Beware Papercuts

**Phoenyx** · Dec 27th, 2019 03:17 AM

The reaction on Phoenyx's face shows her scepticism that Morgan was "saved", but the small smile remains. "Of course you did," she replies with a dry amusement.

She nods once. "I've always found you can pick up some fascinating finds in places like this." The Arrow offers up her books, showing a range of topics. She cocks her head. "Morgan. The masculine form of Morgana, from Authurian Myth. If you believe such things." She shrugs. "Nice to meet you."

Wow. This zombie-state seems to make interacting easier. Or maybe you're just not thinking.

Are you dating? Phoenyx actually laughs in response. Her and Shodan? Oh, yeah. Even hypothetically that was a train-wreck. And that was couting Kaze. "We're both members of a club for academics. It's kinda boring a lot of the time but Adam and I have very interesting discussions on philosophy. He has very interesting ideas about the path of humanity." Truth be told, she did enjoy discussing things with Shodan, specifically for the challenge of convincing him.

Dec 28th, 2019 05:47 AM

"Oh, right. Belittle my heroic effort" The Prime Mover says in faux irritation. Looking into her bag, though he can't help but whistle in appreciation "Interested in quantum mechanics, are we? With that, Morgan's astrophysics and my own finds people are going to think we're some kind of nerds" An amusing prospect but hey, he wasn't the one that first started throwing science-talk here.

He laughs in response to the idea that him and Phoenyx might ever be an item, in perfect unison with the First Talon "Aw, I think I'll blush" The Obrimos retorts to the Arrow's description of their discussions "But yeah, what she said. A chance meeting really, but I haven't had this much fun discussing abstract things since I came down here from Silicon Valley" And although she fiercely defended her views, Phoenyx was never an asshole about it. Another thing he appreciated.

He shrugs. One could hope for friendship here, other supposedly deeper feelings would just ruin the whole thing.

"Besides, she's taken"

**Morgan** · Dec 28th, 2019 11:01 PM

"Okay, first of all," Morgan interjected, freeing her injured finger from beneath her arm and brandishing it at Alice.

"You're straight up incorrect. I mean, Jabroni, please. Do I look that basic, to you? I'm not named after some Arthurian bullshit. I'm named after the straight up Goddess that that loser Morgana was named after. You seriously telling me that you never heard of capital T, capital M, THE Morrigan? Triple Goddess? Queen of Birth and Slaughter? 'Cause if not, I will buy you a book on Celtic mythology and let you get your read on."

The words had a spark of heat to them, but there was a quirk to Morgan's lips that spoke more of amusement than serious offense.

"Secondly," Morgan continued, turning to brandish her tissue wrapped finger at Adam, "you better examine your reliance on technology, Silicon Man. You're so distracted by form! I mean, sure, a digital copy can exist on a multiplicity of devices, but it's still trapped by one set of electrons or another, right? Access still isn't universal. So what's it matter if it's on a piece of inert carbon or converted into a series of zeros and ones? The actual information still needs to be processed in order to be accessed.

**Phoenyx** · Dec 29th, 2019 03:15 AM

There's a small smile. "The interaction of probability and universal forces are a personal interest."

She's taken. A sudden spike in tension, a wince, and Phoenyx recoils deeper into the hood.

Huh. Touchy about a name. Fiery, but uses reason. Morgan gets a bemused look. "No, I haven't. I didn't mean any insult. Celtic myth isn't something I'm familiar with - I've studied far more Eastern folklore," the Arrow remarks drily, but forces a small smile. "But if it gets me a free book I won't argue. Do you study mythology extensively?" she asks curiously.

Dec 30th, 2019 02:50 AM

"I don't know what I expected from today, but meeting someone who flexes being named after a goddess of murder was definitely not it" Which should be a red flag really, but somehow isn't. Besides, he appreciates the emotional counterweight to Phoenyx's stoic demeanor. Balance in all things, and all that.

And as for Morgan's argument towards him... Shodan looks at the finger raised at him menacingly, then at the tattoed woman's face again. He smiles.

