etraya | 01. un: hound

[He could talk, could needle and prod, could even appeal to reason. He was perceptive enough to know when things in a conversation or an attitude happened to be different from usual, especially on an individual that he had met more than once. Sometimes it wasn't even having a talk so much as being present for someone else that could put them at ease.

After all, whatever was actually bothering Accelerator may not be something to kid wanted to talk to an adult about. They hadn't spent that much time together, and their conversations had made it very clear that Accelerator's interactions with adults was neutral at best and horrible at worst.

He looked at the kid, considering the question. He shrugged his shoulders, mostly because he couldn't say for certain.] Who knows. Time will tell, but we may never know either. [He waited, expecting this was such a tiny fragment of what was actually on the kid's mind.]

[Accelerator snorts.] I don't see why we'd ever find out. Aurora's network barely worked out there, chances are wherever they end up is gonna be too far away to communicate.

[He had gotten firsthand experience with that. It wasn't a fun time.

He takes another sip of his coffee, glaring at nothing in particular, resting one foot up on the coffee table. His leg fidgets restlessly as he keeps on talking, not really caring if he starts to ramble.]

The only way things could change for them would be if someone at the top stepped up and forced it to happen, but no one living permanently on the train did. The Elites were happy to stay Elite, and after the rioting, all they're going to do is double down on holding onto what they have

[If they were outside he'd spit onto the ground, because he's rude like that.]

It's bullshit. Nothing is going to change.

Most likely, yeah.

[Vander agreed with the sentiment that the communication network lacked the ability to allow them to check. They had been sent on the mission to disrupt and see for themselves what it was to live a life on that train, but their changes were so limited.

Yet, he had lived in a world of hardship where microcosm existed and small actions from people in terms of pushing for change did matter. It was fatalist to think that they had accomplished nothing with their efforts, and he had no doubt it would weigh on empathetic people who normally wanted to change for the better.]

No. [He let the word linger in a brief silence.] Top-down changes don't work in that kind of oppression. It requires a communal effort from the most oppressed to those less oppressed. A single spark can create a flame and a flame can spread to a wildfire. If we showed any of them that things could be better and provided them the strength and will to strive for those changes amid their own ranks, it was worth it.

[He set a hand on his hip and stared at the floor.] Hope is the most flammable accelerant in a group of hopeless people.

[A communal effort. God, if Academy City had that - if the rot wasn't so deeply ingrained that it existed at every level - then maybe it would have improved decades ago. But it doesn't and hasn't, so kids like himself got to grow up under horrible circumstances.]

That's not how it works back home.

[Back home the kids have started rioting for change, but it's a futile effort. As long as corrupt shitheads like the Directors exist then there's nothing the students can do, even if they try to organize. The only reason change has started is because he's enforcing it, and he's the one with a finger on the city's nuclear options.

(And even then he's still deeply unpopular with the majority of the population.)

He glances over at Vander.]

Is that how it works where you're from?

[Vander was certain that it did work that way, but the methods and strategy were ineffective so far. With enough people, with enough rioting, with enough push, the top was forced to either capitulate or subjugate harder. Usually it was the latter.]

Maybe your home doesn't have enough people to the cause to demand change. Or the tactics aren't putting pressure on the right places.

[He shrugged his shoulders at the question, crossing his arms over his chest. Sometimes he hated it when Silco was right, even if a small amount.]

Sort of. The top needed to fear what they would lose if things continued as they were. Of course, they were always afraid of us as much as they disparaged and used us. Hope gave people something else to think about, to wish for and that's dangerous.

[Accelerator is skeptical. If thousands of superpowered kids can't make meaningful change, then he doubts there's any way change can be made from the bottom up. Besides, it shouldn't on the kids to improve things, it should be the people at the top like himself.]

Hope's idealistic. [He's not an idealist. He's seen miracles happen, met powerless people who've helped others through sheer force of will, but he isn't an idealist. He frowns.] And fear makes people dig their heels in. You didn't have to deal with that?

It is, but if we don't have it, well, what's the point? [He'd lost his way for a time, only acknowledging too late that his own small actions were not fast enough for the hope of another generation. He had paid the ultimate price. He hadn't even had the opportunity to water burial his kids.]

I grew up in the shadow of constant fear. [And Vander had once decided to do something about it once he was big enough and realized the way of the world. With Silco at his side, they could have changed their world, had been doing so. For a time, they had been hope and fear combined.] Eventually fear makes people bold because they have nothing else to lose but their lives. Then they whisper, they organize, they fight back out of fear which turns to anger.

[... He can't answer that, he isn't sure how to, so he focuses on the rest of what Vander says. And hey, he knows what it's like growing up like that. He may not have grown up dirt poor in the mines, but the Special Esper Institute was still terrifying in its own way.

He can't say fear ever made him bold. If anything, it made him shut down. Still makes him shut down. He doubts that fear can make him do much, even if it also makes him angry.

Either way, this is reminding him of a conversation he had a little while ago. While he doesn't stalk the network like some people, he did notice Silco and Vander bickering. He isn't really sure what their relationship is aside from 'intense,' but Silco had talked a bit about fear as well. Namely....]

