e x p e r i m e n t #08 (video)

[mviw]

[Some time Friday morning, September 8th, a new and particularly important broadcast appears on the network.

The feed flicks on to show Ford at a desk in his lab looking both tired and very guilty. ]

Uh, yes! Hello. Uh. Good morning?

[He clears his throat. Might as well get right down to it.]

As anyone who's slept since Wednesday will know, something weird has been happening. I may have been experimenting with a ward against a certain demonic triangle when there was an explosion that caused the ward's effects to warp and, for lack of better layman's terms, gave everyone the ability to traverse the Mindscape--that is, the realm parallel to any waking dimension.

To put it simply: Once you left consciousness at any point, you likely were able to explore your own mind, and the minds of others.

Fortunately, the effects seem to be temporary and I only singed half an eyebrow in the explosion, so... Good news! Everything should be back to normal by tomorrow.

Ahh, science. Well! That's all for today. If you don't want to deal with it, I suggest visiting one of the tea rooms for a delightful pot of industrial coffee. Always works for me!

[With a winning smile from Ford, the broadcast ends.]

Comments

[didntknowbest]

[And again, he doesn't really answer her question- so she's just going to give up on that and take it to mean that the answer is 'None.' He takes no precautions whatsoever and doesn't want to admit fault.]

You had already said that in your initial post. Old news is not particularly helpful, Mister Pines.

And, may I suggest, that if things are so unpredictable here, that you not mess with that ancient magic, then? Confirm that nothing will go wrong first, before proceeding with any experiments?

[mviw]

I repeated it because I'm assuming you didn't actually pay attention, given your hostility throughout this conversation.

You don't seem to understand the whole point of scientific experimentation, and it's not my job to teach you. You can't confirm nothing will go wrong anyway. Can you confirm nothing will go wrong if you go about your daily routine, with all known variables accounted for? No! Control is an illusion we cling to because it helps us feel better, and because mathematical reasoning is absolute.

If it'll help you get off my back, I'd tell you about my safety precautions, but I need to ask you first: Why do you need to know? Will it help you feel better to know that an attempt was made? And what would that accomplish?

I haven't told you anything because I don't have to. Given your personal attitude, you're very likely to say that nothing I've done to protect my family--who live on the same floor--was good enough, given the explosion.

[didntknowbest]

It would make me feel better, yes. I simply wish to know that you are not endangering anyone with your experiments. If you are recklessly doing your science and putting the lives of everyone here at risk, then I do not believe you should be allowed to continue.

If I may be honest, I already am unsure that you should continue without there being some kind of oversight to what you are doing, to ensure that you, or anyone else conducting experiments do not get too ahead of yourselves.

[That's how it worked back in the Underground, at least- even if she didn't understand the details of scientific work herself, she still preferred having at least a general idea of what they were doing and what any potential risks were.

...She supposes that may have something to do with why she's so invested in this and bothered by his flippant responses. She's used to being the one ultimately in charge of things, that when something may be a threat to people, she's the one that steps in and puts a stop to it.

But she'd rather not get into that.]

I'M SORRY FOR THE TL;DR

[mviw]

[Ford sighs. He's too tired to stay petty.]

I'm going to level with you, Toriel. I really don't appreciate the assumption that I'm some kind of monster--[ah--he takes a beat]--Sorry, I meant, a monstrous person who doesn't care for the well-being of others. And the flippancy? If people can't see that I'm confident in a good outcome to all this, they might panic if they can't trust me. Also, that's just how I talk. [He shrugs. Maybe it's his Jersey shining through, or maybe Stan's rubbing off on him? Yikes.]

I can also safely speak for myself and the other scientists--we'd rather not have our experiments policed. Yes, bad things have happened and we ought to be careful not to repeat our mistakes or be reckless in the future, but... What the rest of you remember is the few times something blew up, not all our successes.

[He runs a hand over his hair. He doesn't know if she'd care about this or not, and what he's about to say certainly isn't an excuse, but...]

During the incident where the Mirrors came to our side, prompted by someone else's experiment, my Mirror came to our side, stole my research, and mortally wounded my twin. [...] When I was able to reach him, there was nothing I could do. And when I first arrived a year and a half ago, my recklessness got my entire family killed during my first event.

So... Yes, I am reckless and flippant, but neither preclude carelessness over the well-being of the people I care about. I really don't want to hurt my family or anyone else again.

That's why I tried working with that magic to make a ward to protect Monsters from the Underground from Bill, so we don't have a repeat of the disaster with Mettaton.

If something bad happened to you because of this, I am sorry, but I've already done all I can. [He shrugs again.]

[didntknowbest]

I understand that you have good intentions, and do not seek to harm others with your experiments. However, I do not believe 'policing' them will in any way prevent you from achieving those successes. Progress may slow somewhat, but I believe that safety is more important.

I do not believe this mistake has impacted me terribly much. If anything, I have learned something important that I otherwise would not have. Still, there are others here who value their privacy far more than I.

Ultimately, I do not possess the authority to change how you do things, or install any system of oversight. If you truly are attempting to be as safe as possible with your science, considering all possible risk, no matter how remote before proceeding forward, then that is all that I can really ask. However, speaking as someone who does not know the details of how you operate or what precautions you have in place, please do not take it personally when I ask that you please keep in mind all the other people here, who are not aware of or consenting to the potential side effects of any of your experiments, no matter how big or small those might be.

[Even if he does bother her on a personal level, the safety of the people here is a far greater concern to her.]