Date: 2019-12-19 07:12 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (DRGSLFG DZIMRMT)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
[Bill would prefer to see Ford's face if he's gonna continue, so he floats back again.]

I WAS, JUST. WHERE WAS I. SCARED I WAS GONNA DIE, YEAH. WHEN PEOPLE ARE AFRAID, THEY LEARN HOW TO LIE.

[Another humorless bend of the eye.]

YOU ONLY EVER LIED TO ME SUCCESSFULLY WHEN I HAD THE KIDS, RIGHT?

[When it wasn't really a game any more.]

I WAS A LITTLE TOO, YOU KNOW, INVOLVED WITH MYSELF TO UNDERSTAND THAT EVERYBODY WAS LYING, EVERYBODY IN THE SECOND DIMENSION I EVER MET! EVERYBODY WAS PRETENDING TO BUY WHAT THEY WERE FED, TO KEEP THEMSELVES SAFE, AND KEEP THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THEM HAPPY SAFE. SOME PEOPLE REALLY DID BUY INTO ALL THAT CRAP ABOUT THE ANGLES, BUT MORE PEOPLE THAT I EVER GAVE THE WORLD CREDIT FOR WERE JUST KEEPING THEIR HEADS DOWN TO STAY ALIVE. THERE WAS APPARENTLY A WHOLE REBELLION, AND I MISSED IT! BECAUSE, EH, I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE. I DID. I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO HATED LIVING HERE, AND HATED WHAT THE LAW WAS. WHATEVER LYING THEY WERE ALL DOING, IT FOOLED ME.

[The only one in the whole world smart enough to be scared? Yeah, it sounds pretty dumb, now. Bill rubs at his eye.]

I GOT OUT OF DODGE BEFORE MY DEADLINE, OBVIOUSLY! I COULD PASS FOR AN EQUILATERAL UNLESS I WAS ACTUALLY MEASURED BY A DOCTOR, SO I STARTED PRETENDING TO BE ONE. THAT'S ONE CASTE ABOVE MY ACTUAL FAMILY'S, SO IT CAME WITH MORE PERKS! I CHANGED MY NAME. I CAUGHT UP WITH THE EDUCATION AN EQUILATERAL WAS EXPECTED TO HAVE! I FIGURED OUT HOW FAST I COULD LEARN SOMETHING WHEN I WANTED TO! PRETTY FAST, FORDSY.

[Not all of this is the magic, and Bill is arrogant to want that fact out in the open, still. He looks smug, and then - ah, right. Yeah.]

HAVING THE NUMBERS TO PROVE I WAS THE SHARPEST PERSON I KNEW JUST MADE ME THINK MORE AND MORE THAT NOBODY WAS GOING TO SOLVE MY PROBLEMS BETTER THAN ME. I TOOK A LOT OF GAMBLES ON THE FACT THAT I COULD JUST OUT-THINK ANY PROBLEM. OR THAT I COULD BE RUTHLESS ENOUGH TO TAKE A ROUTE NO ONE WOULD EXPECT. I STILL DO! I STILL DO. IT'S A MISTAKE, IT GOT ME KILLED.

[Back on that again. He's not gonna get over that. Resolving to do anything necessary to avoid very real mortality at a young age kinda fucked him up.]

ANYWAY, THE MATH! THEY DIDN'T LET EQUILATERALS GO TO UNIVERSITY EITHER, THAT WAS FOR SQUARES OR ABOVE. I DID A LOT OF THINGS THAT WEREN'T TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL, BECAUSE ILLEGAL THINGS WOULD SEND ME SOMEWHERE I DEFINITELY DIDN'T WANT TO BE, BUT WERE JUST SOCIALLY UNTHINKABLE!

[It was a form of vengeance. Bill's a petty bitch. He rubs his little hands.]

BECAUSE I WAS A DEAD GUY WALKING EITHER WAY, RIGHT? I WAS PUSHY. I WASN'T POLITE! I DIDN'T ACT LIKE A GENTLEMAN. THESE THINGS ARE A BIG DEAL, YOU GOTTA UNDERSTAND! A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE SECOND DIMENSION WOULD RATHER STAND STILL ON FIRE THAN TO LOOK A HIGHER-CLASS IN THE EYE AND TELL THEM TO GET A HOSE. I DIDN'T MAKE A LOT OF FRIENDS, I GOT A REPUTATION AS A WEIRD TROUBLEMAKER, BUT NOT ONE THAT ANYONE COULD DO ANYTHING ABOUT!

