Camp: private conversations

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Respond here for a private conversation with Red! All comment threads are screened.

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[The confusion on her face there is genuine, if that helps. As is the sympathy that follows.]

Look, I know it's hard to accept they're gone. You were pretty close to some of them. But once their soul is gone, there's no coming back from that.

[le_mat]

Red, you know my background. I don't accept impossibilities.

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That's...well, if your metaverse abilities can track down the souls of the dead, then perhaps it's not so impossible. But their souls are not in those bodies.

[le_mat]

"The world is a product of cognition, not just the Metaverse. It can be freely re-made. The same goes for you, and everyone else."

[He clearly quoting someone, and there's an airly, almost ethereal tone to his voice.]

I promised someone dear to me I would keep hope in my heart. As long as there's a chance, I'm going to try. I know you probably think I'm being delusional. Or... you know, a stupid kid who hasn't accepted how the world works yet. But that's how I feel.

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...freely re-made, you say.

[That seems to have triggered a memory within Red. Probably an unpleasant one, given the look on her face.]

What I think is unimportant here, I suppose. Hang onto those ideals.

[le_mat]

[He sees that look and frowns as well.]

I don't think what you think is unimportant, Red.

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[She shakes her head.]

You're much younger than me. With any luck, you'll be here long after I'm gone. I would rather push you to make your own decisions.

[le_mat]

I'm going to do that either way. But I'd rather take what everyone else feels and form a choice like that instead of just... you know, sledgehammering my way through.

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Sometimes you need a sledgehammer to break through.

[le_mat]

[He smirks a little]

Well, I mean, I'm pretty good at that too.

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[That gets a little smile out of her.]

I suppose we'll see which one you need.

[Her gaze falls back down to the sweater in her hands. She hasn't let go of it.]

[le_mat]

... did one of the other campers make that for you?

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Mabel did, some years back. She liked to knit.

[le_mat]

Mabel...

[He knows that name from the info sharing at least]

Stan's... grandaughter?

[Grand neice? he doesn't remember]

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[Information really does travel.]

...yes.

Don't tell him that she was here. That might have negative effects on him.

[le_mat]

...Red, do you really think that's fair?

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Do you think it's fair for him to hear that his grand-niece died several years ago at the very camp he works at?

[le_mat]

...

Fuck.

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Exactly.

[She's said the same thing to herself many times before.]

As she was dying, she made me promise to protect her family. I have to honor that.

[le_mat]

Then how the hell did he end up here? Wouldn't he be safer back in their world? Or was he already here at that point...

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I didn't bring him here. They did.

[le_mat]

So the counselors are grabbed just like we are?

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Pretty much.

The method they use to get campers isn't so precise. They find uses for the 'leftovers', so to speak.

[le_mat]

...wait. Are you telling me it's like a fucking crane game-?! 'Oh oops I got this kid's dad, might as well put him to work?'

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...I hadn't thought of it that way, but that would be an accurate description.