text, un: hawkeye

[westcoasts]

so is pass and fail just a judgment on our performance, or do we reckon it's gonna come back and bite us in the ass in the future?

aurora said she missed us, by the way. ( those are not the words she used. ) she also said that she and eos are free to run their cities in whatever way works for the people under her care, as long as we're well-taken care of.

but, thing is, she gets to define that. says she gets to learn from her actions and inactions in relation to us.

which is something to keep in mind when we're acting as a group or not acting as a group and trying to get answers, or choosing which rules are okay to break and which rules are okay to stretch.

because between here and moorecroft, right now i'd say we've got the better end of the deal.

Comments

[westcoasts]

and what about the times when it works out? it's not like humans come out 100-0 on the "not megalomaniacal" scale.

...just double checking i'm reading that correctly, you don't want your universe to survive?

[decohere]

listen, i think robots are neat. it's the intentions and oversights of the people that designed them i don't trust. especially not a war profiteer such as stark.

that's coming to awfully strong conclusions. no. i just don't think it's my moral responsibility to ensure that it does above another random universe full of equally innocent people. but given how much it sucks, i wouldn't be entirely surprised that it doesn't make the cut. they plucked me out of it, after all.

[westcoasts]

sometimes you don't get a choice in it, you know? you end up with a responsibility you didn't choose, but what you do get to choose if you step up to it or if you close your eyes and ignore it.

and i really don't think it's as simple as 'there's only going to be one at the end of all this'.

[decohere]

step up? to what. advocating my world is superior to all the others just because i happened to originate from it? nothing heroic in that. self serving and selfish, actually. and while i am inherently invested in my own personal continued survival, i'm not qualified to represent billions of strangers. nor should i be.

and no, that's not what i think either. but if there's a limited number of spots, then each universe saved simply means another cannot be. so in the end roughly the same number of people and lifeforms will die, whether i pass or fail any of these tests. and so if my participation has no actual meaningful influence over the outcome of this unnecessarily drawn out and poorly constructed trolley problem, then i have absolutely no obligation to jump through hoops for the sick entertainment of the entity that designed this to fulfill their god complex.

but if it makes YOU feel better, by all means. just don't trick yourself into thinking you're better than me for it just because you're more attached to your home.

[westcoasts]

i don't want ANY worlds to get destroyed, and i don't buy that's what's going to happen. at least, i don't buy it's the only option we've got.

but that's exactly what i'm talking about, none of us are qualified to represent our entire worlds. ( eh, some less so than others, maybe, and it's not the first time clint's been told he's going to be JUDGED, but at least (question mark) echo's point of comparison is not a mailbox. ) but here we are. just because you don't LIKE it doesn't mean you get to pretend that's not what's happening.

and even then, it's not about being judged, not really. take that out of the equation and it's about whether someone else has the right to decide on the destruction/survival of entire worlds. if you ask me, that's not a question.

(and before you say anything, it's not an either/or. we can still be judged AND this can be a load of bull in the grand scheme of things.)

what are you gonna do while you're here? put your feet up and go around talking about how none of it's your problem because you didn't ask to be involved?

[decohere]

if the premise is true as proposed, then a certain number of universes will be selected for destruction with or without my active participation. that's not pretending it's not happening, it's simple pragmatism to accept that my personal wants and actions are so incredibly insignificant on this scale that they are not worth compromising my beliefs over.

and if it's false, and simply a scare tactic to control our behavior, then giving up my autonomy for a sense of security is something is something i promised myself i'd never do again.

so what will i do? that's none of your damn business. nobody controls me anymore.

[westcoasts]

( a long pause, and— )

hey, so what did you say your name was? since we got friends in common and all.

( ""friends"". clint barton: hank pym apologist. )

[decohere]

i did't.

and i don't have friends.

[a pause of her own, she means to leave it there. but. he's put up with her frustrated venting. she should probably offer him something in return.]

ghost.

[nice and impersonal.]

[westcoasts]

( huh.

not the same one, apparently, but—. )

oh, yeah, i know. it was either that or "so who are you?"

that was the nice way of saying we know the same people, ghost.

[decohere]

nobody important.

but they're not really, are they. though i can see why such redundant universes have been deemed potentially disposable.

[westcoasts]

are you saying that because you really believe it or because you want it to be true?

we're familiar with the same vague concept of certain individuals, shaped differently by experiences and relationships. doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

no-one's universe is disposable.

[decohere]

because i have a realistic sense of my place in the world. i dont need to convince myself otherwise.

no, suppose not.

[still, she's more curious than she wants to admit. what all those differences might be. if there's a version of her in that world, any happier. he hadn't shown any recognition of her alias, so perhaps little ava starr got to grow up normal there. or blown up with her parents. either way, preferable.]

do you know bill? dr. foster.

he'd probably agree with you.

[westcoasts]

( it's not that clint doesn't recognise 'ghost', it's that he knows she's not (can't be) the same one. it's that he knows what it's like to be here and have a whole conversation comparing you to someone who shares your name, parts of your history, parts of what makes you you, and know they're someone else entirely. know that they're not you, and that any comparisons made are forced, are based off false premises.

—and she's being difficult enough that commenting on it is, he's pretty sure, a solid way to tank the conversation further. )

you know you can change your place in the world, right? it's not static.

( but bill? the answer to that's yes, but how long's it been—?

(christ.)

type. delete. type. delete. )

i know ( knew ) him.
he's a good guy.

( ... )

how's he doing where you're from?

[decohere]

[she's difficult, perhaps purposefully so. but if she didn't want to be engaging she could simply not respond. despite it all, she is trying to work out some sort of... understanding. even if not necessarily agreement. or maybe she just wants her frustrations to be heard, for once.

but the subject of bill is safe territory to fall into. discussing him, rather than herself so directly.]

he is. i miss him. but. he's probably better off without all the trouble i cause.

he's working as a professor. at berkeley. quantum physics. he used to work with pym. and my father.