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[mrballisticsdummy]

[Anyone who's met Jacobi for more than fifteen seconds would be forgiven in thinking that this isn't Jacobi. This isn't the same man who packed explosives gleefully while being a sarcastic brat all at the same time. But Jacobi knows this. He knows what this is. So he's cheerful in a way that he had to once be literally programmed into.]

Hey guys! This isn't so bad, right? We're definitely going to be alright, aren't we? I mean! At least we have some food and water and a place to sleep! That's progress and something we can look forward to! We just need to work together and keep our chins up, right?

[Spam]

[It's easy to play the part when he isn't actually with anyone else. But Jacobi is frayed at the edges, and he knows that this won't last. There's even a time when he wishes for the regulator again. The very thing that had taken his freedom from him. And those times are when he paces his room like a caged tiger.

And that room is as much his prison as he makes it. Jacobi doesn't leave his room except when forced to work or forced to sing or forced to be social. He will take visitors, but he won't be pleasant to be around. He knows he can't graduate that way, but it just feels so good to be angry. Especially at first.]

Comments

[why_me]

They do. But outside of this place, I've got more allies.

[ He nods to the question, though. ]

Where I'm from, we're guided by a Necessity, or, the Necessity at this point. And I happen to be one of the lucky people it likes to talk to.

If I'm here, I'm supposed to be here. And when it's the right time, I'll get out of here.

[ He holds up a hand. ]

Believe me, I know it sounds crazy. And if anyone knows how annoying it is, it's me. But that's how it works for me.

[mrballisticsdummy]

Question.

How many times do you tell someone all of that and they just nod at you like 'yeah, that sounds right?'

[why_me]

None. Which is why I usually move on. It is what it is.

[mrballisticsdummy]

Okay but you just dropped a ton of really interesting stuff on my lap! You can't just move on from that.

[why_me]

Oh!

[ There's a pause while he tackles the idea that someone isn't going to just going to think he's insane. But sure, he can explain this more.]

Well, if you want to know more, I can tell you more. It sounds insane, though.

[mrballisticsdummy]

I talked to a cartoon rabbit earlier.

[why_me]

That's just Oswald. He's a pretty decent guy.

[ He spreads one hand as if to say sure, okay, if you really want me to.]

So here's the big piece that you need to understand to make all of it make sense: my world, my family, me? All of it exists purely to fix a hole in the multiverse from when something exploded where it shouldn't have.

[mrballisticsdummy]

Yeah, I liked him. But not the point.

Okay, I'm with you there. I'm not a stranger to multiverse theories.

[why_me]

So what happened when that explosion happened was that the course of all those worlds split in two, leaving two paths for the Universe, or multiverse, to take.

...my world was essentially the Monopoly game they set up to decide who got to be the winner between the two and who would be used to patch up the spot in the cosmos that exploded.

[mrballisticsdummy]

They?

[why_me]

They. The paths. Or... we call them the Necessities. Things that are necessary to happen for the Universe to keep existing. But they disagreed, so they decided to set up an elaborate game, each one playing the way they prefer, to see who came out on top.

[mrballisticsdummy]

I think there's a Bible story about that.

Anyway -

Sentient needs. Got it.

[why_me]

Definitely not. Our god situation is very different.

[ Not that that's not awkward. ]

So they set up the board and they start playing... do you have chess?

[mrballisticsdummy]

Not my game, but yeah. I know it.

[why_me]

So imagine a chess game, on a board the size of a world. And a game that spans thousands of years.

[ He lifts a hand and wobbles it. ]

In that game? I'm... closer to the Queen than the King. But the metaphor stands.

[mrballisticsdummy]

King's important but the Queen does all the work.

[why_me]

[ He nods. ]

Got it. I didn't do all the work, my Aunt Pol and Grandfather and the other Disciples did thousands of years of work. But I'm the one who had to do the... big stuff.

Like kill a god.

[mrballisticsdummy]

Cool.

Did you do it?

[why_me]

[ He nods. And there's something... indescribable in his eyes for a moment. There's something terrible in killing a god. How it happened... that's terrible too. But... it is what it is. And he's very much moved on. ]

At sixteen.

[mrballisticsdummy]

Huh. That's - a lot to do at sixteen. But I guess if your whole family are just - at whims, it probably makes sense, huh?

Honestly, I'm struggling. What do you say here? Sorry you had kill a god when you should have been getting in trouble doing other things?

Cuz that - blows.

[why_me]

[ He shrugs. ]

I used to ask 'why me' a lot. But I did eventually get an answer:

[ He spreads a hand with a wry smile. ]

Any time there's something so ridiculously dangerous that no rational human being would even consider trying it, they send for me.

It's literally what I'm built for.

[mrballisticsdummy]

Huh. Well, we have that in common. Except in a less - cosmic, literal sense.

So is that what you're doing here?

[why_me]

[ There's a look that says 'my sympathies' before he moves on. ]

I'm assuming so.

[ He scratches his ear. ]

I came on here trying to adjust my wife's lifespan to match my own. But then I discovered what this place was like. Someone tried to hurt one of the kids and I lost my temper.

[ He tilts his head. ]

I'm a king. A politician. And a-

[ Dammit, it's so hard to talk to people not from his world sometimes. ]

-someone with a cultural inclination towards knowing how to keep buttoned down. I could get out. But...

It's not the right time, yet.

[mrballisticsdummy]

Hey, I'll trust you with that.

But I need to get out and find my fiancé, wherever the heck he ended up. So I'll try and play the game.

[why_me]

[ That... is when he gets a bit of a crooked smile on his face.

Garion's face is a rather curious thing. Most of the time, he has the ordinary face in the world, utterly unremarkable. He's just another hayseed. But there are two things that can make it something else: when he's angry, which right now? No. And when he smiles. And right now, right now there's something to that smile that's undeniable. ]

Oh, I'm starting to think that time's coming soon. So...

If you need anything? Let me know. I might be able to help you out.