theweakhavepurpose | Hadriel Inbox

No, his boss. Jo's a superhero, too, but he's not in the Legion. He works for this shady piece of nass named McCauley. He's a weapons dealer who's into all kinds of illegal stuff, but Jo was desperate to get out of Rimbor and signed a contract to work for McCauley in exchange for his ticket to Earth. Rimbor's not in the UP, so it was really expensive and Jo has to work off the balance.

[and she sees no reason why not to talk about it, they're both adults here]

Nothing wrong with that, as long as everyone knows that's what's going on.

Ohhh. Oh okay. So he's sort of an indentured servant now? Well that's a shitty situation.

[Are they????]

I'm not leading anyone on, don't worry.

It really is. And his contract is for five years, so he's going to be stuck working off that debt for a long time. I wish there was something that could be done. If Rimbor joined the United Planets, we could try to find a way to break the contract so Jo could join the Legion.

[yes they are]

I didn't think you would. You're not that kind of guy.

That's... a long time. Is where he's from so bad that this is worth it? Because it.. really doesn't sound like it.

[Look at him grin. ]

Nah, I'm not. I don't even think I could pull that off without feeling like scum.

[Look at that. He didn't say something like 'you don't know me' or anything. Progress!]

It is. Rimbor started as a penal colony. The dregs of the galaxy were sent there. People don't have families there, they have gangs. And the turf wars are deadly. Most Rimborians live fast and die young. Too young. Like, twenty-five young. And Jo's seventeen, he's already lived through a lot of gang wars, but he had no way out until he got superpowers and caught McCauley's eye.

[she smiles back warmly]

I knew it.

[she noticed that! hooray for progress!]

Wait, is it space Australia?

[Okay that is hysterical. ]

I'm sorry, no that sounds terrible. I guess it is worth five years of hard labor to get out of that. But it still sucks that anyone was even in that situation to begin with.

[He makes a face.]

Don't tell anyone, I have an image to protect here.

[He is strong and cocksure and totally not an emotional wreck. He swears.]

[she wrinkles her nose slightly] Australia?

From what Jo's said, it was terrible. And not all planets are--are good. Not even where I come from. I was lucky to be born where I was, who I was. Even with a Terran father watering down my [slight eye roll] royal blood.

[she grins at him]

No way would I tell. You can trust me. Pinky swear.

Don't worry about it. Bad joke.

[But almost a joke, so .. for him that's something at least.]

So is everyone fighting over Earth because it's the best?

[He grins.]

I'm holding you to that.

Oh! Sorry. I don't know much Terran history.

[it's progress! progress is good!]

Mm-hmm. It has the most jobs, it's the social and cultural hub of the UP, everyone who's anyone wants to be on Earth. I can't tell you how---"proud" isn't the right word for it. Satisfied? My mother was to be assigned there as Bgztl's ambassador. But our family's been in diplomacy for years, ever since the monarchy was dissolved.

[she grins back]

Good. So, let's make it official. [she holds up a pinky]

Well at least we've got something going for us. I sort of figured we'd blow ourselves up long before we encountered alien life. Good to see we made something of the Earth.

[He laughs, feeling like he's eight years old again. Yeah yeah, he holds up his pinky too.]

Keep it secret, keep it safe.

[he feels dumb, but at least he doesn't feel miserable.]

Well, from what I do remember about Terran history, there are a few close calls, but you manage to pull through. And from there, it's on to the Mars colonies and then, to Titan, one of Saturn's moons, which is already populated by human-descended telepaths.

[she grins at him happily and links her pinky with his]

Exactly right!

[not feeling miserable is a good start]

Nice. Better than I expected.

[Alright he's smiling, that's excellent for him.]

I'm holding you to it now.

Sometimes people surprise you. In a good way.

[he is! and she's thrilled! but she's not going to make a big fuss over it, she figures that might be counterproductive]

No one will ever hear it from me.

Rarely. But yeah, I guess it happens.

[Ah, there's that pessimism.]

It's a pretty nice feeling knowing there's a future though. That the Collapse doesn't happen and end it all.

[Sure they could be like.. parallel futures or something, but he doesn't know how that works so he's gonna keep on assuming this is the same Earth he's from.]

It happens. And then it's a pleasant surprise.

[and she looks on the bright side, anyway.

and then her expression turns tentative]

But. . . is it okay to ask what the Collapse is?

[they could be. she's heard of a lot of different Earths in her time here and he hasn't mentioned anything about Superman or Batman or any of the other heroes of the 20th century being active, but. it could still be the same world]

I'm all for pleasant surprises. Sometimes back home I'd find $20 in a pair of jeans before I washed them and that'd make my whole day.

[He is a man of simple needs.]

Oh.

It's..

I guess the best way to describe it is it's the apocalypse. But some people will survive it by hiding out in bunkers and ushering in a new Eden. A new paradise.

Or so The Father says.

...

He's probably full of shit.

[He says it under his breath as if Jacob is standing right there ready to stab him for blaspheming.]

You can do a lot with twenty credits, so I'd imagine you could do the same with twenty dollars.

[and she was raised with minimalism. Winema Wazzo didn't believe in spoiling her child, although she certainly had resources to do so.

she listens carefully with a thoughtful expression]

The apocalypse and Eden? Like in the Terran Bible? [she bites her tongue to avoid saying "but no one's believed in that for four hundred years"]

I don't know who the Father is, but I'm pretty sure he's full of shit.

Yes and no. The Father... Joseph, says he speaks to God, that he has a plan to save his children.

He has his own bible.

[And Pratt has read it and it is terrible.]

He's a crazy motherfucker, that's for sure.

[all of that smells more than a little fishy]

How does he have his own bible?

[she doesn't know much about old Terran religions, but she thought that there was only one Bible, one Torah, one Quran, etc]

He sounds like it. I'm sorry you had to deal with him.

He wrote it. And paid someone to print it I suppose.

[ He pauses, he never actually thought about the logistics of some of the cult things. Was Joseph going into the Kinko's in Missoula to get his posters printed? Did they order their cult sweaters wholesale off Etsy? Where was all this coming from? ]

I would have rather not. A lot of people love him though, fawn all over him, call him The Father. Even built him this ten story statue of himself in the middle of a fucking field.

Because that's not self entitled or anything.

[He may be mostly a cultist himself, but he does not like Joseph.]

[she looks flabbergasted]
That's--bizarre. How arrogant do you have to be to go around calling yourself the Father, writing your own bible, saying that god talks to you personally, and building a sprocking ten story statue of yourself?

[about as arrogant as believing that your race was the only pure one in the galaxy]

He runs around shirtless in aviator glasses with a man-bun as well.

[Cuz he's a pretentious dick, that's why.]

With any luck someone has blown that damn statue up by now.

[at the description, she can't help but giggle]

Oh no. Really? So not only is he an arrogant jerk, he has no sense of style. That's awful!

[it really sounds that way]

Yeah, I really hope so. It would only be fair.

He definitely looks like he should be preaching the virtues of quinoa rather than leading a religious cult into the apocalypse.

[How much better would life have been if Joseph Seed aggressively pushed wheat grass shakes instead of doctrine?]

[she can't help it. she busts out laughing. quinoa has a reputation even in the 30th century.

a mock-pompous voice]

Please allow me to tell you the joys of adding flax seed to your everyday diet.

[she's gesturing expansively as she speaks]

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