wilderlands | Problem Child

...So, uh. Got some things I should probably tell you guys.

[ Kevin seems a little nervous, he has trouble doing "eye contact" with the mirror. ]

I guess like... first of all, I'm Kevin? I'm from New York? I skate? I've met some of you but not everybody so...

[ He shrugs. ]

You ever known somebody who... uh, has a personal problem? But it turns out that if you know 'em and are around 'em all the time it kinda winds up to be their crap ends up being everybody's shit to deal with?

It's kinda like that.

[ Everything about trying to explain this is awful. Everything. ]

The thing with me is... well..

I'm... kind of a vampire?

[ There. He said it. Getting that part out helps him square up and face it a little better, his gaze steadies straight on the mirror. ]

Actually, not "kind of" at all. I'm definitely a vampire. I drink people's blood. I have to. Been doing this shit a good while, too. The Green's got my back with the whole sunlight deal, but I still ain't exactly keeping down regular grindage if you know what I'm saying.

[ Kevin winces a little. He tried. ]

So... here's the deal: I need to drink blood sometimes. Otherwise I get hungry, and when I get hungry I stop... being able to be a person so good? It's bad. Trust me.

[ Please, please trust the self-described vampire. ]

It's not a lot all the time, I can go a bit if I'm full up, and I can stretch it on animals and junk like that, but it's... yeah, dog.

[ He makes his lungs pull in air and breathe it back out in a long hwoo. ]

The other thing is it's probably... if I'm gonna be real with allay'all, I don't want to put my teeth in you? I mean, I got 'em.

[ He takes a second to drop fangs and show the mirror before pulling them back in, which probably does a whole lot of good for his image with the team. ]

It does stuff to people, though? And I don't want to be like that if we're gonna be doing this Lord of the Rings shit together, alright? If we're gonna be real, I'm gonna be real.

[ Kevin's shoulders sink a little as this sudden surge of confidence falters. ]

I don't know what I'm supposed to do about this, but I'm not lying about it and I'm not gonna sneak around. And I mean.... if y'all wanna run me off into the woods, cool, but I'm gonna end up stuck comin' back like any of the rest of us.

If I could just go find someplace else to be, I mean...

[ He smiles weakly. ]

You wouldn't be hearing this.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Brainy is keeping everything entirely calm and cool but there's something about his eyes that's a little different than usual. They're sharper, almost predatory.]

Because someone's sexual predilections are not an indication of someone's moral character or their worth.

Edited 2018-05-15 04:39 (UTC)

Great, let’s just start defending the fags here, that’s real on-topic.

[He says as if he didn’t just derail everything.]

Can we not fuckin' do this right now?

Do what?

The thing you're doing?

And what's that?

Being a dickhead.

[ Kevin's expression has taken on a very classic old-person-why-are-you-like-this quality. ]

You just derailed most of this conversation under the pretense of defending yourself from offense.

[His voice stays just as calm.]

Am I not allowed to do the same?

Oh, Christ, you're one of them? You're kidding, I let you touch my face.

[Now he's just going off spraying toxicity at anyone in range, without honestly any regard for what he's even angry about.]

[Brainy looks up at him through the broken shards.]

My species is known for its intellect, Mr. Dixon, something that sometimes led to my people holding certain biases against other sentient beings. Usually nothing overtly violent, just the subtle recognition that we were superior beings compared to all others, due to our superior minds.

You see, the Coluan intelligence scale rates the average Coluan as a level 8. Earth in its entirety - every mind, every computer, every single data processor on the planet - is a level 6. As in, the average individual Coluan has a mind with more processing power than your entire planet.

Every Coluan knew that we each carried something greater than a world inside us.

I myself am 12th-level intellect. My family line was so intelligent that the standard scale was no longer adequate as a measure and two new levels needed to be added for us alone. I would say that the divide between our two minds is akin to that of a human and an ape, but a closer approximation would be that between a human and an ant. By all rights, you should be nothing to me, less than Coluan, less than sentient, even - at least by my people's measure.

[Except...]

Except as far as I'm concerned, the biases of my people are the part of Coluan society that should be laid to rest the most now that they're all dead. Because something my species had far too much difficulty understanding was that intelligence isn't the only measure of a sentient -- traits likes selflessness, creativity, love, courage... they are so much more important.

And ultimately, someone's worth isn't tied to a single trait that somehow overrules all else.

Just...an idea for you to consider. I know it'll take considerable time for you to process it. Comparatively. It's not your fault - you're only human.

[He's not sticking around. The point isn't an argument. The point is planting an idea. It's not going to take that quickly, and he's not going to wait around to be abused or going to waste time trying to justify his existence. And the poor young man that started this conversation deserves to have this end here. So the mirror cuts out.]

[The fact that Dixon actually listens to this lecture is a miracle unto itself, because he at first opens his mouth to protest, tired of feeling condescended to yet again with some variant of "I'm smart and you're stupid so my opinion matters". But he does listen, even if he almost nopes the fuck out at the comparison to an ape and then an ant. He probably wouldn't if Brainiac hadn't given him medical attention a few weeks back.

His whole body is shaking, and he's pretty sure his heart slamming away inside his chest is visible from the outside. Sometimes he feels so wired up it's like he expects his brain to just explode in a flash of light and kill him. He tries to find calmness and comes up dry, so he just stays paralyzed, absorbing Brainiac's words. And he wants to believe. He wants to believe there's something that makes a life worth saving even if it's that of an idiot, a drunk, a loose cannon, a violent, emotional loser who can't do anything right and makes everyone else's life harder.

He wants to believe that maybe Chief was right and there's some good in him deep down.]

I don't have time for this, [he says once he moves past that paralyzing rage enough to function again. He walks away from the mirror and snatches at his pocket for his lighter and cigarettes. He'll apologize to Kevin about this all going south later.]

Problem Child

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