"I really don't see the point you're trying to make. Science, or progress if you prefer" To the Obrimos, they were practically synonyms "is an art of approximation. Access to information was poor when books had to be manually writtten. Then the printing press got invented and it got better. Then we came up with the Internet, and it got better still. Sure, none of it is perfect, but it's superior to what's before, which is what matters. The system we live in might be a cage, but with each technological innovation its bars get weaker"

Sleeper or Awakened politics - and there's no one without the other - benefit from technological saturation. If not for that, this talk wouldn't even happen, because all three of them would be out there hand-producing pottery or something.

"Now, you can try and tell me there's some pie-in-the-sky pure substance that solves all problems at the flip of a switch... or we can get real and acknowledge that being determines consciousness"

**Morgan** · Dec 30th, 2019 11:08 AM

The bloody, bandaged finger was safely hidden away once again, tucked back into the fold of her crossed arms.

"Ok, Alice, how about this," Morgan suggested, "I find you that book on Celtic mythology, you find me one of your choice on Eastern folklore, and then we have ourselves a little book club, eh? But for now, help me argue with Silicon Man."

That said, Morgan turned her attention back to Adam, a grin splitting her lips.

"Alright, you got me, I'm a fan of Marx, myself. So sure, our social being creates our consciousness. So you're claiming that by digitizing these fonts of knowledge and spreading them across the web you're encouraging what, free access to information? Fair, I guess, unless you consider how many millions of people lack the education to even understand them. Or, ya know, the millions more who don't even have access to the basic technology and infrastructure that would allow them to access this stuff. So, what about the have-nots?"

**Phoenyx** · Dec 30th, 2019 04:20 PM

Shodan didn't seem to have noticed her reaction, which suited the Arrow just fine.

She watches Morgan from deep in the hood. Phoenyx opens her mouth to refuse, but then says "...... Sure. why not."

Why the fuck not? It could be fun.

The Talon watches the passionate exchanges. She didn't really feel like she had a horse in this race, but wasn't that the point? Extending yourself, challenging yourself? Existence, they always said, was war. And conversation was her war.

"I'm not sure I follow what either of your objective is here," She says slowly, dark eyes re-emerging. "You aren't arguing against each other, more that there are differing priorities. Adam is suggesting the more technology develops, the better. You," she looks to Morgan, "Are suggesting this doesn't matter if there are those that cannot access this new technology. If technology keeps developing in a way that extends it's reach to more people and becomes more accessible, eventually it will reach the have-nots, and allow for continued development. You want to outline the injustice of there being a class that cannot have access to the technology now, by class, finances, location, or any other factor. What you want to be overcome is unfair, but is much more difficult to do anything about."

Jan 1st, 2020 03:16 PM

He watches the budding 'alliance' against him with a smile.

"It's simple" He answers Morgan initially.

No, it isn't. It's the opposite of simple. The moment idealist mages get heavily involved in government politics on a national or supra-national level things go badly fast. The killing and mind control are the easy parts, it's harder to decide who to kill or control. And if that's even how it should be. The ethical dilemmas can crack an Assembly and its members wide open, and that's before you consider going toe to toe with the Seers or, worse yet, the Diamond Orders.

Of course he can't make this argument. Not now. So here's the censored version.

"First of all, the number of people without either the tech or the training is always decreasing, because of course it is. If not because of the desire for liberty, then out of envy people will want the new. Of course, stuff like patents, copyrights and all that permission culture crap stifle it, which is why we should fight against it. And educate whoever we can. But politics? Politics are messy. You start tampering with that, you might end up worse off than when you started" The Obrimos himself had little patience for politicking, ceding this ground to his more savvy peers and the Silver Ladder.

"So I prefer to saturate the world with available tech and information. Everyone who uses it, everyone who sees this killer outfit" He gestures to his clothes "and thinks 'what the hell is this guy's deal?' is one step closer to Singularity" And then - boom! The world changes and is forced to make itself anew. Good riddance, Lie, it was terrible knowing you, don't call ever again.

