lifetothefullest | [IC Inbox]

He may not, or he may and just be hiding that with other emotions.

[Suddenly caring about someone who you don't even know can be frightening, and that can easily lead to hostility.]

The person who was my sibling during the event, Adam, I had only spoken with twice before. So that's... Strange.

[He'd like Adam well enough from their conversations, but didn't really know him and, of course, has no siblings normally. So that whole thing is pretty strange for him.]

[She shrugs.] He has been hostile towards me from the beginning. In that sense, not much changed at all even during the event.

[If anything, it was worse for her, given she's been taken from her daughter and was given fake children... who were subsequently taken away from her as well.]

Was he at least nice? That could be the beginning of a friendship.

[Lance is personally really glad he didn't end up having any kids in the event, because he's not sure he would've been able to handle it once it was all over.

And he doesn't want to dwell on that thought at all, letting the issue of Mello drop and nodding at the question about Adam.]

He is. One of the times we spoke it was actually about something I'd intended to mention to you; we were curious about whether the trees here produced oxygen despite having no real sunlight.

[It's not exactly her field, but a science mystery is a science mystery and it might be a fun distraction for her to investigate.

He doesn't address the part about being the potential beginning of a friendship, because although that's true it's also... Complicated.]

[Even not knowing why Sweets would think that, she would agree.

Oh, a scientific inquiry! That gets her attention and interest.] They should not even be able to grow without sunlight -- but they are not like the trees we're familiar with. Perhaps they react differently to the components of air, or the soil and water sources here are... better suited somehow to underground life.

[Or this "magic" of the "gods" -- this access to technology or innate ability that allows them to work withib the laws of physics in ways that humans can't -- somehow allows them to replicate sunlight.]

Or perhaps there is sunlight, filtered in from above ground somehow.

[Now you've done it, Sweets. Now she's distracted by science.]

[Good, mission accomplished. It's nice to see her interest and enthusiasm, and he grins a little automatically.]

Maybe the artificial light has the same properties as sunlight in terms of photosynthesis?

[Not that this is a subject Lance is well versed in--he took exactly as many biology classes as were required for his major--but he knows the general idea.]

With the right technology, it could possible. [She purses her lips.] Hope seems to think I can be convinced to call it "magic" or "power" and leave it at that. As if somehow I'm of average intelligence, or below average, and incapable of understanding.

[She's not salty, though.]

[Wow Brennan, tell him how you really feel.]

Maybe they just don't actually know how to explain it. I mean, I know how to use a whole lot of technology I couldn't explain how works, and it'd be a lot easier to just call it magic.

[EXTREMELY SALTY. She'll show Hope and his alien brethren!!]

If they are operating it, then they know how it works. If they know how it works, then they can explain it. If not to the average person, then to me, or to Zack, whose training in engineering enables him to understand even more easily. Calling it magic is inaccurate and...

[Give her a second, she's trying to find a better word for lazy.]

...lazy.

[Nailed it.]

Edited (html) 2017-08-09 13:33 (UTC)

[Lance resists the urge to sigh as she seems to miss the point, but then again--]

You may be right in that they just don't want to explain. If we know how to work their technology then they lose some control over the situation.

[Which they need.]

[Brennan? Miss the point? N e v e r.]

Yes. [She frowns.] That is why I'm helping Dr. Tenebris with her work. At least she is doing something that could help us obtain some control.

[She does not like feeling trapped like this.

Yeah. I think working with her on finding the Door ourselves is the best chance for a lot of people, and it'd solve the issue of whether to take the Null's side on things.

[Lance is all for this plan, and he's glad that Brennan and Zack are both here and able to provide a lot of intelligence and expertise to the subject. He's been doing what he can himself, as well, but this is just not an area he's particularly knowledgeable about.]

I would not be surprised if the "gods" attempt to stop us somehow.

[It doesn't take a psychologist to understand how people in power tend to operate when they want to stay in power.]

Neither would I.

[It'd be too easy, really, if they didn't.]

We should actually consider factoring that into plans; it's better to have some idea of a way to handle a problem before it happens.

[Although he really isn't sure what any of them could do, mostly because they all seem to know very little about the gods.]

We should, but I don't know that we would be able to do anything. By our very narure, we provide them with the energy they require, and by their nature, they can make us believe we are what we are not.

[In short, it'a a good inclination in theory but it will probably be a waste.]

Only while they have the energy for it in the first place. And sometimes, they do miss people in applying their illusions or events.

[He knows this both from experience and from hearing it from others, and he really wonders if it might be from a lack of enough energy to always affect everyone.]

They miss people? You mean, there are people who go unaffected during events? [Interesting.] Does it happen every event? Is it always the same people?

[So many questions!!]

Yes, that's what I mean. I don't know if it happens every event or if there are certain people affected more often than others; I know I was missed once, but I've been affected by other events.

[He is not sad to have been skipped over for the ghosts event, even if he'd been somewhat jealous in a few ways while it was going on.]

[#justscientistthings]

You were missed once? [Huh.] I wonder if there is some rationale behind any of this. Perhaps it can be leveraged in our favor.

I was; there was a particularly bad event and I was fortunate enough not to be involved.

[Directly, anyway. He was still involved through other people, though, in several respects, and just that much had been difficult to deal with.]

There may be, and I'd be interested in looking into it, but we'd have to rely on people actually telling us things.

[Which is easier said than done here.]

[She gives a thoughtful hum, frowning as she stares off into the middle disstance.]

They might be more inclined to share their experiences if the questions are presented as a way of identifying some sort of... weakness or defect in the abductors' influence.

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