[Anonymous Voice/Written]

[voidseeing]

[The events of a week and a half ago still hang heavy over Gai's mind, something that's unusual for him. He's had his body altered without his consent, even his mind during a few experiments before, but to have his memory messed with... it's far more disconcerting than even he wants to admit. Add in everything else that happened, and you've got one broody former terrorist leader who can't even take out his unhappiness in the Battle Dome due to that damn virus.

So he opts to express himself in another way that's familiar to him, one that doesn't require any physical exertion. Something tells him that he's not the only one feeling this way right now...

When the journal entry begins, the camera is covered, obscuring its owner. All there is is a song playing over the journals, letting the music and the lyrics speak for themselves.

But that isn't all. Once it finishes playing, a written message will appear in a neat and practiced hand.]

There is a universal constant among this world and every other. The world will always force a choice on those within it: either to sit quietly by and be selected out, or to adapt and change. Those are the only two paths that can be chosen.

Our opponents made a fatal mistake when they expected us to choose the former. They underestimated our desire to survive, and that proved to be their undoing. We rose to the challenge, and we survived. And we will keep on surviving, no matter what they may try to send at us. We won't roll over and play dead the way they expect us to.

Well done, Luceti. You should be proud.

Comments

[Audio]

[tearmeanewone]

[Well, she knows exactly who this was posted by, but obviously Gai has his reasons for staying anonymous. So Elizabeth isn't going to blow his cover--but.]

It's a sad song for a hopeful message...

[Written]

[voidseeing]

[Ah. Elizabeth. He knew she would respond to this-- he'd played that very same song for her the first time they'd met, after all. At least it had been under somewhat happier circumstances then.]

Such is the nature of life itself. Happiness can't exist without sorrow to balance it out.

[Audio]

[tearmeanewone]

I think some people experience too much sorrow. To the point where it seems their lives will never balance out.

But I'm only speculating.

[Written]

[voidseeing]

And what do you think becomes of those people in the end after all of that sorrow?

[What becomes of the people like him?]

Anon Written

[hero_of_smiles]

[Honestly, what was the point of survival in a place that didn't even let you die?

Seemed stupid to be honest. To put something like this up and congratulate everyone on a goal that isn't that hard to achieve. He kind of just wants to laugh at it. Be bitter for once because- Luceti almost gave him something happy. Only to find out that it was just some plot to make them all little slaves for another party. So, instead of just cheerfully asking, putting on that falsified air of cheerfulness, he'll just write-anonymously.]

Seems kind of pointless to say you're all proud of everyone when surviving here is easy. Getting yourself killed is the hard part.

Anon Written

[voidseeing]

On the contrary: dying is easy. Too easy here. There's no reason to fear death when it isn't permanent, so people become careless.

Anon Written

[hero_of_smiles]

Doubt anyone wants to go and get shot. Pretty sure death can be painful, even if it's not permanent.

audio;

[aerialassault]

[Cliff read the text over once, then twice, to make sure that it was saying exactly what he thought it was saying. The message was...familiar.

It's something that he tried to live by throughout his adult life, and tried to show other people how to do the same by example. Words could only take a person so far...

Oppression wasn't pretty, no matter what world you're in.]

That's a nice message there. It makes a person think about themselves a little bit more, and how they fit in with the bigger picture.

[Written]

[voidseeing]

That's exactly the problem. Most people don't think about the big picture. They're too concerned with their everyday lives to realize there's a lot more going on in the world outside of them.

[audio]

[aerialassault]

You're speaking to the crowd on this one.

Even if they do get it, the problem is getting them to actually do something about it...or, yanno, at least talk about it.

[Text] Anonymous

[uccellodifuoco]

Except that we are still locked here. We're still guinea pigs. We're still subject to the same shit pulled out by the same dog with a different collar. And now we know that the barrier that keeps us locked here and supposedly safe means shit to really keep us safe.

Pride should come when we are actually out of this cage and surviving isn't something spoon feed on most of the people here. All we have accomplished is to jump back from the fire to the frying pan.

[Text] Anonymous

[voidseeing]

The only way to escape this cage is to take things one step at a time. There's no point in saving all of our pride for something that might take months or even years to accomplish. Humans depend on encouragement to keep going. Deny them that, and they'll be less motivated to move forward.

[Text] Anonymous

[uccellodifuoco]

You mean that getting out of here so they stop being used as guinea pigs and have a real chance to return to their families and worlds isn't enough to keep them motivated? Rhetoric question, I've been here and seen those idiots long enough to know the answer.

Do you really think that most of them still care about escaping? Assuming they ever cared about it. They are motivated to move forward, but their forward isn't the same a person with common sense would choose.

[written]

[dangerouswind]

If they expected us to just roll over and play dead, they wouldn't have put so much work into making that as real as it was.

[written]

[voidseeing]

The more convincing it was, the easier it would be for us to accept it as reality. Making the illusion took work, but it made the persuading that much easier.

[written]

[dangerouswind]

I'm just not sure we should be commended so easily for winning a battle. They expect a fight from us and we won it. I don't know that it's as much of an accomplishment as you're making it out to be.

[written] /have a dad

[amonglions]

Things will stay the same eventually.

There is no way these people can keep withstanding this Third Party.

[Next time the Shift might not end... he's wondering if that would be such a bad thing.]

[written] HI DAD please don't mind Elizabeth being out of the apartment for a while... 8D

[voidseeing]

It's true, there are plenty of people here who are content to just sit back and let the world pass them by. But there are just as many who have no intention of being selected out. As long as they exist, the Third Party has its work cut out for it.

[written] NOT IN A MILLIO - okay

[amonglions]

There is a different between an army and people who are stubborn.

[written]

[frost_jewel]

Why should we be proud? All we did was react to the actions of forces outside of our control, as we always do.

[written]

[voidseeing]

And we could have reacted to those actions in a way that led to Luceti's demise. Not all of the invaded enclosures were as lucky as ours. If we hadn't fought, we could have been the ones who ended up being selected out.

[written]

[frost_jewel]

What do you mean, all of the invaded enclosures?

[written]

[selphie_t]

[The song itself is beautiful but reeks of melancholy, leaving Selphie wondering just what she could say to this anonymous post. It speaks of being proud but surviving this latest attack from the Third Party she barely remembers only leaves a dark, bitter taste in her mouth.]

A bittersweet sounding song for a bittersweet victory. Should we really be proud when others are suffering?

[written]

[voidseeing]

There are always people suffering somewhere. If you spent all of your time worrying about them, you'd never be able to accomplish anything.

[written]

[selphie_t]

That doesn't mean that you can't accomplish something while easing someone's suffering.