i_speak_softly | Forty-Ninth Theory [Action/Voice]

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Forty-Ninth Theory [Action/Voice]

[Don has never been to an ocean before, and last time he was at an amusement park he had to electrify the roller coaster to defeat an enraged colony of nanobots.]

[He is determined that this excursion will be one of pleasant discovery.]

[To that end, he takes the teleporter to the beach on Thursday morning, and spends the next two days exploring the park, the waterfront, and as far out into the ocean as his own limbs can take him. (Or farther, if anyone is kind enough to offer him the use of a boat.)]

[At some point during the two days, he opens his journal and leaves the following message:]

Researchers, experimenters, tinkerers, inventors, curious people of all kinds... join the "Scientists, Hypothesizers, and Engineers of Luceti League". I'm starting it right now and everyone is welcome.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

[Don leads Robert out to the exit with a hand behind his back.]

What other fascinating exhibits does this place have?

[Counting off to himself, Robert says:] There are... several interesting places. A... zoo, as it is called [- and he shudders slightly at mentioning it -], a so-called "haunted house", an arcade, many rides and games of skill...

... Does... does anything appeal to you?

A zoo? [Don doesn't shudder, exactly, but that's because he's better at hiding his reactions.] Of what?

Non-sapients, as far as I can ascertain. Thankfully. There is quite a variety of organisms, though... an almost dizzying array, actually.

[Many of them Robert didn't recognize at all. But it was even more unsettling then, that the Malnosso would put these organisms in somewhere they couldn't escape.]

But - don't all the animals here talk?

Yes, that is true. I assume we have a translated version of their vocalizations... Though they seem to be significantly more abstract, when taken from an organism that is non-sapient.

... That being said, non-sapient or otherwise, it is still a barbaric arrangement. [Robert shakes his head slowly.] But one that is... not surprising, considering the Malnosso. After all, what is this enclosure but essentially the same idea?

[A mental twist renders Don speechless for a moment, and then he draws Robert behind some nearby bushes.]

Robert, that persona with the orange mark...

[His finger traces a circle on his chest, and he hesitates, unsure how to say this.]

... Yes? [It's sudden to be dragged into the bushes like that, and Robert is more than a little surprised, but he looks up inquisitively at Don.

He doesn't get what Don's trying to hint at, yet...]

I - [He glances around, then decides on the blunt explanation, saying it all in a rush.] He grew up in a zoo and I have all his memories.

[It... takes a few seconds for this to settle into Robert's mind, and then his expression flickers somewhere between horror and sympathy.]

... A sapient in an enclosure...? [...

... Please excuse Robert while he looks genuinely disturbed.]

... That is... disgusting.

[The "I have all his memories" part will take a bit longer to process.]

[Don puts a hand on Robert's shoulder.]

But it wasn't bad. He was happy there. In - in some ways, his life was better than mine.

Was he truly happy, or simply ignorant of anything else...?

[Robert leans into Don at the touch on his shoulder.] Nobody deserves to be objectified in that manner.

... At least you are not... viewed as a possession...

A little of both, I guess.

[He shakes his head.] He was appreciated. [He had a kind of recognition, of respect, that Don himself didn't have in his own world.]

It was... like a family...

Appreciation on his own merits, though...? [It's something Robert can't really fathom. All he knows is that it hits everything he finds terrifying about the treatment of non-human sapients by others.]

... I suppose it could be safe, and happy... in a sense... but what about autonomy?

[Robert tries to picture himself being kept as a zoo exhibit. The mental image is highly disturbing.]

He's one of the most amazing discoveries in natural history. An animal that can think and talk like a human. People come from all over the world just to have a conversation with him.

Autonomy? He does whatever he wants all day... [It may be within the limits of a cage, but Don's world growing up was very small too - and Tchai's at least included clean water and sunlight and diverse pleasant company.]

[Robert listens quietly, his expression sad and a little pained. It would be abhorrent, to any Terran, to see someone sapient in an enclosure for anything other than effect. Even the sentence "an animal that can think and talk like a human" reads like a travesty - humans are animals, after all - and the whole thing is just... grotesque.

Finally:]

But in the end, he... is still just an object... perhaps a fascinating discovery, but... he has a different standing from any other person. Legally, ethically...

[He shakes his head.] I - I just wanted you to know.

Thank you for telling me. I am just... sorry you were ever made to experience something like that...

[Not that Robert thinks Don should've had to grow up in fear either. Neither situation is good, or healthy, or right for a wonderful, brilliant individual and his family, none of which would have caused any problems on their own.

Robert leans his head gently against Don's plastron.]

It's all right...

[He rubs Robert's shoulder distractedly, his mind elsewhere.]

[The distractedness isn't totally lost on Robert. Seven months of knowing Don has let him begin to pick up on some of the surface details of him, after all.

But he doesn't question it right now, beyond looking up a little worriedly at him.]

[Don blinks back to the present, as usual unsure of how much time passed while he was spacing out.]

Did we decide where we were going?

... I assume we got derailed by that topic, so no.

[Awkward.]

Perhaps something more... pleasant might be in order? Something lighthearted, perhaps? [That is, nothing that'll traumatize either of them.]

Do you want to go back to those game stands? Some of them looked like fun.

Certainly. [This is lighthearted and not traumatizing, right? Right.] I would love to...

[Plus he can see Don's aim demonstrated, probably! It will be a lot better than his own at any rate.]

[Don heads back towards the midway, not speaking again until they've been strolling between the booths for some minutes.]

Which one should we try?

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