yES HELLO: ruth, 2

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

WHO: ruth aldine + YOU
WHAT: talking about BOLD PLANS for the FUTURE
WHERE: the ruins, specifically near the river
WHEN: june 30th onwards
NOTES: this is step one of the player quest happening on july 5! please zoom over there if you have questions, want to make plans, &cet. NB: potential for discussions of suicide, state-sponsored murder, etc. more specific notes tbd.

[The warm hiss of white noise is just part of being in the ruins--but at some point, when it's getting a little darker, a voice comes through.]

Yes. Pardon. This is Ruth.

[You know, if the stuttery little words at the start didn't clue you in.]

We had thank you an idea--see if we can reason yes, reason with this place. That... [A crackle of static.] Sorry. You saw the empty spot, didn't you? Sorry. Yes. I think...I think it's something.

But going...yes. I'm, uh. I'm not gonna pardon, won't be in my body. And after all the other stuff yes, pardon I tried to do here...it might not agree with me. Sorry. Might need people to keep an eye out. No.

Sorry. No. So if anyone's interested...

[And, you know. If they understood any of this.]

Comments

[ascocarp]

[Ellie has no sense of control over Ruth. It's hard to really think of Ruth as a normal person. She just is.]

If you die, what d'you want us to do with you?

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

Hm. Pardon.

[That's...a good question. Ruth's quiet for a moment.]

Whatever, sorry, whatever Logan wants. Yes.

[ascocarp]

Wait, wait. Logan, knife hands, short as me, that Logan? You know him?

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

...Hah. Yes. Yes. Used to be headmaster yes at my school.

[ascocarp]

...Okay, that explains a loooot.

Anyway, why don't you care? I thought funerals were important. I have mine planned.

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

Does it? Pardon.

[A pause--she's trying to decide just how much to say.]

They are. Sorry. They're...yes, they help people. But. Hm. Thank you. It's for him, no, not me.

[I'll be dead.]

[ascocarp]

I like the guy, but I dunno. Then again, I've met worse teachers. The hell do I know, I guess.

Wasn't expecting you to laugh, though. [There's almost a smile in her voice, there.]

Yeah, I know. But I also know... the people left'll feel better knowing it's what you wanted. That's important, too.

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

[That, too, makes her laugh.]

Really? Pardon. [She finds herself thinking of David, then--of just how easily she'd smiled and laughed with him. It's hard to know anymore if she's changed, or if this is just the equivalent of Trance telling her where she could shove her predictions.]

I...yes. Yes. Yes. I want sorry, I want the kind we did at home. [At school. For classmates, teachers, other mutants...] Yes. Eulogies. Doesn't thank you have to be formal.

[ascocarp]

I dunno, you just don't seem like a laughy person. And Logan doesn't seem like somebody qualified to teach trig.

[She failed trig.]

Okay, okay. I'll ask Logan about that. Uh, you want buried or burned or what? I read some people, they just used to put you in these big stone boxes, but I dunno if we got any.

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

I am. Sorry. Sometimes.

[Just...with people she's comfortable with. Which definitely hasn't always been Ellie.]

...And he taught history. Yes.

[Big stone boxes. Ellie's taking this far more seriously than Ruth would expect or ask of her, but she does appreciate it.]

Not sure. Pardon. Sorry. Do...Yes. Do what Logan wants.

[ascocarp]

I mean... yeah. Guess I should'a figured that. Sorry... Ah, fuck, now you got me doing it.

[It's said with something approaching humor. Ruth is an indescribably strange person, but death, strangely, unites all people. At least, Ellie thinks it does. Everyone dies.]

[Hopefully.]

History? Really? I figured he'd teach... knife-handing.

[Not handling. Handing.]

Well, if you figure it out, tell somebody. The eulogy part, I'm guessing you want Logan to tell it? Should it be about God and stuff?

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

[She breathes out, a little smile still in her voice when she speaks.]

He taught that, too. Sorry. We didn't, thank you, didn't have a lot of teachers. Sorry. Everyone taught multiple things.

No. Pardon. [Quickly, and then, after a pause, a little slower.] Not about God. No, no-- Just...remember me.

[ascocarp]

Does- does anybody here know you besides Logan? Ruth... I don't know what to remember.

[It's weak and stupid and it's the truth.]

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

I don't, sorry, no, sorry-- don't think so. Sorry.

[But she knows what Ellie's saying. She's seen enough people die and barely known them.]

Pardon. This. Remember this.

[ascocarp]

[Talking about you dying?]

I'll rememb- I know you're brave.

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

Sometimes. Yes.

[Right now, maybe.]

And--sorry. Sometimes I laugh.

[ascocarp]

[A huff, reminiscent of laughter.]

Yeah. I won't forget that.