Pest Control

A secluded area, away from prying eyes. Uta sits on a rock, close to a large body of water. A large glass jar stands next to her, large enough for a slime to wander about inside. Oddly enough, the slime is not wandering. It's bouncing about with a huge smile and trying its best to get to Uta, like an excited puppy. Also oddly enough, Uta is not paying the slightest attention to the adorable creature: instead, her gaze alternates between the ground just in front of her and the distance, possibly looking for approaching people, as she squeezes and releases a small, bouncy red ball while going through breathing exercises. A meeting has recently been arranged with Robert, and now she is waiting for him to show up, apparently.

SpritesHero shows up. It is not with his usual unerring...possibly even creepy... obsessive punctuality. He is, oh horror, around thirty seconds late. He is also prefaced by the sounds of creaking wood and parting water.

Shirt-sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Robert and his rowboat round a nearby peninsula. He beaches, with the grating hiss of wood on sand, neatly hops out the back-end to reveal bare feet and trousers rolled up to his knees. His hand lifts in greeting, though his smile is apologetic. "Uta! Sorry for being a bit late," he calls, picking his way over the rocks as the beach slowly transitions to meadow. "Ran into a bit of a headwind."

The slime in the jar keeps at its attempts to ram into the walls of the jar, but the glass is too thick, and the large cork stopper is held in place too tightly by some tied rope.

Uta stops her stress-management exercies, and offers a smile. "Robert!" There is cheer, but a vein of uneasiness still permains underneath.

She gets up and approaches the boat. Calming breathing exercises are forgotten, but the stress ball is still squeezed with regularity at every step. The ramming of the slime adjusts slightly with every bounce, so it's always facing the Spriggan; still smiling wide, and trying to reach for Uta. "I'm glad you could make it. And honestly, given the circumstances, a window of one minute is still an impressive result."

SpritesHero's lips twitch. It's almost a smile, but the expression is suppressed. "Usually I arrive early, then burn time," he explains, hands coming to rest on his waist.

His suppressed expression inverts into a frown, brows drawing together, hard, his scrutiny of Uta just a bit too intent before he steps aside and indicates the rowboat with a sweep of his arm. "Care to go for a turn around the lake while we talk?" he queries, whatever it is that drew his attentions going unremarked-upon. For now, anyhow. "I promise not to get us stranded anywhere."

Uta manages to keep composture, but subtle body language hints betray a growing, if still mild, discomfort at being stared at with such intensity; subconscious movements like an imperceptible shift of her weight, or a slight tug to the skirt-like flaps of her dress, to cover a little bit more skin of her thighs. At SpritesHero's proposal, she stops and thinks for a moment, rubbing the area around her mouth and all.

"It will certainly ensure that we are properly alone," is what she finally says. "Safer than the place I had originally picked." She nods, resolute, and steps into the boat.

"You may want to be in the middle until we shove off," Robert suggests, waiting for her to take her seat before firmly grasping the boat by the front and, digging his feet into the sand, guiding it back into the water proper. It neatly glides out into the lake's waters, with Robert following along behind once he's managed to get it turned around. Once the waters swirl around his knees, he not-so-neatly hoists himself into the stern. It's far from graceful. More of a drippy flop, that mercifully doesn't flip the boat.

"Begging your pardon," the now much-wetter Robert requests pushing through to the middle where, grasping the oars in his hands, he amiably begins rowing the pair off into the middle of the lake in the middlf of nowhere. A scenic nowhere, but nowhere nonetheless.

"I trust you have good reason for the level of security," he suggests once the shore is out of earshot.

Uta holds on tight during the roughest moments of the boat's readjustment into its proper element, and once everything is settled, she lets out a sigh of relief.

At first, Uta replies to Robert's question with silence and turning her eyes down and away, the slow yet intense squeezing of her stress ball providing the equivalent of a heartbeat to her otherwise immobile stance.

