[ a nonchalant hum. they're curious as to why he's already scarred for life, but they get the feeling if they ask, they might have to spill secrets for secrets.
that's too much honesty, honestly. so they're gonna keep quiet and just follow, delicately picking at their hands and trying not to wince too much about stepping with their sore, bloodied feet. ...it might be nicer that they're not talking.
[ Dipper often prefers it himself, but in this desolated city, even the tiniest of sounds makes his skin crawl. Conversation at least keeps him from concentrating on the sound of shifting rocks that could be a mechanical beast about to attack.
He may be just an teensy bit paranoid. That, and their silence after what he'd just witnessed is a little unsettling. ]
How're your hands? And don't give me the obvious answer. Are you going to be able to use them if all we can do is bandage them?
[ He's trying to be practical here. They're going to have a rough time in this city if they can't even use their hands properly. ]
[ a jerk in their step that they will absolutely refuse to call a flinch, and a pause they'll refuse to acknowledge as hesitance ]
It sounds like a stupid reason.
[ and they don't really want to tell him, and it almost looks like they might not, but their desire to get him off their back is greater than their discomfort. for the moment. ]
Saw a memory I didn't like. In the mirror. So I smashed them. Satisfied?
[ and they didn't want anyone else to see it but, well, it's mostly because they didn't want to see it. ]
[ Wow, color him surprised. His eyebrows fly up, not because of the answer that is given - that actually sounds pretty reasonable - but because one was given at all. ]
Actually, yeah.
[ He doesn't really need to ask what they saw that they didn't like. It's not hard to imagine. There are plenty of things Dipper wouldn't want to see played out like that, though he might not have gotten quite so extreme. ]
The past is in the past for a reason. I don't know why this place is so bent on messing with our heads like that.
[ ...so that's not a stupid answer? chara stares at him, then looks elsewhere again. the ground, maybe. or around. those monsters could still be out and about, after all. ]
Maybe it's to make sure we don't get too comfortable here. Reminding us of what we lost or whatever. [ protip: traumatic memories aren't the way to go about that. ] I don't know, all I know is that it sucked.
[ He's earnest in his grumbling. Though Dipper hadn't seen his own memories played out in the mirrors, he knew what that feeling was like. He's been through plenty of weird and annoying affects around here, but some of the more psychological ones were just cruel. ]
It seems like it would serve CERES better to lull is into a false sense of security. Unless spikes in emotion contribute to their whole energy-siphoning scheme they've got going on here.
[ Could they at least be pleasant emotional spikes? That's apparently asking too much. ]
Yeah. Apparently CERES is using us as some kind of energy-generating scheme. I don't know exactly how or what they're using it for, but I bet it has something to do with VIVID.
[ And he has a hunch it might explain some of these fun effects they get to experience. ]
I wouldn't be so sure about that. There's something a little too weird about the fact that CERES pays us to play it. I think they're using it to study us, or something like that.
[ Or, at least, that's his prevailing theory. Maybe it is just a dumb game, but he doubts it. After all, that's how they first manifest into this world. Why? ]
[ He lets a little disgruntled noise out through his nose. ]
Well, you should care. This stuff only has to do with the fate of your life and your entire world. Buuuuuut you said that doesn't matter too much to you, didn't you?
That's right. Fate of my life, sure. My world? Not so much. [ ...mostly, and to their credit they do hesitate on that last statement.
they're really missing their adoptive goat mom, actually. they also don't sound half as convincing with their question--actually, they sound pretty damn curious. ] Is that really such an issue, Dipper?
[ He notes the hesitation, but he doesn't ask about it. It's not all that surprising to think that maybe they really don't care so little about their world as they initially led him to believe. That's pretty extreme, and...well.
If they cared enough to smash those mirrors, then something from their home world must be important to them. ]
Only if you antagonize the rest of us who are trying to get our worlds restored. And even then...do you really want to stay here? I mean, if we get our worlds back, you could probably go live in one that wasn't yours, if you hated it so much.
I never said I hated it, did I? I just said I didn't care about it. [ And that they like being alive more. Chara huffs, playing with the edges of their sleeves. ] I hate humanity there, and there's no way there's any world out there that's not filled with them.
[ It'd be so much better if there were ones filled with monsters instead... not monsters like the ones in this dark place, that immediately attack you, but ones that smile at you and give you butterscotch-cinnamon pie and tuck you in at night and... ]
I'd love staying here. Maybe. It's not like I'd ever come back to life in my world even if I went back to it, so there's no point to it.
Oh, I don't know. You might be surprised. The multiverse is a big place.
