02X - Reintro. [Text/Locked Audio to the Rocket Frequency]

[explosivecombat]

[TEXT]

[Well! Those of you on the network today will be greeted by a bit of audio late this morning, from a device ID that's been bouncing back all attempts at contact for the last several weeks.]

...Oh, that's cute.

[...well, if that wasn't the most triumphant return ever, I don't know what is.

At the very least, however, he seems to get over whatever he's almost audibly linefacing at long enough to realize that the device is recording something; he promptly switches the thing over to text - he's never really liked talking at the machine when he's addressing all of Johto.]

My, it seems this place does still have its sense of humor, doesn't it? And here I thought that perhaps I'd only lost three days at worst - it was a bit of a surprise to find out otherwise.

Ah, but that's neither here nor there, is it?

[Kimblee, hon.]

There's not much to report from home, unfortunately; however, it'll be a pleasure getting in contact with all of you again - hopefully you've all been at least reasonably well.

[Oh, well. At least he doesn't seem too off-put by the whole disappearing-for-a-month-and-a-half thing?]


[PRIVATE AUDIO - TEAM ROCKET FREQUENCY]

[...At least, not until the audio message that goes out over the private Rocket network a few minutes later; Kimblee's voice is cold and clipped, and the amiable "tone" from the text earlier is completely absent.

He has no idea if he still holds his rank or not; he suspects he doesn't. Like hell if he won't throw it around anyway. He's a bit displeased at his life basically being a .gif from Community, and he's going to figure out what in the good hell is going on if it kills him.]

This is Team Rocket Beta Solf J Kimblee, reporting back in for duty; to my superiors, I admit that I don't know what happened, but I assure you that it won't happen again.

To the rest of you - check in with me immediately, particularly if you're one of my subordinates. I'm receiving a lot of "ID Not Found" nonsense, and I need to know who's still present; given that and various things that I've had to hear about secondhand, I expect a full report regarding what happened here from someone, I'm not feeling particularly choosy right now.

New members to the organization - welcome to it, and you have my personal apologies for the disarray. For now, you're welcome to introduce yourselves; it'll serve you well to know that I'm good to those who are good to me. Again, prove yourself useful and you'll be rewarded.

None of this is a request. Allow me to make that much clear.

[...oh dear. Well. At least he's not in much position to actually do anything at the moment - this is Team Rocket we're talking about, and if somebody's on the network very vocally overstating their importance and/or competence, that means it's pretty much a day ending in Y.]

Comments

[papshooshing]

BY HUMAN STANDARDS, YEAH.
THOUGH I AM STARTING TO THINK THAT IT'S NOT JUST ME AMONGST MY TROLL FRIENDS THAT REGRET SHIT EITHER.
THAT'S NOT COMMON. NOT REALLY.

[explosivecombat]

There are some from my world that are the same way - they weren't human, though I wouldn't go so far as to call them another species, exactly (they were a bit of a unique case). Regret wasn't common among them, either; they were created for the sake of war and conflict. Their way of thinking was foreign to most people, I think; understandable, but not relatable.

At the same time, I could relate to them more closely than I could most humans; I suppose it's no surprise, knowing that, that I can relate more closely to what you've told me than I can to humanity.

But that's neither here nor there - more of an observation than anything - and really, I digress.

I suppose the question I have with regards to this entire regret business is whether it's a relief or alarming to know you aren't the only one, as I can see it going both ways.

[usedshooshpap]

THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR.
PRETTY SURE YOU MIGHT HAVE MENTIONED SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN THE PAST.

TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, SINCE I CAN'T REALLY ADD ANYTHING ELSE OF VALUE TO THIS CONVERSATION
IT'S A MIX OF BOTH, I THINK.
SOME OF THOSE GRUBFISTED MORONS *SHOULD* REGRET EVERYTHING THEY'VE DONE SO FAR AS TO EVEN REGRET THE THOUGHT PASSING THEIR SHRIVELED THINKPAN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THEN IT'S JUST SURPRISING BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WAS THE MOST FUCKED UP ONE OUT OF THE BUNCH.

[explosivecombat]

Well, some of the most regrettable actions are simultaneously the most emotionally powerful and the least coherently thought-out. At least, that's what I've tended to notice; given what you've told me, I'm not entirely surprised that there have been a lot of objectively hideous actions among you. Whether they're subjectively hideous or not is another matter and not my place to judge one way or another.

Though I find it interesting that you still seem to be thinking of the regret itself being the errant detail here, not those objectively hideous actions.

