citylogs | [closed]

If the pattern holds, it'll occur in the recently accessible district four. One of the unique buildings will become the location of whatever strange effect they expect us to survive. I expect it will be either the media store or the museum, as so far it's a separate location from whatever opens at the beginning of the month.

[ So two unique locations opened up every month, from what he could surmise. That incredibly bizarre art installation had to be the one that opened at the beginning of this month then. ]

Have people actually died to the effects? If it's anything like that art museum, it doesn't seem all that dangerous.

Not of the effects themselves so far. [So far.] But at the end of last month part of the experiment involved people being controlled into attacking others. I haven't heard of any of the death sticking, but they'll feel the emotional effects from it and I suspect that's the real intention.

[Not them hurting each other, but the consequences of that betrayal of trust and self. He's not pleased about it.

He is, however, pleased by the bite of Murtabak he takes.]

[ So all they were looking for was psychological effects. Though it's not to say he doesn't know how effective psychological attacks are, he can't help but feel underwhelmed by it.

He's seen so much worse, physically and mentally, with Dottore's experiments. These kidnappers were amateurs in comparison. ]

Makes you wonder what they're looking for.

That's what we've been trying to figure out. [Even beyond just the efforts of their little group. It's the persistent, unanswered question.]

I didn't know you were a skilled cook. Does it come up much with Lesser Lord Kusanali?

[ If Nahida were here, she could probably figure it out quickly. But then again, this place isn't connected to Irminsul, so she wouldn't have any prior information. Still, he misses having that all-knowing mind of hers around. But perhaps that's just an indulgence he'd grown used to.

Alhaitham had more information than he and still hadn't figured it out. It was probably a lost cause, for now. ]

Sometimes she requests a dish out of curiosity.

[ And he never denies her. It's not just her curiosity for the dish itself that compels her to ask. He knows she's asking because she thinks it's good for him to indulge in hobbies, though he wouldn't call cooking a hobby. Just something he happened to be good at, really.

He appreciates her efforts, though he detests how it means his debt with her has grown bigger. ]

Curiosity for the dish itself, or what you will do with it? [Asks Alhaitham, who always sees a bit too much. This is the god of wisdom, after all, who took upon a stranger as her closest assistant.]

[ Despite his professed laziness and unwillingness to take responsibility, the man likes to poke his nose into business that shouldn't be relevant to him.

The Wanderer smiles, but it's not a friendly one. ]

You seem pretty keen to understand the relationship Lesser Lord Kusanali and I share. Worried for her?

I doubt Lesser Lord Kusanali needs my concern. But you're interesting.

[A mysterious, seemingly nameless man that out of nowhere began working right under the dendro archon's thumb? Of course there's something there.]

And who else would it be for?

[ The Wanderer is a topic oft on the tongues of Sumerans. A strange man who suddenly enrolled into Vahumana with incredible insight into the politics and history of Inazuma, and if rumours were to be believed—working directly for the Dendro Archon herself. If there was anything the scholars of the Akademiya loved more than knowledge, it was a good puzzle. And what was the Wanderer, if not an incredible puzzle presented to them?

It seemed Alhaitham is no different in that regard. Perhaps he was wrong to expect otherwise. He'd been of the impression that the Scribe rarely cared for other people.

Well, then. They could make a game of this. ]

Did you know she hates seafood?

I didn't. We've never had a reason to talk about food preferences, or else I might've known about your cooking hobby sooner. [A man who doesn't do small talk, of course he's more interested in the conceptual explanations than "what's your favorite color".] But it takes sense that a god has preferences the same as anyone else.

Edited 2023-11-19 05:33 (UTC)

Does it now? Most mortals don't even stop to consider that gods have individual traits, much like anyone else. But I suppose it's different for you, since you interacted with her multiple times.

[ He suspects, given Alhaitham's personality, all he talked to her about was work when he was the Acting Grand Sage. A reliable subordinate—but not someone Nahida could indulge her curiosity with. ]

[Unfortunately, he was very preoccupied with getting out of being Acting Grand Sage. Nevermind his lack of childish whimsy.]

And why do you think it is that most people don't?

Why would they? Most of them have never interacted with one, and never will. To them, a god is just a greater being who protects them and ensures the nation prospers. They exist, sure, but not in their life. And because they're not human, which they would understand, being one themselves, they just don't stop to think how similar gods are to them.

[ It's less of a god thing, and more that gods aren't really relevant to the average person's life past the protection and blessings they grant their nations. Perhaps the only exception was Fontaine's Archon, who showed her face to the people everyday, and was quite vocal about what she did and didn't like.]

[Why would they, indeed. The assessment isn't wrong--it's less that people have any particular view on how gods should be, so much as gods don't affect their day to day lives and so they simply don't think about them compared to other things. More immediately things.]

Was this a perspective you held before? [Before the circumstance that brought him into the court of gods. It may not have started with Nahida.]

[ So this was the angle Alhaitham was going for. Well, he'll be truthful, so long as he's asked. ]

Humans have never changed in this regard, nor have the gods. It's always been this way—the relationship between humans and gods.

[ He never did like to answer questions in a straightforward manner though. ]

[A brief quirk of his lips.] Which says nothing about you in particular, unless your assertion is that you're no different from anyone else. I find that hard to believe.

[ Alhaitham continues to be infuriatingly perceptive—a trait that he both likes and dislikes. He is quick to catch onto what the drifter attempts to obscure with his words—that his statements about humans and gods don't ring true for him. Because he is neither human nor god, and will never be either. ]

Has anyone ever told you you're far too perceptive for your own good? It's going to get you in trouble one day.

[ As if overthrowing an entire government wasn't already trouble for the man.

But this question—to ask him what he thought of gods before meeting Nahida—it's tantamount to asking him how he felt about his creator. Someone he no longer cares for, and no longer wants to think about—though the sting of abandonment will never fade away entirely. ]

Gods have never been so distant to me as they have been for humans.

[ That is what he will admit. ]

[It was, after all, the thing about him that made Azar mark him as a threat. It's what got him tangled up in a plot to overthrow their government. Het Guy, however, is not a guy who is a threat with that realization.]

I see. [But he can see this is the extent of what he'll be allowed to learn this time. Hat Guy is cagey, and it's surely for good reason.

Well, there's food to enjoy anyway.]

[ And he'll let Alhaitham enjoy the food in silence if he has no further questions to ask. Though he'd be willing to divulge much more so long as the topic doesn't stray into his past too deeply, he's not about to encourage the Scribe to ask more questions.

Anyway, Alhaitham might note that the Wanderer has not touched a single bit of food this entire time. ]

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