SWITCHBOARD

[transmittable]

If you'd like to ask the Transmitter something over the phone, go right ahead! The Transmitter will answer the phone as soon as she's available. Leaving messages is impossible, given how old these phones are, but you should be able to reach her at almost all hours.

Comments are screened for privacy; all Patients are offered confidentiality, didn't you know?

Comments

[journalname]

...thank you.

[AWKWARD PAUSE.....]

I...do not understand your circumstances, Transmitter, or the reasons behind any of this. It seems that is by design. But I do know something of duty. I am sorry that this is how you see yours.

[transmittable]

It's... Yeah. Thanks.

[ Saying thank you for someone being sorry...? ]

It's not really my duty, but...it's what I have to do.

[journalname]

...are you being coerced?

[transmittable]

Not exactly? My own choices lead me here, and I get something out of this too, it's just... It's not what I would've picked on my own.

[journalname]

...I am glad to hear it.

[He guesses??? good job not being super on-board with murder?????]

Though I am sorry that that is the way it is. You did make it sound as though this was...some kind of tradition, or something like that. Something repeated.

[transmittable]

[ Thanks for having low standards, goat dad. ]

It's something that's happened before. That's all I can say about.

[journalname]

[BABY STEPS. also some of the people down here are way more down with murder, so]

Alright. [He's pretty used to hearing that already.] Can you say if it will happen again?

[transmittable]

Since it's happened once? Probably.

[journalname]

I see.

[What if next time, another monster is taken...? It's something to think about.]

...in monster tradition, the deceased's dust would be spread on something they loved. It is said that they may live on in it. [Kind of a non sequitur, and even he's not really sure where he's going with this. Just talking for the sake of it.]

[transmittable]

Is that so? ...I'll keep that in mind. I don't think... Humans don't have some kind of tradition like that, really, except for...spreading ashes. Sometimes where someone would've wanted to be.

[journalname]

I might have asked Arietta if she would like that, but her people were not the same as mine. And I do not know where she might have wanted them.

[And a lot of other reasons, practical and otherwise. It's an idea that did occur, though.]

I recall them mostly burying their dead before, or placing them in stone cairns. But I am out of touch with human culture even on my own world. It is...nice to hear from those who come from others. [As an afterthought:] I am assuming you are not from my own Earth.

[transmittable]

They still bury, just...it depends on the deceased's wishes. If they had time to share them.

And, no, I'm not. Any tales of monsters for me were just that... Tales.

[journalname]

I suspect that may be what we are for our humans nowadays. We're limited to what we can learn from what they discard, but I have not seen many mentions of our shared history. There are more...stories. Novels, the movies, things like that.

And why should they not forget us? It seems that is what they wanted to do.

[.....]

But meeting friendly humans here has been encouraging!

[transmittable]

[ ... ]

Sometimes humans are ashamed of things they've done. They try to cover it up. They use stories as a way of...compromise, as if it helps. Not all are like that, but...enough are.

I'm sorry.

[journalname]

You do not have to apologize for something you did not do.

[Leaving that door fucking open for apologies for stuff you did do and are in fact still currently doing!]

That is not a tendency unique to humans. I have often thought they must have been ashamed - why should they leave us alive, if they could easily face the thought of killing us all? And if they could not do that, surely they knew this was no act of mercy.

And yet, they were the ones who began the war. I think they had not really thought about the ending of it.

[transmittable]

[ Will do, goat-dad. ]

They never do... You start something, and, it's like, okay, here I am, doing this thing. Then, time goes on and...you're still doing it, and it's rough, but you have a goal. And then when it's all over...

...you don't know what you're supposed to do.

[journalname]

...it can be easy to get caught up in things, when you are chasing a goal.

And, when you get something you have wanted for a long time, it can be easy to find it a little disappointing. Things are not usually what we imagine they will be. It is good to remember that - not to stop having hope, just not to stake too much on one goal.

[transmittable]

...Hope in general...

How do you keep that?

[journalname]

Hope...can be in small things, I think. Like a day spent out with family, or new flowers blooming in the garden. It does not have to be something grand.

[Like, idk, becoming a god and destroying humanity. Def not that.]

Having hope from day to day is perhaps the most important thing.

[transmittable]

Huh... Both of those things sound far beyond my reach. The closest I've got are memories.

[journalname]

[Gosh, that's incredibly sad. And from one so young.]

Is there nothing you enjoy? I know you are working most of the time now, but...no favorite foods or anything like that, even?

[It's actually hard to think of a suggestion. The Risen are all she has for company, after all, and she does not seem to have much time to go out or do anything for herself.

[transmittable]

There's some simple computer games to pass the time. I don't suppose you've been acquainted with the art of solitaire?

[ Her voice has a joking tone to it, but also kind of...self-deprecating? ]

I like talking to people, I guess.

[journalname]

Oh! I do know that game! Not on a computer, of course...

[Okay and now you've just said the words that will ensure Asgore calls you every night on the regular. Except he won't really because I'm not gonna do that to either of us.]

I am glad you have more company, then. However long you have spent with only the Risen...that could not have been fun.

[transmittable]

[ Nightly speaking with Dad, got it. thank you ]

Mmm... It really wasn't, yeah. This is...not exactly ideal, but. You know. Little comforts.

[journalname]

Ha, ha. Yes, I am familiar with that kind of situation.

I remember the day we entered the Underground...it seemed as if we would never be happy again. But we were, eventually. Sometimes, all you can do for the moment is make the best of things.