1ST REVOLUTION - [VIDEO/ACTION FOR NEW BARK TOWN]

[atrueheroine]

[[Good morning, Route! If you're lucky enough to be keeping an eye on the feed today, you're in for a bit of a treat, courtesy of one of Johto's newest arrivals.

The image is slanted, as if the 'Gear has fallen on the ground at an odd angle. However, the picture is quite comprehensible and clear, showing a grassy area outside New Bark Town. In the picture are an oddly-dressed woman and a rather large Kangaskhan. One of these two is ridiculously excited and bouncing for joy, while the other is crouching down, wielding a stick and looking incredibly unamused and mildly disturbed.

It doesn't take the IQ of an Alakazam to work out who is who; as the Kangaskhan gleefully surges towards her, the girl leaps to the side, lithely rolling and landing back on her feet, supporting herself on one arm. She doesn't take her eyes off the Pokemon in front of her, occasionally reaching towards a holster on her belt, wincing with frustration every time she finds it to be empty.

The Kangaskhan releases another happy cry, before promptly having another shot at catching the girl with the stick. Unfortunately for the latter, this charge is about twice the speed of the others, and with a very undignified shriek she's caught, the Pokemon bouncing happily!]]

Let me go!

[[The stick lost, the girl can only push against the Kangaskhan's massive arms currently holding her pressed against its body, kicking out angrily as she tries to come to terms with just what has happened here. The thrashing continues for a little while longer, until the girl is unceremoniously dumped into the Pokemon's pouch, legs dangling out of it, while the Pokemon bounces over to the 'Gear and looks down at it happily.

And to top it off, the baby gives the girl a happy lick right up her cheek.

Any advice would be appreciated. Very, very appreciated.]]

Comments

[istheindustry]

[Oh, he's capable of innocent questions; they just aren't as fun. As it stands, he just laughs a bit at that, the sound quiet and dark.]

Not from this distance, I'm afraid, though I appreciate the vote of confidence.

[atrueheroine]

You know how I so love to humour you, Reaver-

[[-and with another furious wrenching of her arm, she manages to get free of her Pokemon's grasp and move a few good steps away. It giggles. She watches it warily.]]

I presume you were greeted with something different, although hopefully just as annoying.

[istheindustry]

[The most flippant gesture for your effort, Page!]

Annoying and useless, if you really must know; it's long since been replaced, believe you me.

[atrueheroine]

That's a shame; you two sound like the perfect pair.

[[did she mention she hates you

it's pretty subtle]]

Although I can't say I'm surprised. You seem to have a habit of disposing of those who dare to displease you.

[istheindustry]

[oh honey

you are so mad, it's precious!]

Mm, no, it has nothing to do with whether they displease me - I've had the misfortune to work with several individuals that I didn't happen to like at all, just because such things were required.

[Really, if it didn't occur during a tremendous Dork Age, he'd tell you to look at that incident with the Spire. There were three very good examples of people he couldn't stand involved in that incident, outside of the one he...kind of approved of, and he'd had to work with all of them. At great threat and inconvenience to himself, mind you!

However, Dork Age...]

The time to dispose of them comes when they're of no further use to me, or if I'm required to tolerate them past that, when they're of no further use at all. I'm sure there's a time and a place for charity; I have yet to find one, however.

[atrueheroine]

[[Let her just seethe with rage over here for a bit; even the Kangaskhan doesn't want to approach.]]

How can you possibly be so.....so selfish?! The people of Bowerstone are dying in the streets, dying in your factories, and you stand there saying you've never found the need for charity?!

You monster!

[istheindustry]

[Well, will you look at that! It seems his talents have gotten that thing off of you in the end after all, Page.]

Well, as noble as I'm sure it would be to pass out gold to those who do absolutely nothing to deserve it, that's an option that I'm just going to have to refuse. Giving money away to those who are just going to consume resources without paying anything back to society in return is unbelievably counterproductive, especially in this day and age.

The people of Bowerstone are more than welcome to earn their keep - and if some of them find themselves unwilling or incapable of doing so, then surely you can't really say they're any more important than the rest of us? If they're that far beyond providing for themselves, they're likely going to die anyway - at which point, they'll be doing us a favor by decreasing the surplus population.

[atrueheroine]

Counterproductive....? It's called kindness!!

[[You are just....boggling her mind here; she knew you were nasty but this....this is just....!!]]

Do you have no heart? You truly.....you have no problem with comparing your fellow human beings to nothing more than just....objects? Pieces of some ghastly machine and if they so much as dare to break down you throw them away without giving them a second chance?!

[[Page's hands are balled into fists, and she's doing nothing to stop them trembling with anger.]]

