[Voice/Action]

[selfhelp]

[Today is a good day for serious business, apparently. There's a certain something he's been putting off for a while, and after one-too-many dreams interrupting his sleep, he's had enough: this morning when Billy wakes up, the first thing he does is jot out a note in the journal-]

[Private to Ben Grimm]

Hey, would it be okay if I swung by to ask you a few things?

[He'll work through his morning routine until he gets a response, after which he'll go for a visit and get a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.

After that, his mood for the day is drastically altered; he'll skip out on school, trying to sort out his feelings on the matter. Tommy's still AWOL, and he's trying not to worry Teddy, but what he's just been told has really got him thinking- about people, and heroes, and the unfairness of mankind in general. And eventually he'll just go ahead and return to his journal for it. He's kind of in over his head here.]

[Open to All]

I know Luceti's full of heroes- seems kind of a standard trait for most of us, for whatever reason. Back on my world, super-humans aren't that uncommon, and in general they're revered for everything they do for the world. Some of them were born that way, and some of them are from other planets, and some were altered to get their powers, and some have a lot of talent or skill instead of powers. But they're all considered to be super heroes. There's bad guys, too- just as diverse and unique as the heroes they fight. People fear them and celebrate their defeat.

There's another group, though... humans who got their powers because of evolution. It's much more natural, in a lot of ways. Some are heroes, some are villains. Some are just trying to get by without becoming one or the other. But regular humans fear them, and hate them for it, even if they save the world just as much as the heroes they love. They're called criminals or monsters, no matter how innocent they might be.

[He hesitates- it's probably obvious to some, what he's talking about, and he's not sure if he should lock it from the mutant population, or apologize, or something, but it relates to them even if it's not by name. Hiding it wouldn't be right.

In the end he just leaves it be.]

...Sorry for the ramble. But it's not fair, and... I just can't understand why. Why hate one and love the other, when they're basically the same?

Comments

[rocketpunch]

Yeah, totally. I'm glad I have people who like me even if I am really different. Not everyone gets that kinda luxury. I'm guessing it's worse for your world, from the sound of it.

[selfhelp]

I don't know if comparing worlds is really fair, considering I don't know your situation well enough either. I will say that it can be terrible, though. Lots of people have died in what some would call a war.

[rocketpunch]

Well...it's not really the same, I can just relate to being hated by everyone else for something that isn't my fault.

...So...what's gonna happen to them, then? Do you think it's going to get better, or....

[selfhelp]

[Ouch... yeah, definitely relating to that, then. He purses his lips at her question, as it's a tricky one to answer.]

I wish I knew. It seems like every time it gets better, it gets worse again- like it's some kind of endless cycle. I'd like to think that eventually we can all get along, but it's probably a long ways off.

[rocketpunch]

Man, that sounds really rough. It's too bad things can't be more like Luceti. I mean, everyone here is pretty accepting of what people think of as strange, you know?

[selfhelp]

God, I know. It kind of blows me away- how things can be so different here. I don't think I've seen any outright prejudice or hate since, like, the whole Kin'coran thing.

[rocketpunch]

...Yeah, but during that whole thing, some of our own were pretty hateful, too.

[selfhelp]

No... I don't think either side was completely in the right that week.

[rocketpunch]

[She really, really wants to make the argument that she was in the right, but that's probably not the time or place for that.]

Maybe not, but it still could have been handled a lot better.

[selfhelp]

[...Why is this making her grin like that...]

I think that's pretty much a given.

[rocketpunch]

[The short answer? Because she's Precis.]

Well, if it ever happens again, we'll be ready. But that's enough about that. Um, it probably doesn't mean much, but I hope things go well for you and everyone else back home. Things got better for me, so...yeah, I'm totally rooting for you and your friends, okay?

[selfhelp]

It definitely means something. Thanks, though- all we can really do is keep trying when we get back. Encouragement always helps.

[rocketpunch]

Well, if you ever need any more encouragement, just call out for Precis F. Neumann, Luceti's number one inventor! I'm good at just talking, too.

[selfhelp]

I'll remember that. I'm Billy Kaplan, nice to meet you.

An inventor, though? What kind of stuff do you invent?

[rocketpunch]

Back home, I'm the one who invented robotics. These days, I'm mostly just fooling around with whatever appliances I can find. Turns out almost every other person here is really good with machines, too.

[selfhelp]

Invented robotics? You look pretty young, so that's a big accomplishment.

Know anything about iPhones or laptops?

[rocketpunch]

Yeah, I know. So, there I was, just wandering around...and all of a sudden, this giant hunk of metal crashes into the ground! I managed to haul most of it back to my place, and I used the stuff I found and started to build things.

A laptop is a portable computer, and an iPhone is a touch-screen cellphone from Earth, right? I've never seen 'em, but I know what they are.

[selfhelp]

That's amazing. And I used to think I was kind of tech savvy.

I've got one of each, and they work fine now, but I wanted to ask around just in case something ever breaks. My best bet's Mr. Stark, but I figured it was worth asking.

[rocketpunch]

[Dem be fightin' words.]

Ugh, you'd really go and talk to that old man? He'd probably break his hip trying to fix something like that. If you need something fixed, you should come straight to me.

[selfhelp]

[Oh dear, inventor rivalry?]

Well... we're from the same world, more or less, so technically I think he helped develop this tech. It's experience, not skill, that I'm thinking about, here...

[He really doesn't want to lose his stuff to someone who's never touched a phone before, WHAT IF THEY EXPLODE]

[rocketpunch]

Well, when you think about it, I have a lifetime of experience. [Because she's been tinkering her whole life. She's not lying. She's just using her own special Precis logic.] Mind if I take a look at it, then? Just in case it ever breaks and Stark is having a kidney failure episode or something.

and then I remembered this thread was pre-christmas

[selfhelp]

...Um.

[Wow he feels like he's taking his life in his hands here.]

I kind of had to wait a long time to get this thing, I don't want to risk breaking it...

Aha, so it is! Wow, thanks for threading with me for a month. X3

[rocketpunch]

Well...what if you watch me look at it? I can't really learn about technology from other worlds if I can't even look at the stuff, right?

same to you! I will backdate foreverrrr

[selfhelp]

[That... sounds acceptable, actually.]

I guess that would be okay. Just don't try to force it apart or something.

oh I think I get what you meant to say, did he say something he shouldn't have dsgagas

[rocketpunch]

Of course, of course. That's only, like, half of the fun. There's still plenty of fun leftover.

[She is not helping her case.]