039 || dictated;

[workaphilic]

[It's very, very late when the journal opens. Or very early, depending on your perspective. But there's none of the grate to his voice that usually accompanies his insomnia; instead he sounds lively, nearly amicable.]

Rise and shine, residents. Don't complain, if you're awake now you either were before I started or you're stupid enough to leave your journal open when you sleep.

[Gladstone whines in the background.]

Shut up, you don't get to complain either, after all you've put me through.

[In the background: noise of cabinets, and food (or something, it can be hard to tell with him) tumbling into a bowl.]

Here is my question, Paradisa:

How much worse could it get?

[A pause, and something occurs to him. He continues, now with his mouth full.]

I'm not being rhetorical. It's not the preface to an uplifting speech, either. Really think, and really answer. It's important.

Comments

dictated

[wilder]

[...My goddess does he hate the inability to sleep. But he'll answer]

Doesn't that depend on what 'it' is?

[workaphilic]

[He makes an impatient noise. Fine, he'll elaborate.]

Your overall satisfaction with life in this world. How much worse off could you potentially become?

[heloise]

The Castle could disallow all decent music and drive bees into extinction.

[workaphilic]

I was asking you, Madonna Lucrezia.

Dictated

[schrodingersghost]

Are you completely insane? Never challenge the power of worse! That's like inviting something horrible to happen!

[workaphilic]

Maybe that's exactly what I'm doing.

[so, you know, insanity not impossible.]

[peacockherald]

_{[ This is what he gets for having a young lover keeping him up all night. of course he's happy to fall right asleep, but Van's a bit slower with such tasks these days. ]}

A bit of a dreary question for a bedtime story. Any answers are bound to bring on bad dreams.

[workaphilic]

[Noisy crunching.]

Your problem, not mine.

[inafadingcrown]

[Well, she was up anyway...]

Why do you ask? [Genuinely curious over here]

[workaphilic]

[brightly:]

I'm curious.

[gottaknockhard]

Assuming there's a limit?

[workaphilic]

Assuming the limit is the limit of Paradisa's influence.

[Interpret that however you want.]

[fluthlu]

Infinitely so. Even what an individual may judge to be the worst possible situation is favorable to a number of scenarios they have yet to imagine.

Is there a reason you're asking?

[workaphilic]

Oh, I always have a reason.

[Doesn't mean he has to share it.]

[silentrunning]

[Have an answer scrawled into your journal.]

It could be worse. We could all be in the testing tracks, being shot at by turrets.

[workaphilic]

[Well, that's specific.]

Take it you're speaking from experience.

[whistles_the_blues]

[There's a bit of a delay before he answers.]

Much worse.

[workaphilic]

How?

[lara_the_explorer]

Much worse. At least we're not living like animals outdoors trying to kill each other.

Yet.

[workaphilic]

World is big. Lots of places to go if you didn't want to take part in the mutual hunting. Is that really the worst it could get?

[indirectcause]

[He's already awake. Sleeping through the night has been long lost to him. He glares at the journal, almost not answering, before one of his famous lapses in judgement makes him speak.]

Depends if you mean here or at home.

[workaphilic]

[His voice leaps into smugness.]

Here.

[the_effect_she_has]

They could have us fight each other for the death for supplies, food, and to see who will actually survive. They could slowly starve us into compliance and then make us work for their succor. They could draw us into war with the others on this island, so we have to kill or be killed.

[Yes, Katniss is awake. She's getting ready to go out and hunt, after all.] Worst of all, though, is that they could take our minds completely, and we would never know why we are screaming inside of our own heads while we played the puppets to the puppet master.

[workaphilic]

If your mind was taken completely, it wouldn't bother you, would it? It would be all you knew. Not an appealing option, not to you now, but it could be worse.

[hatesgoodbyes]

That question never has a good answer. It can always get worse, every damn time.

[workaphilic]

Try anyway.

[shortishandbossy]

Depends on how pessimistic your thoughts can get.

[workaphilic]

I'm asking you.

[originalcopy]

Never underestimate the power of shit to get worse.

[workaphilic]

That isn't what I asked. Be specific.

Dictated

[staggeringego]

[ Unfortunately James was one of the people dumb enough to keep his journal open and was woken up by this. He's not particularly happy about being questioned like this either. ]

Unless you know something the rest of us don't about what's going to happen next, I don't see how the question really matters. It's not as if we get enough of a heads up to really prepare for any of it.

Re: Dictated

[workaphilic]

[Crunching. Gladstone whines to fill up the space. Then, casually:]

I'm not trying to prepare for anything.

Dictated

[putuporshutup]

[Meg doesn't sleep, and welcomes the distraction of the hypothetical from her perpetual boredom.]

I've seen a hell of a lot worse than this. I'd venture to say a few other people dropping in from my neck of the woods would make this place a lot worse for everyone, but particularly for me. They certainly know how to screw up existence in general.

[workaphilic]

[All he hears in that first sentence: "I'm a newbie."]

So the worst is your home world?

dictated

[somanylyrics]

If we all die. [a beat] Or if One Bush Mountain gets cancelled.

[she shudders, because that's still the worst thought]

[workaphilic]

[Oh. This girl.]

Not much for depth, are you?

[heliotroping]

...I'd rather not give it ideas.

[workaphilic]

[He sighs impatiently.]

You're all choosing an inconvenient time to suddenly be paranoid, I hope you know.

dictated;

[rightchoices]

Death. Isolation. I don't know - walkers. Lot of ways this place could get worse, and I can't say I understand the point of you asking.

[ Neither defensive nor attacking, but Lee does sound vaguely wary. ]

[workaphilic]

[Probably the best way to go about it, honestly.]

Understandable, considering I didn't say the point of me asking.