caughtinanetwork | Sermon Two

[Signless has chosen his location carefully; when he turns on the video function, there's a wall of water behind him, and a school of brightly colored tropical fish swimming past. He's very clearly in the bubble again.]

My friends, today I want to talk to you about fear.

[His voice is low and soothing, his story-telling voice.]

I have known great fear in my time. In my world, the color of my blood was a source of fear, something that drove me into hiding for a long time. Then, when I dreamed of the world that could be, rather than the world that was, I was afraid again... afraid that I would never see what I knew we were capable of come to pass. I was afraid to speak out, afraid to make a ripple in the still, stagnant waters of our society, and tried instead to live my meager little life underneath the notice of the highbloods.

But then I saw what my silence was doing, what those in similar positions were suffering, and I knew I could not stay silent. I could not sit idly by while our world rotted away from its very core, while its corruption bled away the talents and very lives of so many trolls who had done nothing beyond being hatched the wrong color. I could not wait for another to come along and demand change, or I would wait the rest of my life. I needed to cast aside my fear, to find a reserve of strength within me, and rise to what my world needed me to be.

[His voice falls, becoming hushed and soft, almost painfully honest, and he looks down, his cloak hiding his eyes.]

I was terrified. Casting off fear is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Fear is something I knew, its cold comfort as familiar to me as my guardian's face. It would have been... easy to live my entire life in fear, I thought.

[He looks up then, and his eyes are burning, his voice strong once more.]

I thought that fear was a cloak to hide me, but it was a chain I wore around my neck. When the fear was gone, when I made the decision to cast it aside, I have never felt so free in my entire life. It was how I imagine it must feel to wake up one morning with wings, and look out the window into an endless sky. When the fear was gone, I could breathe a deep breath for the first time in my life, and look to the future not as an ominous, foreboding thing, but as a path bathed in light and redemption.

I am not afraid any longer, Vatheon. This is my home now, and it is worth fighting for. I will not be driven out of my home again. I will not let fear control me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh. Is that the tall troll with lots of hair I was warned about? What makes him so scary?

It is. His name is the Grand Highblood, and he's a violent, dangerous troll. He's also highly unpredictable and has already killed once, so it would do you well to avoid him.

He killed someone?! Jeez! Don't worry, I won't get near him...

JADE, I NEED YOUR HELP ON SOMETHING SERIOUSLY IMPORTANT ON THE LEVEL OF "IF YOU DO THIS WE PROBABLY WON'T DIE"
BUT BEFORE I ASK YOU I NEED YOU TO PROMISE THAT YOU WILL KEEP QUIET ABOUT IT.
NO SPILLING THE BEANS TO ANYONE NOT INVOLVED OR THAT SPILL OF METAPHORICAL VEGETABLES MAY VERY WELL TURN INTO A LITERAL SPILL OF BLOOD.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?

whoa
umm
yes i understand
what can i do to help?
also tell me what this is even about!

THE GRAND HIGHBLOOD.
HE WAS HERE ONCE BEFORE, AND THAT TIME, WE WORKED OUT A PLAN TO INCAPACITATE HIM BY INJECTING HIM WITH SOPOR SLIME
WHICH IS THIS GREEN SLIME TROLLS SLEEP IN TO HORRIBLE DAYMARES, BUT WHEN INGESTED, IT'S BASICALLY A DRUG.
GAMZEE EATS IT BECAUSE HE'S WEIRD, HAS NO TASTE, AND IT KEEPS HIM RELATIVELY CALM AND SANE.
BEING AS THE GRAND HIGHBLOOD IS HIS ANCESTOR, WE FIGURED IF WE CONCENTRATED IT, IT WOULD WORK, AND IT DID.
WE'VE GOT THE WAY TO CONCENTRATE IT ALL LINED UP
BUT LAST TIME, WE USED ERIDAN TO SHOOT A DART OF IT AT HIM.
WE CAN'T DO THAT THIS TIME AROUND BECAUSE HE'S GONE BLIND IN ONE EYE, DON'T ASK, AND AS A RESULT HIS DEPTH PERCEPTION IS GONE.
HIS ANCESTOR, DUALSCAR, IS ALSO GOOD WITH A GUN BUT NEITHER THE SIGNLESS NOR I TRUST HIM FOR THE JOB BECAUSE HE'S BASICALLY A MORON WHO CAN'T GET PAST HIS OWN STUPID PRIDE.
BUT YOU'RE GOOD WITH A RIFLE AND YOU'VE GOT YOUR SPACE POWERS, RIGHT?
SO WHAT I'M ASKING, IS IF WE LEND YOU THE DART RIFLE WE ALCHEMIZED FOR ERIDAN LAST TIME, WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO SERVE AS THE SNIPER FOR THIS JOB?
IT WON'T BE FROM CLOSE UP BECAUSE WE'LL BE KEEPING A SAFE DISTANCE, AND THERE WILL BE A DECOY TO DISTRACT HIS ATTENTION.

