voice

[corundrum]

[A ponderous, quiet sound of crystal tinkling against crystal comes through the feed for a moment or two before someone takes over. It's a deep, androgynous voice, calm and somewhat light, as if with no concerns to speak of.]

I think that display earlier in the month taught us all a little bit more about these "talents" we grasp in coming to this world, huh? But I wonder if anyone knows even more than that yet. Do you think Dreamfolk past have written about this for us?

A strange thing happened recently, too. I felt as if I'd been leaving aside this so-called talent of mine, almost...but in my absence from it, it seems to have become ten times as powerful. It seems like even a neglected talent can flower unexpectedly.

Now I'm wondering whether all the people training so hard earlier this month know that as well. [There's a slight, rolling laugh before the message ends, with another shimmering sound like falling ice.]

Comments

[powertotearer]

Yeah. I guess, you really can't know until something happens.

[corundrum]

Have you experienced that yourself, little one? I don't think I've seen your talent yet.

[powertotearer]

Yeah, um...it's restoration. It hasn't gotten stronger, but...well, I can restore rotting things to good condition if they haven't gone too bad. Usually, I do it with food, so I can help donate things that are otherwise going to be thrown out.

The downside is that it also works on bacteria and stuff like that. That's what happened with the parasites. I got the treatment, but because of my talent, all it did was weaken them. I had to spend over a week at a research facility getting constant showers of the stuff to kill all of them, before my Talent could restore them.

[corundrum]

[That makes Padparadscha laugh slightly.] Well, that explains a lot. You were awfully determined to believe you'd been cured before, but I suppose something like that is hard to predict, huh?

[They can't imagine he would've found that out for a while after their unfortunate meeting during the infestation.] One way or another, you know about it now.

[powertotearer]

Yeah. It's scary, though. I don't know how this might affect me in the future, so I don't want this to get stronger.

[corundrum]

[That gets an almost thoughtful hum from Padparadscha, though they almost end up giving an amused sigh instead.] Do you think ignoring it will help you if that comes to pass, little one?

[powertotearer]

I don't know.

[He sighs.]

I really don't know what to do about any of this.

[corundrum]

It is what it is. Nobody can tell you what to make of it, but thinking things through is the most important part.

[Whatever he chooses, if it's ill-thought-out it's unlikely to end well.]

[powertotearer]

Not so much that, but...well, I don't know if I'd even be able to control this. Or where I'd even start. Is there a way to turn off a Talent? I barely have to think about what I'm doing in order to use it.

[corundrum]

Trying to turn it off without knowing any way of controlling it seems a little hasty to me.

[Keep it away by force, and it might just find a way to break through regardless.]

[powertotearer]

I...I guess.

I just don't like not having control over something that's happening to me. Or because of me.

[corundrum]

I don't think anyone likes that, really. But it's something that's rarely possible to avoid.

[Even in their own small, isolated world, they had had no control over things like who the Moon People chose to take away.]

Dwelling on something prevents you from truly thinking about it.

[powertotearer]

I guess I don't know how to truly think about things, then.

[corundrum]

It's something that takes time to learn, and living things have precious little of that. It's why my suggestions to you can only ever be that.

[Padparadscha doesn't know the priorities of living things, or even just things that have a lifespan so much shorter than theirs. It's a difficult divide to bridge.]

[powertotearer]

Living things?

[corundrum]

Surely you've figured out by now that I'm not the same kind of being as you, little one.

[That silvery sound comes down the feed again, the sliding of crystal against crystal.]