[ But Dipper can't confirm nor deny that there is a world out there completely bereft of humans. But there's probably something, right?
Not that he sees much use in arguing that point. But he's mentally noting to ask what their big beef with humanity is later. ]
I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you, either. If CERES can rebuild an entire world, who's to say they can't just write you back as a living person into it?
Then I'd ask them to write my brother back to life, too. I'm sure they have code for him. And then we'll do our plan again, except we'll do it right this time, no ifs, and, or "but Chara, I don't want to kill anyone"s about it. I'll still die, [ they want to live, they want to live so badly but ] but the Underground'll be free, and the king and queen'll be happy, and...
[ ...and wow, they sure are passionately going on about this. Chara bites their tongue (ow) and hums, considering something. ]
...I mean, the better solution would just be asking them to rebuild it without most of humanity on it, right. But would they really do that?
[ Okay, so...that was unexpected. Dipper shoots Chara a look of mixed surprise and uncertainty. There's a lot he could ask about couched in that contextless vignette, but he has a feeling that won't get him anywhere. As curious as he is, the train of this conversation isn't about Chara's past.
He swallows, diverting his gaze back to their path. ]
I don't know. I'm sure they could, and would if you made the case strong enough for it. But that's not really the question you should be asking. Why do you hate humanity so much, anyway?
Everyone always asks me that. [ They blow out softly, focusing on their hands. ] They never like the answer, either. "Not all humans." You're not going to be any different.
To be fair, most people don't like hearing why someone thinks their entire race is horrible. [ Humanity had had its fair share of atrocities. He knows that. But it had done a lot of good things, too.
Somehow, he doesn't think that argument would work on them. ]
I'm not going to try and change your mind about it. I'm just curious.
[ And that's the honest truth. If Chara goes on hating humanity, it's all the same to him as long as they don't try to hurt any of his friends. He has no reason to suspect they would, though. ]
[ Well, that's unexpected. Chara reaches up to tug the golden heart locket out of their shirt, playing with it as they talk. ]
Humans don't care about anyone but themselves. They start pointless wars and fights, they pick on people they think are weaker so they can feel stronger, they turn a blind eye to things that seem too troublesome to them. [ This is probably all true of them, too, but Chara is the biggest hypocrite this side of the city. ] Even the ones that seem nice aren't. They're just waiting for you to slip up so they can stab you in the back or laugh in your face.
[ They're waiting for that particular one to happen with Frisk, with Hajime, with a number of other humans that've been remotely friendly to them. ]
[ He shoots a cursory glance at the locket. Must be something important to them from home. He can't exactly say they're wrong about their accusations. Humans were guilty of all those things. They turn a blind eye - this he knows too well.
But it's not that simple. Nothing is. ]
Uhuh. Sooooo, I guess that means you don't do any of that stuff, do you?
[ CHARA IS SUPER NICE AND PERFECT ALL THE TIME, RIGHT... ]
Nope. [ Or not to the extreme other humans do, in their mind.
The people who get on the wrong end of their stick deserve to be there, so to speak. ] That's why the king thought I'd be a good ambassador between monsters and humans.
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that's too much honesty, honestly. so they're gonna keep quiet and just follow, delicately picking at their hands and trying not to wince too much about stepping with their sore, bloodied feet. ...it might be nicer that they're not talking.
chara's never minded silence after all. ]
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He may be just an teensy bit paranoid. That, and their silence after what he'd just witnessed is a little unsettling. ]
How're your hands? And don't give me the obvious answer. Are you going to be able to use them if all we can do is bandage them?
[ He's trying to be practical here. They're going to have a rough time in this city if they can't even use their hands properly. ]
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I can still move them, if that's what you're asking. [ it might hurt, but they can manage. ] I'll live.
[ ...just that. did you think you'd have a proper conversation after they've decided that silence is golden? Good Luck. ]
muffled dogsong playing in the distance
Well, that's...something, I guess. Living is about all you can ask for.
[ Since no one's really thriving in this wasteland. Everyone's miserable and hungry and pricklier than usual. Dipper included.
...Which is another reason why he rouses sleeping dogs. ]
So why were you smashing those mirrors?
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It sounds like a stupid reason.
[ and they don't really want to tell him, and it almost looks like they might not, but their desire to get him off their back is greater than their discomfort. for the moment. ]
Saw a memory I didn't like. In the mirror. So I smashed them. Satisfied?
[ and they didn't want anyone else to see it but, well, it's mostly because they didn't want to see it. ]
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Actually, yeah.
[ He doesn't really need to ask what they saw that they didn't like. It's not hard to imagine. There are plenty of things Dipper wouldn't want to see played out like that, though he might not have gotten quite so extreme. ]
The past is in the past for a reason. I don't know why this place is so bent on messing with our heads like that.
