godsays | 5th Metal / open video

Entry tags:

5th Metal / open video

[ The video turns on Zane, who is somewhat disheveled, but, to the discerning eye, different than usual. Something too intent and high-strung has been muted, and there is a dangerous hint in his eyes. ]

Cassel is... hurt.

Someone needs to collect him.

Level 4, Cabin 12.

[ And video off. ]

[ ACTION SPAM (edited to add) ]

[ And now Zane is in zero.

He sits alone, arms crossed over his chest, his face hard and blank.

Come and visit! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I already did that, for a while, sort of. [Well, Cass lived at her house and they didn't tell anyone about it.] We just...made it official.

Or, well, as much as we could here. I got the papers and we signed them.

I don't think that happens in my world.

[ Not officially, anyway. ]

[Barbara nods, frowning slightly.]

What happens if a child loses their parents? [She tries to ask casually, but it's clear there's an investment there.]

Probably a fight over inheritance.

[ It occurs to him, belatedly, that skaa might also count, in this question. ] Or, if they're skaa... [ He doesn't have an answer.

He shrugs. A shrug that means very many things, like nothing happens or they fend for themselves or who cares, they're just skaa. ]

[Her brow furrows, lips pursing.]

Skaa are - what? Lower class?

Yes... no. They're slaves.

Most nobles think of them more like animals than humans.

And you?

[ Cautiously: ] The Lord Ruler made them to be ruled.

[ He doesn't underestimate his opponents. That's how he's learned to treat the skaa differently. ]

[Again, her eyebrows arch, but it's en entirely different sort of expression.]

Sounds like justification to me.

He made them different. To be stronger and have more children, and the nobles to be smarter and have fewer children. Skaa can't breed to Allomancy unless they have nobility in the last two generations. That wasn't how it was before the Lord Ruler.

[ ...according to legend, anyhow. ]

Assuming that's true, does that mean they deserve the life they have?

[ And, of all the possible questions, he sure wasn't expecting that. ]

I'm not sure I've ever met someone who's gotten what they deserve.

Then your world needs changing.

Someone changed it.

It made it worse.

That's the risk you take. [She leans forward, hands clasping together.] But is it better, to watch and do nothing?

Accuse me of what you want, but I didn't do nothing. The siege of Luthadel was made up of my tactics.

[Her voice softens.]

I'm not accusing you, Zane.

You'd be the only one.

Except for Cassel.

[ He says this last with a scoff. Who'd thought that Cassel would be the one to show Zane respect? The first time they met, he had talked about Zane being afraid of showers.

Zane's eyes fall to the cup of tea, and he finally takes a cautious sip. ]

[The sip makes her smile, just slightly.]

People get angry, when people get hurt. They don't always look past the results to see the context.

How's the tea?

Not... as bitter as usual.

[ The tea is light, actually, especially compared to what he's used to, a taste that spreads slowly and sits pleasantly. ]

What do you call it?

[Her smile widens.] Assam. It's named after the region it comes from, in a country called India.

[ Countries. He supposes there were places beyond the Final Empire - weren't there? Disorganized places, tribes, perhaps. The blurry distant borders.

(He continues to examine himself for any mood-altering or perception-altering qualities, brought about by the tea.) ]

I didn't do nothing. [ Returning to their topic from a moment ago. ] I would have run the army better than my father did, if I wasn't insane.

Did you do anything for the Skaa?

I barely noticed the skaa.

[ Until they became useful. ]

You accepted the way things were.

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