meteorman | (no subject)

But that makes no sense. Why would they hide what they know--? If these things are a threat... people need to hear about it.

[Cover-ups by otherwise trusted organizations never end well for anyone, after all. Just look at his life.]

... So I'm guessing they weren't, "live under a bridge scaring goats" trolls. Right?

[That's where his brain went, too.]

They're from here. But not here. Instead of the rest of us -- who came from other places entirely?

They may know that they're a threat but not what kind. I think they may know more than they're letting on about the mechanics behind that wormhole and where it may have come from, but I think there's some truth to them not knowing what those creatures were or why they came. Imagine if you will the immediate widespread panic that would set in if this were publicized now, when there are no answers to give as to what those were or what their intentions are or if they might come back.

[What if he just sits himself down on the sand too. What if that. It's fine, they don't have to vacate the tents immediately just because it's the last morning. They've got some downtime to puzzle over this.]

You and I are used to dealing with this kind of thing. The common man is not.

But why not tell us? We got here in the same way. Maybe... knowing how those things pop in and out could help people who want to get home.

[Except he can't really think of who that would be.]

I just... I don't know how I feel about an organization keeping their secrets to themselves. When it might be a threat we can combat.

[See: Garrison. See: Galra. See: his whole terrible life.]

That's why we can help. There's more of us who are used to this, who have dealt with this before. Why... not let us help.

They also have precious little reason to trust us, and more than likely consider us civilians just as much as the natives. That doesn't mean it isn't incredibly stupid to shut out a potential source of information, but they likely haven't reached the point where they're desperate enough to enlist us.

[Ford is no stranger to paranoia. He was voted 'most paranoid' in high-school and everything. Much as he'd like to bully his way into one of those white vans and Fordsplain everything about interdimensional travel to Lusamine herself, he knows exactly why he isn't being invited to do that. That doesn't mean he isn't going to try. He's staying on the islands specifically to try, but he's expecting to not get too far.]

There isn't any proof that what happened last night has anything to do with how visitors like us arrive. A wormhole has never opened over "Mom's" house. [He absolutely does scarequotes when he says Mom.] It's frustrating precisely because so little is clear at this point.

[He draws a meaningless squiggle in the sand with one hand, eyebrows drawn down low as he frowns.]

I wish we could have spoken with even just one of the creatures. It could have shed so much light on the situation.

It is stupid. It's -- we couldn't fight those things, not by ourselves. We're going to need help. They're going to need help. I...

[He pushes his hands through his hair. Clearly struggling with this. Trying not to think about being the one yelling for help, pleading for it. But everyone just stood there. Everyone just ignored him and strapped him down and ... ]

[... and Ford is still talking. Ford is saying words and he knows they're important. But the world started flickering to blinding lights overhead and why won't they listen, he needs help, the Holts need help, they're coming and ...]

[And his Incineroar growls something, butting her head into his shoulder, nipping at it. Not hard enough to hurt. But hard enough to jar him back into reality.]

... Sorry. Ford -- You said something about wormholes? Talking to... things?

[Ignore the way his real hand is curling into Red's fur.]

Yes.

[It's one of the unfortunate things about Ford that he doesn't immediately intuit what just went on in Shiro's head there. He isn't so good at subtlety, at reading the small signs other people give him. He's even worse at it when his mind is occupied with another problem. It's not malicious, and it's not because of a lack of care, it's simply not a skill he's ever practiced and even now that he wants to get better at it he has a long way to go. Hell, he can barely recognize that kind of thing in himself properly, let alone someone else.]

I was saying that I would have liked to have spoken to them. If it was a concentrated attack I feel as though it would have gone very differently. Something else was going on.

[Look, in this moment, he's all too happy to have Ford move past it like it didn't happen. Like his brain didn't just flash to somewhere else. It hasn't happened in a long time... maybe he was overdue.]

[But for now, he's fine with ignoring it. Makes it seem less real.]