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Maybe it's to make sure we don't get too comfortable here. Reminding us of what we lost or whatever. [ protip: traumatic memories aren't the way to go about that. ] I don't know, all I know is that it sucked.
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[ He's earnest in his grumbling. Though Dipper hadn't seen his own memories played out in the mirrors, he knew what that feeling was like. He's been through plenty of weird and annoying affects around here, but some of the more psychological ones were just cruel. ]
It seems like it would serve CERES better to lull is into a false sense of security. Unless spikes in emotion contribute to their whole energy-siphoning scheme they've got going on here.
[ Could they at least be pleasant emotional spikes? That's apparently asking too much. ]
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...energy-siphoning scheme?
[ ...they don't pay much attention to anything. it doesn't mean anything to them or apply to them
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[ And he has a hunch it might explain some of these fun effects they get to experience. ]
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Why would it have something to do with that? It's just some dumb video game thing.
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[ Or, at least, that's his prevailing theory. Maybe it is just a dumb game, but he doubts it. After all, that's how they first manifest into this world. Why? ]
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[ ...but! ]
But you could be right, I guess. I don't really care. [ a reoccurring theme in their life: plot makes things complicated, just get to the point.
sorry they'll care marginally more after they die ]
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Well, you should care. This stuff only has to do with the fate of your life and your entire world. Buuuuuut you said that doesn't matter too much to you, didn't you?
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they're really missing their adoptive goat mom, actually. they also don't sound half as convincing with their question--actually, they sound pretty damn curious. ] Is that really such an issue, Dipper?
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If they cared enough to smash those mirrors, then something from their home world must be important to them. ]
Only if you antagonize the rest of us who are trying to get our worlds restored. And even then...do you really want to stay here? I mean, if we get our worlds back, you could probably go live in one that wasn't yours, if you hated it so much.
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[ It'd be so much better if there were ones filled with monsters instead... not monsters like the ones in this dark place, that immediately attack you, but ones that smile at you and give you butterscotch-cinnamon pie and tuck you in at night and... ]
I'd love staying here. Maybe. It's not like I'd ever come back to life in my world even if I went back to it, so there's no point to it.
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[ But Dipper can't confirm nor deny that there is a world out there completely bereft of humans. But there's probably something, right?
Not that he sees much use in arguing that point. But he's mentally noting to ask what their big beef with humanity is later. ]
I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you, either. If CERES can rebuild an entire world, who's to say they can't just write you back as a living person into it?
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Then I'd ask them to write my brother back to life, too. I'm sure they have code for him. And then we'll do our plan again, except we'll do it right this time, no ifs, and, or "but Chara, I don't want to kill anyone"s about it. I'll still die, [ they want to live, they want to live so badly but ] but the Underground'll be free, and the king and queen'll be happy, and...
[ ...and wow, they sure are passionately going on about this. Chara bites their tongue (ow) and hums, considering something. ]
...I mean, the better solution would just be asking them to rebuild it without most of humanity on it, right. But would they really do that?
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He swallows, diverting his gaze back to their path. ]
I don't know. I'm sure they could, and would if you made the case strong enough for it. But that's not really the question you should be asking. Why do you hate humanity so much, anyway?
[ Aren't they human, too? ]
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Everyone always asks me that. [ They blow out softly, focusing on their hands. ] They never like the answer, either. "Not all humans." You're not going to be any different.
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Somehow, he doesn't think that argument would work on them. ]
I'm not going to try and change your mind about it. I'm just curious.
[ And that's the honest truth. If Chara goes on hating humanity, it's all the same to him as long as they don't try to hurt any of his friends. He has no reason to suspect they would, though. ]
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Humans don't care about anyone but themselves. They start pointless wars and fights, they pick on people they think are weaker so they can feel stronger, they turn a blind eye to things that seem too troublesome to them. [ This is probably all true of them, too, but Chara is the biggest hypocrite this side of the city. ] Even the ones that seem nice aren't. They're just waiting for you to slip up so they can stab you in the back or laugh in your face.
[ They're waiting for that particular one to happen with Frisk, with Hajime, with a number of other humans that've been remotely friendly to them. ]
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But it's not that simple. Nothing is. ]
Uhuh. Sooooo, I guess that means you don't do any of that stuff, do you?
[ CHARA IS SUPER NICE AND PERFECT ALL THE TIME, RIGHT... ]
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The people who get on the wrong end of their stick deserve to be there, so to speak. ] That's why the king thought I'd be a good ambassador between monsters and humans.
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