Let me guess, once that fear is turned into anger you use it to gain power, right? And once you've got power you can turn that fear around on the people who were keeping you down, keep them just wary enough that they let you go?

[That's what Silco had said his plan had been, anyways.]

[He noted that Accelerator didn't have commentary on his hope portion, which was sent a small ripple of sadness for the kid. Had he lived a short lifetime of fear with nothing to hope for? Probably. The kid was a realist, yes, but it seemed a defense mechanism, a shut down where embracing what was rather than what could be was the only sensible choice.

He was thinking of how to comfort Accelerator, how to show that there were different paths and even this place may provide different opportunities. Could it build confidence? Maybe. Would it matter? They might never actually know.

Yet, his thoughts froze at the familiar rhetoric. It was like hearing words slide from his ex-friend's lips but with a different tongue and face. He stared at Accelerator, and his body language tightened subtly across his large shoulders. Silco had gotten to the kid, had he? Not a surprise.

Without intending, his expression closed to guarded, and he made the effort to hide that fact by lifting a hand to stroke his fingers over his moustache.]

Those aren't your words. [A fact, nothing more, nothing less.] Fear isn't the only way to push for change, but fine, I'll play. Some time ago yes, that was the kind of rhetoric that seemed a viable solution.

[Accelerator is still working through a hell of a lot. His own well being has taken a back seat to his new responsibilities, and even before that when conversations veered towards personal and emotional he did what he could to avoid them. He's never considered himself introspective (despite massive evidence to the contrary), but being the head of an entire society means he needs to start considering norms, ethics, and all that nonsense beyond just learning it for school.

Which means other perspectives. He might not want to participate in any form of community, but it's on him to make sure his runs smoothly. What a pain in the ass.

He's staring back at Vander, lifting his can of coffee up to take another sip, noting the shift in his posture. Okay, not surprising given the bickering on the network; he has to wonder about all of that. That, and the fact that while he's seen Vander be violent, he isn't totally sure he's seen him be angry.]

It isn't anymore?

[He doesn't argue about that not being his words. It's true, he's only repeating what Silco had said to him because, like most thing adults have said to him in Etraya, he's taking his viewpoint into consideration.]

[It made sense to him that Silco would target the younger parts of this place; there was something impressionable about them regardless of the powers, their worlds and experiences. Many could be lulled into the rhetoric with enough time and patience; Janna knew he had been vulnerable at Accelerator's age.

However, he hadn't come here to investigate about the kid's moodiness to instead have to confront the venomous words of Silco's world view. The sooner that they were able to move off of this topic, the better for them both as far as he was concerned. There were many aspects of his past that he had accepted, and it seemed being in Etraya forced him to plenty of new introspection.]

No, it isn't. Fear is usually the easiest method to achieve quick results. As you've made clear you and yours have experienced. If there was a different way, even if it took longer to achieve it, would you not consider it?

[Accelerator doesn't make any stubborn attempts to prod Vander about Silco. It's clear they know each other, knowing that is enough. He doesn't see any point in pushing the subject further, especially when provoking Vander isn't the point.]

I guess it'd depend. Is using fear on a bunch of corrupt shitheads the fastest way to get the results I want? Then I'd take it.

[The people who've ruined his city wouldn't be excluded from rehabilitation after being arrested, but he holds no love for them.]

I'd probably even take it if it meant scaring my students. [He give a brief shrug.] They already hate me, so it wouldn't be much of a change.

[Vander had heard this talk before. He'd thought the same thing when it came to taking on the Chem-Barons, when he had been young and vigorous, when the successes had started to pile up and they became a threat.]

And once you make them afraid, who do you progress from there? Keep them in fear? They'll grow desperate and have nothing but time on their hands to circumvent you. Short term gain without a long term solution usually.

[There were exceptions, of course. He regarded Accelerator for a long moment.] Why do they hate you?

[That's something he's had to deal with back home, sort of. A lot of the people who used those stupid magic coins to escape his massive sweep of the city had likely done so out of fear. As Anna had said, if he hadn't been so obvious about his intentions....

Ugh, he hates that she was right. He shakes his head.]

Ideally, those kinds of people are the ones who fail out of rehabilitation after being arrested, and stay in prison until they learn to be better. I don't care if they keep on being afraid of me, what's important to me is that they don't go around fucking kids over because of those - or any other - feelings.

[But he's aware the ideal situation isn't reality. It's rough, knowing his plan still has holes in it, but it's the best he's been able to come up with and he doesn't just want to lock every criminal away forever without giving them a second chance.

He doesn't hesitate at answering Vander's other question.]

I'm the strongest esper Academy City's ever created, so there aren't many people who can stand up to me. Combine that with my trial being broadcast internationally, the fact that I'm a rich one percenter, and most people in the world have an idea of what I'm capable of. I'm a pretty scary person when you get down to it.

Edited 2025-03-16 16:43 (UTC)

Is your prison set up to actually rehabilitate those who are in it?

