[IC INBOX | lastvoyages ]

[mothmansplaining]

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"Stanford Pines. Leave a message."

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[mothmansplaining]

I don't know. Probably. It's a Barge deal, isn't it? I earned it, so...the Authority's going to want to see the payoff.

[tetractys]

IF YOU'RE NOT ON THE SHIP, CAN THEY EVEN KEEP YOU SAFE?

... YOU GOTTA DO THIS, I KNOW. BUT LET'S, EH, LET'S SEND A DRONE FIRST.

[mothmansplaining]

I don't know if I can send a drone in by itself. These components aren't easy to replicate!

[Bill's worried, though.]

...but I could send a probe off the ship once I get to Gravity Falls, before I disembark.

[tetractys]

IF YOU GET PULLED BACK INTO THE STORY, I DON'T KNOW HOW WE'RE GOING TO GET YOU BACK OUT.

[mothmansplaining]

Do you think you could petition the Admiral, on the grounds that the deal didn't work? He got me out once. He can do it again.

[tetractys]

ME? NO. ANOTHER WARDEN MIGHT BE ABLE TO, THOUGH! I'LL GET HANGE TO HELP.

WAS PART OF YOUR DEAL SAFE TRAVEL OUT, TOO? 'CAUSE THAT'D BE SWELL.

[mothmansplaining]

Yes. It was to be able to go in, take people out, and get them to a real place. I didn't specify the mechanics, but he must have thought the most efficient way to do it was to make it a function on the ship.

[tetractys]

[Long pause, thinking.]

OKAY.

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TRY?

[mothmansplaining]

Once I'm finished with the ship. Viable space travel is harder than NASA makes it look! I'm still working out some of the kinks.

[tetractys]

EEEH, NASA'S GOOD AT MAKING IT LOOK LIKE THEY LAUNCHED THINGS...

[mothmansplaining]

Ugh. I know.

[The moon landing is a personal betrayal.]

[tetractys]

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO UNTIL THEN?

[mothmansplaining]

[He shrugs; you can hear it in his voice.]

Stick around.

[tetractys]

ARE YOU HEADING OUT WHEN THE SHIP'S DONE?

[mothmansplaining]

....I don't know. I...haven't been thinking that far ahead, yet. I was expecting to have to negotiate a lot harder for the deal!

[On the one hand, he wants to be with his family. On the other, he...wants to stay with Bill, until Bill's free too. He hasn't brought it up to Stan yet.]

[tetractys]

[Soft:] YEAH.

[Bill believes him, Ford tends to just sort of take problems as they immediately appear in front of him.]

HOW ARE YOU FEELING, HUH?

[deal is pretty great, maybe they should celebrate.]

[mothmansplaining]

Ha ha. Pretty surprised. I mean, Rose did all the work herself, but I never thought an inmate paired with me would actually end up graduating!

I offered her the deal, you know, if she wanted it. She wouldn't take it. It was the right thing for her to do -- she realized that she couldn't assume what the people she cared about needed anymore, and using a deal to change things would just be making the same mistakes. Changing things in a way she thought was better, instead of listening to everyone else.

I'm really proud of her. She came a long way.

[tetractys]

YOU'RE NOT A DEAD WEIGHT, YA KNOW. YOU HAVE A LOT TO OFFER!

[mothmansplaining]

Ha ha. You think so?

[He's not convinced. He did tell Rose she shouldn't keep secrets, but she had to come to understand why on her own. All Ford did was be her friend.]

[tetractys]

FORDSY, COME ON. YOU'VE BEEN GREAT FOR ME, AND I'M NOT EVEN YOUR INMATE. I'M JUST TRYING TO GET YOU TO STAND STILL SO I CAN PET YOUR HEAD!

[mothmansplaining]

That's different! It's not my job to get you to graduation. I'm just trying to get us to a point where we can live with each other!

[tetractys]

I KNOW. AND I WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO WARDEN ME, WE DON'T NEED THIS TO BE ANY MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT IS ALREADY.

BUT I'VE SEEN THE SKILLS FOR IT YOU HAVE, KID. YOU'RE A GOOD FRIEND, AND YOU'RE A KIND PERSON. YOU KNOW HOW TO SET BOUNDARIES. AND LEARN FROM MISTAKES!

[mothmansplaining]

...thank you.

[The people who've expressed that they want him to stay, and that they feel he's doing good here, have surprised him. It's surprised him that it's happened at all! He's somehow gone from "heartless bastard" to this, and...even if he leaves eventually it's nice to know that's how some people feel about him.]

It's nice to hear that, even if being thanked by the Admiral for my "hard work" was galling.

[u g h.]

[tetractys]

[Bill rolls his eye.]

FORGET HIM. YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED, HE CAN HAVE WHATEVER KIND OF ATTITUDE HE LIKES ABOUT IT. HEH!

[mothmansplaining]

I still feel like I'm playing the Authority's game by cooperating, [he admits.] I don't like feeling that way -- like what I'm doing is helping them, even if it's also helping someone I care about.

[He feels used and complicit at the same time.]