He looks to Phoenyx as if he's just noticed her. Indeed, as she surely knows, Shodan can get kind of 'lost in the moment' in situations like this "The objective here is the debate itself. I don't want to prove Morgan wrong, because she isn't, when you think about it - there are people deprived of tech and it sucks hard. I consider her view, she considers mine" Back to the tattoed girl he looks "I hope. Anyway, we come out better off. It's a positive sum game, is what I'm saying" In a pretty long-winded and... developed way, clearly.

**Morgan** · Jan 2nd, 2020 02:11 PM

The look Morgan shot Alice could best be described as comically exasperated.

"Alice, I said help me argue with Adam, not help Adam! Sheesh! Some backup, you are. You're gonna have to earn my trust with that bookclub if we're gonna hang out and go bar hopping later," Morgan said, stepping towards the hooded woman and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Anyways, yeah, you're right, it's not a zero sum game. Well, I mean, actually, I think it is, but like, not between us. Cause you know, it's a whole intersectionality. Like, when I was growing up, we didn't have any internet access, and you couldn't always make it to the library, you know? So I fuckin' stole that shit. Hacked some assholes broadband. Like, literally hacked it up. Totally fucked it up. And who came to look into that? The police."

Morgan paused the telling of her life story to slip her jacket off and roll her sleeve up, revealing an ACAB tattooed across her forearm. The A, of course, was wrapped in a circle.

"Fuckin' law enforcement came down to literally reinforce the line drawn between the haves and the have nots. You think jealousy or a desire for freedom is gonna change the status quo? Fuck no. It's only gonna change once people recognize that our current conception of ownership is inextricably linked to a denial of human rights. And sure, I get what y'all are saying. Very Gandhi. Do your part where you can. That whole thing. Which is fine, I guess."

"But," Morgan continued, rolling up her other sleeve to reveal another tattoo. It was an owl, brilliantly detailed, with the titles of books painstakingly inscribed on each feather. "I learned pretty much everything I know through books, because I had access to books, and do you know why? Because of the Chartism movement, which was all about voting rights. Fuckin' voting rights, man! And you know what one result of that was? The end of fucking subscription libraries for the rich and the creation of the first PUBLIC Libraries. It's all tied together. Agency, freedom, knowledge, it's all the same struggle."

Morgan paused, realizing that she'd inadvertently climbed back up onto a soapbox, and started slipping her jacket back on.

"Anyways, if I'm going to sum up my argument, it's that we need to tackle the causes of this intersectionality, and I think it requires more intentional work than ebooks. So. Yeah. Now I really do want a drink. Anyone else?"

**Phoenyx** · Jan 2nd, 2020 03:20 PM

The Arrow watches, quietly. Killer outfit? Phoenyx smiles. Well, then again, I'm wearing a hoodie and sweats, so I can't judge.

"Arguing for the sake of learning and growth? Have I been having an effect on you?" She asks Shodan, a hint of a smile being finally drawn out of her.

She shakes her head. "Bar hopping?" It's either a terrible or great idea. The hug around the shoulders can feel very tense shoulders beneath the hoodie - it smells like the Arrow hasn't showered in a day or two, or has just come back from a run. "I supported you too, Morgan. It's not fair there is inequality. What happened there was still just. There have to be laws or there is anarchy - even if it is so we can see what laws can be broken. And if we deem a law unjust but the society we live in does not, we must accept the consequences of actions against those laws." Did the theft bother her? Not especially. Morgan had sought to learn. Mortal Laws were interesting, in so far as how much they still applied to the Awakened society. "Again, that comes down to what laws you see as valid and if they should apply to you, and how far the human rights extend. But that is something else entirely that I don't really want to go into." She just sounds tired.

A drink? She looks at her phone, checking the time, then lowers the hood to reveal slightly greasy hair and her piercing dark eyes. "Fuck it. Why not. I'll come for a drink." Not as if I have anywhere to be anyway.

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