[just like here on the barge, wow! why have bad things happen to you when you can be the bad thing that happens to EVERYBODY?]

Date: 2019-12-19 09:29 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (DRGSLFG DZIMRMT)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
[BIG SMIRK yes he is the best at causing problems.]

IT MEANT HAD TO PROVE MY LOYALTY, A COUPLE TIMES. BUT I WAS GOOD AT THAT! EVERYBODY AROUND ME WAS JUST A DRONE, I HAD NO PROBLEM SAYING ANYTHING I NEEDED TO SAY TO THEM. OR DOING ANYTHING I NEEDED TO DO!

[Does he have mixed feelings about it, now? Kind of. Any of those people could have been in the rebellion and he made their work that much harder.]

I WAS PATIENT ENOUGH TO PLAY A LONG GAME. WELL, I GUESS YOU ALREADY KNOW.

[because of that long con he ran on ford for multiple years whoops]

EVENTUALLY, I GOT AN IN BY SUBMITTING EXAM SCORES TO PLACES THAT I KNEW I WOULDN'T GET INTO, TO PROVE I AT LEAST HAD A RESOURCE THAT COULD SERVE THE PURPOSES OF PROPER SOCIETY! I GOT NOBILITY TO HIRE ME ONTO PROJECTS THAT NEEDED MENIAL WORK IN EXCHANGE FOR NO CREDIT ON THE DISCOVERIES THEY MADE. THAT WAS FINE!

[its just kind of the way shit works.]

Date: 2019-12-19 10:04 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (ZMW UVVO GSV DLIOW GFIMRMT)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
FORD, BUDDY, IT HAPPENS EVERY DAY.

[Like constantly. Most science is just big teams of people doing lots of hours of tedious work, and then the most photogenic lab head gets in the news for all of it.]

Date: 2019-12-19 10:32 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (UILN Z WRAABRMT SVRTSG)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
MISTER HERO, HUH. YOU KNOW, YOU DOING ALL YOUR OWN FIELD WORK ACTUALLY ISN'T HOW IT'S USUALLY DONE.

[A little nudge under the chin this time. In another context Bill might have gotten frustrated with how much value Ford puts on Being Liked, but right now they just got back together and he's all full of fuzzy feelings.]

I KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING. I WAS USING THEM, TOO.

Date: 2019-12-19 11:02 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (HXZOVH ZMW UVZGSVIH)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
YUP.

I'D HEARD ABOUT THE THIRD DIMENSION, ANYONE WHO STUCK THEIR EYE INTO COUNTERCULTURE HAD HEARD OF IT. IT WAS KIND OF A STORY TOLD BY A GUY WHO'D DIED IN A GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL FOR MENTAL PATIENTS - HORRIFYING PLACES, BY THE WAY, REAL JAIL IS BETTER! - SO THERE WASN'T A LOT THAT WAS RELIABLE! BUT WHEREVER I WAS GOING TO BE IN ORDER TO NOT FEEL AWFUL ALL THE TIME, IT WASN'T IN THIS DIMENSION. THE CIRCLES - THAT'S THE GOVERNMENT - HAD KNOWN ABOUT IT AS LONG AS EVERYONE ELSE HAD, EVEN IF THEY DENIED IT! BUT INSTEAD OF EXPLORING IT, THEY WANTED TO CLOSE US OFF AND KEEP IT IT FROM EVER CONTACTING US AGAIN. THEY WERE PRETTY CLOSE, TOO, WHEN I GOT ONBOARD.


[Shrug.]

SEEMS CONVENIENT THAT IT LINED UP LIKE THAT, BUT IT WASN'T! THERE WAS A THREE-DIMENSIONAL FIGURE THEY WERE IN CONTACT WITH, WHO SPECIALIZED IN WORKING WITH GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES. YOU MIGHT KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING!

Date: 2019-12-19 11:21 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (ZMW RG'H Z MVD PRMW LU OLEV)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
HAHA, YEP. WASN'T THAT A WEIRD SURPRISE!

