<Snipped quote by Nimda>

<Snipped quote by Galvanize>

I thought it over. After meeting the guy and only receiving bad treatment from some of our own, I ended up deciding that either the info everyone had been taught for so long was either outdated, plain wrong, or worst case scenario, just not entirely true. I started arguing with people all the time about it, from my peers and students, to eventually my parents and teachers. For several years, I got into a lot of trouble for defending what I had believed in, but the scholar had never truly left. He kept coming back, offering us bits of forgotten history about the Elements and the things tied to them, which eventually changed the opinion of him from outright hate and resentment to reluctant toleration. At least with the government.

That’s good. It didn’t get worse.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

That’s good. It didn’t get worse.

Not immediately. The improvement of opinion only was really a thing with the government. People hated that he seemed just free to come and go and felt he had no right to do so. It boiled over eventually, when a bunch planned to mob him the next time he visited. Instead of just passive-aggressive remarks but letting him be, they actively tried to obstruct him from doing anything or going anywhere after he arrived. I heard about it down the pipeline, and I rushed over to help in any way I could, trying to stand by him and argue back with the people harassing him.

<Snipped quote by Spiritblitz>

I can stop the glitches as soon as we get in. It might be unstable once that happens though, which is where your help will be invaluable.

Got it, just to clarify. You want me to repair the terminal and bypass the security?

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

Not immediately. The improvement of opinion only was really a thing with the government. People hated that he seemed just free to come and go and felt he had no right to do so. It boiled over eventually, when a bunch planned to mob him the next time he visited. Instead of just passive-aggressive remarks but letting him be, they actively tried to obstruct him from doing anything or going anywhere after he arrived. I heard about it down the pipeline, and I rushed over to help in any way I could, trying to stand by him and argue back with the people harassing him.

*listens in awe*
What happened after that?

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*listens in awe*
What happened after that?

Tensions hit their peak. Someone finally had enough, and against all odds, raised their arm to strike me. Quick witted as he was, the scholar stopped that man. First time in all his interaction with us that wasn’t purely an attempt to be friendly. He grabbed his wrist, stopping him from bringing it down on me, and tried to bring to his attention that he was about to hit a kid. They all got upset that he had laid a hand on one of our own, though. Immediately called for the government to take some form of action. They swarmed both of us, pinned us down, and in a strange form of angry mob citizen’s arrest, dragged us both to officials to have him tried for assault and me for fostering criminal activity.

<Snipped quote by Galvanize>

Tensions hit their peak. Someone finally had enough, and against all odds, raised their arm to strike me. Quick witted as he was, the scholar stopped that man. First time in all his interaction with us that wasn’t purely an attempt to be friendly. He grabbed his wrist, stopping him from bringing it down on me, and tried to bring to his attention that he was about to hit a kid. They all got upset that he had laid a hand on one of our own, though. Immediately called for the government to take some form of action. They swarmed both of us, pinned us down, and in a strange form of angry mob citizen’s arrest, dragged us both to officials to have him tried for assault and me for fostering criminal activity.

I’m assuming that it didn’t go your way for the both of you…?

<Snipped quote by System>

Got it, just to clarify. You want me to repair the terminal and bypass the security?

We need to bypass the security before repairing any corruption.

<Snipped quote by Galvanize>

Tensions hit their peak. Someone finally had enough, and against all odds, raised their arm to strike me. Quick witted as he was, the scholar stopped that man. First time in all his interaction with us that wasn’t purely an attempt to be friendly. He grabbed his wrist, stopping him from bringing it down on me, and tried to bring to his attention that he was about to hit a kid. They all got upset that he had laid a hand on one of our own, though. Immediately called for the government to take some form of action. They swarmed both of us, pinned us down, and in a strange form of angry mob citizen’s arrest, dragged us both to officials to have him tried for assault and me for fostering criminal activity.

Assault? For grabbing someone's arm?

<Snipped quote by Spiritblitz>

We need to bypass the security before repairing any corruption.

Copy that, infection first.

<Snipped quote by System>

Copy that, infection first.

*The screen becomes full of garbled text and errors, flashing red*

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

I’m assuming that it didn’t go your way for the both of you…?

Sort of?

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

Assault? For grabbing someone's arm?

The whole thing is ridiculous, so that bit just doesn't surprise me. Needless to say, though, they took us both to "court". The officials there were outraged that they had laid hands on the guy, as they never wanted to give more outsiders a reason to come. For this same reason, they refused to prosecute him. Moreover, I hadn't technically done anything wrong myself. Push comes to shove, the scholar finally offered a form of acceptable compromise. If I were willing, he would take me to the outside world. Show me what it was like, maybe to finally offer everyone there some peace of mind that it isn't as bad as years of isolation due to fears from history led us to believe. He would not come back again until he was truly welcome, but I would come with him, and have the ability to come and go as I please. I could learn about the elements under him, and act as the middle man for bringing that information back to our people. Long story short, I got this sweet gig where I get to come and go whenever I want or need, share bits of my teachings, and I get to learn under a teacher that is both more skillful and knowledgeable in our own craft than any of us had been for eons. That's where I am all the way through today.

<Snipped quote by Stabby>

The general here. I haven’t been here in a while so I don’t know for certain.

*nods* Thanks for the clarification.

<Snipped quote by Nemeses>

*nods* Thanks for the clarification.

Of course. What brought you around, anyway?

<Snipped quote by Stabby>

Of course. What brought you around, anyway?

On one part, curiosity about the Amaranthine.
On another, just a lack of resources. My counterpart wasn't exactly inclined to letting me have much.

<Snipped quote by Galvanize>

Sort of?

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

The whole thing is ridiculous, so that bit just doesn't surprise me. Needless to say, though, they took us both to "court". The officials there were outraged that they had laid hands on the guy, as they never wanted to give more outsiders a reason to come. For this same reason, they refused to prosecute him. Moreover, I hadn't technically done anything wrong myself. Push comes to shove, the scholar finally offered a form of acceptable compromise. If I were willing, he would take me to the outside world. Show me what it was like, maybe to finally offer everyone there some peace of mind that it isn't as bad as years of isolation due to fears from history led us to believe. He would not come back again until he was truly welcome, but I would come with him, and have the ability to come and go as I please. I could learn about the elements under him, and act as the middle man for bringing that information back to our people. Long story short, I got this sweet gig where I get to come and go whenever I want or need, share bits of my teachings, and I get to learn under a teacher that is both more skillful and knowledgeable in our own craft than any of us had been for eons. That's where I am all the way through today.

That's really, really cool. How many years have you been doing that?

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

That's really, really cool. How many years have you been doing that?

Threeish, now? Not terribly long. I'm still very young and haven't seen a lot, but between Rythian's teachings and my time in the IA as a whole, I have experienced a lot in short time. At least, I like to think so.

<Snipped quote by Nemeses>

On one part, curiosity about the Amaranthine.
On another, just a lack of resources. My counterpart wasn't exactly inclined to letting me have much.

*Frowns*
That last part is very said. Hostility when it was not initially warranted says a lot about them.

<Snipped quote by Stabby>

*Frowns*
That last part is very said. Hostility when it was not initially warranted says a lot about them.

It would be easy to just call it hostility, but that wasn't really it.
From what I saw, it was a caution and fear for the loss of other things that motivated her actions.

<Snipped quote by Nemeses>

It would be easy to just call it hostility, but that wasn't really it.
From what I saw, it was a caution and fear for the loss of other things that motivated her actions.

I fail to see that as a valid reason to turn someone away. But I’m just a machine, it’s hard for me to judge when I don’t know the full situation.