Ford sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose for a moment with his free hand. "All right, Bill, out with it -- what do you want?" There's got to be a reason Bill's come all the way over here besides just to bother Ford. And if there isn't? Then Ford can tell him what changes he's trying to make to the scanner and maybe the potential benefits of cutting their trip short will motivate Bill to let Ford work.
...buuuut Ford kind of really wants to know what's up.
Ah, it's this. Ford figured they'd have this conversation sooner or later.
"There's a number of reasons," he says, matter of fact, tucking the scanner into a pocket. "What I told Luke was true. I do want to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't cause too much trouble, and find the source of the radiation. But, besides that..." Ford pauses, looking back up at Bill. "I wanted to come," he says, and there's a note in the tone that sounds almost like a shrug. "I want to find what's making you vanish and stop it."
It doesn't sound like he's lying. But it does sound pretty unbelievable.
Bill doesn't turn red but he does flicker a darker orange.
"YOU - YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SHOT ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he hisses.
That was genuinely the worst thing that's ever happened to him. He's not a very revenge-focused guy, he prefers to just move on and learn from defeats, but you know what, this doesn't make any sense! If Ford didn't want him dissolving why is he even DEAD, we could have skipped all of this!
"Of course I did! You were going to cause the end of the world!" Ford doesn't raise his voice, exactly, but the intensity of the hushed tone spikes. "But right now, what I have to do is keep you alive! You have the portal and the coordinates to the target dimension, so it's very important that you don't die yet! I need answers about the Barge. And I need you, to get them." Qr krpr.
Ford could figure it out without Bill. It'd take him a little longer, but he could do it.
"BUT IF I FALL APART AND YOU GRADUATE, THAT'S NOT YOUR PROBLEM ANY MORE, IS IT?"
Bill's eye is glowing a little in the dark which makes it more clear that it's narrowed suspiciously.
(The kind of paranoia Ford had in 82 was a sort of infection Bill passed to him; Bill's never thought to apologize for doing that to Ford because that's just generally what he feels interacting with people all the time. It's a side-effect of treating life like its a competitive sport.)
"That isn't the plan." Ford says this low and flat, very serious and very aware that it isn't likely Bill will believe him. "I know there's no way to make you believe this, but--"
He stops short. Then, he breaks into a chuckle. "Oh, right, of course! There is!" Silly of him to forget about it. Sure, this is a little bit of a risk, but Ford's confident enough in his own conviction that it's probably going to be worth it to get Bill off his back here. "Do you still have that ring?"
Ford has been quietly referring to it in his own head as the Ring of Truth. Shame he's not journaling anymore, or he could have immortalized that bit of wordplay. Ah, well.
Oh, wow, that is smaller than Ford remembers. Thank goodness they have the crystals from the Enclosure: with some creativity, their potential applications are really limitless.
Ford takes it, pulls out the flashlight, and grows it to an appropriate size. He slips it on his radial pointer finger and opens and closes his hand a few times.
"All right, time for a test run. My name is Stanford Pines."
No flash.
"...and my favorite inventor is Thomas Edison."
The ring lights up like the Fourth of July.
"I'd say it's working perfectly. So, what do you want to know?"
Huge eye-roll at the Thomas Edison thing, oh my God, we know you love Bill's boss, at the lounge, who won't let him turn it into a rockin' nightclub, and also invented alternating current one time, we know.
Here's a pop quiz, dude.
"SO WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE? NIKOLA TESLA, OR YOURSELF?"
Strange, that it hadn't been the very first thing to cross his mind when he saw Bill start to disappear. A while ago, it would have been. But that isn't why he volunteered himself for this.
"That's right. I told you already: you have what I need to get the answers I'm looking for." Ford doesn't realize he could do it on his own. This rings true. "Besides, if I had stayed on the Barge, I wouldn't be good for anything! Except for the insulation experiment, everything important is in your room, and I can't go in there unless you open the door and let me in. I'd rather be out here, working on the problem."
"I'm not going to let you die just because it would be convenient!" Ford snaps, a little louder than he meant to. He glances in the direction of the tent. Got to keep his voice down.
Ford stares at his hand. He definitely thought this was a morals thing. Didn't he?
"Okay, let's try this again," he says, puzzled. "It would be ethically questionable to kill Bill Cipher through inaction."
True.
"Which is why I'm not doing it."
False!! False again?! Ford stares at the ring, taps it with another finger. Come on, he signed up for convincing Bill of the truth, not searching his own motivations!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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U walked into this, somewhat.