[usedshooshpap]

SEE, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH OF THAT IS ACTUALLY TRUE.
I'M PRETTY SURE THE FISHDOUCHE DIDN'T INTEND TO START HELPING OUR FRIENDS SHAVE OFF A FEW POUNDS VIA BLOWING HOLES IN THEIR CHEST CAVITIES, BUT THE OTHERS?
YEAH, I KIND OF THINK THAT WAS ALREADY PREPLANNED.
SEE, I CAN'T RULE OUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT GAMZEE'S STUNTS COULD BE EITHER AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE OR PREMEDITATED.
IT'S REALLY, *REALLY* HARD TO GAUGE THAT SORT OF THING WITH A CRAZED INDIGO BLOODED TROLL.
THAT'S REALLY WHAT'S EXPECTED OF US AS WE MATURE, THOUGH.
I KNOW I MENTIONED THAT ADULTS ARE FULLY EXPECTED TO GO OFF AND CULL OTHER SPECIES, CLAIMING THEIR PLANETS FOR THE GLORY OF THE EMPIRE AND ALL.
KILLING OR DEATH IS KIND OF A REGULAR THING. REVENGE CYCLES START AND SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL.
SHITHEADS DO STUPID THINGS AND PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR IT.
AS WELL AS THEY SHOULD!
WE'RE NOT ORIGINALLY GEARED TO REGRET THAT SORT OF THING SO YEAH...
THAT WOULD BE THE "ERRANT DETAIL" INSTEAD OF THE ACTIONS THEMSELVES.
I COULD USE MY ABNORMALITY AS JUSTIFICATION AS TO WHY MY THINKPAN AND ITS PROCESSES ARE FLAWED, BUT THE HIGHBLOODS?
IT'S SURPRISING, OK?

[explosivecombat]

And at risk of sounding stupid, am I to understand that your species, by design, feels no reaction to killing as a whole? Or is there a difference when it comes to killing an individual vs this planet-culling practice you've mentioned?

[usedshooshpap]

THAT MIGHT DEPEND UPON THE TROLL.
DO WE FEEL A SENSE OF "WRONGNESS" ABOUT IT?
FUCK NO.
I'M PRETTY SURE SUBJUGGULATORS DO GET OFF ON KILLING, BUT THAT'S KIND OF THEIR THING.
KILLING OFF A QUADRANTMATE? THAT ALSO REQUIRES CONTEXT.
A MATESPRIT OR A MOIRAIL MIGHT ACTUALLY BE LAMENTABLE, DEPENDING UPON THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LEAD UP TO THE CULLING.
IN BLACKROM IT CAN BE COMMON ENOUGH, CONSIDERING THE DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN ROMANTIC HATE AND PLATONIC HATE.
IF YOUR QUADRANTMATE DOES SOMETHING TO FUCK THAT UP AND TIP THE SCALES, THEN YEAH THAT'S TOO BAD, BUT THAT'S LIFE.
KILLING AND MAIMING AREN'T REALLY "TABOO" BY ANY MEANS.
THERE'S ALSO A QUADRANT THAT MAKES SURE IT DOESN'T GET OUT OF CONTROL THOUGH.

[explosivecombat]

Interesting...I ask because humans tend to find an inherent sense of wrongness in killing an individual - most wouldn't murder a stranger in cold blood, even if they stood to benefit from the killing, and someone they know is even further out of the question. Humanity seems designed to find killing repugnant for some reason; it seems a bit counterproductive to me, but that's just how it is.

However, put them on a field of battle, tell them to annihilate an entire race of their own kind, and you would be surprised as to how quickly that moral indignation fades. Some will still have problems with it, of course, but in general, soldiers specifically take on a job that requires them to kill en masse and it's suddenly seen as abnormal and undesirable for them to be unable to kill their fellow man.

Basically, humanity is odd in that it's unacceptable to kill one or a few people, but killing on a large scale is war. Killing on a massive scale (such as committing genocide) is either simply a statistic or otherwise unfathomable - generally unacceptable but something that we're willing to turn our heads away from as long as it's not happening to us at that exact moment.

It's an interesting distinction; I was curious as to whether you had any sort of boundaries like that. It's understandable that you wouldn't, and most likely preferable that way, given that it avoids the general morality issues that come with figuring out where the lines should be drawn between acceptable and unacceptable.

