[He doesn't mince niceties beyond that, but will be where they've agreed. The bar isn't a comfortable place, but some people seem to like it. They're also the ones who seem to not mind occasionally being drugged by bartending demons, but the community here accepts all kinds.
He fusses with his device as he waits, mostly texting his wife and flipping through the network for new posts.]
[Look, until Shorty's 2.0 is up and running, Waverly needs some level of socialization. She's gotta go somewhere. Hopefully she won't get drugged in the process.
But she spots Fitz not long after she arrives and makes her way closer.]
[Wow, Fitz, she may not resemble Wynonna, but they definitely have a very similar temper. But since he doesn't say any of that, she just smiles and slides into the seat across from him.]
Of course. Thanks for meeting me. Hopefully, this won't take up too much of your time.
[Provided she doesn't spiral into various tangents.]
So Wynonna mentioned that you said that the Veiled Order was the us before us. That kind of tracks with what Loki said about one of them being the first sinner. At first I was thinking Cain, but what he said he saw in the memory didn't match up, so maybe it wasn't the first sinner, but more the first one to be put through this particular ... experiment. Or whatever this is.
[She pauses as she clicks the top of her pen to take notes.]
Do you know if it's just been us and them? Have there been other iterations of the same experiment before?
Married to the most brilliant woman here. [And it's still recent enough that he feels the need to provide unsolicited information every chance he gets. He'd ramble on more if Waverly hadn't taken the initiative to get down to business.]
I doubt there'd only be two sets like this. The way spacetime contracts here, it wouldn't make sense for only a few hundred people to ever be drawn in. It makes sense that either this is quite old and more substantive of an operation than what we've seen, or that someone is taking great pains to make it seem as though that's the case.
[She nods, considering the variables for a moment.]
Well, that makes me wonder - how many groups like the Veiled Order are out there? And where are they and what do they know that might help us figure this place out, maybe get us towards an exit.
Potentially, infinite. I'm sure Lucifer has had time to amass a number of enemies. But it's probably relevant that this hotel was placed with the intention of keeping us secluded. It also isn't very old at all. I believe I was among the initial group of arrivals. We might expect more attacks from groups like the Order as more of them track down our location.
So he starts with a small group of us, keeps us here, tortures us for a while, then abandons us for whatever reason to start again with a new group. And each time he retreats a little bit further into Hell as he does it.
[That is interesting.]
Why does he abandon them so completely? What did they do to deserve that?
[She's thinking it's probably because he got bored, but Wynonna says that Fitz is on Team Lucifer. Maybe he has insight she doesn't.]
Lucifer seems... conflicted in how he views us. He seems to genuinely hope for our redemption, but his perspective is archaic. The order for our torture comes from the being above him, with the assumption that suffering is cleansing. He doesn't always understand why our group responds so badly and assumes the worst of him. I believe we can teach him about more progressive means of therapy, but I don't know that he's always ready to listen. Given time, perhaps the rebellions grew grander in previous attempts.
Early on, a subsection of our group tried to free us all by setting off explosives throughout the hotel. Lucifer was made to suffer greatly on behalf of our disobedience, then. We were punished as a community afterward. If the attempt was more destructive than it already was, the idea of "damnation" might have become more literal for the others.
[He doesn't actually realize how close he is to concluding that the others were abandoned because they must have done something to deserve it.]
[He may not realize it, but Waverly sure does. She also doesn't particularly like that conclusion and she makes a face.]
So we have issues with being tortured, we fight back and when we become too much trouble, he abandons us.
[There's a beat, when she closes her eyes and holds up her hands.]
I'm sorry, but I don't think that there was ever a point where people thought that being tortured was a good thing. There's a reason they call it torture. So chalking it up to his "archaic views" doesn't really work for me.
[Well it almost sounds wrong when she puts it that way. He frowns.]
That isn't what I meant. I... don't think he's hurting us by choice. He doesn't see a problem with the system as it exists here because it's the only one he knows. He needs to be helped to progress past the Hammurabian ideals he's normalized.
He's a figurehead that makes a convenient target, but he's being coerced. He's punished for our rebellions. What if the groups thought they were being abandoned when he was just locked away to be tortured on their behalf? I believe there's a reason that we're being discouraged from considering the entity prompting his behavior. Our lists don't come from him. He isn't responsible for our arrivals or releases.
[Waverly makes a face. Part of her does understand where his empathy is coming from. He had to make sense of this place after being here for a year. But she also doesn't think that that excuses any of this.]