"There is, indeed, a reason why I'm trying to keep this quiet," she finally says. "And I am sure you will understand once it will be revealed. But it can be summed up as 'I am scared stiff.'"

A second passes. She inhales, deeply, she raises her chin, and extends her arm, hand turned palm up to show the red, squishy item.

"Inspect this."

SpritesHero releases the oars and accepts the stress ball, cradling it between his hands as he stares at it intently. He frowns, but notably does nothing to it whatsoever aside from handing it back to Uta. He leans forward a tad, elbows resting on his knees, fingers interlacing. "I'm afraid I don't understand," he says at last, after many long moments of thought. "Anything, really. On any level. What are the implications that I am missing?"

Uta scratches the back of her head. "Well... based on what I've heard, Bondrewd is some sort of super-powerful Alv, he goes around devastating tanks with a single punch, can violate people's personal protections, peer into their inventories, and will stop at nothing to rip his relics off anyone who has one." She looks down. "Whereas, I am but a squishy newbie, and keeping track of what room I currently am in ranks pretty high on the list of what I find challenging." As she says so, she sorts of balls up into the closest to a fetal position one can while still qualifying as 'sitting in a socially acceptable manner', her wings pressed against her back, her elongated elfin ears flattened and pointing down. "If rumors were to spread that I have one of his relics, and one of the Otherworlders' informers were to learn this, I would be in..." She glances at Robert, quickly, "...grave danger."

"Then I definitely don't understand," Robert concludes, looking even more confused. If that is even possible. "I do not understand why you showed your relic to me. Or why you would show it to anyone, for that matter. I do not understand why you thought chimlink may have been compromised. And while Bondrewd has expressed an interest in his old relics, I should note that there appear to be quite a few of the things around. The probability that he would go for yours first seems, if you'll pardon my saying so, low. I do not know what you have heard, but aside from his initial appearance during the Wave, I haven't heard a single word about him having any operations here as of late. Which isn't to say that he won't come, but I see no sign of an active, ongoing hunt."

"I showed this relic to you because you also have a relic made by Bondrewd. So we're in the same situation," Uta begins. "Plus, you've come actively asking for it, and- well, call it a gut instinct, but I think I can trust you with this particular tidbit of information." She looks down. "You're actively cooperating with Proteus to try and do something to control monsters. I don't like to take /unnecessary/ risks. But since you are actively investigating this, revealing the existence of this relic to you, I believe, is a case where the benefits offset the risks."

More shifting of her weight takes, as does fidgeting of fingers, which seem to be the focus of her gaze. "I suppose that I also owe you something for keeping me involved in your investigations and keeping me updated about what is going on. You have no idea of how much it means to me, and..." Once again, a furtive glance is cast towards Robert, "...I just cannot refrain from helping people who involve me in a good quest for Truth."

Face still pointed down, she holds one hand to her head, and resumes squeezing her stress ball. The breathing exercises resume. "...I don't know. Maybe you're right. Maybe this whole story is getting to my head and I'm growing unnecessarily paranoid...", she mumbles, apologetic.

SpritesHero remains utterly, perfectly still, eyes downcast, fingers tapping one against the other. "I'm not....I'm not trying to pooh-pooh your concerns. I'm not about to call you paranoid," he murmurs. "If something in your gut says that there is something important here to pursue, then it's probably at least worth taking a second look at it."

"I do greatly appreciate your trust. And yet, I do have concerns that you are allowing your...well, your fear to have an excessive amount of control over you. That it may blind you to the many every-day threats posed by this world. And, frankly, human nature in general."

He unlinks his hands, then, placing each upon an oar, settling back into rowing with a rhythmic creaking of wood. "If you had a relic that could control Landers," he queries, "would you use it?"

"I honestly don't know whether or not there is anything important," Uta replies. The ball is squeezed once, hard. Then a few seconds pass. Another singe, hard squeeze. Another few seconds. "But you asked about relics able to control monsters. And this is all I could offer. It is up to you to decide whether or not it's worth pursuing."