[usedshooshpap]

MAYBE IT HAS TO DO WITH ACCOUNTABILITY.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, AS A SOLDIER, YOU'RE JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS.
THERE'S A CERTAIN ELEMENT THAT'S TO BE EXPECTED.
TAKING LIVES HAPPENS TO BE ONE OF THOSE ELEMENTS.
AGAIN, YOU'RE JUST DOING WHAT YOU'RE FUCKING TOLD LIKE A GOOD LITTLE BARKBEAST.
NOBODY IS GOING TO DO SHIT TO YOU OR LOOK DOWN ON YOU FOR IT.
**BUT**
OUTSIDE OF THAT? IT'S ALL ON YOU.
YOU'RE NOT EXACTLY FOLLOWING ORDERS IF YOU DECIDE SOMEONE YOU KNOW OR SOME RANDOM FUCKASS NEEDS TO BITE THE DUST.
THAT CAN BE PREMEDITATED, WHEREAS WARFARE IS MORE ON THE FLY.
MOST OF THE TIME, YOU'RE NOT THINKING ABOUT THE FIFTY OR SEVENTY DIFFERENT WAYS THAT YOU CAN GUT SOMEONE FOR THE HELL OF IT ON THE BATTLEFIELD.
OFF OF IT? THAT'S VERY PLAUSIBLE.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT I UNDERSTAND HOW IT COULD BE ACCEPTABLE IN ONE INSTANCE AND IN THE OTHER IT'S THIS BIG GODDAMN NO NO
BECAUSE I REALLY DON'T?
I MEAN I CAN SEE WHERE IT MIGHT *STEM* FROM, BUT IT'S STILL PRETTY RETARDED.
...
SO SAYS THE TROLL THAT LIKELY COULDN'T PUT DOWN HIS OWN FRIENDS.

[explosivecombat]

Well, whether you personally could or not doesn't exempt you from having thoughts on the matter, and I do agree that it's entirely insipid - that is to say that yes, it's expected of you on the battlefield and you're just following orders, but by that same argument you've willingly entered into a profession where you specialize in killing people. The unit I was a part of actually was looked down upon for that - interesting that you should mention dogs, given that's what we were often called; "dogs of the military" isn't really a positive term, where I'm from, nor would it ever be used to imply that we aren't guilty - it's used to refer to alchemists who have sold out their own.

[usedshooshpap]

SOLD OUT THEIR OWN?

[explosivecombat]

In theory, all alchemists are expected to adhere to the principle of "be thou for the people" - in other words, alchemy is to be used for the benefit and not the detriment of mankind. However, there's some contention over exactly what that entails.

The unit I'm referring to is a group of alchemists that are hired by the government; they're given a moderately high ranking in the military, and are given funding for all of their research. In exchange, they're bound to serve that military and follow the government's orders, no matter what those orders may happen to be.

The argument in favor of joining the military as a State Alchemist is that doing so enables one to protect one's country, benefiting the people by defending them. And there is some merit to that, given that alchemists ended a war that had been raging for years in a matter of weeks. However, that way of looking at it gets into a bit of a grey area once the abovementioned orders to commit genocide get involved; the majority of alchemists in my country believe that "be thou for the people" requires a pacifistic stance, and basically see us as contract killers.

[papshooshing]

SORRY TO BURST THEIR BUBBLE...
BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE PEACE WITHOUT WAR.
YOU'VE GOT TO FIGHT TO MAINTAIN PEACE TOO BECAUSE THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ASSHOLES THAT WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD BURN AND START SHIT.
THESE ALCHEMISTS ARE PRETTY DAMN NAIVE FOR BEING SO FUCKING SMART.

[explosivecombat]

Naive is a good way of wording it, though I will say their stance on pacifism extends only as far as alchemy and its uses are concerned. Basically, they believe it shouldn't be weaponized, much less at the whims of anyone but the alchemist themselves - we can join the military all we want; it's the State Alchemist title that tends to be a point of contention.

As it is, our country hasn't known peace in my lifetime, nor did it know peace in the previous generation's lifetime. We're rather aware of how war works.

[usedshooshpap]

IF YOU HAVE THE POWER AND THE ABILITY, THEN I DON'T SEE WHY IT SHOULDN'T BE USED TO YOUR OWN ADVANTAGE.
A WAR IS A FUCKING WAR.
GRANTED, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT PEACE IS SO I CAN'T COMMENT TOO MUCH ON THAT.
BEING HERE IS THE CLOSEST I THINK I'LL EVER GET TO UNDERSTANDING IT.
MAYBE IT'S JUST THE TROLL IN ME, BUT I REALLY DON'T SEE THE BIG DEAL I GUESS.