citynet | @DONQUIXOT3, video

[ yes it has been some days. yes this is not the first time she's spoken to the network at large. this time, however, she is showing her face and standing quite proudly this morning in front of a parking lot. cars, empty of gas but otherwise whole, scatter the background. ]

Good morn, dear fellows! I have come to thee today to ask a favor, to grant thee an honor, and help this young knight with a missive most important to all!

[ a beat. she swings into frame an umbrella, popping open the apple printed "lance" with a laugh before closing it as she continues, easy-going like she isn't going to be talking about what she is.

unbeknownst to most, don quixote needs this. ]

Thou may have seen some days ago an anonymous message regarding murder. Well! I am here now, asking thee to assist me with something like it -- nay, the exact same! I would like to see for myself, and as proof of the effects for others, what happens when one dies.

I shall not fight thee, unless thou shall wish for it for I am most happy to oblige, and I shall take only one volunteer. Whomever has the daring, the will, and the capacity to kill, I ask that thee throw thy hand up and seek to claim my life! My dear friends need not apply, for I shall reject thee post-haste!

[ she is NOT letting a fellow sinner do it. not her coworkers. she's been fussed at and she's going to be fussed at again. she might let one of the other city-dwellers do it, given they're both fixers (or formerly) but not her coworkers, war vet be damned.

gregor couldn't do it the other time, after all. ]

However, allow me to lay bare the possibilities of what may happen to thee should thou take it upon thyself to do so.

There is a chance thou may forget that which is most precious to thee, that thou will forget the moment of my death itself, and face... certain difficulties in speaking about it. [ she doesn't know if kromer mentioned that, but it's something regardless. ] I may suffer the same. The goal of this is to learn if it is the victim who forgets, if it is the murderer who doth, or if both have it struck from their mind; the secondary goal, a more personal one, is to learn if both may suffer from the others I have mentioned.

... I understand it is difficult to think of killing another, but I can assure thee, such a thing comes up frequently in my work. We are ever prepared to do so, and to die just as well!

[ helps they don't stay dead but she's not. gonna. say that. it might be odd to wonder what effects who in this case, but. well. a lady keeps her secrets. ]

Any who wish to act as witness may attend as well, for we will have need of thee. I thank thee heartily for thy time and thy consideration on the matter.

[ a small bow, hand to her chest and umbrella tucked behind her, and that's that. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You're really curious enough about the answer to specifically die for it? That's a lot of personal risk for something we don't have much explanation for. [Interesting? Irrational? Both? Alhaitham can't say this "coming back to life" oddity hasn't caught his attention, but not enough that he's going to put his neck on the line for curiosity's sake.

It's her life, though, he's not going to make any arguments for her to take care of it.]

You'll need a detailed recording of the state of you and your killer before and after your death, including whatever precious memories could be forgotten.

[ at least someone has some sense. ]

Oho, thou'rt most correct! I had not thought of that -- I am much too preoccupied with the aftermath, rather than what must be recorded prior.

[ ... yeah hold on the phone's coming closer so she can make notes on it. and then she'll set it back on the car hood she had it on in the first place. ]

My line of work comes with an abundance of personal risk, and while we do not seek death we do expect it! This is nothing unusual where I am from, but I understand that it is not the case for most.

Is that so. [Well, she seems perfectly enthusiastic about it and it's not endangering anyone who doesn't want to be endangered. He's not really excited to watch a murder, but...]

I'm willing to lend assistance as a witness and a recorder, since I'd like to know more about this impermanent death myself. I'm Alhaitham.

[He has credentials but she doesn't seem like she's looking for them.]

A pleasure, Ser Alhaitham! I am Don Quixote. As for thy request, the impermanence occurs the day after, or so I understand, but I cannot deny I am curious as to what may happen to my body -- the witness is to say definitively that I have died at the hands of that particular person, and to see if there is any change in them afterward.

[ so it... will be useful... there's a doctor who's gonna be there, and whomever wufei wants to bring, though she'll have to mention the few to him as well... ]

I do not wish to have too much of a crowd, but if thee still wish to spectate, I cannot stop thee! I only ask that thee are prepared to witness death, for even the cleanest is not for faint hearts.

I'm not really interested in watching someone die. If you have everything you need, then I'll get the results from someone involved once everything is over. Just make sure you get it all recorded in detail.

[Not that he's in the position to make requests, but he considers that advice for making a worthwhile experiement.]

Roger! That will be no trouble at all, for a doctor is going to be present alongside several others who will bear witness! I shall contact thee once I am alive again as well!

[ and she'll just let wufei and the others know to report immediate findings to alhaitham too ]

All right. [He nods, at least he is in fact aware he has this on the camera...] I'll wait for your response should you resurrect in one piece. You can reach me though this network.

You seem prudent.

Be assured: I am leaving handwritten and digital records in a safe place before the event, in the case that the testimony of my witnesses is not enough to convince me. This communique also serves as a public record of our agreement. I am willing to make several copies, and offer them for public dissemination, if any are interested.

Information is power, and if we are truly powerless to escape here, even by death, we must preserve what little else we have.

Hm. Well said. [Alhaitham certainly approves of this whole position. Good to know someone involved is thorough.] We certainly have plenty of paper available for as many copies as needed. At least for an archived copy in addition to the original, stored in a separate place.

I'll look forward to the results.

You will be properly informed. But for that I will need your name, and a preferred location for a dead-drop. I will not presume to ask your place of residence.

Alhaitham. I'm willing to come and collect it if that makes things easier. Otherwise, I have no reason to hide my apartment. [If it becomes an issue he can move! There are no limits in possible fake city.]

Just let me know when it's ready over this device and I'll give you directions.

[ from the next room - pacing. kaveh has always expended his energy through sound and movement. the padding of footsteps wend and weave in eclectic patterns until kaveh emerges. one hand picks at a wayward clip as the other steadies his freefall onto alhaitham's bed.

kaveh stares up at the ceiling, and groans. ]

Alhaitham. She is going to get herself killed.

[Alhaitham's gaze flickers to Kaveh from where he's seated at the head of the bed, leaning at a diagonal into the headboard.]

Your observations are as astute as ever. [She did in fact say that she was going to get herself killed. Explicitly.]

You won't convince her otherwise, you know.

I know. [ if it's possible for a sidelong glance to be flatter, it would have slipped itself between two atoms and gotten itself stuck there. kaveh looks with the intensity of a man very much wishing he could look through alhaitham and the wall and whatever that's beyond to come up with some kind of cosmic answer. but his gaze stops there, along where it meets alhaitham's, and it lingers. ]

That's why I said she's going to get herself killed, not that she might, or that she will, or that there's a possibility. She has that look in her eyes, you see. It's that look that says 'everything be damned, I am doing this for everything'. Every argument I had died seeing it. I might as well try to chase a falling star back into the sky.

Oh, but you probably find this all just fine, so long as you don't have to be the one to die for it.

[Alhaitham shrugs, conscious clear. He wasn't actively encouraging it, and if she wants to die for knowledge then that attitude is only what he's seen countless times in the Akademiya.] As you said, she's shown clear determination to see this through. Given there's no dissuading her, we might as well accept the results of her experiement and use it to better understand our predicament. To refuse to do so would make the entire effort pointless, wouldn't it?

[ moving us to here! ]

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