[Video]

[dr_orpheus]

[He's been trying to take the high road when it comes to the antics of the tiny god of mischief. Not a peep out of him over the candy corn! Did you see that? Not a single word! He may have even managed a chuckle and a thought of "well played", once he finally unclenched his jaw. More recently, he didn't once accuse him verbally of the sex swapping in the days before the culprit came clean.

But today, Dr. Byron Orpheus has had enough.

Maybe he's been called Count Chocula by one too many passersby, as if a cape isn't a perfectly acceptable thing to wear. Maybe holidays focused on family give him an extra dose of missing his daughter and the fact that it's THANKSGIVING IN OCTOBER just further emphasizes the fact that he's not at home.

Regardless of the precise reason, he has set the NV at one end of his dinner table while he sits at the other. There's a faint haze around the food items as he levitates them over the table, making mashed potatoes, rolls and green beans spin and somersault around his reanimated turkey.]

I can make my food dance, too. I fail to see how it's that impressive of a feat.

Comments

[aprettybutterfly]

Don't have too many of those in the trash.

[dr_orpheus]

You eat...out of the trash?

[aprettybutterfly]

Sometimes. I like foods in pantries, better.

[dr_orpheus]

If you are facing this problem here, I believe there are still some Newcomer-focused charities.

[aprettybutterfly]

Don't take charity. That's how they suck you in.

[dr_orpheus]

Suck you in?

[aprettybutterfly]

The feds. The government. Take money, have to pay it back. Can't pay it back, they take you in. Next thing you know, you're a walking experiment.

[dr_orpheus]

[Oh. The paranoid sort. He wishes he could say that it's entirely unfounded.]

I don't know about the government, but I would never take money from SERO for those reasons.

[aprettybutterfly]

[He's been paranoid for a long time, now.]

SERO turns you into a bug walker. AGI turns you into a sexual monstrosity. What do the Newcomer turns you into?

[dr_orpheus]

They don't turn you into anything. Except, perhaps, someone longing to return home.

[aprettybutterfly]

Sounds wasteful.

[dr_orpheus]

It is OUR LOT AS NEWCOMERS.

[aprettybutterfly]

Yelling also wasteful. No longing for home. It's already destroyed.

[dr_orpheus]

A little flair is never a waste.

But you have me there. If your home world is destroyed, there's no shame in embracing this new chance at life.

[aprettybutterfly]

Know a guy like you. He thinks the same way. Isn't as old though.

Not destroyed. Not yet. But soon. The end is coming, the same end that will come to this place, soon enough.

[dr_orpheus]

I am still in my prime, no matter how many gray hairs I may have.

We might welcome an end to this place.

[aprettybutterfly]

So you say.

Ancient Egyptians thought the same way. End of all things. Wipe the slate clean. Start over.

[dr_orpheus]

I don't just say. I know.

I was only speaking of it as a favorable option if we were allowed to start over back home.

[aprettybutterfly]

Too many wants and wishes, not enough reality.

[dr_orpheus]

Am I not allowed to speak of a brighter future?

[aprettybutterfly]

Depends. Talk is cheap and everyone hates paying up.

[dr_orpheus]

And this sort of cynicism is more profitable?

[aprettybutterfly]

Not out there to make a profit. Just to survive.

[dr_orpheus]

I certainly can't fault you for that, even if I do think you would benefit from a more cheerful outlook.

[aprettybutterfly]

Nothing to be cheerful for. The city is dark, and grey, filled with murderers, rapists, and pedophiles.