Second Floor Common Room, Sunday Morning

[endsthegame]

Ever since the broadcast on Monday showcasing Daala's brutal violent response to slave uprisings, Ender had been busy: busy writing emails, busy coordinating with his people in Ben's universe, busy privately worrying about where all of this would lead - with or without him.

But eventually he'd run out of things to do, as impossible as it had seemed at the start of the week. Somehow, that message hadn't quite reached his brain, for he still felt jittery and concerned; keeping a lid on it around Ben had just made it worse.

So in an effort to calm down, he decided to hit up the common room for breakfast today. Got two packages of microwavable pancakes out of the fridge and opened them up, using his deft microwaving skills to produce a stack - mostly in hopes of luring in someone to talk to.

Unlike certain people of his acquaintance, he didn't actually care much about the taste of his breakfast.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"No, I quite agree," Wesley said. "That is, I myself spent the first few weeks after the, er, resolution searching for some sort of discrepancies in how the island seemed to reform itself, compared to its prior state."

[endsthegame]

"Did you find anything?" Ender asked with interest, and took another sip of his tea, draining the mug.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Something about the park certainly seemed different?" Wesley guessed. "Did you notice anything?"

[endsthegame]

"Nothing spectacular," Ender noted. "Small things... but small changes could already fundamentally change the make-up of a human being, if we translate that to people."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"True enough," Wes conceded easily. "And considering that -- individual perceptions of a person's character can often overlook the very intricacies of their makeup... it's troubling."

[endsthegame]

Ender ran a hand through his head. "And there's no way of telling whether there are any such missing intricacies," he said, "as they're rebuilt from how we perceived them in the first place. It's a frustrating issue, to say the least."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I wonder if there's some sort of... mystical way of determining any changes," Wesley said thoughtfully, propping up his chin on his hand. By way of explanation, he added, "In my universe, there are, ah, spells that can determine whether someone is under mystical influence, or if there have been recent alterations to their... aura, for lack of a better word. But such spells might only be able to be used on individuals, not an entire group, and even if they do prove a conclusive change, there might not be anything to do about it."

[endsthegame]

Ender clacked his tongue. "Is a human being functionally the same if they act, walk, and talk the way we've always known them to, regardless of composition?" he asked philosophically. "If so, then doing this ritual would just cause undue stress. If not..."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"That, I suppose," Wesley said, "depends on the person. Reforming someone who routinely expresses their emotions as a matter of course is an entirely different matter than reforming someone with a greater concern for... privacy."

Nerds, the both of them.

[endsthegame]

"And so still waters become shallow?" Ender mused.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Quite possibly," Wesley said. "Unless, I suppose, they happened to be -- especially painstakingly remembered by perceptive friends."

[endsthegame]

"Unless they never had a chance to make friends," Ender noted, then shook his head. "I think we'd have to do this ritual of yours to be sure first, and only then would we be able to determine what was lost, if anything."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I might mention it to Tara," Wesley said thoughtfully. "She should also be familiar with this sort of magic... is there any particular, ah, subject you had in mind?"

[endsthegame]

Ender thought of Ben, but this really wasn't the right time to foist his own paranoia on him - Ben had enough on his mind.

"My sister, maybe, but she's off-planet," he said. "I'm sure we must know others."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"As far as I know, most of my friends on the island stayed, ah, present during the crisis," Wesley said thoughtfully, frowning. "And those that I know from home who disappeared would be rather hard-pressed to come visit."

[endsthegame]

"We could go over the radio broadcasts, see if we can find someone who'd be willing to cooperate."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Not a bad idea," Wesley said, standing up. "I'll get my computer and we can sort through the archives?"

[endsthegame]

"Sounds like a plan."