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Entry tags:
- !plot: send in the clones,
- daniel jackson,
- dr mcninja,
- dustin brooks,
- eleventh doctor,
- gaignun kukai jr./rubedo,
- hana asakura,
- hit girl,
- howard bassem,
- kang,
- kanoe zouichi,
- kon-el,
- lash,
- lex luthor,
- lord zedd,
- lord zetta,
- nightwing,
- querl dox,
- rory williams,
- ruffnut thorston,
- sakura haruno,
- tana moon,
- ter'thelas
"Listening to others, considering well what they say" (Part 3: Maingate Hotel)
The Maingate Hotel was pretty extravagant, and an entire section of it had been eked out for the crew's use during their stay. They had several suites, three communal areas, a conference room, their own kitchen with a chef on call if they required her.
They were all teleported from the main teleport pad of the hotel into the conference room, which was a large enough room to be able to hold a group their size and had plenty of chairs arranged in a circular pattern so they could mostly all face each other or whoever was in the middle of the room.
Everyone had to settle down so they were all able to talk, and the meeting itself would have to be carefully controlled so they wouldn't all talk over each other. But they were up for the task, right?
[ooc: Guardian Setup, General Mingling, Clone Checkup, Newbie Briefing, General Briefing, More Mingling, Back to the Meeting, and The Idea Guy sections are open. Backup characters introduced to the plot can join in the mingling subthreads if they want. The opening of new subthreads will be announced here and the ooc. Please read the linked OOC post for a plot timeline.]
They were all teleported from the main teleport pad of the hotel into the conference room, which was a large enough room to be able to hold a group their size and had plenty of chairs arranged in a circular pattern so they could mostly all face each other or whoever was in the middle of the room.
Everyone had to settle down so they were all able to talk, and the meeting itself would have to be carefully controlled so they wouldn't all talk over each other. But they were up for the task, right?
[ooc: Guardian Setup, General Mingling, Clone Checkup, Newbie Briefing, General Briefing, More Mingling, Back to the Meeting, and The Idea Guy sections are open. Backup characters introduced to the plot can join in the mingling subthreads if they want. The opening of new subthreads will be announced here and the ooc. Please read the linked OOC post for a plot timeline.]
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But he had promised to remain neutral and he remembered the children hurt by the attacks at the hospital. He needed more information. "I don't presume to know what they think of us, Conner. But I can't imagine it's good, as limited their involvement is. We're...means to an end, I think. Weapons in their war."
He looked down at the city, looking for the cracks he knew must exist. The fractures in the facade that had to be there, but it looked like a beautiful, well lit city. Unmarred by any of what must be going on. From the baloney and with the dim light, he couldn't even tell which of the people walking bellow were clones, though he knew some must be,
"I'm not telling you to do that, Conner. I could never tell you to do that. Not and still look at myself in the mirror in the morning. They're young, the people who have started this rebellion, still young enough and angry enough that they're incautious. But given enough time, I think they'll learn." He paused, reaching to rest his hand on Conner's arm. "I can't tell you what to do, son. I won't tell you to stay neutral, and I won't tell you which way to go. That's for you to decide. But this...well, this is the sort of society that created Molly."
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The conversation with Lex was still ringing in the back of his head, about wanting answers and not getting them, about yapping at his heels.
His time on the ship was all mixed up with the time before, when he'd burned his notebook.
"I can't help with this. And I'm not going to. I don't know if I could work against the crew, but I sure as hell can't help if they decide to go with this. I'm this close to punching that stupid book in the cover if he dares turn this around again like that means I'm betraying the crew."
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He winced a little, not-memories weren't his concern right now, they could fracture and crack a little more later. Right now Conner was what he needed to look after.
"They don't understand, all they see is the big picture. That's good, sometimes. Others, well, not so much. You'd be betraying the alliance, but I think they've done that just fine on their own. They should have known we wouldn't stand idly by while they attacked our crew members...why else separate you?" He frowned, hand squeezing Conner's arm. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there."
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The big picture. Right. Never mind that they weren't looking at the even bigger one. The implications of creating an alliance with people that could mass-produce clones when they had to fight a never-ending army of Ohm.
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He'd thought about that, thought about the implications of an army of clones being thrown against their enemy. It made him uncomfortable. By the views of the crew members...well, they'd only be clones, not real people...and only doing as they were programed. Never mind that they were living, breathing people. People who might have had thoughts and feelings, had they only been given a chance.
He thought again of Molly, of the baby who had just started to learn how to smile. Who loved the color of Amy's hair as much as he did. She had just been property too, meant to be disassembled for parts. He knew, objectively, that he was too close to this.
"I'd like a way to get in touch with them, to hear their side of the story. If we're here for negotiations, it's rather difficult to negotiate with half a picture, isn't it?"
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"It matters to the people that want to make the right choice, not the ones that want to make the pragmatic one."
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"It's a large group, and the Doctor is here now. He's good at this sort of thing, talking. If anyone can reach an agreement of sorts, then I think he can."
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His face quirked into an odd little expression.
"Can you do that thing parents do where they pet your head and tell you everything's gonna be okay? I know it probably won't be, but I could use it right now."
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It felt a bit strange, but he meant it, and he knew it was what he wanted. Sometimes, safe little lies made things better for the moment, and Conner had had an awfully long day.
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Conner actually laughed at the sword bit.
"You're right. You have a sword. It'll be fine."
It probably wasn't going to be, but what mattered was what was unsaid. Rory saw him as a person, and he understood his anger, and that anger was okay.
Being understood by someone was a hell of a thing.
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Sometimes, when life was completely mad, a little bit of forced normalcy did help. But he could never not see Conner as a person, or forget that as a little boy he'd sucked his thumb when he didn't have something else in his mouth.
Conner was human, even the bits of him that were alien, the boy inside was human and needed reassurance and validation and moment to forget about the alien graffiti someone had scrawled on his forehead. Rory was glad to hear him laugh.
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"I know this is the typical teen angst thing, mixed with the war, mixed with my memories being choppy and cobbled together, mixed with a cloney-half-alien-weapon-self-esteemy-paradigm thing, but I've never been as twisted up as I have been for the last long while. I'm Mr. Rolls-with-the-punches, you know? Always have been. I've had my share of angst in the past, but I've never been as lost as I have been."
His shoulders bunched up in a deep shrug of dissatisfaction.
"I'm supposed to be close to being an adult now, closer to being like Kal is, all with it, and together, and--and super--but it feels like everything that happens just makes me feel more lost."
His eyebrows furrowed sharply.
"I miss having giant robots to punch and bad guys that wore skulls so you knew they were bad guys. I miss having easy choices, even when they were hard ones, like choosing to die to save everyone."
Turning to look at Rory, he said, "I miss waking up each day excited for tomorrow."
Looking back at an alien sky, he shook his head again, "When am I going to stop being so mixed up and start feeling like a grownup? Or does the war mean it'll be never?"
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He frowned, wishing he could encourage Superman to stop lying to Conner. To stop presenting himself as untouchable. Conner had managed to screw himself up quiet properly just by thinking that he wasn't allowed to feel negative things.
"Sometimes it happens all at once, it all fits together. Depends on the person. Some of my friends from school still don't seem to have it figured out. But I think you'll do fine, Conner. You've got a good start."
He paused. "And to be completely fair, a few days ago you were a toddler. I think you're allowed to have an off day or two after that."
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"Great, so having to work through all this just means I am growing up. And there's a lifetime more of this. Joy."
At least he was here to do it, though.
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And that wasn't just the confidence of a parent, as far as the people he was looking after at the moment, Conner was the one he had the least fear of being able to thrive.