Voice (Backdated to Sunday)

[rianofski]

This weekend has been fascinating, to say the least. While I'm well aware that most -- perhaps all -- of our current visitors will be returning to their respective worlds soon, I can't help but question the purpose of such an event.

[There's a pause.]

Why is it necessary to bring "guests" here, then immediately get rid of them? Is it simply an attempt at irritation? The potential opportunity for people who have missed each other to see each other once again, only to be parted? I'm well aware that the "deities" often have ill-conceived plans, but this particular turn of events strikes me as inherently pointless.

Comments

[sisterskeeper]

And it is with that reasoning that you will always be doomed to fail.

[rianofski]

[A chuckle.]

Always doomed to fail? Hardly. I've made more of myself than many people ever will.

[sisterskeeper]

A man's worth is not found in what he makes of himself, not even if he builds a whole city. It is found in how he treats others. How, when he could choose cruelty to further his own interests, he chooses kindness instead, to save something precious and innocent.

[rianofski]

Can you really call those children innocent, by your exacting moral standards? Can you call any of us precious and innocent, truly?

[sisterskeeper]

Yes, in no uncertain terms. When I see the way they play and sing, the way they smile at me even after all the wrongdoings that I have inflicted upon them. They do not know the hardships the world has in store for them, and they do not become twisted and broken by the ones they face. I will do what I can to keep that innocence alive in them.

[Growing up first in the Jewish ghettos of Minsk, and then Auschwitz, it was something that Brigid had never had, and never seen.]

[rianofski]

[A sigh.]

The sooner you come to realize that nobody is truly innocent, the sooner you will stop attempting such ridiculous feats.

[sisterskeeper]

Everyone is truly innocent, to begin with. It is this world that makes them lose that.

[rianofski]

How can you possibly believe that nonsense?

[sisterskeeper]

I used to believe there were no innocent people, that only science itself was pure. But these children have shown me.

[rianofski]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Or, y'know, never.]

[sisterskeeper]

For all our sakes, Herr Ryan, I hope so.

[But doesn't believe it for one minute.]

[rianofski]

Good luck during your visit, Dr. Tenenbaum.

[sisterskeeper]

Thank you. And I wish you luck too, even if it means little.