[PP-PT-F26] Imitation and Flattery

[Mari 1]

“I hardly think it’s against your will. You followed me down here.” A small smirk as she began to wipe down her bunsen burner with a damp cloth. “I ain’t got the time to be making up flashcards. You wanted this knowledge, I’m going out on a limb and giving you bits of information to work from. Something I wouldn’t normally do”

 

Mari had to keep reminding herself she was dealing with a kid, an adult by legal standards, sure - but he was still fresh faced, barely out of High School. “It…really is a hassle, still.” Mari lifted her eyes to stare into his blue eyes, wide with curiosity. “You have an odd fascination with them. With us. I know you’ll grow bored of my warnings, but if you have more questions. I’ll do my best to answer them.” Mari would, because perhaps if she kept hammering in the grave reality of being marked as a PKer, he’d lose interest. Hell - maybe even giving him a small taste of it…trapping an NPC and having him strike them down to gain the temporary debuff - but that was in and of itself too dangerous for Mari’s liking.

 

"...so, what's the catch?"

“None.” Came Mari’s response as she turned and leaned her back against her alchemy workbench. “Although that is a very good attitude to have.” His suspicion didn’t bother Mari. It came as a welcomed surprise, maybe he did have some wits about him after all.

“It’s rare that I can share my knowledge in this sort of thing, that someone takes an interest in it - rather than tell me to steer clear from it.” Mari admitted with a shrug. “And I’ve told you how to make one thing. I’d hardly call that me handing out secrets.”

Mari opened up her HUD, and navigated to the area that showed off how much Col she had. “As you can see - “ She gestured to it with a wave. “I really don’t need the col.” She had millions. Needed millions to keep up with costs of fireproofing everything she owned, so Mari was always sure to have a steady supply of it.

“It’s not my fault people in this game limit themselves to keeping within the system, anyone with an ounce of imagination or knowledge could do the same. I know of people who have done the same.”

Mari closed her menu, and crossed her arms. “You don’t have to take it, leave, go back to the city and live your life appraising items. I don’t care. Frankly, I have nothing to gain, but equally, nothing to lose.”

[3ulogy 0]

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“I ain’t got the time to be making up flashcards. You wanted this knowledge, I’m going out on a limb and giving you bits of information to work from. Something I wouldn’t normally do”

“You know… I can work with that.” 3ulogy moved back around to the bomb, taking another long look at it. “You’re right. I’m here because I want to be here. I guess I can do a little studying if it means—” 3ulogy made an explosion sound with his mouth, and then laughed. “Fine, I’ll figure it all out.”

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“It’s rare that I can share my knowledge in this sort of thing, that someone takes an interest in it - rather than tell me to steer clear from it.”

“Whoever is telling you to steer clear of this stuff is an idiot.” 3ulogy spoke with a firm, idealistic tone. “You do what you want to do, and I do what I want to do. Don’t get worked up about what other people want to do. It’s really that easy.”

“And maybe you have only taught me one thing. But… what’s the saying? You’re not just giving me a fish. You’re teaching me how. Even if you taught me how to make one bomb… You told me about something in-game that not everyone knows. I think you’re dangerously close to teaching me something else, too.”

3ulogy blinked when he saw Mari’s col. He knew there had to be people with more money than Acanthus, but he hadn’t met them yet. Seven digits was enough to make him envious, but he did his best to keep his cool.

3ulogy shrugged. “A million col is neat, but what’s it good for? Once you have a house that’s kind of it. Appraisals are pretty damn cheap, all things considered (I’m RPing this as before the update bc we started the thread before then, but I’ll change it if that bugs you). It’s just like real life; at some point, you’re just going for a high score to feel good about yourself."

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Mari closed her menu, and crossed her arms. “You don’t have to take it, leave, go back to the city and live your life appraising items. I don’t care. Frankly, I have nothing to gain, but equally, nothing to lose.”

“App– my *life* appraising items?? I’ve got plenty of life outside being a stupid pachinko machine for people like you.” She had struck a nerve so raw that he didn’t have time to recover. “You and everyone else—there goes 3ulogy the slot machine. There goes 3ulogy, the little helper. Go get me new materials; go get me new recruits; I’m *sick* of it.” 3ulogy paced the workshop, bomb swinging precariously in his hand as he ranted. “I’m tired of being everyone’s little servant.” His fingers curled around the glass bomb tightly. “Teach me something else. I’m ready.”

[Mari 1]

Mari laughed under her breath at Eulogy’s antics as he made a little explosion with his mouth, accentuating the gesture with his hands - mimicking an explosion. It reminded her of someone..

“Whoever is telling you to steer clear of this stuff is an idiot.”

Her smile faded, Freyd. Her brother. Hadn’t seen much of him lately. He was the one to tell her to reign it in. So to speak. Didn’t like her meddling in such things, teetering on a fine line, an edge. Damned if she did, damned if she didn’t. “Hmm…” Not an idiot - but perhaps seeing the world in too much of a black and white? The man was smart. Incredibly so, but -

“You’re probably right.” Mari simply said to the kid. “But saying its easy? Not quite. It’s that whole freedom of speech thing yeh? We have the freedom to do what we want, when we want, but we are not free from judgement, or consequence of our actions.”

Mari rubbed the back of her neck with a sigh, that probably sounded too preachy to him. Eulogy struck Mari as the kind of person to dislike authority. Perhaps thats why he was so obsessed with PKers.

“Teaching you something else?” Mari asked, not quite understanding what he meant with those words. “I mean - yeh, I can. But I want you to at least attempt that-” She pointed at the little glass ball. “First. Otherwise its just too much information at once. Then it really would be like school.”

He didn’t seem too impressed by the amount of col she had, not that Mari was going for that angle, simply for the fact that she didn’t need anything from him. “Not for much, but that’s just it. I don’t need anything from you. I don’t need material shit to feel good about myself. I just need a hard whiskey and a good nights sleep.”

Mari pushed herself off the table as Eulogy ranted about being a…pachinko machine. “Noted.” She said, making a point to no longer bring any items to him. Mari watched with mild interest as he paced back and forth in her little store - “I don’t need servants.” Been there, done that. Mari did not enjoy it.

“I need someone willing to attempt the things I show them.” She gestured to the ball he was swinging wildly. “If you can show me that you’ve attempted something like that, ya don’t even have to get it right. I’ll show you something else. Your choice.”