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]

That is completely inappropriate of them. [Which is a pretty deliberate understatement, honestly.]

Do you have what you need to deal with it? I...did not exactly get the impression that they would be helping you.

[transmittable]

Inappropriate, but, what can you do, ya know? I've got what I need to get by, and that's all I can really ask for. Could be worse.

[journalname]

You do not have to accept that kind of treatment simply because it could be worse. It is already fairly bad as it is - you should be able to live without fear that your...colleagues may take control of you at any moment.

[This is some kind of possession situation, he thinks?]

That is a small thing to ask.

[transmittable]

Should, yeah, but... This is my reality. There's nothing else I can do.

[journalname]

Truly? Well, you would know better than I...but just because it may be so now, does not mean it will be that way forever. You must stay determined!

[transmittable]

...Ha. Stay determined? Really? You think that'll help?

[journalname]

It is the best medicine, for monsters. But it cannot hurt for anyone!

You are still young. You have your whole life before you - I am sure the time will come when this is all but a bad memory for you.

[transmittable]

I thought like that once. Just keep trying, keep going, keep...hoping, and one day it'll all turn out okay. One day, it'll...get better.

Haven't thought like that in a long while.

[journalname]

[Seventeen years old...and that is not to say he thinks this is some kind of teenage hyperbole, either.]

I am...truly sorry to hear that. Should you... [He hesitates a moment.] ...should you ever wish to speak to someone, please know that I would be willing to listen. And to keep it confidential, if need be.

[That is a rather thoughtless promise to make to their captors' representative, but as with all thoughtless things that probably won't occur to him unless it becomes an issue.]

But you do not have to, either. [And honestly, as cryptic as she's been, he suspects she never really will.]

[transmittable]

[ The sound of static grows, and Asgore can probably only just hear the Transmitter swallow, and then breathe out. ]

You're... You're too good to be here.

[ A pause. Her voice is thick. ]

Thank you. I don't think I can, but...it means a lot.

[journalname]

...ah, no. None of us deserve to be here.

[And he's including her in that, if only implicitly.]

Of course. I thought you might not be able to now. But the offer stands.

[transmittable]

Maybe one day, you know?

[journalname]

Yes. Yes, maybe one day. I hope so.

[transmittable]

Thanks for checking in on me. ...It really does mean so much.

[journalname]

Of course. The whole thing sounded...concerning. But everyone here knows that it was not you speaking - I do not know if you have spoken to the others, but I was not the only one who tried to check on you in the aftermath.

[transmittable]

I know. There were...quite a few of you. I was surprised, but...I liked it.

[journalname]

I was happy to know that they have been talking to you as well! I was sure I was not the only one, but it is good to see it. Of course they would worry about you too.

[transmittable]

Why say that? I mean... Dude, I kidnapped you. Or like...I had a hand in it. You're in this nightmare...partly 'cause of me. Why's it obvious to you?

[journalname]

I'm sure many of the others feel that way. Those who have not spoken with you personally. But it is clear to me that you are not...entirely pleased about your part in this situation either. And I am sure others have seen the same.

Besides, it is natural to worry about others, is it not? Especially when something that...ah, alarming happens.

[transmittable]

[ ... ]

Doesn't change the fact that I'm here, doing this, and you've lost two people and gotten a cheery little message about murder. Feeling bad about it doesn't mean I'm not responsible...isn't that what you guys determined last week?

[journalname]

...perhaps not. But I would not have had Arietta held responsible in...in that manner, if I had a choice. And while you are part of what put that choice in our hands, I would not have that happen to you, either.

[It takes a second for it to catch up to him that he's basically just told her that he does not want her literally killed by an electric version of someone she loves - which, while true, is not really the sentiment he intended to convey.]

I do have a choice in how I speak with you, and I have made it.

[transmittable]

[ hahahaha WOW those implications well. The Transmitter is quiet for a few moments, presumably digesting all this. ]

Then- who am I to argue you with you?

If you ever want to change the way you speak with me, though? I don't think anyone'd blame you.

[journalname]

I have had a very long time to think about what I might do, were I ever faced with the people who imprisoned my people and I. They are long gone, of course, but it is...still the kind of thing you think about.

And I was angry, once. In some ways I still am. But I do not want any more fighting. I can understand why Arietta may have wished for revenge, but that would only ensure that none of it ever ended. If I could only have made peace with them from the beginning...

[transmittable]

...then nothing would be as it is now.

Alright. I understand your point of view, then. Violence begets- all that stuff.

[journalname]

That is what I have come to believe.

And - I understand now that the dreams we had are actually memories returning to us? It seems I have a human child myself now. I never would have come to know them, had we kept to the idea of vengeance.