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[He appears rather suddenly.]

I have been informed, yes.

The price would be very high, since that would require a large amount of power - especially since it would need to be sustained over time. I'm not sure I would be willing to. Why do you want that?

[Under normal circumstances, she would hesitate to share personal information with any of the gods. It's only more fodder for them to exploit. But the gods are as hesitant to trust the people in the city as the people in the city are to trust them, and that will do them no good with a threat like the Null hanging around.]

To keep it short and to the point, I am going to die if I get sent home. I thought I had made peace with that reality, but when I told someone I've become very close to in my time here about that, he invited me to come with him to his world.

[Enjoy that little snack, Hope, because that's exactly what that possibility brought her: hope.]

His natural lifespan will be much longer than mine. Regenerative ability would allow me to live much longer than I naturally would.

[Honest as it is, she's not naive enough to think he'll simply grant her request without an incentive.]

I have a proposal for a more temporary deal in the meantime. A month of regenerative capability in exchange for every one of the Null's weapons that I steal for you and either destroy or bring to you. Your choice as to which. I will also act as a double agent and find out information. We can both benefit from this arrangement.

I'm afraid that deal is not a good one. In order to constantly regenerate your body, it would require a very large amount of power from me - and it would be a steady drain. Usually, when someone asks for something, I simply need to make it and it's done. This would be a constant loss of power over time. In addition, we have no particular need of Null weapons at this time.

[He considers it for a moment.]

The only way I would agree to a deal like this would be if you were able to provide a steady source of hope, enough to replace the amount I would lose.

I did not offer the Null weapons for you to fight with. I was offering to retrieve the weapons for the protection of you and the others. Presumably, you do not want them in the hands of people desperate enough to go home that they would kill you. It takes a great deal of energy to resurrect one of your fellow gods, yes?

[She's open to negotiation, but the way he phrases that makes her wonder.]

If you have to sustain it over time rather than using a large amount of power once, does that mean it wouldn't work outside of this place?

Still, it isn't an equitable trade. Though the Null seem to think they have a way to get weapons here, I haven't seen any. And it still wouldn't solve the problem of needing power to sustain.

[He considers for a moment.]

I cannot say. I've never attempted to extend my powers that far before. It might not.

Understood. I don't really require regenerative ability here, anyhow. Despite how often I go to the caverns to fight the monsters, I have not needed medical attention since my initial arrival.

[It's really just extending her lifespan that is the issue, but she can understand Hope's reluctance - even if he were willing, he can't give what he hasn't got to give, and he needs to conserve his energy for bigger things.]

But in a less dire situation, if you could get the energy you needed for a fair exchange, you would be open to experimenting with that?

I appreciate that. It is far easier to revive all of you than my companions, but it still drains a significant amount of power.

[Hope nods, quick and precise.]

I would consider it, if the energy supplied were enough.

Out of curiousity, what level of injury would you insist on payment for, rather than automatically heal? I am not planning to hurt anyone or to be hurt, but I am still planning on stealing the Null's weapons if and when they deliver them. People who believe that this is their only chance of going home might take my interference rather personally if they discover it.

[She has a direction she's going in with all of this. A different kind of deal.]

So...should anyone attack me for that, I have every intention of giving them injuries that will be deeply uncomfortable but not life threatening. And I will tell both the Clinic staff and you why they have those injuries.

[Pain can be a wonderful teacher.]

I am not sure what you're asking. I do no healing myself, though I would in exchange for payment. I bring those of you who die back for free, but any smaller injuries are up to you to take care of.

[He frankly just doesn't have the time or extra power to go around healing people. Reviving them is more than enough.]

You wish for me to refrain from healing people you injure? I'll do that anyway. However, I won't refuse to revive them. People can learn.

I have no intention of killing them and pointlessly making extra work for you. All I want is for you to refuse a trade with those specific people if they come to you for healing.

[She pauses for a moment.]

Or demand about five times the amount of emotion that you would ask from anyone else for the same amount of healing. That would also be acceptable. It would still be suitably educational.

[Because it would take a lot of effort on the parts of said people and they'd be uncomfortable the entire time.]

I'm not normally asked for healing, and I wouldn't want to refuse if asked. However, you have a point - if they're attempting to kill me, it would make sense to demand a far higher price than I would from anyone else.

[Of course, if they want to kill him, they probably won't ask him for healing, but you never know.]