oh!!
that must be the troll everyone has been telling me about...
he sounds really dangerous so yes i can do that for you!

THAT WAS SURPRISINGLY EASY.
DO ME A FAVOR AND KEEP UP THIS COOPERATIVE HELPFUL THING, IT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN ANNOYING PASSWORD-DEMANDING CAGEY LUNATIC YOU WAS.
THERE'S A FEW DETAILS THAT NEED TO BE HANDLED BUT I'LL KEEP YOU AS UP TO DATE ON THE PLAN AS I CAN
AND SORT OUT MEET UP POINTS, WHO'S GOING WHERE, SHIT LIKE THAT
AND GET YOU BOTH THE RIFLE AND THE SOPOR DARTS.
MORE THAN ONE ON THE OFF CHANCE YOU NEED TO FIRE A SECOND FOR WHATEVER REASON, BUT THE GOAL IS OF COURSE TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
SO AS TO AVOID HIGHER RISK THAN WHAT ALREADY EXISTS OF ANY OF US GETTING KILLED.

oh shut up
i am from your future so the password is not needed here :P
ok i will wait to hear from you again
dont worry i will get him in the first shot
i will not miss!

IT WAS STILL A STUPID INSTITUTION IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SCREW THE SCIENTISTS, BUT AT LEAST THEY HAVE THE SENSE TO LEAVE THINGS LINEAR ONCE WE'RE ACTUALLY HERE
BECAUSE IF I EVER HAVE TO SORT GO THROUGH ANOTHER ROUND OF "PASSWORD, FUCKASS!" I WILL PERSONALLY FLIP OFF THE TALLEST STRUCTURE I CAN FIND, PERFORM A BIZARRE NUMBER OF FLIPS WHILE SCREAMING THE WHOLE WAY DOWN, THEN STICK THE LANDING AS A PERSONAL "FUCK YOU" TO THE UNIVERSE.
BUT GOOD
USE WHATEVER SPACE WITCH TRICKERY YOU HAVE TO, JUST MAKE IT HIT.
MAYBE THEN I CAN GO BACK TO LIVING A NORMAL LIFE, FOR AS MUCH AS THINGS EVER GET "NORMAL" AROUND HERE.

you and the other trolls have been hiding right??
because of this one troll?

HIM FIRST, THEN ANOTHER WHO SHOWED UP FOR A SHORT WHILE
BUT LUCKILY SHE'S GONE NOW, AND WILL HOPEFULLY STAY THAT WAY.
SOME OF US ARE DOWN IN THE BUBBLE THOUGH BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO STUPID TO LISTEN TO REASON AND KEEP WHERE IT'S SAFE.

oh :(
well hopefully they will be ok and all of you can come back soon

THE SOONER WE CAN PUT THIS PLAN IN MOTION THE BETTER.
I'M SICK OF BEING STUCK UP HERE AS IT IS, EVEN IF I'M THE ONE ACTUALLY ADVOCATING IT.

how long have you had to stay up there exactly??

UNTIL THE GRAND GLOBESACK IS TAKEN CARE OF AND IT'S SAFE FOR US TO ACTUALLY BE IN VATHEON AGAIN.
IT'S NOT THAT HARD TO COMPREHEND.
WITH YOU AS OUR REPLACEMENT SNIPER THINGS SHOULD BE MOVING ALONG PRETTY QUICK, THOUGH.

ok, ok...
dont worry i will make sure your plan is a success

HEY, JADE?

[There's a brief pause before the next part.]

THANKS.

you are welcome karkat
hehehe :)

ANYWAY I'LL LET YOU GO HERE.
I'VE GOT OTHER DETAILS TO WORK ON, AND I'LL CONTACT YOU ONCE I'VE GOT IT SORTED OUT.
LATER.

[Click!]

Sermon Two

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