Voice

[trenchknives]

[Jimmy's voice sounds somewhat subdued today, not quite as full of confidence -- however false that confidence may occasionally be -- and not particularly energetic as he addresses the network.]

Got a question for ya, since I ain't got anythin' better to do. Anyone can answer it.

[There's a pause for a moment, and then he starts speaking again.]

Any of you here got kids? Probably not in the City, but back home, I mean. Just curious.

Comments

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

Yeah, 1920. Atlantic City.

Private

[worldofourown]

That was an interesting era. [ War, chaos and degeneracy. The perfect arena for human exploitation. His family certainly partook in it. ] I imagine the City must feel surreal by comparison.

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

Surreal is one word for it. Were ya alive in that era, or do ya just know about it?

Private

[worldofourown]

I was born in 1898. In Vietnam.

My 'family' and I were often in America for business during the 1920s. [ And the 1940s. After the Fall of Berlin, his eldest brother concluded Hitler and his Third Reich were useless as allies. And focused his attention on a coalition with the Americans. Scheming, all the while, to stab them in the back. ]

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

I guess I could ask what kinda business, but most business seems to be alcohol related.

Private

[worldofourown]

It wasn't alcohol. [ It was politics and espionage. ] Was your business alcohol-related?

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

Some of it was. Some of it was other stuff.

Private

[worldofourown]

I'd ask about the 'other stuff'.

But it doesn't really matter in a place like this, does it?

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

Not really. And you can probably guess, anyway.

Private

[worldofourown]

I could. [ Half the Citizens are murderers and lunatics. Or both. Small wonder his family fits right in. ] I didn't catch your name. You are?

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

Jimmy Darmody. You are?

Private

[worldofourown]

Karl Fei-Ong.

How do you do?

[ Yes, manners! ]

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

Been better. Hell, also been worse, so I guess I shouldn't complain. You?

Private

[worldofourown]

[ A wry smile. ]

I'll be better once I'm no longer in the City.

[ He was pulled here mid-suicide. He was so looking forward to it, too. Since then, he's been forced to -- adapt? resign himself? -- to the City's ways. Smothering as they are. ]

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

And how're you gonna get out?

Private

[worldofourown]

[ A thin smile. ]

I could either wait until the Deities grow bored and send me home. Or -- [ A shrug. ] I could find other ways to irritate them. [ Like being part of an all-out rebellion. Although with the arrival of his family here -- family he'd never expected to see again -- he's not quite so keen. The City's wretched. But it's given him something he could never have at home. ]

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

If you irritate 'em, they'll probably just take shit away from you, not send you home.

Private

[worldofourown]

They 'take shit away' whether you behave or not. I may just take my chances.

Re: Private

[trenchknives]

Brave of ya. I'll be interested to see how it turns out.