Crystal

[youwonscience]

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Cosima Niehaus
RECIPIENT: All Riftwatch personnel
NOTES: Given the nature of the mod plot in the Arlathan Forest, possible mention of injury, memory loss, etc. (Also h/t to MJ from whom I shamelessly stole this idea.)

Hey, everyone, it's Cosima. I'm putting together some of the preliminary notes for everything that went down in the Arlathan Forest, and it seems like it would be a good idea to compile a master list of the stuff sacrificed there. I mean, obviously, given the nature of some of the sacrifices we might have to get approximate, but even so ... I think it's information worth preserving. You never know what's gonna end up useful, if nothing else.

If you don't trust the private setting on the crystals, you can come talk to me in the Research work room about it, I'll be here for a while.

Comments

[elegiaque]

I gave my right eye.

Gwenaëlle Baudin, ( after a beat, in case cosima doesn't recognize her voice. it really doesn't seem like there's much point being private about it when it's so impossible to miss. )

[youwonscience]

Thank you, got it. From what I've heard, it was sort of bloodless, the actual mechanism of giving up something physical. Was that true for you?

[Her tone is not without a hint of sympathy, but is mostly professional.]

[elegiaque]

That's correct. I agreed to give them that, rather than the alternative — they asked for my eye or for a memory. It was just...gone, after I agreed.

[katabasis]

Flint. My swordsmanship.

And if you hear from no one else in Forces, [barring Gwenaëlle who's been so forthright] Say so and I'll see about inexpertly slicing it out of them so as to produce you a list.

[youwonscience]

Noted, Commander, thank you. I'll let you know.

[After a moment of reflection, she switches to private, in case the answer to this is no:]

It also might be useful to follow up later with people who lost skills, assuming they attempt to regain them. Would you like me to make a note to coordinate that, in the future?

[incaenstrix]

[ This person from Forces says, very nervously, because she's just been implicitly threatened with maiming: ]

I, um - I didn't...go. So - nothing sacrificed.

[ There. She's done her assignment. ]

private etc

[katabasis]

[Evidently unconcerned by the shift toward a private line—]

I would. We may as well have some record as to whether the loss proves permanent.

Once you've an initial list from this inquiry, provide me a copy of your notes. I suspect most mean to go about managing their losses on their own terms, but we may be able to lay aside something as a company to supplement. A fund for glass eyes [could be the driest kind of humor, but mostly isn't], hours permitted during the work day for study.

[He knows of at least one language in want of relearning.]

[atonally]

[cozen]

Half my hearing. Or, no—it doesn't feel like half of it. I can hear more than half of things. The hearing from one ear, though. That is gone.

I suppose I am fortunate,

[ given the above, ]

that I was allowed to keep the ear.

[youwonscience]

It's interesting. I mean, it sucks, but as someone who's explicitly looking for patterns.

The thing I didn't give up with some fingers, but I feel like that's a situation where losing the utility and losing the party itself are pretty much identical. I'd think eyes would be more like ears, but what do I know.

[bouchonne]

[ Poutily: ]

I'm color-blind now.

[ the obvious joke, given his penchant for garish colors, is: you weren't before? ]

[youwonscience]

[She doesn't know him well enough to make that joke, or indeed to tell if he's making one. After a pause, she does say:]

I'd be extra careful with the lyrium samples, then.

[Which is dry, but also true.]

[luaithre]

My letters. Reading and writing.

[ Crazy, seeing his grammar in any recent paperwork has improved. ]

Marcus.

[youwonscience]

Thank you, Captain.

[She's briefly and fervently thankful that wasn't one of the choices she faced.]

I may follow up with you, eventually, assuming you plan to try to get them back.

[propulsion]

I'd tell you but I don't remember.

[ And also she was there. So really he's here for the commiserating. ]

[youwonscience]

[Dry:]

There's a column in the chart for that.

Lucky that sympathy cards aren't a thing in Thedas, they'd have to invent a new style. "Sorry for the nothing."

action.

[atonally]

[ As apparently required on threat of bodily harm, Redvers eventually appears to rap his knuckles on the edge of her desk (for want of a door to knock on) and say, ]

Something I didn't want known was made known.

Will that do?

[ Of course he does not trust the private setting on the magic talking crystals. ]

[youwonscience]

[She looks up from her desk, notes spread out in organized chaos. It's presumably going a bit slower with her arm still in a sling, though at least it's not her dominant one.]

Made known to who? The people with you? The people you wanted to keep the information from? I guess assuming those are different.

[tender]

[ because Commander Said— ]

Rivaini. The language, I mean. I was fluent, before.

[youwonscience]

Thanks. And, uh, my sympathies, I know additional languages can be hard in adulthood.

[And also she can imagine there might be some emotional components, given the nature of pretty much all the other sacrifices, but this is a public workplace interaction.]

[heorte]

[ ]

[favoriteanalyst]

[Well, damn, if Flint's going to just say it so openly, then...] Mobius. I've lost all feeling in my hands. I can still use them, technically, but...that's technical. Feels like there's nothing past my wrists. It's kind of by memory of knowing the muscles are there to move them, in a way.

Sorry about all the things I've been breaking and will be bound to break in the future.

[youwonscience]

Fuck, man, that sucks.

[And hits a bit close to home, given the choice she didn't make.]

If you think of something that might help, let me know. I'm making a list of potential areas for research or acquisitions for sacrifices causing practical issues for agents.

[indissection]

Two fingers, on my right hand. The index and the ring.

[youwonscience]

[It's striking enough that she says aloud:] Two fingers was the offer I turned down.

[Immediately a bit embarrassed, she adds,] Thank you for responding.