[Hope is far too kind for his own good. But it's something if he's willing to at least charge a much higher price.]

It might be advisable to insist on a public apology over the network as well. It serves the purpose of making the person known to those who want to keep you alive.

It would also serve the purpose of making people hate me even more.

[It's on the tip of her tongue to say that the gods do a stellar job of inspiring people to hate them all on their own, but a lady remembers her courtesies. Besides, she's okay with Hope.]

Ah, I suppose it might. Then aside from demanding a much higher price from them, I suggest using a very small amount of your power to produce an image of the person in question. Then show it to anyone who has reached out and identified themselves as someone who would prefer to keep you alive. In person. The Null have compromised your network, so it would be wise to not let them know who intends to protect you.

[Which is why she's here rather than sending Hope a text.]

That's not a bad idea.

[It would probably be good to be able to identify known opponents of the gods to those who choose to side with them. Hope is not exactly suited for war or subterfuge, but he has to try to survive regardless.]

I'll do that.

[She's attended court, fought in a war, and lived a mercenary existence for a large portion of her life. War and subterfuge are things she's good at.]

When the Null contact people again with a drop point for their weapons, you should have one of your fellow gods make a magical construct of you. Something like those constructs of our loved ones, once they were solid and visible to everyone, or the evil doubles.

[It's a little weird, giving a so-called god suggestions on strategy, but Hope is a peaceful individual, and they're not truly gods. Just powerful energy beings.]

It might be a good way to trick the Null into revealing more of their plan than they intend to, if they believe you have been killed.

I don't know if that would work, but it's something to consider. I can hope that we will be told when the Null do make that contact, since we're not able to see their communications ourselves.

[And there's no reason to think they'll always contact the whole city instead of individual people, after all.]

I thank you for your suggestions.

They told me they would contact me. I pretended to be willing to kill you to ensure that they would keep me informed.

[Hence the in person contact now. She's not very well going to reveal her hand where people might see her.]

They are intelligent creatures. Please be careful, I don't want you to put yourself in danger.

[That's actually rather sweet of Hope to worry about her safety, even knowing that some of it is self-serving on his part.]

I have dealt with dangerous and intelligent foes before, Hope. I have also fought and won when greatly outnumbered. My previous line of work was rather mercenary in nature.

I will admit that it's difficult for me to understand that way of life, but I can be appreciative of the skills it imparts nonetheless.

My way of life makes it easier for me to understand that nothing that's been done to produce emotion from us has been out of malice, and that helps me to see the bigger picture.

[Which is why she can see how terribly it would go if enough people chose to help the Null.]

I am positive that I can talk down one of the people who expressed interest in helping the Null, without him revealing my true intentions to the Null. I doubt I could persuade him to help you because he hates all gods - not just your kind. But he has dangerous abilities, and it's better if chooses neutrality over helping the Null.

I appreciate your understanding, as well. Few seem to have such an unbiased view of things.

[And it's super annoying.]

Is there anything that I can do to help you? I make no promises, but it would be good to know.

In all fairness to the other more biased residents, when I was brought here, I was fifteen minutes away from total oblivion. That does help me to keep an open mind about the situation.

[For beings that feed on emotion, and who are good at drawing out the emotions they need to feed on, they're terrible at understanding the longer term emotional consequences of the things they do to people. She can only guess it's in part due to their previous hosts being able to feel emotions at will.]

With him specifically, likely not. That hatred is almost...biological. It's an instinct. Any help he gives will be indirect. He will not fight the Null to protect you, but he will fight by my side.

[But since she's in an advice-giving mood, she will give what suggestions she can.]

For the community as a whole, giving us some choice in how we give emotion to all of you would help make people less resentful. People do not like feeling powerless. Many enjoyed the competition from months ago. I would suggest you do what you can to talk the others out of doing things that will endanger our lives, too. Particularly things like when those constructs of our loved ones were draining our life force. No matter how unbiased and reasonable one tries to be, it's quite difficult not to take something like that rather personally.

Edited 2017-09-14 03:24 (UTC)

I always try to talk the others out of anything that is likely to cause death. I'm not terribly fond of spending the power to bring you back. But it is an extremely emotional event, both for the one experiencing it and for the ones who care for them, so it's an easy well to draw from.

I am not the leader of my brethren. I can ask, [and complain, which he does often] but they don't have to listen. I am already doing what I can. I understand that to all of you it doesn't seem like enough.

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