Tʜᴇ Bɪɢ Rᴇᴅ Oɴᴇ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
zombiemessiah) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
voidtreckernet2021-10-01 10:32 pm
zombiemessiah) wrote in voidtreckernet2021-10-01 10:32 pm
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Nebula 16
[For those that don't know Murphy, the man on the screen outright just looks likes Voltaire wet dream, complete with red skin, Satan aesthetic, black suit with a red shirt and he's got the voice of a story-telling podcaster.]
Moral Quandary Time! Where do you draw the line in killing people? Are you a 'no, never' person? A 'only in self-defense person'? A 'the world'd be better without this person' person? Maybe even a 'You killed my father, prepare to die!' type. Or, maybe? All it would take is something that'll line your pockets.
Maybe the setting counts. Somewhere like my world, where billions of undead roam hungry and the living trample each other to survive. Definitely one where even the softest heart would be hard-pressed to stay their hand. Or you go to one of those colorful, magical places where the grass looks like astroturf and there are rainbows with no clouds. But you found out all the cute, adorable fuzzy things there were slowly going to cause the extinction of five other species.
This isn't just a question about murder philosophy. Missions are tough and some just want to help and some of us are desensitized. You might need someone who can easily do what you'd struggle with. Then again, you might need someone with a little more patience so you don't snap someone's neck.
[Murphy withholds the question about whether someone would rather him get information one way or the other if it came down to a choice. He'll wait on that one 'cause he's sure the initial answer would be, 'I would rather you do neither.]
Also hello to the new people! Hiiii. Yeah. You might get mindfucked. There's a lot of that recently. I'm sure someone else with a healthy dose of PTSD can fill you in on how that went.
Voice
[But he also doesn't want to think about today, and this is a distraction.]
Only in self-defense.
But if someone wants to kill me or someone I care about, I'm not about to make it easy for them.
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It's going to happen. You know someone is going to kill that asshole. But the person with you really doesn't want to do it either.
Do you take over? Or do you help them cope after they do it?
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[He's not expecting the hypothetical to get that complicated, and it throws him for a loop. There's a few seconds of near silence, interspersed with the occasional huff and a quiet "what?", before he finally gives an exhausted sigh.]
I'm not answering that.
[It's not belligerent; he just doesn't have the energy to spare for this thought exercise.]
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Do you need a nap. Because you sound like you need a nap. Or a coffee.
[Murphy is all about button pushing but come on, kid, you sound like you're falling asleep at the mental wheel. If not asleep then def exhausted.]
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[Yep, zero filter. He is physically exhausted and emotionally flatlined, which makes for great conversation.]
But that's...
[Not going to happen, so he moves on.]
Aside from that, I need you to stop changing the rules in the middle of the game. I answered your question. Why isn't that enough?
It's less a challenge than it is a simple question. It's shades of what he'd struggled with on the previous mission coming back to haunt him - why isn't his best good enough? - but given the lack of emotional energy to devote to anything this evening, all he really wants right now is an answer.]
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[If Murphy didn't want to answer a question, he just wouldn't. He belligerent as that.]
Another great thing is that people don't have to explain their viewpoints. You don't gotta satisfy me. [But he throws him a bone.] This is a choice I've seen played out. She chose to do it herself. But she was fucked up for days.
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[He hadn't realized 'refusing to play' could be a legitimate strategy in this game. Huh.]
[And then Murphy explains, and things honestly just get worse.]
...oh.
Is everything you've talked about here something you've seen on your world?
[He knows Murphy's world is bad, but is it that bad? Because he'd been listening for a bit before speaking up, and Murphy had presented some pretty rough scenarios.]
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Plus it's been six years since ZN1 spread so now there are plenty of kids that have been born into a world where all they know is that their parents have to occasionally shoot a grungy people-shaped thing at a distance and hope that it wasn't someone capable of conversation.
[He's very matter-of-fact about it. He's not looking for pity, just for understanding. And of course he's shit-stirring a little bit, but it is mostly about wanting people to look at some context.]
And yeah, that was one I was going to ask someone, too.
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Why are you doing this? Is this fun?
[He legitimately does not understand you, Murphy.]
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And I'm curious. Someone can do something for more than one reason.
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[It's not a judgment so much as it is confirmation. From what he's hearing, Murphy heard 'no exceptions' and pushed it.]
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[And it means Murphy would have to admit getting mad about all of the two friends he has being called bad things for their choices.]
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You ask a question, you get an answer, and then you push it with scenarios. You're doing it to satisfy your curiosity. How is that not 'because you can?'
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Nope. Not doing this.
You go take care of whatever business you've got going on.
[And he is peacing out of this conversation because he knows that when being catty devolves into real arguing you say more shit about your emotions than you really want to say. Or, you know, let yourself acknowledge any emotions.]