She stops her squeezing and glances at the ball. "I am not sure this relic is that /great/ at controlling monsters, to be honest. It did help a lot, but... you know, It's good enought to corral slimes. I doubt it'd come even close to being able to control the likes of Bondrewd." She glances at Robert again. "But there is another thing about this relic. Without going into details, let's just say that, based on what little Proteus and I know about it, it might give Bondrewd some incentive to prioritize its retrieval."

Uta goes dead silent at Robert's question. She takes a lot of time to give it the kind of thought it deserves.

"It... it depends on the exact level of control, I suppose," she says, with a click of her tongue, and looking off in the distance. She seems oddly more comfortable replying to this question than discussing her relic. "If it was a small thing like, you know, 'these are not the droids you're looking for'," she even does a small hand-wave to underline the quote, "...I suppose it would be acceptable, in limited amounts, in very exceptional cases, if there was a very good reason to do so." She clicks her tongue, and rubs her chin. "I'd morally equate it to being manipulative if the landers weren't aware they were being controlled -- and possibly to using intimidation or coercion if they were."

SpritesHero chuckles, under his breath, giving an extra deep dig with the oars. "I think let's keep your relic under wraps for now, Uta," Robert decides, settling back into a more comfortable rowing pace. "As you say, it's not likely to control Bondrewd. And if using it for anything else is likely to draw unwanted attention, best to reserve it for a situation where there is a dire need. Assuming you have it characterized well enough to know precisely what it works on, and to what extent."

There is more silence, then, interrupted only by the sounds of the boat's progress. "Let's assume total control," he states at least. "The ability to bind a Lander to your will. Far beyond manipulation. Under what circumstances, if any, would that be justifiable?"

Uta goes silent. Very, very silent.

"I am not sure I would be using that sort of relic myself, no" Uta finally admits. "I would feel very uncomfortable, and while if I am willing to concede that there might be circumstances in which it would be acceptable to use it, I cannot think of any off the top of my head." Uta leans over and glances sideways at Robert. "I am sure you understand that I do have questions at this point."

SpritesHero releases the oars, allowing the boat to drift to a stop. He clasps his hands again, fingers tightening, knuckles whitening under the pressure. "What sort of questions?" he asks, before returning to the previous subject. "So it seems that you are unwilling to, in general, use such a relic on Landers," he summarizes. "Why not?"

"The 'why are you asking this' sort of question, but I understand if you don't want to elaborate."

Uta's gloved fingers tighten on the board she's sitting on at the other question, and once again, she looks away. She scans the surface of water all around, or the land's feature in the distance.

She then turns to look at Robert, straight in the eyes this time, and asks, "If I had a relic able to control Adventurers, would you like it if I used it on you?"

SpritesHero lifts his hand, a single finger extended upwards. "The reason will become apparent," he promises. "But logical progression requires that it be taken one step at a time."

"No, I would not like it if you were to use it on me," he concedes. "Not even if it were for the greater good. Are you implying that you would not use it because I would dislike your doing so? There are many things you might do that I might dislike. Possibly even intensely. Why should my like, or dislike, be the standard?"

"It's an idiom, a set phrase." Uta replies, with a wave of her hand. "I should probably have worded it in a more general way like 'what would you think of me using it on you'."

She gives her ball a few casual squeezes, but nothing really tense; she's more fidgeting with it than actually employing it in a meaningful manner. "The point is, we are talking a way of resolving conflicts always in favor of one party and against the other, regardless of the quality of their relative merits or argumentations. It's not about /what/, it's about /who/. Absolute, total power for one party, nothing but oppression and subjugation for the other. History is full of examples for that." Once again, she looks down, and almost mumbles, "That's a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. Anyone with power needs to be kept in check, some way or other, or..."

