[Action/Anon text] Dead Man Walking and Talking

[youfool]

[Action - Honnoji Academy Gym, Closed]

[Swordplay with Star was one of the most enduring constants in Ted's life. Satsuki had remained in the world longer than him, and he couldn't help but love her and her indefatigable instruction. It showed in that he practiced and sparred with her with ease; an unusual thing, for he'd normally find any combat with women forever an offense against beauty. And yet, whether through affection or repetition, it had become a reliable, relaxing routine. Even if her severity pushed him to uncomfortable limits, every so often.

Their fencing finished, Ted's resting on a bench and wiping his face with a towel.]

Sterling as always, star. One day I'll get the better of you. Speaking of betterment, you said you had something special? What's the occasion? 

[Action - All over, morning, OTA]

[Ted's been feeling funny these past few weeks, like one in the eye of a storm. A presentiment of peril that crept nearer and nearer; a call for action loomed that was both as exciting as it was frightening. It was like death as the Trumps knew it: an end and a beginning. And if it is an end, he had better make the most of whatever time he has left. Perhaps he's just being silly and melodramatic, like usual.

Perhaps not. It's morning, and like most Sunday mornings, it starts with him walking out of church, thinking out loud on what the sermon contained. These and other discursive, verbal meditations overpower his mind and mouth as he airs them into the ether, wandering aimlessly.]

"'Made sin'. Made sin? For all the injunctions to imitation, that one's impossible; none could know such a sensation, if sensory it was. A man can be crucified, killed, hated and torn by men. But made sin--only the perfectly pure can do that. Or...goodness, so much is possible in Genessia. Certainly more than I dreamed. If one could become sin...should they?"

"Aheh, the world plucks so many saviors, no doubt hoping that their heroics might transfer. Well, the world's unsaved still. What's taking them so long, I wonder? Is Genessia very difficult? Has destiny removed her favor, leaving them lost? Or does the world...dampen, somehow. Cast a pall. Lessen? Heroes of myth and legend take nine-to-fives, here. Good for them; no doubt it's saner. Yet for others, men more mundane, it seems to be working the other way. Hah, maybe it wants to give the ordinary the opportunity to be extraordinary? God help them; how are the conventionally sane to handle insane adventure?

"To be loved is good, and feels so. But suppose one were loved by a villain; what then? Treated well themselves and yet knowing the one who treats them so well holds others in unholy contempt. Does not one become complicit in the wickedness directed towards others? An accessory to the crime? How could one stand it? How is it possible to bear a love so unjustly preferential? Does being cared for so well obliterate the utter spite shown towards the stranger? Should woe be warned for the apple of the eye of the evildoer?"

[Ted will never mind being interrupted in these musings; always more fun to talk to others rather than himself. Speaking of others, he has a few to call.]

[Audio Calls - Closed]

To Sync: Hello, Sync! Has work been going all right? How about Ott, eh? Been learning the lessons therein, well enough?

To Sonico: Good morning, Sonico. I've finished the book, per our exchange. How about yourself?

To Koishi: Hello, Moon. Suppose I can't expect to meet one so nocturnal in the day, eh? Still, we've not seen each other quite enough; rather inexcusable for one with so many eyes. Shall we rectify that?

[Anon Text]
Where could a nuclear weapon, say for testing purposes, be most safely deployed? And how might the radiation from such an explosion be mitigated, if it came to that?

[Y'know. Hypothetically]

Comments

srs

[youfool]

Would it were so simple. Was setting one off ever especially intelligent?

I'm really trying to solve an analogy. As smothering or water is to fire, so is _____ to fallout, or any other byproduct of such a weapon.

[The responses so far have been very despondent.]

[ubiquitously]

So I'm going to suggest that whatever you're thinking about, you stop thinking about.

This is a grim conversation, and that's coming from me.

[youfool]

Thoughtlessness isn't helpful, however grim the subject matter.

[ubiquitously]

Listen. Setting off a bomb like that is never going to be the best option. If you're so set on the "what if," then remember that access to those kinds of materials is difficult and we can keep it difficult.

Now, if this is a question of someone with crazy magic,

That someone needs to learn to sit on their hands and use their head. Mother could annihilate any threat with antimatter, but that doesn't mean she did that. Not sure what her containment method was either... Not the point.

[youfool]

The delineation of crazy and sane magic must be interesting.

Let's be couth and leave mothers alone. Do you mean containing the antimatter or the blast?

[Either would be helpful]

[ubiquitously]

The blast.

But again: I don't know how she does it. It's not important here.

[youfool]

Why not? Mitigating or containing a shockwave sounds like it'd be very useful to know and do.

[ubiquitously]

As I said

Fine.

Okay, let's pretend I could figure out how she does it. Why do you care so much about a hypothetical nuclear weapon in Genessia?

[youfool]

As I said, it helps to be prepared. Besides, the mechanics of explosions, like overpressure, are interesting in their own right, and goodness knows there are plenty who'd like them for their own nefarious ends.

[But not him; certainly not.]

[ubiquitously]

Okay, but that kind of power isn't exactly easy to come by.

Even if it was

I would be curious to see if the spirits here do anything to prevent it.

[Curious enough that he files that idea away for a future date. Do something unbelievably crazy, FOR SCIENCE.]

[youfool]

That I doubt; they are the ones, supposedly, who invited those for whom such effects can be produced at will.

While we're on the subject of problems without ready workarounds, have you ever had to deal with those who pervert space and time? Like teleporting or stopping it entirely, say.

[ubiquitously]

Pervert it?

Eh, I guess so? I mean, I can travel up and down timelines and teleport through space.

But I wouldn't say I 'pervert' it. I'm just not an idiot. Why?

[youfool]

I had to deal with pacifying a bomb, once. If it had been teleported, or I had been at the mercy of time when its setters weren't--I'd like to be prepared for such an eventuality.

[ubiquitously]

Genessia doesn't seem to allow me much freedom in timetravel. I haven't been able to extend time either. However, I've yet to try time manipulation through gravity.

Teleportation has been possible.

[youfool]

So much for those who think time is merely a construct, much to my chagrin. If you happen to know a way to frustrate either manipulation, or keep such things still, it would be appreciated.

[ubiquitously]

I mean, depends on the universe and the species. You'd be pretty arrogant to think even something like 'time' is going to be the same everywhere. Humans generally move forward with time. Us Ascended Beings know better.

But it seems like Genessia's time perhaps flows... stronger, like a rapid river? Or perhaps it is simply locked in one direction. I cannot move it, in any case.

That aside.

I don't see much reason to trust you with any tips or tricks involving delicate matters like time or space. You're anonymous, which is already suspicious.

Leaves me inclined to believe you realize you sound fishy and that you have bad intentions.

[youfool]

I'm sorry to hear that. The anonymity is rather to safeguard from the cynicism of others, which they've only been too happy to provide. It's understandable, if disappointing. I hope you change your mind.

[ubiquitously]

Seeing as I have been stuck on my high school sweetheart for at least a hundred years now, give or take a few universes between us, I would doubt that.

I'm very stubborn. Sorry to disappoint.