tests out R. Lutece (but which one?)

[orthecage]

Here we are again. Perhaps you think we’ve never met? One of the shortcomings of pretending that time is linear, remembering introductions. Not to mention those tenses.

You’re on your own, as am I, at the moment. Stay or go. Which will it be?

You could dawdle instead. Wouldn’t be the first time. Or the last.

Comments

[dontdewitt]

Only one of you? That's unusual.

[orthecage]

Only one of you? That's typical.

[dontdewitt]

You saying I've surprised you before?

[orthecage]

Sadly, not for long. The trouble with outliers. You never quite know if they're an unconsidered variable or a trip back to the drawing board.

[dontdewitt]

Sadly, huh. What would've surprised you?

[orthecage]

A fall here, a grip there, a different sort of hat everywhere. Where does one start?

[dontdewitt]

Hn. Didn't think it was that easy.

[orthecage]

If it were so easy, they wouldn't be variables.

[dontdewitt]

Easy to surprise you, or easy to predict?

[orthecage]

What changes and changed and will change and what won't and hasn't and will not are not at all simple to discern, no matter how many times we stand at the same paths and hope the same events won't transpire, until they always do.

[dontdewitt]

[Sighs. This is above and beyond his usual.] Who knew a coin toss would be a constant, huh.

Are you ever getting tired of it?

[orthecage]

A doomed exercise doesn't get any less doomed each time you attempt it. But the coin being a constant doesn't have any bearing on the bricks.

[dontdewitt]

Course not. So why do you keep trying, if you think it's doomed?

[orthecage]

Can I do anything else?

[dontdewitt]

Don't you have a choice?

[orthecage]

Don't you?

[dontdewitt]

You've met me enough times. I make choices.

[ Most of 'em he fucks up, but they're not always the same ones. ]

[orthecage]

How much do they change?

[dontdewitt]

They make all the difference between me and Comstock. So a lot, I'd say.

[orthecage]

You would say that, wouldn't you. Part of what makes you who you are, Mr. DeWitt.

[dontdewitt]

[ He raises his eyebrows at her while trying to decide whether he wants to read into that or not, and how much. Bottom line: if he hadn't had choices, they wouldn't be in this mess. So his expression settles back into a frown. ]

I guess so. For what it's worth, I don't think I woulda quit trying. Even if I knew how many times I failed.

[orthecage]

[They counted them all. They know where it ends, every time. If it ends. An ocean narrowed down to a single point, before the tide rolls out again.]

We wouldn't be here, if you did. You can consider that comforting, if you like, but that has little bearing on the data.

[dontdewitt]

No offense, Miss, but you're pretty much the opposite of comforting.

[orthecage]

My heart breaks at the very thought.

[dontdewitt]

You still have one of those?

[orthecage]

Possibly. Depending on if the crows got to it yet.

[dontdewitt]

[ He actually laughs. ]

So it's just semantics.

[orthecage]

Let's not bring grammar into this.

[cetea]

Do you blame her for her limited perspective?

[orthecage]

I'd have to blame everybody else equally. There's time enough for that, but it would get awfully repetitive, visiting everyone who happens to be wrong. Best to stick to the stand outs.

[cetea]

How reasonable of you. ... Unsurprising.

[orthecage]

I do try. Often succeed.

[cetea]

More often than many.

[orthecage]

Is all this flattery going somewhere?

[cetea]

Facts are hardly flattering. I'm only here to observe, much the same as you. Insight such as yours would shatter anyone's mind, in my version of things, so it's interesting to see what happens if it does not.

[orthecage]

Variables must always be accounted for. However little they affect the experiment, in the end.

[cetea]

And then it's a matter of finding out who can affect the most of them. Not many people have the potential to make a difference.

[orthecage]

So many of them, when coming upon a branch, choose the same one every time. It's dreadfully boring, not to mention a waste of good paper.

[cetea]

And then it becomes a search for the one who'll stand upon a crossroads that matters. Whether they know it or not.

[orthecage]

Takes a bit of nudging, too. Making sure all the pieces are in their proper place. Wouldn't want to introduce too many variables, or you could be there for an eternity.

[indeterminism]

You will find them capable of remembering, very much like a certain someone else they recall us when it suits them.

[Robert can scarcely recall how many times he has come and gone these days.]

I think I would be more inclined to inquire if this experiment will ultimately come to bear fruit.

[orthecage]

Capable, yes, but often unwilling to expend the effort required. Inertia must be overcome, after all.

It may yet, once all the variables are properly accounted for. Or it may end in failure. Which do you think is more likely, brother?