[Text] [Anonymous]

[hachitaro]

[He still doesn't trust people, not here. Not anywhere, really. But he has to know. In a place this weird, he has to know.]

I'm just wondering... who here is not human? You don't need to tell me who you are if you don't want to, but I just want to get a sense for how many people who are not human are here.

I can't be the only one.

And a second question: is it safe for those who are not human here? I mean, I am definitely not like one of those beast things and I have no plans of attacking people. But human-dominated places tend to be somewhat unsafe for us.

And if you are some kind of mad scientist type reading this? Fuck off. We don't need people like you on our asses.

[Is that enough of a difference from his usual typing? He'll have to be careful about capitalization and punctuation so it sounds different from him, but...]

Comments

Pretend that said before not after, my brain is gone.

[hachitaro]

Honestly I think you were great. I've always tried to help others be free of whatever's pushing them down - government or otherwise. Freedom and safety have always been what I've strived for when helping other people.

I helped set up our secret society - the Underground - so that people like me could be free and safe from oppression.

So... um. Thank you.

[kaientai]

[ once again, ryouma is surprised by the response and rendered momentarily at a loss for words, even though he'd asked in the first place. compliments make him a little awkward because he never knows how to take them. ]

Oh.

Well! I'm glad I did alright! No need to thank me though. I just did what I needed to do.

Besides, that's pretty impressive stuff! Secret societies and such? Rocking the boat is easy, but keeping real people safe is a lot harder. You oughta feel pretty proud of yourself for that.

[hachitaro]

We all do what we need to do. That doesn't mean we all do the right thing.

I've been trying. It's been hard, given that there's people who are trying to seize enough power to make us... not secret. But I did my best to stop them. It's out of my hands now. But I'd like to think I at least helped some people.

[kaientai]

Well, as I found it, money makes the world go round. Back in Tosa, people like me were no better than dogs, but even somebody like that can make his way in the world if he got into business.

Easier said than done, of course, but that's why you take care of each other. I never could've done what I did if there hadn't been all kinds helping me out with all kinds of skills I didn't have. I'm glad the folks in this world understand that bit!

Whatever effort you made did help because of all the ways you probably can't see or never noticed either. At the very least, it sounds like you've earned a break from all that pressure. This world has plenty of dangers on its own, but sometimes it's easier to manage when it's different.

[hachitaro]

Yeah, money and power unfortunately still rule the world a century and a half later. But there's people who are vocal about changing things, bit by bit. The spirit still lives on, even if the flesh doesn't.

I mean... I know you're right. It started with a handful of us huddling in a warehouse and now it's a nationwide thing. It attracts more crime than I'd like - forgery and thievery's understandable, things like the sale of clearly unethically gained items aren't - but it's held together for a while now. Of course the people in power are trying to change things for the worse for everyone, but that's why I fought back in the ways that I could.

But I guess I've been permanently retired from that...

[kaientai]

Certain crimes tend to be easier to swallow when the alternative is the end of everything. It's not the sort of moral dilemma anybody wants to be saddled with, but it sounds like you did the best you could.

You had the courage to do what needed doing and left your world in a better place than you found it, so you better enjoy that retirement!

[hachitaro]

I tried, at least. I wish I could have done more, but I can't exactly go back and change the past.

I'm trying to, but Trench seems to be hell-bent on being Weird.