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Fourth.
ENCOUNTER. Perhaps it's a good thing that the people of Floaroma Town seem to be exhibiting curiosity, because that's how you end up getting the tip. It isn't much, in the end - a question of where you're going from one of the ladies in the flower shop, followed by a brief look exchanged between them and a soft shrug. There's a mention of the Valley Windworks just across the way, a short walk from here, and something inside that will shave a week's time off of the journey south. Something that should put you right in the heart of Jubilife City, should you be able to gain access to it. It's likely clear that whatever would be blocking your access to such a thing likely isn't going to be pleasant; it doesn't take them long to tell you that Team Galactic has owned the Windworks for a while now, but at the same time it's only ever staffed with low-tier employees on the chain of command - the Commanders themselves haven't cared about it since they took over, and the grunts... Well, for one reason or another, they haven't been changing with the rest of the world. It likely seems obvious, when put that way - the people of the town haven't lied to you in the entire time you've been here (they aren't many things, but at the very least they are honest), and if they're correct about this, that's a week's less travel that will need to be done. Over a distance this large, every day counts; as such, you might as well check out the Windworks for whatever it will bring you. As it turns out, the townspeople were right about several things - the Valley Windworks is only a short walk away, surrounded by tall electricity-generating windmills that are turning away at a good clip in the windstreams traveling through the valley; upon entering it, it seems fair to say that it really is generally only staffed by grunts. In light of the changes the world has undergone, their appearance may be a bit jarring, a reminder of what the entire place used to look like - they're completely dead-eyed and listless, lacking any sort of individual initiative, and while they look up as you enter and their eyes track you as you move, they don't seem inclined to do much about you as a whole. Unfortunately, the ladies in the flower shop seem to have been mistaken about something - it seems that one of the Commanders, at least, seems to care very much about this place, given that she's waiting for you in the lobby. As with the others before her, she looks distinctive from the others in both her style of dress and the fact that she's still emotionally intact; she's small in stature, the heels on her boots doing nothing to help that fact, and she's incredibly slight in comparison to Jupiter. She also seems displeased about being here; the smile she offers in greeting is sharp, and it's not a pleasant look. More along the lines of baring teeth. "It's pretty rude of you guys to barge in here like you own the place. Not like I was expecting much from you people, anyway. I'm Commander Mars, and it's about time we met." |
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I would do everything in my power to help these people. I would assist them in their work, should they need it. I would go out of my way to keep offering a helping hand to anyone who should need it, and I would work towards making their lives just a bit easier and enriching. And even with Pokemon, such a simple gesture as saving them from being hurt, healing them, playing with them...it can mean the very world to those creatures, and it's how I've been able to bond with my own partners.
Certainly, I don't have any sort of power here; the kind that would allow me to use my status as a princess to preside over the people in such a manner that would allow a country to provide them with the means to help themselves, to feed them, and to protect them with the might of a country. But it all starts in the ability to do something small, and even if you dedicate your whole life to saving others, you may die before you have the ability to help everyone.
And that's fine. Because in one's wake, they could have inspired the people around them into opening their hands for a stranger and helping them.
It's a flawed way--perhaps even a naive way, certainly, I'll be the first to state that. It's so small in scale, and that means that not everyone can be saved. But it allows people the possibility to feel the same, to work towards a world that may just become better for everyone involved. And so long as the possibility exists, it's worth working towards and fighting for.
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Thanks for actually coming up with an answer, instead of deflecting or just yelling that what we're doing is wrong. I don't agree, but I appreciate the attempt.
The problem with your argument is that you're counting on other people to be good, or at least decent. What happens if your efforts don't inspire people? What if you get in an accident and die before you've had the chance to reach out to others and hope that they'll help? Yeah, it's naive. Yeah, it's small in scale.
People have tried here. There are good people here. But that's just it, a small-scale effort like that just isn't good enough to save the whole world. That's how things are. So what do you do when your efforts aren't enough?
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[He waves a hand, as if warding off the counterpoint he can feel coming in his fucking bones.]
That's not really an argument against what you're doing - I know you're all quite pleased with yourselves. But Camilla really doesn't have to have a Powerpoint about how she's going to single-handedly fix humanity to justify keeping to her own code of ethics.
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I'll agree that she doesn't need to justify keeping to her own code of ethics. I'm asking because I'm curious, because I don't see another way to fix this world outside of what Master Cyrus did. I want to know how you guys would handle it, not hear more of the same tired "you guys are wrong because what you did is bad" arguments.
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[He actually does stop to think about it for a second.]
