After the storm

[jianai]

[1]
[Late at night, Ren is looking up at the starry sky. It is peaceful and quiet, with wind gently blowing, a fresh breeze on everyone's faces.]

I was a fool, wasn't I?

If you close your heart, if you stay distant from others - then they can't really hurt you. And if you are not sure about someone's intentions, that is the best way to avoid disappointment and harm.

And yet...

And yet I will continue being a fool.

I am aware of horrible things human beings are capable of. I even experienced it first hand - this doesn't change anything. Because, every day, I am surrounded by proof of wonderful things people are capable of, too. People of Earth, and of other planets.

[Ren notices the shining object in the distance. It was not there just a few days' ago. Cybertron.]

Great kindness, incredible cruelty and everything in between. That's what it means to be human, doesn't it? Sorry for waxing so philosophically.

[2]
Hello!

[Ren approaches people they know with a glint in their eye. It might be time to run.]

So many people were concerned about recent happenings, I'd like to help them get at least some relief. And I know how.

Would you like to attend a religious ceremony with me?

Comments

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Of course they didn't. Nobody does, humans want company. It's just the way it is.

And you seem pretty human, so you're probably also better off with it regardless.

[jianai]

That's a very big statement you just said so casually, Alex. I should be grateful.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Well, you do.

[jianai]

Yet I am not a human. In fact my way of thinking was always very not unlike humans - and I'd be the first to admit it.

For a while, I was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if I lost this strange point of view of mine.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Humans are pretty good at not being like one thing, which makes it easier to be a lot like us. Even things like preserving our lives and reproducing isn't universal to us.

[jianai]

Some stances are more unusual than others.

But, you raise a good point. When it boils down to it, it's very hard, almost impossible, to narrow down: what is, and what isn't, human behavior.

We are both alike and very different at the same time. Each and every one of us.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Yeah. But humans need other people and you're probably the same.

[jianai]

Even those of my kin who hate humanity, are drawn to one another. Loneliness is heard to bear.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

And that's why you're not a fool. You'd just choose to be alone otherwise.

[jianai]

Well I can't really continue this, can I? I forfeit the argument. Looks like I've been defeated.

[Ren says mischeviously.]

However, if there are people who really can and choose to live alone... I would not call them fools either. I am sure they had their own reasons.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

[The first comment doesn't get dignified with a verbal response.]

I wonder what kind of person it'd be, though.

[jianai]

Probably someone who has been hurt deeply.

Or, alternatively - someone with such a strong will that they do not care what others do.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Or maybe just someone living somewhere very isolated. Like somebody on the American frontier or something.

[jianai]

Is that really a choice in that matter, though? Or is it a necessity?

Is it ever a choice?

[itbelongsinamuseum]

No idea. Probably not.