It isn't just about him being a figurehead. Everyone has a choice.
[She thinks of Bobo and how she thought that maybe Robert Svane was in there once upon a time. She wanted to believe that he wouldn't hurt her. And then he turned around and killed her father because he wanted to stay on Bulshar's good side. Whoever Lucifer's Bulshar is, she doesn't particularly care. It doesn't make what he's doing right.
She holds up her hands.]
Look, it sounds like you two are close, and I'm not wanting to pick a fight. But I think you're giving him a little too much credit. He's literally one of the most famous rebels in existence. What it sounds like to me is that he doesn't think we're worth rebelling for. What he's getting out of punishing us is worth more to him than trying to help us.
[It's a kind of sense, twisted and shaped as it is by his trauma. It keeps him from pushing away from the conversation, though, when she mentions that everyone has a choice. That's what he tells Lucifer often, in confidence, as he struggles over the state of their collective imprisonment.]
He thinks we're worth risking a great deal, actually. But it's not as if a rebellion on that scale is something that can be achieved overnight.
[His eyes shift away, and he signals to a bartender. This is a conversation that needs some scotch in it.]
What makes you think there are no plans? Seems like a bit of a cognitive leap to reach a conclusion like that.
[She hasn't been here very long. Everything she's seen seems to be evidence to the contrary, and a lot of Lucifer sucking up to the people upstairs. But then, she realizes, given how close Lucifer and Fitz are, that it's possible he knows something she doesn't.]
[Some people see sucking up, and others see keeping one's enemies close.]
Something like that. There aren't many places here that might accommodate conversation of that sort. Hard to tell who's listening when so many demons have enhanced senses.
Waverly reaches for her notebook and starts writing something, almost like she's taking notes. For one, sound proofing a saferoom at Hella Shorty's might be a good idea. But in the interim, they can make due with hoping it's in a place where demons won't actively go.]
Good point. I guess finding places like that should probably be high on the priority list.
[He trails off as she writes. He's quiet as he accepts his drink order and knocks a gulp of it back.]
But I hope you understand that a plan like what you're suggesting would take time. It's the sort of thing that can only be attempted once. It needs to be perfectly crafted to maximize the chance for success.
[Not maybe in the sense that he's wrong - the plan should absolutely take time and make sure it minimizes as much collateral damage as possible. She tears out the page she was scribbling on, and folds it in half before passing it to him. It reads:
If you want a demon-free space, at least in intent, come to Hella Shorty's.
The address in Hellburbia is underneath.]
But I don't think that should preclude us from trying.
[He accepts the note and glances at it briefly before stowing it in a pocket. He doesn't make any further eye contact.]
Getting late, yeah? Perhaps we can chat more another time. Nothing but time available to us, after all. I'm certain we've covered everything you set out to discuss.
[If he has an issue with a change in venue, he doesn't vocalize it.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[He doesn't mince niceties beyond that, but will be where they've agreed. The bar isn't a comfortable place, but some people seem to like it. They're also the ones who seem to not mind occasionally being drugged by bartending demons, but the community here accepts all kinds.
He fusses with his device as he waits, mostly texting his wife and flipping through the network for new posts.]
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But she spots Fitz not long after she arrives and makes her way closer.]
Fitz? Hi, I'm Waverly.
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It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your patience.
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Of course. Thanks for meeting me. Hopefully, this won't take up too much of your time.
[Provided she doesn't spiral into various tangents.]
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[He sets his phone in his pocket and gives her his full attention.]
The missus has cleared me to have an evening away to handle affairs as long as it takes to do so.
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[Waverly can't help herself. But moving on.]
So Wynonna mentioned that you said that the Veiled Order was the us before us. That kind of tracks with what Loki said about one of them being the first sinner. At first I was thinking Cain, but what he said he saw in the memory didn't match up, so maybe it wasn't the first sinner, but more the first one to be put through this particular ... experiment. Or whatever this is.
[She pauses as she clicks the top of her pen to take notes.]
Do you know if it's just been us and them? Have there been other iterations of the same experiment before?
no subject
I doubt there'd only be two sets like this. The way spacetime contracts here, it wouldn't make sense for only a few hundred people to ever be drawn in. It makes sense that either this is quite old and more substantive of an operation than what we've seen, or that someone is taking great pains to make it seem as though that's the case.
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Well, that makes me wonder - how many groups like the Veiled Order are out there? And where are they and what do they know that might help us figure this place out, maybe get us towards an exit.
[She won't give up on that. She can't.]
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[That is interesting.]