Considering you all apparently just stopped having wars all on your own, it seemed like your world was already pretty much trending towards enlightenment or whatever. I hear people would do stupid shit occasionally, that's just what people do, but it seems to me like you really needed to just put out those fires when they happened and maintain your course. Work on expanding that cultural horror of weaponry and murder to encompass whatever other nasty shit you want people to quit doing. It's not instantaneous, but it was hardly out of sight. You were farther along than most other worlds I've heard about.
Was there any incident in particular that even prompted all of this? It seems like a really extreme reaction.
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I'm curious to see where you're going with this, though. How do you plan on putting out those fires whenever they happen? Even assuming you could always be in the right place at the right time, one person alone can't save the world. So what do you do? How do you handle stopping more than one incident that happens at the same time?
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[She's smiling, but it no longer looks like she's baring her teeth. It doesn't look happy either, it's most likely just something to do with her face.]
This is what Master Cyrus chose to do, and as I said, I have no regrets. Maybe if things had been different, we could've been that organization. But as it stands, we're not. We've done what we believe is best for this world. You guys aren't changing my mind on that, but it looks like I'm not going to change any of yours either.
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But to your point, you're part of a group of like-minded people who got together for the purpose of doing what you thought was right. [He spreads his hands, like duh] That's how. You get people to help. No one's ever going to convince everybody to join their cause, but you don't need literally every person to agree to start making a difference.
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That's fair. That's actually a pretty good argument.
[She'll look around at all of you, considering for a moment before speaking up again.]
So I take it you're all a group of like-minded people who are all in agreement on changing this world back to the way it was?
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[There may be some minor disagreements on method from time to time, but we don't gotta go into that. Everybody agrees to work towards the Good, and on what that looks like.]
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That's right -- we all are.
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[Like, that feels obvious, but she wants to show some solidarity with the group as well dangit.]
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[Camilla, to her credit, listens. Mars definitely states plenty of realistic possibilities, and honestly, considering the way Nohr is, she'd be inclined to agree, really. The...accident and die part actually manages to get Camilla's expression to falter for a moment, causing her to look away, though she looks back and composes herself in a moment.]
...You're unlikely to like the answer I'm about to give you, but stating it frankly; then I'll have tried all that I could and would die knowing that much. And if I haven't died? I would get up again and keep trying, for as long as I would be able to. I believe it's simply impossible to save the world itself from suffering in one sweeping motion; to do so would require a miracle that no one in the world has the ability to do perfectly.
But, even as it is...even an imperfect world, in my eyes, is worth living in and fighting for, and it's better than a world without soul at all. And it's worth fighting for, no matter if the world itself is against you, or if the people themselves scoff at the notion. One simply must be willing to consciously make that choice, again and again.
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...If more people were like you, maybe this wouldn't have been necessary in the first place. But unfortunately, not everyone is willing to get up and try over and over again, and a lot of people aren't even willing to try to begin with.
Let's say you're given the option to save the world from suffering. You have the opportunity to prevent people from starting wars or picking fights or hurting others. You'd take that opportunity, wouldn't you? But if it comes with a price... would you really say "no, this isn't worth it"?
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But they wouldn't be able to enjoy it. They wouldn't be a family again. It takes a bit, but the look that Camilla gives Mars once she's finished is steeled.]
Without hesitation. If there's no way to enjoy that world, free of suffering and war...then it would never be worth it. No sacrifice or price would ever make it so.
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What's your name?
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[She figures that her title likely goes without saying, and has little bearing on this conversation.]
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[...]
I don't agree with what you're saying. I'm not going to pretend I understand it. I stand by what Master Cyrus decided to do and I have no regrets about helping.
But you've taken the time to explain your thought process and while I don't think it'd work, your confidence is admirable.
If more people were like you, I really do think things could have turned out differently here. Maybe this never would have been necessary. But unfortunately, that's just the way things are here. Master Cyrus saw what needed to be done and he did it.
I take it you're going to keep fighting to try to return this world to the way it was? Even though it's not your world?
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Oh, she likes this one. Camilla listens, calmly and shifting herself a bit to take something of a more assertive stature, though it keeps some elegance to it that would be expected of her.
The feeling is most definitely mutual, when she nods her head and waits until Mars is finished.]
Oh, absolutely. I believe it's worth fighting for, and I won't stop until it's returned to it's former glory, or until something befalls me. You can count on that. It doesn't matter whether it is my world or not; I am here, and I will do all that I that I can, even if the world should be against it.
[Bring it on, basically.]
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[Well, she'll stand down.]