31 - Video - Backdated to 4th

[fireincarnate]

[It's amazing, what playing with life and death will take out of you.

She's not sure what she did, exactly - just that she fixed something that was broken, and it took near everything she had. And it came on top of everything else - a month of being helpless, the chaos of the collision, the loss of everyone on Mirror Barge, their own people still missing.

(If she thinks about it took hard - about where Anya might be, if she's even alive - she thinks she might break.)

So she's just been resting. Recovering her strength, regaining her equilibrium. Talking to Morgana helped and hurt in equal measure, but it gave her the push she needed.

She knows how to put on a good face - to look calm and assured, even when she's twisted up inside. Her smile is warm and open, lit by the fire dancing round her fingers.]

I know we're all recovering right now. For those who don't know - I'm something of a therapist. If anyone wants to talk, I'm here.

[Current Patients]

How are you doing? Do you need anything?

[Wichita]

[Her smile turns rueful.] I'm sorry it took me this long to check in. Did you come through everything okay?

[Emperor]

[This is the first time she hesitates. She's not sure how she feels, now, about the choices she made on Mirror Barge. About how she's changed and what that means. About what his goal really was, in guiding her.

But ignoring it would be cowardly - and whatever his reasons, he helped her. He made her feel strong, secure, in ways she didn't think possible.]

I wanted to thank you. [Yes, that's true enough.] I know you had a bigger agenda, there, but I - I think I would have been a lot worse, without you there.

Comments

[fireincarnate]

Huh.

...I wonder what would happen if I brought that kind of thing back with me.

[chaotica]

I would frown upon it, if your species has not yet made contact with the stars.

[fireincarnate]

Some of us have. [There's a bitter edge to her smile.]

[chaotica]

We have something called the Prime Directive in the Federation. It is a law of non-interference, with races who have not yet reached out to the population of the galaxy.

[fireincarnate]

[Her expression turns pensive.] That makes sense - not wanting to influence other cultures too much, right?

But on the other hand - is space travel really the only bar to set? And what if a world is just - destroying itself? Interference has to be better than just letting it happen.

[chaotica]

And thus you have scratched the surface of the moral conundrums created by space travel and advanced technology.

[fireincarnate]

...I think it's probably for the best that my Earth hasn't gotten there yet.

[chaotica]

Most likely. The cultural maturity and the development of warp drive tend to come hand in hand. There are, of course, exceptions.

[fireincarnate]

[Flatly.] I'll bet.

[She thinks of the D'nox's instinctual cruelty, and the Shi'ar's ruthless empire, and the Knights of Hykon playing their vicious games.]

How do you handle that?

[chaotica]

The Federation is prepared to defend itself and its allies.

[ But that sounds a little - tired, when he says it. ]

[fireincarnate]

[Quietly, and wearily.] That isn't always enough.

[chaotica]

It has been thus far.

Despite - close calls.

[ Somber, still. ]