[18] [anon text] - "It Doesn't Unbang Your Mom."

[lieutenantantichrist]

Hey. It's too hot to do anything today, so you might as well talk.

What's the worst thing anybody ever did to you?

[That comes first. It's a minute or so before the rest follows.]

What would the dirtbag have to do to make you forgive them?

Comments

[Text]

[me_first]

[He's not even going to bother with anon.]

it's probably me that people can't forgive, actually!

[Anon Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

[It's an unfamiliar name, but fuck, Blake is relieved to hear from somebody on the other side.]

Well, spill it. What did you do?

[Text]

[me_first]

in general i caused the destruction of everything in the city and the deaths of many many people

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

[Oh. Yeah, that's something, all right.]

What the hell for?

[Text]

[me_first]

'when everything changes, nothing changes'. that was our motto. the face of the city changed, but people didn't know how to appreciate anything, how to do anything without instant gratification. we were trying to change the city's attitude but. well. things got out of hand!

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

[Blake sorts through the fancy talk. Change, attitudes, appreciation.]

You're terrorists.

[Text]

[me_first]

that's one way of looking at it, i suppose. not the way i would prefer.

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

Let me take a wild guess. You prefer "freedom fighters."

[Text]

[me_first]

no. we prefer 'Camerata'. or did.

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

[That looks a whole lot like...]

Comrades?

Ah, hell. God damn commies.

[Text]

[me_first]

i have no idea what a commie is!

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

You know. Your reds, your pinkos, your share and share alike comrades. The guys with pamphlets.

[Text]

[me_first]

i think we have a... cultural misunderstanding.

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

[Blake tries to clarify.]

The kind of people who plant bombs and try to make revolutions.

[Text]

[me_first]

it was never our intention to plant bombs, and we certainly wanted to harm as few people as possible.

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

If that was the plan, it doesn't sound like you stuck to it real well.

[Text]

[me_first]

well no. things... happened.

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

Uh huh. Funny thing, how it always works out that way. You kill a couple guys and then all of a sudden there's a whole bunch of people up against the wall.

[Text]

[me_first]

i did not calculate and predict that the response from the Process would be so vigorous. but then i don't think anyone could have predicted that. in addition by the time i got the one thing that might have been able to hold them back returned to me it was too late.

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

The Process, is that the government? Yeah, they tend to get pretty pissed off when somebody tries to toss them out. That doesn't take a fucking rocket scientist to see coming.

What was your thing, a nuke?

[Text]

[me_first]

no. they were a legion of semi-autonomous robots. they were supposed to be controllable, but when the Transistor was removed from our grasp they began to follow their own personal directives.

the Transistor was... a brush. i suppose it looks somewhat like a sword - long, flat, and sharp - but it is not intended as one. not in the physical sense. one can access functions with it to rewrite things, both in combat situations and outside of them.

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

[It's a long, long time before a reply comes.]

Pal, you must take some interesting medication.

[Text]

[me_first]

i don't need any. the Process, the changeable nature of Cloudbank - these are some of the things that underlie the basic functions of my world.

[Text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

Your world sounds like a pain in the ass.

No wonder you wanted to break it down.

[Text]

[me_first]

i did not intend for the destruction of everything. only of complacency.