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Ford sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose for a moment with his free hand. "All right, Bill, out with it -- what do you want?" There's got to be a reason Bill's come all the way over here besides just to bother Ford. And if there isn't? Then Ford can tell him what changes he's trying to make to the scanner and maybe the potential benefits of cutting their trip short will motivate Bill to let Ford work.
...buuuut Ford kind of really wants to know what's up.
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"I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR ANGLE IS, OLD MAN. WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?"
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"There's a number of reasons," he says, matter of fact, tucking the scanner into a pocket. "What I told Luke was true. I do want to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't cause too much trouble, and find the source of the radiation. But, besides that..." Ford pauses, looking back up at Bill. "I wanted to come," he says, and there's a note in the tone that sounds almost like a shrug. "I want to find what's making you vanish and stop it."
It doesn't sound like he's lying. But it does sound pretty unbelievable.
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"YOU - YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SHOT ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he hisses.
That was genuinely the worst thing that's ever happened to him. He's not a very revenge-focused guy, he prefers to just move on and learn from defeats, but you know what, this doesn't make any sense! If Ford didn't want him dissolving why is he even DEAD, we could have skipped all of this!
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"BUT IF I FALL APART AND YOU GRADUATE, THAT'S NOT YOUR PROBLEM ANY MORE, IS IT?"
Bill's eye is glowing a little in the dark which makes it more clear that it's narrowed suspiciously.
(The kind of paranoia Ford had in 82 was a sort of infection Bill passed to him; Bill's never thought to apologize for doing that to Ford because that's just generally what he feels interacting with people all the time. It's a side-effect of treating life like its a competitive sport.)
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He stops short. Then, he breaks into a chuckle. "Oh, right, of course! There is!" Silly of him to forget about it. Sure, this is a little bit of a risk, but Ford's confident enough in his own conviction that it's probably going to be worth it to get Bill off his back here. "Do you still have that ring?"
Ford has been quietly referring to it in his own head as the Ring of Truth. Shame he's not journaling anymore, or he could have immortalized that bit of wordplay. Ah, well.
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He digs into his inventory and comes back with it and - yeah, it's for Bill's tiny little doll hands, it's gonna take some creativity.
"OH-" Bill's eye brightens as the idea flashes across it - right! Got it. "GROWTH CRYSTAL!"
He offers it out on his palm.
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Ford takes it, pulls out the flashlight, and grows it to an appropriate size. He slips it on his radial pointer finger and opens and closes his hand a few times.
"All right, time for a test run. My name is Stanford Pines."
No flash.
"...and my favorite inventor is Thomas Edison."
The ring lights up like the Fourth of July.
"I'd say it's working perfectly. So, what do you want to know?"
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Here's a pop quiz, dude.
"SO WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE? NIKOLA TESLA, OR YOURSELF?"
think fast fucker
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"What?!" Ford certainly wasn't expecting to be questioned along those lines. "What does that have to do with this?"
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Nothing. He saw an opportunity to make you do the 'ice cube down my shirt' face and he took it.
Okay, okay, okay. Bill looks down like he's interviewing the ring instead of the human wearing it.
"ARE YOU HERE TO GATHER INFORMATION TO DESTROY ME WITH?"
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Truth.
Strange, that it hadn't been the very first thing to cross his mind when he saw Bill start to disappear. A while ago, it would have been. But that isn't why he volunteered himself for this.
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Bill taps the ring. Is it broken? It keeps doing this.
???
He's so confused, dude, give him a minute.
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"Was that it?"
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Huh.
"WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS."
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"That's right. I told you already: you have what I need to get the answers I'm looking for." Ford doesn't realize he could do it on his own. This rings true. "Besides, if I had stayed on the Barge, I wouldn't be good for anything! Except for the insulation experiment, everything important is in your room, and I can't go in there unless you open the door and let me in. I'd rather be out here, working on the problem."
Fact.
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Bill considers, taps his little foot.
"YOU STILL GET A LOT BY LETTING ME DIE!"
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"Although it would be very tempting."
All true.
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"IS THIS A MORALITY THING?"
Bill pronounces 'morality' like it's a strange cultural quirk that Bill has never really understood.
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The ring doesn't seem to think that counts as truth.
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"AHA!"
What are you up to?
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"Okay, let's try this again," he says, puzzled. "It would be ethically questionable to kill Bill Cipher through inaction."
True.
"Which is why I'm not doing it."
False!! False again?! Ford stares at the ring, taps it with another finger. Come on, he signed up for convincing Bill of the truth, not searching his own motivations!
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"SIXER, DO YA NOT KNOW WHY YOU'RE HELPING ME?"
This is particularly annoying because if Ford doesn't know how the hell is Bill supposed to find out?
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