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[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[the sound of Billy's front door closing, and a short sigh]

...Well.
I guess it lasted longer than I thought it would, at least.

[fridge door sound, hiss and pop of a can opening]

--Speaking of things that last longer than I thought it would...are we ever going back to the Castle?
Not that I'm eager to or anything, of course.

It's just that... well.

[staring forlornly at where a certain mad-scientist laboratory should be]

...Anyone else end up somewhere that is juuuust different enough from home to be really unsettling?

Comments

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

AI turned human? That's pretty cool.

[like a kid hearing about am awesome new toy]

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well...that's a magical little Castle for you.

[glances over]

No. [lie.]

[encryptedlock]

Happened to at least three of them so far - think the Weighted Companion Cube got turned into a dog, though. Then again, I'm not really sure it counts as an AI.

Better than the time he got turned into a Tamagotchi, anyway.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

Is that that...magic-8-ball...cube...thing?

[thinks] How many AIs do we have here, anyway?

[encryptedlock]

Yeah, that's the one.

We got at least four who are residents with their own nameplates in the castle, plus at least one who's in an organic body for her permanent loss. And then there are four TARDIS AIs and a little robot guy who belongs to another resident, and a little Digimon that's made out of data.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Oh. [glances at him, troubled] One of the castle residents. He...

Someone killed him yesterday.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[eyebrows up in surprise]

Killed him here?

Who is he?

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[nods] It was causing a lot of chaos on the journals... He was just a kid.

[hesitates] He was at my show on Sunday. [the little bastard]

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

...Wow.

[might be taking notes]

Some of them have their own nameplates?

Oh. And what are those little, uh...mechanical guys. One of them carries a spear.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

You know anything about him? Are why someone would kill him?

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Not much.

[presses her lips together for a moment] Except... he's manipulative, and smart. He definitely liked mind games.

I don't know why someone killed him... but I can see why he might not have been liked.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[mostly to himself] Hmm. I wonder what he could do.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[arching an eyebrow, confused] What he could do?

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[glances over] Oh. You know, how everyone had their powers taken away from them.

Somebody obviously jumped at the opportunity.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Oh... [troubled look] I suppose that makes sense.

[brow furrowing]... But if that's the case, it's only going to cause more trouble. Assuming that, eventually, we'll be back at the castle... the people they're attacking are going to end up retaliating.

[thinking of Legato] If they keep this up, a lot of innocent people will end up hurt

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they are.

[eats an icecube out of his empty glass]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Maybe they mean well [though she sounds doubtful] but this isn't the right way to go about it. Eye for an eye never works.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[glances over again]

What else is there?

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[....blink? He gets a surprised half smile at that] Letting things go? Moving on with your life?

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

Oh, right. Because everyone is pleasant and understanding like that.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[arching an eyebrow] It doesn't take being pleasant... and I don't think there is a way to understand half of what the hell people do.

[shaking her head, looking back at the stage] It's more... not letting someone else control your life any more.

Eye for an eye... eventually, everyone is blind.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

Letting the world push you around, that's how you let someone else control your life.

You have to fight back.

[Billy is such upbeat company. eating more ice cubes.]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

You're right. I'm not disagreeing. Not really. But there are other ways to fight back besides violence. Certainly besides killing.

[pause... her jaw tightening a bit, eyes distant with some memory] I'm not saying let it continue. Turning the other cheek just tells them they can hit you again.

...but this retaliation. It only escalates.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[at least most of those things reassured him a little and took some of the argument out of him]

Eventually there's a winner.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

...there's never a winner. [said softly enough that, if he hadn't been right beside her, he never would have heard it.]