[IC] [Mask or Menace] Contact Post

[dendarii]

"This is Miles. Leave a message and I'll respond to you at my earliest convenience."

The line has gone silent; any messages sent to this name only return an error.

Comments

[dendarii]

Fine. The same to you, then.

[ Protection for Gregor, which suits him fine. ]

[jacksonian]

How do you feel about your creators?

[ Going for the masochistic questions first. ]

[dendarii]

[ ... Yikes. Immediate lie-calling right off the bat. Well, he could dodge and talk about his parents, but ... He gave his word, and he's tiring of this cover anyway. ]

Ah. You've caught me out. I'm no clone. But if you'd like my opinion of my parents, I can provide that.

[jacksonian]

[ ...In a way, it's disappointing. The clone had been hating him so powerfully, so sickeningly powerfully, over that lie. To just have him confess that it's not - that it wasn't ever true - it cuts the legs out from under his hatred. Just a little. And that...for some reason, that's infuriating. For some reason, that makes him tremble with rage.

It takes a moment before he can even start to type again. ]

Well, that's a change.

[dendarii]

[ Miles, meanwhile, stares at his comm waiting for an answer. He was expecting a bit more of an answer after a pause of that length. ]

My apologies. It was a safety measure - not really needed any more.

[jacksonian]

A safety measure. Sure. So who are you, then?

[dendarii]

We're trading questions, Mr. Kane. That means it's my turn.

[jacksonian]

You didn't answer my question. You answered some other question.

[dendarii]

I gave you a truthful response and offered an alternative. My creators are my parents - do you want to hear about them?

[jacksonian]

[ Let's salvage a bit of masochism. ]

Yeah. Let's hear about them.

[dendarii]

Well ... I love both of them very much. Two entirely different people - Mother is deeply compassionate but also very acute. Hard to escape a conversation with her without getting vivisected. And Da is ... very stern and formidable, but he's a lot softer than he looks. I remember him taking two hour lunches every day just to get time with me as a child.

[jacksonian]

[ He swallows hard. His throat is tight and painful. He should get out of this conversation. It's a dangerous, bad conversation. Distracting. Stupid. Really stupid. But...it's useful for him to know more about the Butcher and his witch of a wife. Right? That'll be good for his cover someday. If he ever uses it, if the Komarrans come back. Every piece of information is advantageous... ]

Didn't he have work to do?

[dendarii]

[ Miles, meanwhile, continues on obliviously. ]

Oh, yes. Ridiculous amounts. But he still made time for me.

[jacksonian]

[ He doesn't even know what he feels. ]

Things got neglected, then. Just for that.

[dendarii]

Perhaps. But he didn't neglect me.

All right, my turn. How do you feel about your family?

[jacksonian]

[ ...Funny. When he was making up a backstory for this persona of his, Peter, he didn't think about his feelings towards his family. He's left groping now, trying to figure out his relationship to them. These fictional people. Finally he settles on: ]

They're fine.

[ ...nailed it? ]

[dendarii]

... That's it?

[jacksonian]

[ Another long pause. Finally, the reply: ]

You know. They're good parents. They spend a lot of time with me, as much as they can. They have enough money that we live comfortably. They put me in school. All of that. My father is sometimes a little bit stern, but I know he loves me. And my mother is very affectionate. I come home at the holidays, and it's always nice and peaceful. I never doubted they love me. And they gave me a good life, growing up.

[dendarii]

I see. That sounds rather peaceful, overall. What kind of school?

[jacksonian]

[ He fights the urge to elaborate further, to make it sound more believable by adding details. My father sometimes had a temper. A little bit of a temper... ]

That's another question. I don't think you've earned that.

[dendarii]

Next time then. What's your question?

[jacksonian]

I asked it already. Who are you?

[dendarii]

[ Welp. He gave his word. ]

Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, of the planet Barrayar.

[jacksonian]

[ The truth. Finally. In return, a lie: ]

Lord? Your planet has lords?

[dendarii]

It does. An old, somewhat outmoded construct in the eyes of the greater nexus, I suppose. I find the identity to be a bit more complex than that.