

[They will return home, they expect. And when they do, there will not be any coming back. They'll be dead, well and truly, having fulfilled the purpose that the jackal god required of them. And with that complete, there will be no need to revive them.]

[They have expected this.]

[forwearemany]

It is the same for us.

(At home they are also dead.)

Our former allies murdered us.

[hyperlit]

[A lower of their head.]

then what transpires will not be permanent

[forwearemany]

Permanence: the state or quality of lasting or remeining unchanged indefinitely.

There is nothing in any known universe that has been confirmed to posess this quality.

(Their headflaps ripple.)

Individuals die, societies collapse, geological features erode, worlds end, and stars transform into white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, all of which eventually decay.

Permanence is irrelevant: what matters is that we are here now.

[hyperlit]

death is permanent

[Only it isn't, really; not here, and not where they come from, either. Only when the decay has settled in does the unchanging truly become unchanging, when one's fate is sealed and their body begins to degrade and there is no hope of revitalization.]

it becomes permanent

[forwearemany]

Perhaps.

(They had seen death reversed even without the assistance of gods.

Furthermore, they are increasingly coming to wonder if death is truly an end, or merely a changing of states?)

We are both alive now. This is not sufficient?

(They go back to work. This isn't an end to the conversation, merely an attempt to see if the Drifter's mood will improve with distraction.

They wonder: Is the Drifter unhappy because they know they will die, or is death what they focus on when they are unhappy?)

[hyperlit]

will not be forever

[They've fulfilled the purpose that was assigned to them, and then...what? They find themself here. There's no guidance, save for that which the gods here have issued.]

it is what lasts beyond death
that matters

[forwearemany]

Nothing is permanent.

(Possibly not even death.)

However it is likely that many actions you have already taken will have ramifications that endure beyond your own existence on this island.

(They can't speak for the Drifter's actions in their home universe, which Legion knows relatively little of.)

[hyperlit]

such as this

[They gesture at the partially-dismantled body lying on the ground with the opening of a hand.]

adept at dealing destruction

[forwearemany]

Yes. You are also adept at preserving and recording data. And you are learning additional skills.

(Speeking of...)

Garden progress?

(They did give the Drifter those plants a while back...)