(1504) Recess

[Einstein]

Einstein had a funny thought cross her mind when she lead the way to a back room to find somewhere for all of them to talk and calm down. Recess. Yes, it came from court rooms primarily, and that was why the thought had popped into her head. But, the way it was being used here, it seemed more like at an elementary school. Much, much more. Maybe she'd have to start treating them all like her students. Maybe that would fix them.

She picks a room at random, then waits for everyone to file in behind her.

[Truce]

Truce comes in with a look of dismay etched upon his face. The Mysterium at odds with the Guardians, or Guardian rather, and a Councilor not only engaging in coitus during Consilium but invading the minds of her peers in front of everyone.

At least the Hierarch had made his announcement regarding Consilium positions. Goodness knows they were in need of a full staff. The lack of a Sentinel is perhaps the the worst of it since the Consulate had no arm with which to take action against rebellious individuals.

"Let us resolve this issue regarding the invasion of Councilor Einstein's consciousness. Councilor Einstein, could you please tell us in detail what you experienced?"

[Pepper]

Much like Truce, Pepper wasn't hiding her dismay. At least, not until she noticed July following them.

The Acanthus Councillo cleared her throat. Loudly. " July Consilium has not yet ended. Please wait until after, as Hierarch Aquinas requested." She gave him a pointed look until he rejoined the general body of mages, then nodded to Einstein for her to start.

[Avis]

At Truce's words, something akin to a smile, though far closer to a sneer, appeared on Avis' lips as she reached her seat and sank into it.

"Ya know," she pronounced slowly, the sneer fading, "for someone that calls themselves Truce, you seem to be terribly bad at actually encouraging balance in conflict. See, if you were actually promoting harmony, rather than conflict, you wouldn't assume that one party was automatically guilty, cause, ya know, sometimes things are complicated. Sometimes peoples get confused. So, re-adjust your bias, because it's going to fuck with you. And I'm telling you this not to insult you, by the way, but to hopefully make you aware of where your faults lie so that you can fix them. Clearly, I will be doing much of that over the coming days," she added, irony thick in her voice.

"One thing that I will not be fixing, though, is anything that just happened. Because, though it might appear like something insidious, nothing different happened than what we're doing now. That's right, I no more invaded Einstein that I am invading all of you at this exact fucking moment. 'Cause words. That's right, words. As soon as I say something, as soon as it passes my lips and bounces off of your little eardrums, your brain picks it up. I say elephant, to use a popular example, and you process the meaning, the concept. I say death, life, space, prime, mind, anything at all and I've permeated your skull with an idea. Maybe not the exact idea I want to get across, usually not, but that doesn't change the fact that I've, quote on quote, infected your mind with something from mine. We can only block something out once we've processed it, once it's gotten inside, once we've determined that we don't like it, that we don't agree with it, but even if we choose to discard it later that doesn't stop the fact that you still thought it from being true.

"So, take what I just said to you, do your little mind processing, and then tell me if it makes a difference if I use my voice, or my Mind, to put words into your head. Remember, as soon as you hear what I say, you understand it, it's in your head. All I did was cut out the whole voice part. All I did was make it more private. I didn't scan her thoughts, or command her to do something. Obviously fucking not if she called me out like she did. All I did was speak, just like I'm doing now, but without a involving my throat, or her ears. So, take that however you fucking want," she finished, the thought that things might go better if she apologized for startling Einstein not forming in her mind, the concept that Einstein had erred in her understanding eclipsing any more compassionate thought.

[Einstein]

Einstein nodded at Pepper and Truce and prepared to start talking before Avis decided to launch into her speech first. Einstein raised an eyebrow at her. Alright, if that's how she wanted to play it. "Okay, let's go through this, step-by-step. One. You were not asked to talk, thank you very much." She punctuated the words carefully. "And second, the difference, you thug," There was probably a better word, but Einstein had better things to do than come up with descriptors for people. "Is that your words are not a direct path straight into my mind for whatever other Magic you happen to be wielding. My problem is not so much that you spoke directly into my mind, as the fact that it means you could easily have slipped any number of other things in with it, and might have, since clearly you have no qualms walking into someone else's mind without their permission. Even if I'm calling you out now, that means nothing."

"The difference," She enunciates it clearly. Parallelism in speech. It makes things sound better. "is that with speech, I have the option of blocking my ears and making loud noises and completely ignoring what you're saying. I have a choice as to whether or not to listen. When you speak directly into my head, invade my private thoughts and replace them with your own, I have no alternate choice. You are forcing your words upon me, in a way that should surprise me, but really doesn't, from how you act." Irresponsible people do irresponsible things. Dumb people do dumb things. Unnecessarily aggressive people do unnecessarily aggressive things.

"If talking was really no different, then you would have simply said what you wanted to say to me from across the table, with your mouth." Einstein gave her a killer glare. "All this says to me is that you have no understanding of other people's personal preferences, and no desire to respect them, a quality we certainly would not want in the ruling body of the Consilium." Oh hey, look at that, a related point to something that had occurred before. Maybe Einstein had planned it out like this.

[Pepper]

Pepper gaped at the two women and groaned. They were legit having a fight over Supernal Note Passing. She massaged her thumbs into her temples, then spoke. "So, there's two issues here. Avis was seeking privacy, but should have passed a note or something to get consent first. Because, with magic especially, consent is a Big Deal. At same fucking time I can't help but feel like this is tattling on someone passing notes in class. So with that in mind, what was said?"

[Truce]

"Councilor Avis, calm yourself. I don't know why you think you need to lash out at everyone around you at the nearest provocation, but it's bordering on hysteria. I understand you're under some stress considering the embarrassment you must be feeling. I am relieved to know that it wasn't something more serious than simple communication, but even if you might consider it bias, I must agree with Einstein that such a working was inappropriate." They can talk about things like apologies after she takes a moment to compose herself.

"If Councilor Einstein is willing to retain the information she received in confidence, I have no interest in hearing the message," he adds to Pepper's inquiry. "Let's come back to this when we're all more clear-headed." Now there was irony.

"Regarding the Duel Arcane I see no reason why it should involve the Consulate. The challenge of a Duel is one that must be accepted and the terms laid out by the parties involved. If, however, the Curator decides to invoke the Right of Nemesis, then the Council would have to give its permission for any further action to be taken. Until then I see no reason to address the request beyond that explanation, even if the Curator were still present."