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[skitter]

Comments

[skitter]

No, I haven't asked.

[tarakan]

The end goal of Decima is to help reverse cellular degradation. To help people recover from diseases, illness, foreign contaminations. It is to heal and to help spur recovery.

We have the same goal in mind. We both want to help people. And considering you started as inmate, we might have even taken similar steps to achieve that goal.

[skitter]

What steps have you taken?

[tarakan]

I have burned through people. I tell Command that I need human trials in order to continue research. They provide subjects. I inject them with the virus, use them as incubators, and monitor their process. If they die? Pity. But I start again.

[ Hilbert is keeping his voice deliberately calm, deliberately neutral as he talks. He isn't showing any hint of emotion: an obvious choice he's making. ]

Your method of burning through people would undoubtedly be different than mine. But I see how you value control. And you admit yourself: you are cliche supervillain. I wonder if you too have burned through someone for the greater good.

[skitter]

[There's a pause. Taylor actually checks her hands, but the hair-thin scars around her palms disappeared overnight - they aren't open and bleeding now. So she takes a silent breath, takes a second to send the sunken-heart feeling from what he said off into the swarm, and then her tone can be normal when she continues.]

Myself, mostly. Learning that I hold the matches is a big chunk of how I suspect I graduated.

[tarakan]

Interesting.

[ His tone is still the same composed neutral as he asks, ]

Wonder what will be trigger for me. What will I learn to graduate.

[skitter]

[Yep, she is totally past that. Whew.]

For me, an important thing was looking at ownership. Who owned the problems I was trying to solve? Who owned the responsibilities I was taking on myself? Why was I taking on ownership of things much, much larger than myself?

[tarakan]

[ Well that's an easy one. Because everybody else is a short-sighted idiot who can't see the potential that he does. Next question! ]

I passed on my research to others before I died. I am always open to collaboration should opportunity present itself. Doubtful that looking at ownership is needed for my graduation.

[skitter]

[Yeah, that's where she stood too, if less consciously so.]

Collaboration is still keeping your hand on the wheel, Doctor.

[tarakan]

This is my life's work. Understandable that I would like to keep my hand on wheel—most in my position would.

[skitter]

And that's the ownership.

[tarakan]

[ Hilbert lets out a small little 'hmmph' before, ]

How picky were you when you decided who to hand things off to?

[skitter]

When? When I died? Or after my deals?

[tarakan]

Whichever you have answer for.

[skitter]

I have made exactly zero choices about who picks up what I'm leaving. I'll do my deals, and then I have a whole different world I'm going to go meddle in. I don't even plan to check how it goes.

Honestly, I'm more concerned about who I'll leave in charge of the greenhouse.

[tarakan]

That is where we differ. I know I will go back to own world after I graduate.

[skitter]

It took me ages to even figure out what I needed to work on to graduate. Got any ideas?

[tarakan]

I do. Graduation obviously does not mean you have to fully change as person. Daniel Jacobi is still same asshole that he was when we first met.

[ Which is VERY strong language from Hilbert. But in his defense, wow is Jacobi an asshole. ]

Biggest arguments back home have been with regards to my research. Human trials, lack of consent in test subjects, et cetera. If I mitigate those concerns, find new ways to continue research, and understand why everybody views my methods as bad, should be enough.

[ Half points, buddy. ]

[skitter]

Oh, yeah. He's one of my favorite assholes on the boat, though. Spending time with him is a blast, and I'll miss him.

[Taylor grins, pretty sure she can picture Hilbert's expression.]

Those are probably good places to start. Though I doubt you don't understand why people view your methods as bad.

[tarakan]

[ Talking about his own methods will wait for a moment as Hilbert points out, ]

You do know Jacobi murdered me.

[skitter]

I do. Sorry. I got- very casual about death, here.

He killed me once too. Caused my death.

[tarakan]

Some of us still have tethers and opinions to the non Barge world.

[ aka Hilbert is not very casual about death, what the fuck is wrong with people here. ]

After all, everyone leaves Barge eventually. Suspect that most will return to world where death is permanent. As it should be.

[skitter]

Should is very... flexible. I'm very grateful to have had the chance to come to terms with my own, here.

[tarakan]

You have come to terms and then some based on flippancy.

[skitter]

I'm sorry for being inconsiderate about your death. Scion knows my own first one is still a bit raw. Literally, yesterday.