Ford nods. "I was the one who encouraged her to be open about it. I warned her, back when we were first paired, that things that happen on the Barge tend to reveal information we'd rather keep secret. It's better to come forward with anything that might cause you trouble. Otherwise, a flood's just gonna show it to the whole damned ship!"
He heaves a sigh. "It hurt Jasper in a way I didn't expect," Ford confesses heavily. "I regret that. I knew a little about how Gem society works, but I didn't think it'd be like...well, like if a parent told you that they'd never wanted you.
"It's not a perfect metaphor," Ford admits, "but she was born to follow Rose, and Rose betrayed her." He feels very bad for Jasper, even though he knows she's also a violent murder rock.
"I'm aware of the complexity of their relationship," Elijah says, perhaps
with a hint of dryness. He does have Jasper's file, after all. "Betrayal
implies an active decision. From what I can tell, Rose Quartz simply
neglected to address what would happen to her remaining soldiers after she
turned."
"But it feels like a betrayal to her," Ford says, the world's most unexpected Jasper stan. "How could it feel like anything else, when someone tells you your destiny is one thing but was lying to you all along? It's painful to realize that someone who means the world to you isn't thinking about you at all."
"No," he says, still without ire. "I'm not an idiot. Allowing her to accept
that her feelings are actually valid is more important. That being said, I
didn't intend for this discussion to be a mutual critique of our chosen
methods."
"...That didn't quite come across, but I'm aware that as a recent graduate
I may be slightly oversensitive to some remarks," Elijah concedes, and
moves on. "You've spoken to her often?"
It isn't Elijah; Ford is very good at infuriating the people around him by accidentally being extremely rude. He was designed to have deficient social skills.
"A couple of times. I found her in the bar, after Rose told her the truth. I was expecting her to be more violent than she was, but instead, she was just...sad."
"I understand that she's reaching the point where she's recognising that
violence won't get her what she wants, but she's not cognisant of other
strategies. How is Rose managing these disclosures?"
Ford lets out a breath. "She doesn't want anyone to get hurt because of her history with Jasper, and is concerned Jasper won't think to keep bystanders out of the crossfire. But aside from that, I don't know that she's managing the situation so much as keeping her distance from it.
"I don't know if asking her to take a more active role would be productive or dangerous. I'm a recent graduate myself, and as you noticed a minute ago, one with terrible skills with people." At least Elijah's been polite about Ford's social missteps.
"I don't know. The Barge's standards for graduation are obscure and arbitrary -- for every person who graduates because they stop murdering, there's another inmate who graduated because he agreed to murder less! But I'd like to see them reach an understanding. Jasper's been badly hurt, and I think Rose is trying not to think about it. I've noticed she avoids topics that are painful or uncomfortable, and just tries to move on. That can be a valuable ability in a crisis, but on the Barge, it's only going to hold her back."
Whatever the Authority brought her here for, it isn't going to happen if she stays easy breezy beautiful. Getting to graduation is about the drama, and it always means digging into your private history to hold it up for public judgment.
"Do you think so? I was able to graduate without a lengthy post-mortem of
my previous history," Elijah murmurs. "Although as you say, it varies for
everyone."
"Really?" Ford asks, legitimately interested in the new data. "Interesting. So the floods where scenes from our past appeared on the network -- they weren't particularly invasive?"
"No, not at all," Elijah says, nonplussed. "The one I did see was a
public television appearance. Hundreds of millions of people had already
watched it."
"You're very lucky, then," says Ford, envious despite himself. "Some very personal parts of my history were shown to people, individuals who later tried to use what they knew to manipulate me. I wonder what's responsible for the difference?"
A member of the Authority, perhaps, not feeling that revealing Elijah's past is necessary? Or not feeling like its reveal has dramatic potential? Maybe whoever's sponsoring him has some respect for his privacy. There's no way to know from here.
"That's probably it," says Ford, snapping his fingers. "Everything on the Barge tends to follow the principle of dramatic action. If there was nothing about your past that would affect you if it became known, then of course it didn't get broadcast."
"Of course," Elijah says, like that makes instinctive sense and needs no
further unpacking. "Conversely, we should expect a number of
such...disclosures from both Rose and Jasper."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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"Well, I always carry emergency supplies in my coat, so...honestly, I could be worse."
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"Good."
Elijah draws in a breath.
"So. Our respective inmates. I'm aware of Rose Quartz's...previous identity."
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"Naturally. We haven't talked, but...it was relatively easy to infer from some of Jasper's remarks on the two of them."
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"It's not a perfect metaphor," Ford admits, "but she was born to follow Rose, and Rose betrayed her." He feels very bad for Jasper, even though he knows she's also a violent murder rock.
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"I'm aware of the complexity of their relationship," Elijah says, perhaps with a hint of dryness. He does have Jasper's file, after all. "Betrayal implies an active decision. From what I can tell, Rose Quartz simply neglected to address what would happen to her remaining soldiers after she turned."
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There's a pause.
"I do understand the difference between objective reality and subjective experience," he says mildly.
He doesn't really need this explaining to him, thank you, Ford.
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"Is that the tactic you're trying?" he asks. "To convince her that the objective reality is different from what she's feeling?"
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"No," he says, still without ire. "I'm not an idiot. Allowing her to accept that her feelings are actually valid is more important. That being said, I didn't intend for this discussion to be a mutual critique of our chosen methods."
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"...That didn't quite come across, but I'm aware that as a recent graduate I may be slightly oversensitive to some remarks," Elijah concedes, and moves on. "You've spoken to her often?"
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"A couple of times. I found her in the bar, after Rose told her the truth. I was expecting her to be more violent than she was, but instead, she was just...sad."
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"I understand that she's reaching the point where she's recognising that violence won't get her what she wants, but she's not cognisant of other strategies. How is Rose managing these disclosures?"
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"I don't know if asking her to take a more active role would be productive or dangerous. I'm a recent graduate myself, and as you noticed a minute ago, one with terrible skills with people." At least Elijah's been polite about Ford's social missteps.
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Elijah - not exactly a social butterfly himself - twitches a brief smile.
"Do you believe it'll be necessary for them to reconcile, in the long term?"
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Whatever the Authority brought her here for, it isn't going to happen if she stays easy breezy beautiful. Getting to graduation is about the drama, and it always means digging into your private history to hold it up for public judgment.
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"Do you think so? I was able to graduate without a lengthy post-mortem of my previous history," Elijah murmurs. "Although as you say, it varies for everyone."
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"No, not at all," Elijah says, nonplussed. "The one I did see was a public television appearance. Hundreds of millions of people had already watched it."
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A member of the Authority, perhaps, not feeling that revealing Elijah's past is necessary? Or not feeling like its reveal has dramatic potential? Maybe whoever's sponsoring him has some respect for his privacy. There's no way to know from here.
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"It could be that I was a public figure," Elijah suggests. "And not particularly sensitive to blackmail or manipulation. I have very few secrets."
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"Of course," Elijah says, like that makes instinctive sense and needs no further unpacking. "Conversely, we should expect a number of such...disclosures from both Rose and Jasper."