I CAN NORMALLY MOVE FREELY BETWEEN THE PAST AND FUTURE. I DON'T DO IT A LOT, BECAUSE TIME BABY GETS IN THE WAY -


[Fucking hate that guy]

BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I GOT CREATED. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT...

[You do it yourself!

He illustrates this with almost tying his arms in knots showing the paths of the timeline crossing over itself.]

Date: 2019-12-20 02:41 am (UTC)
tetractys: (DSVM BLF TVG GLFXSVW YB SRH TOLEV)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
SURE, I RECOGNIZED HIM AT SOME POINT. THE ONLY PERSON I TRUSTED BACK THEN WAS ME, SO I MADE SURE I CAUGHT HIS EYE. THEN WE WERE ABLE TO WORK FROM BOTH ENDS OF THE DIMENSIONAL BARRIER! THEY MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS WITH ME. WITH US! I WAS WHERE I NEEDED TO BE, BECAUSE I'D ARRIVED IN TIME FOR MYSELF.

[Bill thinks, taps his foot.]

...LOOK, TIME TRAVEL IS FUN, BUT IT'S HARD TO WORK INTO A STORY.

THE FUTURE VERSION OF ME TOLD ME THAT WE WERE GOING TO MAKE A DEAL. THAT SOUNDED FUN - I LIKED THE IDEA OF BOTH OF US NOT BOTHERING TO PRETEND WE WEREN'T SELF-INTERESTED. EVERYTHING ABOVE THE TABLE! HE SAID HE'D GET ME OUT, AND THAT WAS EVEN BETTER. I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE WE WERE GOING, BUT, SURE, JUST ABOUT ANYTHING'S BETTER THAN THE SECOND DIMENSION. I ALSO DIDN'T KNOW THAT WHEN TWO DIMENSIONAL COUNTERPARTS TOUCH, THE PARADOX COLLAPSES THE WHOLE THING.


[Bill turns a shaking-hands-with-himself gesture into a flat clapping motion - boom.]

WE MANAGED IT, THOUGH. WASN'T EVERYBODY SURPRISED! HEH, HAHAH, HAHAHAAHAH -

Date: 2019-12-20 03:44 am (UTC)
tetractys: (SVIV RG TLVH)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
SURE! SINCE I MADE THE DEAL HAPPEN FROM BOTH ENDS, I COULD EXPLAIN THE MECHANICS TO YOU, BUT A WHOLE UNIVERSE CEASING TO EXIST AT THE SAME TIME DOESN'T ACTUALLY GO NOWHERE. 'CEASE TO EXIST' IS KIND OF AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION. ALL THE MATTER COMES APART, BUT DOESN'T GET DESTROYED. A SUFFICIENTLY POWERFUL ENTITY CAN CONVERT IT STRAIGHT TO ENERGY!

THAT HURT A LOT, BUT THAT'S HOW I ENDED UP LIKE THIS!

...

THE NEXT TRILLION YEARS ARE LESS IMPORTANT! A LOT OF BEING ALONE IN BETWEEN UNIVERSES.

Date: 2019-12-20 04:13 am (UTC)
tetractys: (R DRHS R XLFOW HVV BLF)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
YEAH.

[Bill looks subdued. He sort of did. And the way he is now is a constant reminder of that.]

I'M TRYING TO PUT IT BACK. QUENTIN'S HELPING ME SEE IF IT'S POSSIBLE.

Date: 2019-12-20 07:26 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (ZH LFI UOVHS RH YFIMRMT)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
NAH. I DID A LOT OF WEIRDMAGEDDONS! I DID, UH, MAYBE SEVENTY? LIKE EARTH'S!

Date: 2019-12-20 08:14 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (DRGSLFG DZIMRMT)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
YEAH, THEY'D JUST GET PULLED DOWN INTO THE NIGHTMARE REALM. AND THEN I'D HAVE SOMETHING TO DO FOR AWHILE! AND THEN EVERYBODY WOULD DIE.

I HAVE REALLY MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THIS STUFF NOW.

Date: 2019-12-20 10:17 pm (UTC)
tetractys: (ZMW UVVO GSV DLIOW GFIMRMT)
From: [personal profile] tetractys
[Bill laughs, but it's sort of bewildered and edged with the hysterical breakdown he had two months ago.]

AHAHAHAHHAHA, YEAH, I KNOW.

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