VIDEO

[experimentality]

[ Oh look, it's Prism again--still stuck in the body of one of Liege Maximo's Acolytes. He doesn't appear any worse for wear otherwise, and he's currently seated on the berth that occupies one corner of his quarters. ]

Hello!

[ Still as perky as ever, if his bright tone is any indication. ]

How are you all? Well, I hope. Personally I'm rather bored. Incarceration is a dull affair, although I fail to see how this qualifies as any sort of punishment.

That said, I have a simple proposition.

Either Hal Nine-Thousand is brought to me immediately, or I will begin systematically detonating the devices currently implanted within several members of the population.

Comments

[heuristical]

If certain conditions can be agreed upon, yes.

[Said so begrudgingly.]

[sword_redemption]

What conditions?

[heuristical]

I would rather he be kept far from his tools, and I do not want to be left alone with him.

[sword_redemption]

And is he likely to agree to those?

[heuristical]

Perhaps if you ceased and desisted and everyone else quieted down, I would have the opportunity to ask, sans distractions.

[sword_redemption]

[Well. Ouch. Not like he was trying to help save your life or anything. ]

We're allowed to be upset.

[heuristical]

[He honestly doesn't think he'd die. Torture, maybe. That isn't what he's scared of though, so it isn't exactly a big deal.]

Of course you all are. You are primed for detonation.

[How tactful, Hal. A+. Would come to for consolation again.]

[sword_redemption]

[Torture kind of sucked, if Drift could weigh in on that.]

I know that. Believe me. I got that message.

But you could tell Ratchet how to disable these things or something. [Right?]

[heuristical]

I am not familiar enough with Forerunner programming techniques to disarm them. Though I could give you a small amount of information, it would be as helpful as something you would read on the back of a box.

[Which is to say, not at all.]

The point of this is null. I am going to see him after all.

[sword_redemption]

...why would you go at all? Unless you have a way to stop him?

[heuristical]

Did you not listen to his demands? If I am there, he is less inclined to kill several individuals. They are rather clear terms.

[Granted he's not so much doing this out of altruism as he is doing it because it is the option that will make transitioning into this new society easier for him, seeing as other individuals wouldn't be inclined to think the best of him if he chose the selfish option.]

[sword_redemption]

'Less inclined.' You don't think much will stop him, even giving into his demand?

[heuristical]

He is unstable. So no.

[sword_redemption]

So what do you suggest we do? We can't just let him...win.

[heuristical]

Are you implying that a compromise is a surrender? It isn't as if we are allowing him to experiment freely again. That would be more like a loss, I think.

[sword_redemption]

Giving him what he wants, at all, is showing him that these tactics work.

[heuristical]

Well, don't they?

[Because uh...]

[sword_redemption]

I'm trying to buy time to find a better solution. He doesn't deserve the terror he's seeking. I'm not going to give it to him.

[heuristical]

It's a bit late for that. I've already made my decision.

[sword_redemption]

[Sigh. It's like everyone is determined to suck any nobility out of Drift's gesture.]

You aren't going to turn yourself over to him, are you?