"So it should not be done," Robert summarizes, "because the interaction then becomes entirely about power. About subjugation. Because truth is lost, perspective is lost, viewpoints are lost in favor of whomever it is happens to have control." He seems okay with this, judging by the way his palms press firmly one against the other. "What about if the other person--Adventurer, Lander, whichever--poses a threat to my safety in the future? Or even the present? For now I suppose let's limit safety to physical safety. Let's say the threat is a life-threatening one."

"Self defense is fine, yes," Uta concedes. "I would probably use such a relic for the focused purpose of saving my own life, or that of my party members, from a present, clear threat. I doubt we'll find anyone who would argue against that." She sighs. "Now, a threat in the /future/... that's getting a bit iffy. We're, again, starting down a tricky road of possible paranoia bringing us back to the previous situation. It'd have to be an extremely clear and undeniable threat."

SpritesHero winces, then, the expression deep enough to border on an outright grimace. "Yeah. That's about the conclusion I got to as well," he states with a sigh, bringing his hands to his face. He rubs at it for a few moments, as though the pressure is comforting, then draws his fingertips through his hair, setting it on end. It falls back into place. Mostly. But it's clearly still in disarray.

"So then the obvious follow-up is, I suppose, whether any of this assessment changes if we are dealing with monsters. Monsters who are, by definition, a future threat, but not necessarily an undeniable, clear, present threat. What is the moral assessment of using such a device on, let's say, Bondrewd? In order to learn more about our gates?"

"Oh, Monsters are aboslutely fair game for such a relic," Uta replies, suddenly confident. "As a Monster Handler, I can assure you that they are not nice. They are not our friends. They cannot love us or be pets. They pretty much exist follow instincts, and while some may display complex behaviour, I wouldn't consider them at the same level as, say, Landers, or even Animals. Go for using such a relic on Monsters"

A deep sigh, once again, as she steeples her hands, elbows on her knees, and leanind over, looks up. "Now, Bondrewd... he is part Alv, part monster. Well, part monster/s/, technically. But I digress. Again -- Bondrewd has shown that he has powers far superior to ours, and he's not afraid to abuse them against us. If he thinks it's fine to play by those rules, well... he's the one who brought a gun to a knife fight. He shouldn't complain if the other party pulls out a gun of their own."

"There are plenty of Landers, and even Adventurers, who are not nice," Robert counters. "They are not my friends. They cannot love me. I frankly wouldn't want them to love me, but I digress. I thought we established that an adversarial relationship is not sufficient grounds for action?" A pause. "I suppose I should mention that, in my experience, there are Monsters who have a complexity of behavior at least comparable to Landers. In many cases exceeding Landers behavior." He too leans in. "I agree that Bondrewd is problematic. That he's abusive. That he is far from being sympathetic. But again, think of who else that assessment might apply to. It feels..." Robert trails off, inhaling sharply. "It feels too easy to tilt in one direction. I -want- to use such a device on him. It bothers me, Uta, and I wonder if I'm arguing from a standpoint of convenience. From a conclusion that I want to arrive at."

Uta pulls back from her forward-leaning position, to sit straight up. Hands on her knees, she gives a single, restrained nod. "This shows you have morals. It's a good thing," Uta says with a hint of a smile.

More silence.

"Have you ever handled monsters?", Uta asks, point blank. "One of these days, when we're back in Yamato, I should invite you over to the Slime Lab and show you the very basic ropes of the trade. Maybe it'll help in you gaining more perspective."

"I've mishandled monsters, if that counts," Robert teases, taking up rowing once more. This time, he's heading back to shore at a brisk pace. "Nearly been eaten multiple times. So believe me, I'm not looking at this with doe-eyes. But..." There's a grating as the boat grinds into position on the shore, and Robert hops out, offering her a hand. "I've also run into certain vampires. At any rate, it's been wonderful chatting, as always. I'll pop by your lab once we're back, if only to see what you've been up to."