video; un: ratchet (post attack on palace)

[neveroutwrenched]

[It's midday a few days after the battle when the feed comes to life. Ratchet is settled in the forest on the outskirts of the city, blaster pistol laid in the grass by his feet. Behind him, the trees are covered in scorch marks from his target practice... though truthfully, Ratchet was more interested in blowing off steam than working on his aim.

The race for a cure, the political intrigue, organizing a breakout... it was a lot of hurry up and wait while plans were worked out by those Orbers who'd proven themselves essential. The energy inside the palace walls was the taut, nervous kind that made Ratchet want to disappear into the middle of nowhere and shoot stuff until he got his head on straight.

He was still riding that adrenaline when he begins to speak, tail swishing involuntarily. Addressing a crowd -- even an invisible one -- wasn't in his comfort zone.]

Hey. Hi. [He waves.] Everyone's got a lot on their plates right now, so let me just say right off the bat: that this doesn't have to do with any of that. I promise, this is like... negative important. So if you're looking for the latest news on what's going on at the palace or in Yuryeong or whatever, you can probably skip this one.

[ There goes his tail, swishing harder. Yep, he was nailing this. ]

Anyway... We're dealing with a multiverse spanning AI here, right? Like, I get that part. But... isn't it a little crazy how many people here can straight up do magic? Like, is that a condition of admission? Because if it is, I think there was some kind of mistake when it picked me up. [It's a joke, but maybe not as much of one as he tries to make it sound.] I'm a great mechanic, don't get me wrong. I guess you could say I'm a wizard with engines, but I don't think that really counts when there are... actual wizards around.

[That wasn't offensive, right? "Wizard"? Sitting up a little straighter, Ratchet figures it's time to get to the point.]

So, I guess I'm trying to figure that part out. What did everyone on this team do, back on your worlds? Doctor? Culinary auteur? Unpaid intern? What do you think made the AI pick you for this?

... And if there's anyone else out there feeling a little powerless right now, you're welcome to come fire off a few rounds with me. [He holds up the gun with a lopsided grin.] It's not a magic wand or anything, but y'know. Still fun.

Comments

[callada]

It's not magic. We don't have magic where I come from.

[He says so matter-of-factly. All these other people keep saying they do, though, and what else is he supposed to do but accept it? Apparently magic exists some places. Sure. Just like spaceships.

It's also plenty evident that Ratchet seems to have dodged his question. He described his world, but not what he did in it. He'll come back to that if he doesn't get his answer, but there's no need to be impatient, he figures.]

There's a type of fruit back home that modifies lineage factors.

[See? Totally not magic.]

[neveroutwrenched]

[Dodged, avoided, ignored. Ratchet doesn't really expect to be called out on it; his experience was that people tended not to miss what they didn't really notice was missing anyway.

He raises his eyebrows, not so much in surprise, but curiosity.]

No?

[It's almost funny how quickly he had become adjusted to simply accepting anything he wasn't used to as easily explained away by "magic". In some ways, it was almost a relief to have that challenged, to remind him that some stuff, while different or strange, might still have some kind of reasonable explanation to it. Or if not reasonable, at least grounded.]

"Lineage factors"...like, genetics?

[callada]

I... don't know. Maybe? The stuff that gets passed on from your parents that makes you who you are.

[Maybe that helps? "Genetics" isn't a word he's ever heard of.]

A long time ago, people used to think the fruits were inhabited by devils that took over the person who ate them. Things like that. We know better now, or at least, most people do. Not the microscopic details, but that it's a real part of nature, I mean, instead of devil curses and sea spirits.

[neveroutwrenched]

[Part of Ratchet wondered if there weren't a lot of things here that people called "magic" that weren't just some physical phenomenon they didn't have the understanding or language for yet. Like how you tell little kids fairytales about tiny technomites making technology work until they're old enough to understand it.

Not that he was going to say that to anyone's face any time soon.]

Yeah, that's what we would call it back home. But...what kind of changes are we talking about? Gene- er, lineage factor changes seems like they would be...pretty drastic?

[callada]

Sometimes they are. In this case it doesn't get passed on to kids, though, it just affects whoever eats that one particular type of fruit.

It lets me sense sound waves, and I can calm them to a standstill. I can keep them from propagating, too. I don't know all the physics behind it, though, I've just had years to practice.

But you say drastic, and there's people whose bodies are completely changed. They might end up able to turn into an animal, or might become something else, like light or fire. Just as a couple examples.

[neveroutwrenched]

[The explanation had a comforting foundation in science, at least. It felt less opaquely like 'magic', and more like...science. Although someone who really had a more specific interest and understanding in the physics of it might well might have a few deeper questions than come to Ratchet's mind in the moment.]

So do people go out of their way to eat these things? Are they rare?

[callada]

Rare, expensive, coveted. Some more than others, though. I, uh... [he laughs quietly, awkwardly] Kinda stole mine when I was a kid. I just thought it was a fruit. I guess it wasn't one anyone wanted that badly though if an eight year old could swipe it.

People are always after the ones that can be used as weapons, unfortunately. There's been some attempts to make them artificially, but so far, no dice.

[But now that he's here, having royally fucked up his mission already anyway, maybe some of those efforts will go ahead, despite his best attempts to stop those dominoes falling far in the future. If he had just been more careful, if he had dug up the info he needed on Vergo before it was too late...]