1 Violin | Audio

[onlyordinary]

Okay, so... I guess this is on now? Is that what the... damn it.

[Someone sounds Very Tired right now. She has had a really long week and it looks like it's getting longer as she speaks.] Is there anyone part of the Hargreeves family out there? [She pauses, apparently not quite understanding that she's still recording and people can't respond yet, before she heaves a sigh.] Yeah, I figured.

Is there anyone out there at all, or am I just talking to myself?

[Maybe she's officially snapped. Or maybe she died and this is hell. Either one tracks with the week she's had.]

Because I am talking to a block of plastic and I'm feeling pretty ridiculous right now.

Comments

[wheyoftheadept]

couple weeks. most of us showed up about the same time, but a few others besides you have trickled in.

[onlyordinary]

Do you know how many people are here? Roughly?

[wheyoftheadept]

30+, not more than 50 i dont think.

[onlyordinary]

Those are the new people? Not all the people on this thing?

[wheyoftheadept]

counting the jorgbots? dunno how many, couple hundred?

[onlyordinary]

Jorgbots? Are they robots?

[wheyoftheadept]

no but i like insulting them

[onlyordinary]

Oh. Okay.

[She doesn't know how to feel about that, considering her mother is a robot.]

[xrater]

I'm working on the robots part, but it's a little time consuming. They have a lot to catch up on before they're even up to the standards of the 1990s.

[onlyordinary]

What do you mean? You're working on making robots for this... organization, I guess?

[xrater]

Oh, yes. They're behind the curve as far as robotics technology is concerned, but I'm certain that once they've caught up and seen the possibilities, the mechanization of their workforce will vastly lower the amount of stress placed on their human employees.

[onlyordinary]

So... you think it'll be good to give them robots?

[A leading question, but not one that she couldn't argue as not subversive if the wrong person hears about it. She doesn't trust these people, and she's not sure if it's a great idea to give them more tools to do whatever they're doing.]

[xrater]

There's less than five thousand people on the Rig.

[She'd looked up the exact number, then did a proper count herself, but there wasn't any point in being hyper-specific now, was there?]

They are trying to fix their world. While I may find some of the decisions made by certain individuals concerning [-to put it mildly, but this wasn't a safe channel to say 'deplorable in the extreme'-] the achievement of their mission statement means the most net good for humanity as a whole. And the further I can push their robotics technology, among others, the more they can do without relying on... human resources. Reconnaissance, construction, reclaiming the wilderness, defending the Rig and the people left behind, the more I can teach them to build, the more they'll be able to focus on bettering life for everyone.

[onlyordinary]

Have you seen their world outside of this thing? I haven't had the chance yet.

[Once again, carefully innocent. Nothing wrong with asking about the world outside, or the experience of other new hires.

But what she really is asking is whether or not the world really is in the hands of Jorgmund, if they're saving it after all, or if the truth is more complicated and terrible as she suspects.]

[xrater]

I'm only familiar with the immediate surroundings of the Rig and what their own databases say. But a reliable source has led me to believe that everything they've told us about the 'Go-Away War' and their goals for restoring humanity is truthful.

[If atrociously handled.]