7. Public + messages to David & Iris

[exnihilo]

[Private to David 8]

I wasn't any different there. That I could tell.



[Public, voice]

How many people have you been? How many people have you pretended to be?

[She's not sure where exactly the distinction is between these things.]

You may estimate.



[Private to Iris]

I'd like to be allowed in the labs. I've been researching hydroponics.

Comments

private

[exnihilo]

I think.

[She purses her mouth for a moment. She hadn't wanted to come out with her suspicions and worries so soon, so baldly. She wanted to draw him out first, test the waters, check if she was right, if her instincts were shared, rather than exposing them to the harsh light of the world with only her own slim sensibilities to back it up. But he asks, straight out. Makes her hold her own instead of following.]

It feels like one of us is the control group. Or like we both are, for each other.

[Scientifically, separating soul and circumstances to properly calibrate her moral character, or perhaps to judge the effectiveness of the two barges, with one inmate perfectly on the brink. Two identical Miras, dropped in different experimental conditions. Which will change fastest, which will change more.]

private

[secretasshole]

[Yeah, he's bad at not immediately cutting to the chase. Except when he's being a dick, and in this case, he's trying really, really hard not to.]

Interesting hypothesis. [It is, really, and while he's in no rush to have further encounters with that other Barge, he definitely is curious to know what will be different if they cross paths again. Which one will be different? Who will have made better progress? Will she spiral out of control on that other ship, or fight whatever warden she's assigned until she vanishes.

But.]

Although I wonder if it would be destructive to treat it as a true experiment.

private

[exnihilo]

Why do you think?

private

[secretasshole]

It's a bit difficult to have a controlled variable when by the nature of this place and that, we have no control over our experiences, or who we are exposed to at what time.