audio | @Kromer

[gripper]

( It's everyone's favorite person, Kromer!!! She whistles to announce herself, then more properly introduces herself— )

Been a while, hasn't it? For those who don't know me, the name's Kromer. Pleasure's mine. I posed some questions last time I posted here, but I won't bother repeating them for you—I got the picture the first time. ( She pauses, then laughs shortly. ) Actually, speaking of questions—

I'm sure you've seen them! The kiosks over at the tourist center in city hall. You can ask them questions and you can get mostly useless answers. They've got some interesting ones every so often, though, like how this isn't the first time this has happened.

( She's been thinking on that answer for a while, and now she's just casually dropping it into conversation. Whatever. )

I'm collecting questions and their resulting answers, so if you've posed any, let me know... or you can pass them along to Junpei instead, if you're familiar with him. We're partners. ( in a way. ) It's nice to be able to make sure we're not needlessly going in circles, right? And putting all the information in one place makes it easier to put the pieces together.

( ... )

That's all. Let's do our best to work together and find a way home, alright? Chin up, everyone.

Comments

[gripper]

By any means necessary.

( it's a broad answer, but it's hers. )

As long as the results are satisfactory, it doesn't matter how we get there. That's how the City I was raised in works, and hey! It's been swell so far.

[indwelt]

[ hmmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMM that's kinda sus. but also: how obvious is that capitalization there, ma'am. ]

What kind of city was it you were raised in?

[gripper]

( as obvious as when someone says The Capitol Building. )

The part I was personally raised in was a little boring--a sleepy little industry town in the forest. Nothing ever happened there, to the point where getting a limb or body replacement was considered a big deal among my classmates. ( there's some disdain there she can't quite keep out of her voice, but not as much as there could be. ) It specialized in that type of business, so I guess that kind of talk's to be expected, but I was glad to move out and into another District once I graduated.

[indwelt]

[ hmm. hmmmmm. hold on one second. ]

Body replacement? [ as in the whole-ass body? ] Is that common where you come from? In general, not the specific part you were raised in.

[gripper]

It's not uncommon. Even people in the slums'll get it done so they can work longer hours to make ends meet.

( so sad, but there's no pity in kromer's voice. these are just facts. )

Not in District 14, mind, but other Districts. N Corp has a strict... let's say "discouragement" of certain technologies.

( yeah. let's call it that. )

[indwelt]

[ The more he hears, the more shady this whole thing becomes. What kind of world does this person live in?? ]

Is there no support that can be provided instead of them having to resort to such extreme measures?

[ It's a pointless question to ask and he knows it, but he's always trended towards the hopeful and naive. ]

[gripper]

( Hypercapitalism, baby! )

Let's call it... "difficult". Most people who wind up down there never get out—they aren't educated enough, don't strike it rich, so on. Most'll find work either under crime rings or in Fixer offices—they're a little like mercenaries for hire—and if they're lucky, or they make a deal with the right people, they might get a chance to move to a Nest... That's where life's nicer. I'm from one. You get a good education, good upbringing, so on.

( ...It's just classism. )

I'm sure there's some people helping out there, but that's not part of my job—I'm in security, you might call it. I don't see what all goes on out there in the Backstreets. Whatever I hear's just secondhand from fellow Nagel und Hammer members.

[indwelt]

[ Down with capitalism and classism, thanks. But —hang on, there's a word in the midst of all that explanation that rings a bell, not because of the word itself but because of the way it's used in this case. ]

Fixer? Do you know Roland then?

[ How many mercenaries-for-hire called Fixers can there really be out there in the universe? ]

[gripper]

Sure do, though we only became acquaintances here. He's not in my area back in our City.

( like, severely not in her area... )

Decent guy. ( by city standards, which doesn't say much. ) He's still making the rounds in this city, huh? Good for him. It's important to make connections in an unfamiliar place... You never know who's gonna be useful in the future.

[indwelt]

[ He has so many questions (still). ]

Is that how you view most people? As useful connections above all else?

[gripper]

( welcome to the city....(projmoon version) )

I won't lie and say no, but that's the way of things where I grew up, you could say... though it's not like I'm completely unsympathetic or without people I consider important either. It's just more that everyone's got something to offer, right? You never know who's gonna have a skill or bit of knowledge that might just prove crucial to one problem or another...

( ... )

Are you saying you don't feel the same way? Hahaha.

[indwelt]

There's value in understanding what skills a person can bring to the table, and in being able to use those skills when the time calls for it.

[ He's not so naive as to think everyone in the world, himself included, waltzes through life without at least subconsciously taking note of such things. ]

I just think that it's impossible to form meaningful relationship if that's all the other person is ever viewed as, a tool or a means to an end. But I realize that most people think that a foolish way of seeing things.

[gripper]

You've got more comrades in that camp than you think, I'd bet, but you're right. Most of the city I'm from thinks of it that way.

( and, as someone raised in that environment, she, too... )

Hahaha... but that doesn't mean it's completely impossible. If you're both getting something out of it, both using one another, both thinking of each other as a "means to an end", whatever that "end" is... you really don't think they couldn't form a meaningful relationship like that? Time spent together is time spent together, whatever the intentions are.