deadly_ned | 004 - Mincemeat

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Hello, Barge. My name is Ned, and I have a completely arbitrary and unrelated question to ask.

If you had a minute - 60 seconds - with any person currently dead and could talk and interact with them as normal, alive people would...

What would you say or ask them?

I suppose this question goes to the people who are currently...dead....and have alive people back home they're separated from as well.

It's an odd question, I know. But I've been...curious, lately.

Also, would the elf who took my wallet please give it back now? I hope you remember me; I was the piemaker dressed as a Franciscan monk. I hate to treat the network as my own personal Lost Connections newsletter but I really didn't know what other way to get in touch with you.

And if you're not actually an elf, I'm sorry for calling you one.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

deadly_ned

So you would use your 60 seconds to give another person the freedom of choice.

Why unlikely? I've seen people ask arbitrary questions here. I thought it was just a thing people did.

From:

fridgetothefire

Yes.

[If she could get Wanda to talk to her at all, anyway.]

Hypothetical isn't the same as arbitrary. But I tend to think very little is truly arbitrary, so maybe it's just a matter of conflicting definitions.

[She shrugs.]

From:

deadly_ned

If I can step back one minute to judge, I would say that's a perfectly valid use of 60 seconds.

So that would make you a...determinist?

From:

fridgetothefire

Well, that's another question that devolves on definitions.

[It makes her smile; she is a bit wittgenstinian at heart.]

I believe things are related, that everything has a cause. What you wonder says something about you, what questions are worth asking, what occupies you in the gnawing idle moments, even if there is no obvious or direct reason.

But I don't believe outcomes are fixed. I don't consider myself a determinist. But I don't think I've quite run out the minute you asked for yet, so you are still the one in a position to judge.

From:

deadly_ned

I try not to, whenever possible.

So you ask her what sort of life she wants. She tells you.

What does that tell you in going forward?

From:

fridgetothefire

It tells me how to phrase my deal with the admiral.

[Nevermind that she's not a warden yet. She will get there.]

From:

deadly_ned

You can still phrase it carefully. Tell him,

"I want my friend to live the life the way she wants."

From:

fridgetothefire

[That makes her smile wider.]

I suspect it will have have more careful sub-clauses, but I'll probably end up doing something like that. I just...

[Anya is controlling too, when she has any power to do it with.]

I want to know for sure. That she'll be okay. You know?

From:

deadly_ned

Talk to a lawyer. If there's one on the Barge. Lawyers are good at air-tight clauses. That and, uh, demons. Although I've never actually met a demon and have had no reason to believe they existed until showing up here.

No. I know what you mean. You put all your time and effort and love into a person and you want to make sure they're protected no matter what.

From:

fridgetothefire

[That hurts, because she did love the twins, took care of them as well as she could with no idea how, until she stopped. Until she was the one hurting Wanda the worst. But she doesn't show it, just nods.]

She's just a kid. From a pretty messed up situation. I wouldn't put it past her to want things, people, in her life that would keep her miserable, or conflicting things, or. Whatever. If I could just ask and talk it through, that would be...better.

But legal advice should be almost as good.

From:

deadly_ned

It's less...messy than dealing with people's feelings. They contradict and don't make sense and you wonder if what you're doing to help is actually just making things worse.

From:

fridgetothefire

[She thinks, with very black humor, that if it all turns out to be a terrible mistake, she can always kill Wanda again. Which may or may not actually be true. It was hard enough the first time, and she was desperate.]

Where there's life there's hope, though. Right?

From:

deadly_ned

Even when there's not life, there's always hope.

From:

fridgetothefire

Think we should put that in the welcome packet?

From:

deadly_ned

"There's always hope"?

I think I could put that on a welcome pie.

From:

fridgetothefire

I feel as though the posthumous nature of the hope should be emphasized. It applies to enough of us, after all.

That might require two pies.

From:

deadly_ned

I'm okay with two pies. And with the message. Your message.

Even if I don't know the name attached to the message.

From:

fridgetothefire

[She ducks her head, shy almost by reflex, as though she's suddenly remembered that she's supposed to be, without the distraction of philosophy.]

It's Anya.

From:

deadly_ned

Anya.

I'm Ned.

From:

fridgetothefire

Pleased to meet you.

So. What would you do with your 60 seconds?

From:

deadly_ned

Apologize. Mostly.

From:

fridgetothefire

What makes apologizes worthwhile?

[It's not a challenge. It's half philosophical interest, half genuine confusion and curiosity. If it's that important to him, maybe he knows.]

From:

deadly_ned

Apologies can do lots of things. They can clear a conscience or right a wrong or shed light on the truth or foster greater understanding between two people.

Isn't that worthwhile?