video ---> open

[givingback]

[ Brianna is sitting outside near the lake when she decides to play again, putting aside the book she was half-heartedly reading anyway. ]

We should play a game, maybe break up the day a little bit. It's called 'Would You Rather?' Basically, someone gives a scenario and you have to pick one or the other. No in between. You can explain your choice if you want, but we go back and forth until there's something so impossible to pick the other person gives up.

I'll even start.

[ She thinks for a moment, then looks back at the camera. ]

Would you rather know each time you're going to leave and come back when it comes to Wonderland, or would you rather it be a total surprise like it is now only you get to remember being here when you do leave?

I think I'd want to know when I was leaving. That way I could say goodbye, you know?

Anyway. Your turn.

Comments

[slapfight]

That's what we're dealing with right now. I'm so far behind Lapis and both of us keep forgetting that until we hit on something I just don't know about. We've navigated through so much. I don't want to have to restart it. It makes everything feel pointless.

[givingback]

I get that perspective.

[ And she does; it makes sense to her. It's a question of her own making that has her seeing both sides of the answers she's received. ]

Your turn to ask something. Or I can go again if you want.

[slapfight]

Um. [She clears her throat.] You can go again. I want to see if I can grasp the nuance of this game before I attempt it myself.

[Yes. That.]

[givingback]

[ Bree decides to go for one that might be a little less Wonderland centric. ]

Okay, Would you rather spend the rest of your life being itchy or being tickled?

[slapfight]

[oh Bree.... This is going so well.]

I'm not entirely sure what either of those things are. Organic sensations, I'm assuming?

[givingback]

You...don't feel things?

[ This whole encounter has been weird. ]

[slapfight]

I do, but I'm not familiar with every sensation. We don't do a lot of that on Homeworld. I'm still learning.

[givingback]

Okay. Okay, let me try again.

[ She's gonna get this, dammit. ]

Would you rather invent a new gadget or discover a new species?

[slapfight]

[You're such a good, Bree.]

Ooh! That one's easy. Invent a new gadget. Anyone can discover a new species, but a new invention would be something no one's ever seen before, brought into existence solely by me.

[givingback]

[ She tries, and now she relaxes a little. ]

Do you invent things a lot? I mean, do you like experimenting or building things?

[slapfight]

I'm a certified technician. It's basically my job. True, I could do anything I want now outside of Homeworld's influence, but why deny the world what I'm amazing at? My brilliance should be shared!

[givingback]

Hey, when you're good at something, you're good at something. I'm actually a...well, I went to school for mechanical engineering. I like building stuff, though not the same kind of stuff.

[ Her passion is less technical and more architectural. ]

[slapfight]

[She has some idea of school and the purpose of it, due to the whole kindergarten thing she's put up with for years.] Oh that's right! Humans aren't just made with all the knowledge they'll ever need. They have to acquire it over time. That's so inconvenient for how short your lives are, but it's also fascinating!

[....It's a compliment.] I mean, by all logic, living most of your life in pursuit of the necessary knowledge you require should leave you feeling hopeless.

[givingback]

Huh. I've never felt hopeless. How do you just know...everything? Or do you only know everything about one specific subject?

[ So much for the game, this is more interesting. ]

[slapfight]

[and Peridot loves talking...]

Everything pertaining to the maintenance of kindergartens and making new gems. I suppose I am still learning about things beyond that, but before I defected from Homeworld, I wouldn't have ever needed anything but I was made to know. That's what's so great about being a liberated gem! I can learn anything I want! But I still have thousands of years to absorb all of that information.

[givingback]

[ 'Fascinating' might now be a better word for it and Bree finds herself extremely curious. ]

So, humans can have talents at they're really good at. Like...I'm a pretty good artist I think, better than an average person, let's say. I could cultivate that and make my way in the world as an artist but I have to learn how to hone my craft, practice and make it worth people's money. Some people even go to specialized art schools. What you're saying is...you come with everything you need to know about this one specific thing and in a normal circumstance you never would have learned anything beyond that?

[ THAT's what would sounds depressing. ]

[slapfight]

[Yep... Y e p.

Peridot often finds herself faced with the grim reality that the totalitarian matriarchy that she once served is so flawed as to be cruel. Her joyful expression deflates a bit as it's put into harsher terms.]

Um... Yes. That, exactly. Heh. [She scratches at her huge pile of triangular hair.] Anything else I would have needed to know would have been supplied on the screens I received with my equipment.

[givingback]

So, it must be great then, to be free? You know what you're missing out on and you're not gonna take it anymore.

[ Power to the people or something! ]

[slapfight]

Exactly. [She forces herself to beam again, shaking away the grim reality. None of that matters anymore!!] I can appreciate everything on my own terms without assigning it value based on how useful it can be.

[Though she does still do that, but she doesn't have to. It's just how she thinks.]

[givingback]

[ Bree would rather this be positive if she can, so she smiles. ]

Honestly, it sounds like you're living your best life.

[slapfight]

You're right! I am! [This doesn't need a maniacal laugh but it's getting one.] And it's precisely what I deserve after everything.