[It was interesting to consider. That was more like Zaun's idea of punishment, knowing people would have to return to the community. Their resources made it more of a recruiting ground for those with particular talents, but it was better than the rotten stone boxes that Piltover held prisoners in with their little uniforms and fake processing attempts.

A man, woman or child could disappear into the Piltover system and fail to emerge for years or even a lifetime. Those that returned were hardly the same, brittle and angry, worn and withdrawn. Sometimes death was a mercy or so he'd been told by those he had gone to pick up after being dumped back in the Lanes from the boats.]

It sounds to me like the system itself needs to be changed, and that's not easy to do. It take a long term effort of changing minds and opinions, and for that, you need people with particular skills. Probably conviction too.

[Vander still had no idea what it meant to be called an esper, but he was following along all the same to the basis of the conversation. Real powerful was all that it meant to him.]

You're making yourself sound like an ultra powerful bully on the world stage. Do you consider fear translate to respect and do you care if you are respected?

Not right now. I'm changing that.

[He's personally providing the funds for the rehabilitation program to ensure it gets set up, and that the money doesn't get funnelled elsewhere. It's a lot of work, but he knows it'll be worth it in the end. You can't expect change by tossing people into cells forever, that only perpetuates the cycle of violence he's trying to put an end to.]

I know. I'm working with the few people in the city who aren't corrupt pieces of shit.

[Like his previous legal guardian.]

I don't know if it means people'll respect me long term. I don't care whether it does or not, only if it gives me the results I want.

[He's one hundred percent fine with ruining his life to make his city better, in other words.]

So what you're saying is that you're making an active effort to make a difference in the lives of those who are incarcerated. It sounds like you're putting in the effort for effect change.

[Of course, Vander knew from experience that change needed to also occur at the ground level. They had been told the trickle-down effect would eventually work, but it never did. No, people needed to make changes in the slums, the mines, and low points where people were lost and rarely recovered.

This was why a community was necessary. It was the purpose of gangs to community, both to offer protection but also knowledge, skills and assistance. At least, that's how it was supposed to be. Safety in numbers, especially when their 'keepers' had once been the worst offenders to abuse.]

I doubt you're doing it for respect or to be liked. Once you start making that many waves, you earn enemies. The point is that the change is necessary by the sounds of it and you're driving it.

[He shifted and rested his hip on the side of the couch.]

That doesn't explain why you're extra grumpy here. What's up, kiddo?

[He nods slowly. There's more to it - the Sisters - but he isn't prepared to discuss them right now, and aside from them Vander has hit the nail on the head. He wants to flip Academy City's very society on its head so the kids, whether they're criminals or not, have safer, happier lives. They're his students, he's responsible for them, and he doesn't care if he needs to ruin his own life to accomplish his goals.

He looks sharply up at Vander, his eyes narrowing.]

Don't call me that, either.

[Really, he isn't letting Vander or Jayce get away with calling him 'champ,' he sure as hell isn't going to tolerate 'kiddo.' Especially not after just explaining all the responsibility he's taken on. 'Kiddo' feels patronizing.

He clicks his tongue, annoyed, and finishes off his coffee before leaning forward to put the empty can on the coffee table.]

There's just a lot of bullshit going on. It's tiring.

[There was more, of course. Vander knew that, but perhaps that was all that he was going to receive in terms of details about all of this. That was fine; he hoped to earn more of the kid's trust over time and with each subsequent effort. They all came from complicated places after all, and the more he learned about other people, the less he had to talk about his own complicated histories.

Most of the time, people wanted to feel heard. It was easy to encourage people to talk about themselves and their problems.

He pretended to not observe the sharp look, intent on looking across the room.]

Sure thing, champ.

[He had previously been able to mostly sneak in a few of those ones and Accelerator had somewhat tolerated them. He would see if the current mood allowed that, and perhaps he had reached the end of the kid's tolerance to being treated his age. After all, he had been told adults were the worst for the most part.]

It seems to me that you're always tired. Is there a particular incident that set off the bullshit this time?

[Accelerator's glare hardens and he ignores that second question. If he isn't going to be taken seriously then he isn't going to open up.]

I'm not fucking around. Call me 'kiddo' or 'champ' or anything other than Accelerator again and I'm throwing you out the window.

Alright.

[Point taken. Vander relented but didn't back off physically. He remained where he was hip half resting on the arm of the couch.]

Is there a reason you resort to threatening with violence?

[Accelerator eyes Vander warily, but relaxes a fraction. He'll take him at his word for this (not that he'd throw him out the window. Out the front door? Maybe, but not the window).]

It's easy for me. And it gets people's attention. They know I'll follow through if they really piss me off.

[Less so these days, but still.]

[He nodded his head, suspecting that was the answer. Violence was always the easy path to take when it came to setting boundaries.]

Threats of violence are easy, yeah. They are problematic.

[He just shrugs at that.]

You're not saying anything I don't already know. Is there a reason why you asked?

I'm trying to determine your moods and how threats factor into our interactions going forward.

[He decided on brute honesty at this point. So yeah, Vander was trying to read Accelerator. It was something he was good at.]

01. un: hound - [Voice]

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