Issue 1 Downtime

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:47 pm**

It's not a particularly long drive, so after a couple minutes in Nailah's car (with the top down, on account of being late November), Nailah and Mira make their way over to the small coffee shop.

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 5:56 pm**

"And how, pray tell, did you afford that car on a teacher's salary?"

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:13 pm**

"Some smart investments. Mostly betting though." she smirks.

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:35 pm**

"I'm stunned. I suppose this means you failed your mutant ethics class?"

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:40 pm**

"I try to avoid 'pari mutuel' bets. Casinos can spare the loss. Just don't tell my students."

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 7:34 pm**

"Hrm, I don't know. That sounds like good blackmail fodder, to me."

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 7:41 pm**

"Go ahead then." she calls the bluff with a chuckle.

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:00 pm**

"OK," she said, closing her eyes as a faint red glow surrounded her.

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:08 pm**

Nailah puts a hand on her shoulder. "Now you're just being hypocritical. Try gossiping the regular way instead of just broadcasting it telepathically, hmm?" she smiles.

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:18 pm**

"That takes SO much more time."

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:27 pm**

"And cooking your own food is more satisfying than ordering out all the time. Just because something's easy doesn't mean it's best."

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:55 pm**

"I don't have to cook; I get Kevin to do it for me."

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:26 pm**

"Same thing." she says as they sit down at one of the tables. "You could whisk him off to a restaurant on Alpha Centauri, but instead he cooks for the two of you."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:40 am**

"I don't think he'd appreciate being whisked anywhere."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:41 am**

"Are we talking about the same Kevin?"

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:45 am**

"Yeah, I'm fairly sure he'd object to being Mr. Phoenix."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:59 am**

"That's probably true, but I'm fairly certain he'd go on a space adventure. Anyway, the point is that just because something is possible doesn't mean it's a good idea. Take Ashlie for example. She has complete control over her own electronic world inside the computer, yet for some reason she chose to the limitations of a physical shell. At least at times. If everything's possible then nothing is special."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:32 pm**

"See, isn't that just a way of glorifying limitations? Taking a problem and spinning it into a virtue?"

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:52 pm**

"Maybe. But if so then isn't that born from a sense of trying to reconcile those limitations with our existence? They're part of what defines us. You can't create compassion or justice or love out of nothing."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:55 pm**

"Hrm," Mira said, musing. "I'm not so sure I would go that far."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:04 pm**

"At best you could create a situation for people from which those arise or even the people themselves. But then that situation you create is what defines their limitations."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:25 pm**

"No, there are absolutes out there. A tree falling in the forest makes a sound, even if you're not around to hear it."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:08 pm**

"Of course it does, but you're missing the point of the thought experiment. Observing an event gives it meaning outside it's normal cause and effect."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:11 pm**

"Nothing ever goes unobserved. Remember that."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:32 pm**

"Look, you said you lost track of things. I'm not saying I have all the answers, but I do know what it's like to be a mere mortal. And part of that is dealing with your limitations, even if they're self-imposed. If you want to see what a too utilitarian and self-indulgent approach to power looks like then you should ask Sam to take you to visit Muir."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:00 pm**

"I'm sure the Goddess wouldn't want to spend too much time away from her domain," she smirked.

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:03 pm**

"Are you ever going to stop teasing her about that?"

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:04 pm**

"I don't believe I shall, no. Unless she picks one or the other, and stops straddling halfway."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:09 pm**

Nailah's quiet for a moment, just looking at Altamira.

"Are you jealous of her for standing between two worlds like that?"

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:12 pm**

"It's not good, in the long run. It hurts to go one way or the other, but it may be necessary eventually."

That might be as close to an apology as Mira would ever give.

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:57 pm**

"You don't think it's possible to hold on to your humanity?"

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:18 pm**

"I don't.
But that's not a bad thing, necessarily."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:24 pm**

"Then why bother with human hosts at all if it's just something to leave behind?"

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:28 pm**

"Why bother changing hosts if you could keep it up indefinitely?" she countered.

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:35 pm**

"Because then you end up just as out of touch as Roland." she says, though it's clear she's deflecting at least a little bit.

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:51 pm**

"Roland," Mira laughed. "As if holding that unnatural being up holds any water on any side of an argument. A fossil who should have been dealt with long ago."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 5:33 pm**

"That's kind of my point. You're the Phoenix; of course you wouldn't remain one immortal person forever. It's not in your nature, regardless of whether you could hold on to your humanity or not."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 5:44 pm**

"Besides, comparing your Goddess to Roland is an insult to Sam, don't you think?"

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 5:53 pm**

"You must have a strange view of our relationship if you think I worship Sam."

Posted: **Sat Apr 12, 2014 8:39 pm**

"I think your relationship is fairly strange to begin with, to be fair."

Issue 1 Downtime

I13DT - Hot Chocolate

I13DT - Hot Chocolate

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