He's not going to have a bad night, soon. It was a perfectly delicious, if not overtly sweet coffee drink, thanks very much.
He throws in another piece of wood, a smaller twig snapped in the middle this time, into the fire. Staring at it, the paper with details just sitting there while he thinks on his feet. Roland knows that getting thrown in jail isn't even the worst of it. In fact, that might be a relatively good scenario depending on how things play out, if it means they're one step closer to actually communicating with an actual being versus receiving briefings through holograms every time. Or being asked if they want Art or Music. No, the true worst case scenario is that the train's passengers are compromised beyond saving; if they are made to be the villains because of association to the rebels they assume are kidnapping "heroes" from other universes at every platform.
And Roland knows they've been through this - the void ministry isn't sure, they have doubts and their instructions are deliberately vague on how to proceed.
When in doubt, when there is too many variables that he has no idea what to make of, revert to the facts. Go back to the basics, what do you know versus what's left to discover? Roland grabs another twig, long and thin and damp as it is, but uses it to draw on the soft soil next to his seat. Shapes, lines, circles. Nothing too particular. The only thing he knows is certain and true right now, is...
"We won't be able to. I think the worst case scenario we have to assume is if people get hurt. We can't let anyone get hurt." He draws X marks on the ground, clicking his tongue against his teeth. "And the only way to prepare for that is to prevent it from ever happening in the first place." The way Roland leads up to this is as if he had just realized the answer himself. He glances up at Tidus, hoodie wrapped around him, though the fire continues to crackle steady and sure.
"We have to play the part, Tidus." He hushes now, whispers though his expression is neutral and relaxed, brows still and unmoving. A hand slowly covers his SCA, as if paranoid, as if it would do anything at all, but still...
"The void ministry has doubts about if we're actually associating with criminal activity or not, right? So we have to ham it up. If we get caught up by the ministry, we act the part of the victim. Commit to it. That's our contingency. Even with the things we leave behind for them to 'find', it needs to sound like we're strays asking to be saved. That we're being kept complacent and forced to risk our lives for other worlds. Right?"
no subject
He throws in another piece of wood, a smaller twig snapped in the middle this time, into the fire. Staring at it, the paper with details just sitting there while he thinks on his feet. Roland knows that getting thrown in jail isn't even the worst of it. In fact, that might be a relatively good scenario depending on how things play out, if it means they're one step closer to actually communicating with an actual being versus receiving briefings through holograms every time. Or being asked if they want Art or Music. No, the true worst case scenario is that the train's passengers are compromised beyond saving; if they are made to be the villains because of association to the rebels they assume are kidnapping "heroes" from other universes at every platform.
And Roland knows they've been through this - the void ministry isn't sure, they have doubts and their instructions are deliberately vague on how to proceed.
When in doubt, when there is too many variables that he has no idea what to make of, revert to the facts. Go back to the basics, what do you know versus what's left to discover? Roland grabs another twig, long and thin and damp as it is, but uses it to draw on the soft soil next to his seat. Shapes, lines, circles. Nothing too particular. The only thing he knows is certain and true right now, is...
"We won't be able to. I think the worst case scenario we have to assume is if people get hurt. We can't let anyone get hurt." He draws X marks on the ground, clicking his tongue against his teeth. "And the only way to prepare for that is to prevent it from ever happening in the first place." The way Roland leads up to this is as if he had just realized the answer himself. He glances up at Tidus, hoodie wrapped around him, though the fire continues to crackle steady and sure.
"We have to play the part, Tidus." He hushes now, whispers though his expression is neutral and relaxed, brows still and unmoving. A hand slowly covers his SCA, as if paranoid, as if it would do anything at all, but still...
"The void ministry has doubts about if we're actually associating with criminal activity or not, right? So we have to ham it up. If we get caught up by the ministry, we act the part of the victim. Commit to it. That's our contingency. Even with the things we leave behind for them to 'find', it needs to sound like we're strays asking to be saved. That we're being kept complacent and forced to risk our lives for other worlds. Right?"