Do you really think they could speak? None of the pokemon seemed like they understood anything more than "get away".

... If it wasn't an attack then...? An accident?

I find it very likely that they were speaking and we simply had no capacity to understand.

Let me put it this way: I spent the past thirty years of my life accidentally falling into unknown dimensions. I find it very, very easy to accept that it could happen to lifeforms other than me.

Then... if they come back... you think we should try to talk to them first?

I don't think it's something we should rule out. It's smart to be cautious. It's smarter to try every other available avenue before opening fire. I would like to be able to continue to say that everyone I've killed, I've killed for a good reason.

Yeah... I...

[I wish I could say the same thing. I wish I knew I could say the same thing.]

I understand. We can try, I guess. I don't see why it's not something to try. If we knew how to do it.

[Really it comes down to circumstance. 'A good reason', for Ford, was keeping himself alive. Keeping himself moving toward destroying Bill once and for all. And in the end he was merely an accessory to that, only necessary as a decoy, a bait and switch. He has never thought about how good his good reason was because it's behind him now. It's just something that happened.

This, the here and now, is a problem that actively needs solving. And he is very firmly of the mind that it can be solved without bloodshed-- or without shedding of whatever those creatures have in place of blood, if they have anything like blood at all.]

If they are sentient beings then it's likely they have a language and can be reasoned with long enough for us to make at least rudimentary overtures toward understanding it.

[He just... you know, he's been in that position. He remembers accidentally getting himself stuck in that 2D dimension, bisected through a flat world, unable to speak or move or communicate. Unable to do anything as hundreds of razor sharp two-dimensional beings cut into him because he couldn't tell them he wasn't a threat. It is not difficult for him to sympathize with the squids.]

If their incursion here really was accidental and my interpretation of their behavior as more defensive and confused than aggressive was correct, it would be a very sad thing indeed to destroy them for an honest mistake. This is a world whose very foundation is built upon the relationship between humans and extra-human beings. If there is any world in which a breakthrough in understanding can be made it's this one.

Edited 2018-05-05 06:36 (UTC)

[His Incineroar can feel him tense. Can feel the way thinking about these things make him go rigid. Wondering... somehow... if he could justify anything he'd done before Voltron. Anything he'd done he can no longer remember.]

[Did it count if it was for survival? Does that count as "for a good reason"? He'd had to live. He'd had to get through it. Was that... a good reason?]

Can anyone speak to pokemon that aren't their own? Everything was afraid of them... we might not be able to get a translator.

[And even then, if they didn't speak the same pokemon language... that might not work either. Getting them to communicate. That's going to be difficult.]

And what if it isn't?

If it isn't, we face that when we come to it.

[He isn't the kind of man that needs to have a contingency for every possible outcome all the way down to the end of time. He doesn't see any point in talking about what-ifs instead of just doing.]

I...

That's a hard idea for me to accept. If they come back, and they're hostile, then... we need to know how to defend ourselves.

Maybe you focus on the communication portion. I'll see if we can handle the other angle.

[Because he needs that kind of planning. That process.]

[Ford honestly can't imagine what Shiro thinks he might be able to do. How can you make a contingency plan for defending against something you can't study? It'll be nothing but guesswork, and if Shiro guesses wrong it won't help anyone at all and they'll still have to improvise in the moment. And he almost says all this. He even opens his mouth to do it and then, in an act of supreme restraint, closes it again. It wouldn't help. He takes a very shotgun approach to survival but that's simply because every plan he's ever made has blown up spectacularly. If Shiro really thinks he can help, then surely there's no harm in letting him try.]

Alright.

You can rest assured that if they do return and they are hostile, I'll have your back.

[He just needs to have a plan. Any plan. He can't be caught off-guard again. He can't relive that day for a third time. Or see the people he cares about put into that position again.]

I know.

But thank you, Ford. I have to try something. I can't ... be in that position again.