( video | un: offseer )

[offseers]

[ this is strange to do without the iris network, but it isn't hard. every network is the same after all. ]

Hello. I have a few questions, if people don't mind.

1) How does time work here? Does it pass? Do people really get older?

2) Has anyone died on a mission?

3) How old are you?

I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

Comments

video | un: andy

[oiorpata]

[ if andy answered any of these questions, she would skew the results exponentially. they don't feel as applicable to her. ]

[ she will, however, answer one of them. for funsies. and without much explanation. ]

I've died on some of them. [ it continues to be both bizarre and comforting to be so upfront about it. ] But I wouldn't recommend it for most of us.

[offseers]

[ hold up. ]

You . . . died? And came back?

How?

[oiorpata]

My body heals from wounds. Any wound, any severity.

[ it's in the mission files at this point, she thinks, quiet justification for her openness. how else could she have jumped into a volcano and lived? ]

But it's not standard on board among the other orbers, so like I said, it's best to avoid it.

[offseers]

I don't have a death wish.

[ it's a bit hard to fear death when you know it'll come for you in a few months. he's never been afraid. ]

[oiorpata]

Smart.

[ she can't even say most people don't, because she has no idea how true that is on the ximilia. ]

Some missions come with more risk than others. Sounds like you'll be pretty careful.

[offseers]

I'm not asking because of that.

I already know when I'll die.

[ he holds up the back of his hand to the screen. there is a tattoo with lines and a red dot in the middle. ]

Ten years is all I get.

[oiorpata]

[ she frowns. ]

What, you just drop dead after ten years? What happens if you get gravely hurt before then?

[offseers]

I'd still die. If the Flameclock ran out, I'd die.

Getting to ten years . . . was supposed to be the greatest achievement. Not many can.

[oiorpata]

Why is it only ten years? Who the fuck put that kind of curse on you?

[offseers]

I don't know.

It's just the way things are. I don't even know if there's a way around it.

[oiorpata]

No one ever questioned it?

[offseers]

How would they?

No one ever knew differently. There was no frame of reference, for a life outside of those ten years.

[oiorpata]

Did you not have any interaction with anyone else? Or is your whole world full of people with limited lifespans?

[offseers]

It's a little hard to interact with others when you're at war.

But it seems the two nations, Keves and Agnus, were the same.

[oiorpata]

I've been through a lot of wars, and there's always people to interact with. Do they keep you isolated?

[offseers]

That would be true if there were other nations.

But there's only Agnus and Keves. Only the two throughout the world.

[oiorpata]

[ what the fuck. ]

Small fucking world. Are you sure it's only two, or could someone be keeping you in the dark?

[offseers]

Only two. It's engineered that way.

All of us, fighting forever. We die, we come back and we do it all over again.

[oiorpata]

Maybe you need to figure out who the fuck is engineering it all. What's the point? What do they want?

It's fucked up.

[offseers]

That was the part we were still figuring out.

[ though they got stopped midway. hopefully . . . ghondor will find it. ]

[oiorpata]

I hope you do, even if it's on pause while you're here.

What's your name, kid?

[offseers]

. . . Noah.

[oiorpata]

Andy.

I also hope other people were better able to answer your questions.

[offseers]

I'm sure they did their best.

The rest I'll have to figure out.

[oiorpata]

Good luck. There's a big variety of perspectives here, so there's plenty of space for you to figure it out.