Why does he abandon them so completely? What did they do to deserve that?
[She's thinking it's probably because he got bored, but Wynonna says that Fitz is on Team Lucifer. Maybe he has insight she doesn't.]
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[He frowns then, considering.]
Lucifer seems... conflicted in how he views us. He seems to genuinely hope for our redemption, but his perspective is archaic. The order for our torture comes from the being above him, with the assumption that suffering is cleansing. He doesn't always understand why our group responds so badly and assumes the worst of him. I believe we can teach him about more progressive means of therapy, but I don't know that he's always ready to listen. Given time, perhaps the rebellions grew grander in previous attempts.
Early on, a subsection of our group tried to free us all by setting off explosives throughout the hotel. Lucifer was made to suffer greatly on behalf of our disobedience, then. We were punished as a community afterward. If the attempt was more destructive than it already was, the idea of "damnation" might have become more literal for the others.
[He doesn't actually realize how close he is to concluding that the others were abandoned because they must have done something to deserve it.]
no subject
So we have issues with being tortured, we fight back and when we become too much trouble, he abandons us.
[There's a beat, when she closes her eyes and holds up her hands.]
I'm sorry, but I don't think that there was ever a point where people thought that being tortured was a good thing. There's a reason they call it torture. So chalking it up to his "archaic views" doesn't really work for me.
no subject
That isn't what I meant. I... don't think he's hurting us by choice. He doesn't see a problem with the system as it exists here because it's the only one he knows. He needs to be helped to progress past the Hammurabian ideals he's normalized.
He's a figurehead that makes a convenient target, but he's being coerced. He's punished for our rebellions. What if the groups thought they were being abandoned when he was just locked away to be tortured on their behalf? I believe there's a reason that we're being discouraged from considering the entity prompting his behavior. Our lists don't come from him. He isn't responsible for our arrivals or releases.
no subject
It isn't just about him being a figurehead. Everyone has a choice.
[She thinks of Bobo and how she thought that maybe Robert Svane was in there once upon a time. She wanted to believe that he wouldn't hurt her. And then he turned around and killed her father because he wanted to stay on Bulshar's good side. Whoever Lucifer's Bulshar is, she doesn't particularly care. It doesn't make what he's doing right.
She holds up her hands.]
Look, it sounds like you two are close, and I'm not wanting to pick a fight. But I think you're giving him a little too much credit. He's literally one of the most famous rebels in existence. What it sounds like to me is that he doesn't think we're worth rebelling for. What he's getting out of punishing us is worth more to him than trying to help us.
no subject
He thinks we're worth risking a great deal, actually. But it's not as if a rebellion on that scale is something that can be achieved overnight.
[His eyes shift away, and he signals to a bartender. This is a conversation that needs some scotch in it.]
What makes you think there are no plans? Seems like a bit of a cognitive leap to reach a conclusion like that.
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[She hasn't been here very long. Everything she's seen seems to be evidence to the contrary, and a lot of Lucifer sucking up to the people upstairs. But then, she realizes, given how close Lucifer and Fitz are, that it's possible he knows something she doesn't.]
Unless there's something he's shared with you?
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Something like that. There aren't many places here that might accommodate conversation of that sort. Hard to tell who's listening when so many demons have enhanced senses.
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Waverly reaches for her notebook and starts writing something, almost like she's taking notes. For one, sound proofing a saferoom at Hella Shorty's might be a good idea. But in the interim, they can make due with hoping it's in a place where demons won't actively go.]
Good point. I guess finding places like that should probably be high on the priority list.
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[He trails off as she writes. He's quiet as he accepts his drink order and knocks a gulp of it back.]
But I hope you understand that a plan like what you're suggesting would take time. It's the sort of thing that can only be attempted once. It needs to be perfectly crafted to maximize the chance for success.
no subject
[Not maybe in the sense that he's wrong - the plan should absolutely take time and make sure it minimizes as much collateral damage as possible. She tears out the page she was scribbling on, and folds it in half before passing it to him. It reads:
If you want a demon-free space, at least in intent, come to Hella Shorty's.
The address in Hellburbia is underneath.]
But I don't think that should preclude us from trying.
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Getting late, yeah? Perhaps we can chat more another time. Nothing but time available to us, after all. I'm certain we've covered everything you set out to discuss.
[If he has an issue with a change in venue, he doesn't vocalize it.]
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Thanks again, for coming. I know you and Wynonna don't see eye to eye, but I appreciate you talking to me.
[Waverly also doesn't agree with everything, but she's ... a little more civil than her sister.]