dear_mun | On settling on him for paradisa

A lot of things shouldn't have happened, Ted. But maybe Paradisa will end up being good for you.

That's the understatement of the century, Peter. No offense, but I think us meeting in Kirby Plaza's right up there on "things that shouldn't have happened".

Think so? The way mun's telling it, the place's got a habit of messing with people just because it wants to. I guess that "Dead Zone" place doesn't sound too bad though. I could deal with not having to worry about nuking anyone a couple of days every month.

None taken. It wasn't one of my best days.

Yeah, Paradisa screws with you. But there are some good things too. You can end up making friends, and there are a lot of people with abilities. It dosn't feel as lonely.

I'm still trying to figure out what Bennet thought I was gonna do there. I mean, yeah we had to take down the tracking system that was keeping tabs on all of us, but Hana took care of the satellite I guess, and if what mun's telling me is the truth, that "Walker System" was just a little girl. Think whatever you want about me, but I'm not gonna nuke a little kid.

[That gets his attention.]

Yeah? I dunno, maybe. Mun's still got a lot of work to do on my app. I guess as long as I don't hurt anyone. I never meant to, you know. What happened in Texas wasn't my fault. I was keeping control until that asshole Thompson shot me.

I don't really know, either. I think he goes to extremes, sometimes, to protect Claire.

... I know. Believe me, I understand more than anyone.

I guess I can't blame him for that. I did the same thing for Karen, not that it did me any good.

This's why I try to stay away from people, you know? I know what I'm capable of, and if that Company had just left me alone, I could've figured it out, gotten myself away from people before anyone else got hurt.

Maybe. But you can still figure it out if you come to Paradisa. There's no Company here.

What happens when you lose control?

Are you a serial killer?

Well, you know how people say that when they get upset they "explode". Well, it's like that, but...a little more literal.

Why would you make that assumption?

Do you literally "explode" into serial violence? Is that why you can't be around people?

I don't know, it just seems likely.

No, I mean I actually explode, like an atomic bomb. That's why I can't be around people.

Have I killed people? Yeah, I can admit that, but Dr. Fresco was an accident, and Karen...poor Karen, I didn't even know I was killing her until it was too late to do anything about it.

If you actually explode, you'd be in little pieces all over the floor somewhere. I think you're exaggerating.

Anyway, to accidentally kill one person might be understandable, but how can you kill two people without realising you're doing it?

No, I'm not.

[Ted holds up a glowing, clenched fist, through which his bones can be seen glowing white-hot through the skin, and when he opens his hand, a small, localized explosion happens and quickly dissipates.]

Karen got sick by being around me, and Dr. Fresco said nothing could be done to help her. I got upset, and I lost control. Karen died of radiation poisoning because of me, and Dr. Fresco died because I exploded.

[OH GOD FIRE! Shrieky throw his hands over his face and runs away a few paces when Ted decides to make a tiny horrible explosion right in front of him, but after a few minutes he comes creeping back to be irritating again:]

What's radiation poisoning, and how can you have caused it?

And, do you... do that a lot? With the exploding? Does it hurt your bones?

You...don't know anything about atomic energy, do you?

[He sighs, only because he knows a lot about atomic energy. He had a lot of time to kill out in the desert, and a desire to learn as much about his ability as he could.]

Radiation poisoning is what happens when a person is exposed to a lot of radioactive energy over a period of time. It builds up in our bodies, and our bodies have no idea what to do with it, so it makes us sick. I caused it because my body puts out a lot of radiation all the time. It's...an ability I guess I have.

I try not to. It doesn't hurt or anything, but...I don't want to hurt anyone else. I know what you might be thinking, but I'm not a killer.

When you said you were like an atomic bomb, I thought it must be alchemy of some kind? Or a sort of gunpowder?

[Ted is being pretty damn patient about this, considering this jerk opened the conversation by accusing him an exaggerating serial killer. Shrieky's fairly impressed.]

Does it make you sick? If you're always full of it?

I don't think you're a killer. It sounds like it's just something that happens around you, not something that you do to people.

Something like that, yeah. Radioactivity is usually caused by radioactive material, like plutonium or whatever. Thing is, my body creates radiation, and the closest I've ever gotten to radioactive material is when I sold an x-ray machine to a free clinic.

[He figures it's not worth getting upset over. Ted knows who, and what he is, what he's capable of. It's not his fault that no one else does.]

Nope. Never really figured that one out. Everything else around me gets sick and dies, but I don't.

Well, the FBI seem to think I'm a terrorist, so you be the judge. Dr. Fresco was my fault, but it's because I lost my temper. As long as I stay in control, no one has to get hurt.

[Shrieky nods sympathetically, although his eyes have glazed over a little by the time Ted finishes speaking. There... were a good few words in there that were pretty much meaningless to him.]

It's hard not to kill people when you're angry even at the best of times. I don't think you should blame yourself for that.

If I exploded every time I lost my temper, there'd just be craters everywhere. People would have to live underground to get away from the constant explosions.

Sounds like I'm not the only one with mun trouble.

On settling on him for paradisa

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