People are more than just numbers in an equation and they don't deserve to suffer just because you deem them unworthy of help! I don't understand.....how can you be so cruel?

[istheindustry]

[Reaver certainly isn't surprised at what she's saying, nor does he fault her, exactly, for thinking that such appeals will work; if nothing else, this is just making it rather plain that he's never really spoken to Page about what it is their stances actually are. That's to be expected, of course, at least to some extent - he can't very well invite the leader of the Resistance into his mansion for drinks and dinner and discourse and expect it to end well, after all - and he's been involved in enough conflicts to know that such things are almost always based around assumptions, not facts. Well-founded assumptions, in some cases, but assumptions nonetheless.

And in this case, he can't even say that the assumption she's making is entirely off-base; there had been a time, perhaps, that appeals to emotion might have been enough to get him to pause. To reconsider. But that time had ended hundreds of years ago; it's obvious from his lack of reaction to her words, even over the video feed.

As little as Reaver cared for the blind seer, Theresa hadn't been entirely wrong in her initial assessment of the Thief from her visions - there's no light left in him.

And judging from the smirk still playing across his features, he doesn't seem bothered by that in the least.]

Ah, but that's the problem with charity, isn't it? It's leaving the fate of the person requiring it up to those who are in a position to hand it out. Donations are exactly that - no one deserves them. And as sweet as the ideal may be, my dear, kindness isn't something that's required of me.

And besides, you act as though I only have my own best interests in mind - while that has, of course, always been my first priority, it doesn't do me very much good if Albion falls to complete ruin, now, does it?

[atrueheroine]

....I have a feeling anything that doesn't directly involve your best interests isn't worth your time. At all.

[[This conversation, for Page, has been surreal in many ways. The manner in which she's talking to Reaver is enough to make her head hurt, but that's not important; it's the fact that they are actually standing and discussing their opinions that is almost overwhelming her. They've never had a conversation like this-have they even ever had a proper conversation that didn't involve him leering at her and her trying to put a bullet in his skull?

Perhaps the Gear is good. Since they aren't near each other, they're relying on just words, and he's certainly given her more than enough to think about. Now that she's truly seen how Reaver thinks, Page isn't sure she really wanted to know. But it's good she does.

It's obvious that appealing to his emotional side won't work, as he doesn't appear to have one. It explains a lot. Far too much, really.]]

Don't try to pull the wool over my eyes; you couldn't care less about Albion. If you did, you wouldn't treat it's people the way you do. You'd educate the children, utilize resources and repair all the broken down areas of Bowerstone that are desperate for refurbishment. That would be taking care of Albion. You take advantage of it.

...

You have so much potential for good, Reaver. The way you waste it is sickening.

[istheindustry]

[Well, Page, you aren't the only one that's...vaguely appreciating the insight into the opposing party's mind, here - this is hardly the first time Reaver's been pitted against someone whose mindset is completely foreign to him simply because it was never explained. He never really cares to find out too much about his enemies, but if they're either powerful or persistent (and Page has a good amount of persistence fueling her, if nothing else) then a lack of explanation tends to grate on him - and besides, the better he knows them, the better he can fight them later.

However, all good conversations must come to an end - and apparently, so does this one. Reaver doesn't exactly care to argue semantics with her, nor does he care to give her all the details regarding the exact situation Albion is in; he has no idea how much she knows, and it really isn't his job to fill her in any. She can think what she wants; he's fully prepared to just hand her her reward and be on his way...

...but then her last sentence there actually seems to get his attention. Not in a pleasant way, either - he's still smirking quite a bit, but the look in his eyes is a dark one.]

You aren't the first to tell me that sort of thing, darling; somehow I doubt you'll be the last.

[atrueheroine]

[[There's no point continuing this farce of a conversation any longer, especially since that last remark of his really cements her worst fears; he's never going to change. Worse, he's never going to change because he doesn't want to change. He's happy the way he is.

She can barely comprehend it.]]

Maybe if I say it enough, you might actually start listening.

[[She disconnects the feed after that; finding the button wasn't exactly complicated and she really has no urge to continue speaking to him any more. There's something....draining about her conversations with him, no matter how brief, and this one has gone on for far too long. At least she got some information out of it, despite how distasteful it was.

Sighing, Page pockets the Gear and turns to her Kangaskhan, who hasn't moved ever since it sensed her anger rising to dangerous levels. But now it happily hops over to her, beaming, albeit making no move to force her back into the pouch as she looks up at it.]]

Let's just....go.

[[So they do, Page trailing slightly behind her boisterous Pokemon, trying to calm the raging storm of thoughts flowing through her head.]]