un: xspire

[synthsized]

At what point does something get the right to be called a person? What do they need to do to deserve that?

Has anyone ever thought about it?

Comments

[synthsized]

What if you don't think you want it?

I see. So it makes it easier to do something terrible if it isn't to a person?

[That's...comforting.]

[silksoul]

If you don't want to refer to yourself as a person then that's your choice. But you should be treated as one anyway.

[ With the proper weight of life and death. It's how she weighs everyone and everything, at least right now. ]

Some people think so. They justify it to themselves. Hide behind it like it can help them escape their sins. But they're wrong.

[synthsized]

So you shouldn't be tormented for no good reason.

But do they actually have to face the consequences of their actions? If they can decide their victims aren't people, who's to say others won't agree with them?

[silksoul]

There's no reason for it.

[ She might strike down people, in self-defense or hunger, but she's no fool. She doesn't think their deaths were just; it's a mechanism of conflict. In the deadly clash between predators and prey, or even other predators, it was inevitable that someone would fall. ]

Sometimes it's the people they considered lesser or beneath them that make them pay in blood. Sometimes they come to blows with their 'equals'.

Sometimes it's their own guilt that eats them up inside and forces them to face what they've done.

[ That's a yes. ]

[synthsized]

I see. I suppose that's a comfort.

[Justice, if you could call it that, being served.]

Have you seen this yourself?

[silksoul]

If I hadn't witnessed it I wouldn't speak of it.

[ Hypotheticals and metaphors are for other people who aren't Hornet. She doesn't see any point in wasting time recounting things she doesn't know to be true. ]

[synthsized]

Were you satisfied with the outcome?

[Because that's the question they should be asking, obviously.]

[silksoul]

What does my satisfaction have to do with it

[ Despite the flat way this question is typed, it's genuine curiosity. Why would her opinion matter on something like that? She wasn't the one whose personhood was being called into question, after all. ]

[synthsized]

Wouldn't most people be satisfied seeing someone get what they deserve for barbaric deeds?

[It's probably not that deep, but they're curious about it.]

[silksoul]

It doesn't erase the pain of those they hurt or the harm they caused.

There's no point in thinking of them further, even in suffering. [ To think of someone that much, to believe in them, is to give them a power over you. To hold them in your mind, to let them occupy your thoughts.

She doesn't want him to occupy her thoughts any more than necessary. ]

There are better things to put your mind to.

[synthsized]

I see.

[They don't, not really, but they're not going to admit that. Not at all.]

What sort of things do you put your mind to?

[silksoul]

Is this a hypothetical or do you actually want to know my hobbies

[synthsized]

Whichever way you'd prefer to answer.

[silksoul]

[ uuuuuuuuuuugh ]

I put my mind to weaving and sewing and needlework

[ That's one (1) whole chunk of Hobby you're getting out of her. It's also a cultural thing, but they didn't ask so she's not saying. ]

[synthsized]

So you play with string.

[That's...an understanding of those hobbies, sure.]

[silksoul]

[ Hornet and play don't belong in the same sentence..... ]

I use it to craft things. But you can use it for play as well.

[ It's part of her magic, too, but again: they didn't ask so she's not saying. ]

[synthsized]

[Too bad, it's happened.]

I thought hobbies were supposed to be mostly for play.

[They don't know jack about shit.]

[silksoul]

Yes.

They can also be ways to practice your skills. To improve yourself. To produce something that will turn a profit. Mastering all the skills a hobby requires can be a life's work.

[ Weaving and needlework, working with thread similar to the silk she pulls from her own body - those things are important to her on more than one level. A reminder of her mother and her mother's people, opportunities to practice what she had precious little time to do otherwise - but also to heighten her understanding of what she can do with her own powers. It's the little things. ]

[synthsized]

I see. Interesting.

That sounds boring as hell.

[They could at least try not to be rude about it. But they just...There's only so much time left before Nightfall. Why concern yourself with things like profits? Self-improvement they can understand, but...]

[silksoul]

[ They're as blunt as she is and honestly, she can respect that. ]

Everyone does different things with their time. For some, it's all they've ever wanted.

[synthsized]

[Respecting Rover is what started this whole conversation in the first place.]

Is your string work all you've ever wanted?

[silksoul]

No. [ Is she going to elaborate? Nah. ]

[synthsized]

What do you want, then?

[Should have expected that one.]

[silksoul]

I'm not saying that to a stranger.

[ Or to anyone, really.... ]

[synthsized]

And here I thought we were basically becoming best friends.

[smh]