re_alignment | [Video] feeling the Call

Entry tags:

tf: idw | drift

[Video] feeling the Call

[Drift has looked better. His armor's dented and stained, but nothing looks obviously fatal. More than that, he looks...tired. And twitchy. Which is not a good combination in anyone, least of all him.]

Going back out to the Badlands.

Don't follow.

((OOC: because of his canon (D-Void) and having been into the Badlands twice already, he's feeling the effects of the Calling sooner than anyone else. BUT feel free to comm him or stop him or whatever! ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It...

[MIXED EXPRESSION. ALL THE MIXED EXPRESSION. you've struck a nerve or memory or /something/, Drift, something Vector doesn't want to talk about and is that pain in his optics and]

You are...not making this worse. If anything, the opposite.

How many times?

[He wants to trust Vector: Wing does, wholeheartedly. But then things like this happen.]

These are our friends, some of them! How can this be making anything better? For anyone?

It...

[Vector's strained expression remains - and then he does something to the transmission. adjusting a few things, expression focusing just a bit, still tight and unhappy but-]

Drift, I am sworn not to speak of the things you ask of me. You ask me to break my promise. Please- for now, suffice it to say that we have watched more than those who are now here wander in to the Badlands before, and we have mourned their Loss. We do not wish for this to happen again, and your simple presence here helps prevent that.

I know you do not trust me.

But if nothing else, trust that.

...until we, too, succumb to the Badlands. Or whatever's taken those who have come before.

It's not that I don't trust you. You haven't lied. You just haven't...told us everything.

We will not have that!

[there's /almost/ an 'again', but he cuts himself off before outright saying it. still he seems- angry?

not at Drift, at least?

this is clearly a sensitive subject]

How could you stop it from happening?

[He senses the anger. And he's not angry himself, just...frustrated. Because real lives are at stake to him. Friends' lives.]

What we know-

[and he looks like he really wants to rub his face at this point, but, well.

appearances.]

...what we know, for a fact, as the surest way to prevent you from succumbing to the Badlands...is to cement the bond between the two of us. Or whatever patron has been forged. So long as there is the bond, the stronger it gets, the more powerful one can be against the Badlands. It is the only thing we can count on to lead us to removing them, and to end this once and for all.

[Drift just brings out the best in mechs, doesn't he?]

...cement the bond. [Why does that sound like a terrible idea?]

One way or another. There is power in it, and through that power, we both gain strength. But that can only happen with time.

And at what price? Great power comes at a cost. Otherwise everyone would have it.

[Or, something like that. ]

It depends on the nature of that power. For some...it is a simple matter of time. For others...there is a route to cement it far more quickly, but it is not to be taken lightly.

...so it happens, one way or another.

[Fast or slow, it seems.]

What does that entail?

Unless that connection is denied.

[a brief pause here, and then he continues]

We call it 'Initiation'. Formalizing the bond between Firstforged and Marked...granting direct power, and expecting certain responsibilities and duties in return.

By you or the one you offer it to?

And does it save them?

Traditionally, it has been both.

[but...there's a flicker, there. are you really going to make him admit it, Drift. are you really.]

It offers...a greater degree of protection.

[That sounds...only vaguely reassuring. ]

And what does it get you? [Because that protection hasn't seemed to work for those past refugees.]

[that, at least, there's little to no hesitation in answering;]

Assistance. One who can be trusted to handle matters here, while my own attention is elsewhere - or vice versa.

Where else-- [He cuts himself off. Surprise, even Drift realizes sometimes he asks too many questions.]

Don't we all assist you?

You do.

But Initiates are given the power to do much more.

And how do you decide?

[Oops. Now he's asking questions again.]

How we decide whom we Initiate? It is our own decision.

For me, I would not accept any who had not proven themselves.

Like, is there a test or something? An interview?

[He just wants to know the process, okay? Is it like the terrors of the Earth DMV?!]

I have heard of a saying- "Actions speak louder than words." What someone does of their own accord, without the promise of reward, I think shows best their character.

[read; /trying/ to impress him only goes so far.]

But words play a part, too. You can do the wrong thing, but for the right reasons.

[Drift knows that from experience.]

Those things will still stand on their own.

[Video] feeling the Call

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[Video | PRIVATE, UNHACKABLE] such as killing someone, drift?

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