009. 💥(AUDIO) ⇁ CHARM (SOMETIME @ NIGHT)

[opheliac]

( there's a lot of dead air at first. someone is definitely on their charm, that much is certain, but for some unknown reason, the person isn't saying a word. did they turn on their charm by accident? could be possible, especially in the dark when one can't see their own hand in front of their face if they have no source of light. but then there's something... -- something like a gear turning? almost as if someone is winding up a key to start up a toy or some gizmo. this goes on for a little while, thirty seconds, give or take. and if one listens closely, there's a very subtle scratch of a needle... )

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[conflictresolution]

[There had to be better manners of light sources that weren't electricity. The Undercity used chem-tech to light their streets and homes, and he found it superior to whatever was going on here. Candles were fine for short bursts, and Silco also had no issue navigating in the dark either.

Was he surprised that Jinx was working with the gemstone? No. Since the explosion and her punishment due to it, he expected her to focus more of her attention on it. Besides, he knew that gemstone alone could probably light up the entire city with its energy.]

I don't believe the Council would waste body bag resources. They would use us for bait or simply dig a hole.

[opheliac]

Like the mysterious tombstones?

( has she ever mentioned to silco about the tombstones? she doesn't remember, but she is going to assume that yes, she did. she stretches over for her goggles and secures them onto her face, then bending over once more to twist the knob of her device. similar to home, the gemstone awakes and hovers delicately -- which is something she was hoping for. he can't see her face, but her body language shows approval of the crystal's response, and she quickly scribbles in her book resting beside her. )

If anyone here believes we can "go home" after we do all the sentencing junk, they got only air between their ears.

[conflictresolution]

We don't know whose doing the tombstones are. It's best not to assume their origins thus far.

[He stood in the doorway of her workshop (aka her mess of a space) and doesn't intrude much further than that. He respected her space as she occasionally did his, but she was his daughter so managed to get away with so much more than other people. He watched her work, pleased that she was working on it and not caring about what ends it would come to.]

But people do go somewhere. Tombstone or no, there is the question on if where we came from being still an option for some.

[opheliac]

The probability of returning home is zero. point one percent! ( she sounds so sure of herself when she really has no evidence to back that up, it's just her personal belief. ) — Y'know when people wind back up here, they don't remember a thing. So when ya think about it, why would the council send 'em home just to bring them back with their brain scrubbed clean of all the hard progress they've done in their "rehabilitation"?

( his daughter cracks her neck and knuckles before placing her hand carefully on the dial again, looking as if she's bracing herself to do something that may be risky. )

Sounds counterproductive. ... Or they're a buncha loons and get a lil' twitchy fun outta of it.

[conflictresolution]

I challenge you to support that statistic with evidence. [He might even consider asking Jerry about it, playing the concerned father card if he had to. This was an answer that might ease Jinx's mind when it came to Ekko who was a pain in the neck but better than recent acquisitions.] Perhaps the idea of being transported to a prison island would cause people insanity in their own worlds, and the Council would prefer to avoid unearthing their schemes.

[It felt like it had been awhile since they had engaged in a debate like this. He rather liked it, and she might just be the only one he would where it wouldn't end in someone trying to punch him in the face.]

We don't know their motivations enough to say for certain what their overall intentions are.

[opheliac]

Uh, the tombstones are the evidence.

( before cranking the dial to another level, jinx whirls around to face her father with her arms folded over her chest. he isn't able to see her brows furrowing due to the goggles, but he doesn't need to witness her frowning when her posture is speaking it out and clear. )

— When someone leaves, a new one pops up. Preeetttty straight A to B to me! Could be made-up blahblah talk, but Ange-Grets is missy serious, and she's not the type to yank chains.

[conflictresolution]

And have you dug up the ground under the tombstone to check for a corpse? Or are they simply memorials to the people that have come and gone as a reminder to all of us that our time here is fleeting.

[He would win or lose a debate through digging for a corpse. He didn't understand the notion of entombing people's bodies in the earth, but then again, Zaun didn't have an expansive amount of land to use. They also had an over abundance of death on a daily basis.]

Has Ange dug up corpses? Now that I consider it, she might be the type, but I would require concrete evidence.

[opheliac]

Nope, never went grave robbing personally! But it's on my "silly things I wanna do" list. I'm waitin' on someone really good to dig up. You can't just dig out any ol' person, it loses the charm and the experience.

( and the word "experience", jinx wiggles her fingers at silco to add emphasis and effect. )

And do people really bury the person with their moolah? Money is too stupid to travel to the afterlife! They're not smart like weapons. Each coin works on one neuron, and it's smaller than a speck of dust! It takes them sooooooo long just to think of one thing.

( there's a serious debate somewhere in this conversation, and not just downright madness and fuckery. )

[conflictresolution]

There is no one 'really good' to dig up when they are dead. Everything important is long gone, and it's just animal food at that point.

[Silco had no illusions about dealing with a corpse. He'd seen, dealt with and ordered dealt with so many over the years. After all, the streets should be relatively clean for people to enjoy themselves and bring their coin with them. Besides, from experience, some of them aren't even dead and that makes them useful.]

I wouldn't know. You'd have to ask the Enforcer about traditions with riches. Their graveyards to support impressive tombstone carvings if you're rich enough or important enough.

[opheliac]

Well, whatever. I'm stickin' to my guns on this talk, Pops.

( with that, she spins right back around to return to the device. they can still debate about it if he wants to, she'll just be working at the same time besides giving him her full attention. )

[conflictresolution]

As you say. I'll let you get back to your work. No doubt the community appreciates your choice in music for them.

[He held the candle up a little to give one last look at what she was doing before he began to withdraw to head back to the office. It was smaller there and easier to conserve warmth anyway. Heat rose, so he determined that she should be alright up here as well.]