[ peggy's got two mugs standing next to a squat tea pot. at the sound of the door sliding open behind her, she turns and offers a terse smile. polite, and not overbearing. business-like, one might even say. ]
I thought we might talk. Away from the poisoned moon below and without masks to make us so damned muffled.
[Furiosa smiles lightly - the kind of smile someone wears when it's been a while, but they still remember - and enters the room to seat across from Peggy and tug over the mug of tea.]
Good. I hate the damned things. [At closer examination, she's a little drawn around the edges; still recovering from her decision to forgo the masks in her earlier stay on the moon.] The money's too good to ignore, don't know when we'll run into another Starlight situation.
[She hoards. It was always a smart decision in the Wastelands, and it looks like it's going to be a smart decision here.]
Heavens, yes. [ she taps the sugar dish -- an unspoken question as to whether furiosa wanted her tea sweetened. ] Not that I mind actually working for my pay for a little while, but it was still a bit of a nasty corner to be stuck in.
I'm used to a barter and trade society, [She takes a sip of her tea, and then reaches for the sugar to put in a modest amount. All of these things, luxuries. Tea, sugar, mugs ...]
being dependent on an income is, different. [She's adapted pretty well so far, mostly in part because she works hard, has a profitable skill set, and doesn't spend a lot on frivolous things.]
It was a bit like that during the war -- oh, we got paid. Ostensibly. But there were so many damned delays, you were always better off trading cigarettes and booze with the soldiers. Chocolate, too.
At the Citadel we'd trade water and mother's milk for guzzoline and bullets from other nearby settlements. Things might be a little different if I return, since there's been a ... shift in power.
The Germans. And their allies. Expansionist forces, looking to rewrite borders. And worse. [ but the details are so painful and horrid. peggy skips over them. ]
[Germans. It's vaguely familiar, possibly something she read in a book about the old world, the world that died.]
We took out the tyrant, Immortan Joe, as well as the leaders of Gas Town and Bullet Farm and most of their war parties. [It wasn't without heavy casualties on her side as well, and she pauses to think on Angharad, and the fallen Vuvalini, and Nux.] I was poised to take over when I was brought here.
It wasn't my intention. [She shakes her head, thinking back. How many times had she attempted it, and how many times had she been dragged back to that world, and the best chance for survival became taking it over?]
I was just trying to escape, but then ... there was nowhere left to escape to. I'm just glad things worked out like they did. We suffered losses, but ... we won.
You'll never hear me admitting it to any damned Americans but -- at times, a regime change can be healthy. [ ... ] But where does it leave you? Have you a...position? A title, of sorts, to pass on to the next individual responsible for so many people?
[Furiosa frowns slightly, and fiddles with her mug as she thinks.] I don't want a title. I was Imperator when I was under Immortan Joe, but titles were just his way of labelling his property.
[Breeder, Milker, Half-Life, a very easy way to see how you fit into the machine that Joe ran. No, she doesn't want to go back to that. Nux was just as worthy as any Full-Life.]
The concept could be reclaimed. A sense of order isn't a terrible thing -- no matter what draconic measures came beforehand. [ a pause. ] But it's your world. And not my place to tell you how to live in it, I suppose.
[Furiosa hmms thoughtfully.] You have a point. I used my status as Imperator in order to wrangle in the Warboy that was here briefly. I guess, as long as I don't fall into the same habits, it could help.
Certainly. The trick is to be the sort of person who will always consider rank to be a responsibility, and not a privilege. [ ... ] Being Captain of your ship, here, I rather doubt that's a problem for you.
[ there's a compliment buried under all that somewhere. ]
A leader? No -- not by title. But I've worked with fine leaders. And...one day, perhaps...
[ peggy knows what awaits her in the future. she's been told. but for now: ] It's almost unheard of, back home, that a woman should hold rank of any significance.
That's something to look forward to. [She shifts for a moment, sitting on an uncomfortable truth.]
Our world was once ... advanced. You can find evidence of it. I don't know if Max mentioned anything about its history, but there aren't many still alive who remember it before it broke. [Meaning it could have been good, at one point. It could have been what Peggy is describing.]
I've been left with the distinct impression that your world is some far-flung version of my own -- a possibility that I devoutly wish is untrue, if you'll pardon my optimism on that front. He talked of nuclear explosions being a possible root cause.
I wouldn't wish this on anyone, either. [Don't worry Peggy, no offense taken. Furiosa sincerely hopes your world has a happier future in front of it.]
[She nods in grim agreement on the mention of nuclear explosions.] The stories that persist support that idea. The destruction, the the Half-lives, the poisoned Earth. It's anyone's guess, but ... it does make the most sense. From what I've heard.
Certainly sounds like it. I confess -- with very little enthusiasm -- a passing familiarity with that sort of weapon. I'm no scientist, Furiosa. But I've worked with scientists. They can get out of hand so quickly.
What are scientists, exactly? What do they do? [She thinks she might have an inkling of understanding, from the sort of persective one gets from reading something in a book, but she also realizes there are different terms for some of the same things, like their Organ Mechanic turns out to be 'Doctor' here.]
They study. They learn. They create. And they can destroy, too, but a great many regret that power once it's been exercised. Scientists observe the world and pick it apart like a broken clock, looking to bend its gears to new purpose.
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kill_switch
action »
Date: 21 Apr 2016 15:32 (UTC)I thought we might talk. Away from the poisoned moon below and without masks to make us so damned muffled.
Re: action »
Date: 21 Apr 2016 16:22 (UTC)Good. I hate the damned things. [At closer examination, she's a little drawn around the edges; still recovering from her decision to forgo the masks in her earlier stay on the moon.] The money's too good to ignore, don't know when we'll run into another Starlight situation.
[She hoards. It was always a smart decision in the Wastelands, and it looks like it's going to be a smart decision here.]
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Date: 22 Apr 2016 11:14 (UTC)action »
Date: 24 Apr 2016 14:07 (UTC)being dependent on an income is, different. [She's adapted pretty well so far, mostly in part because she works hard, has a profitable skill set, and doesn't spend a lot on frivolous things.]
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Date: 24 Apr 2016 14:09 (UTC)[ or playing cards. ]
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Date: 24 Apr 2016 14:15 (UTC)Who were you fighting?
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Date: 24 Apr 2016 14:18 (UTC)-- What sort of power shift?
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Date: 24 Apr 2016 14:36 (UTC)We took out the tyrant, Immortan Joe, as well as the leaders of Gas Town and Bullet Farm and most of their war parties. [It wasn't without heavy casualties on her side as well, and she pauses to think on Angharad, and the fallen Vuvalini, and Nux.] I was poised to take over when I was brought here.
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Date: 28 Apr 2016 10:47 (UTC)Re: action »
Date: 28 Apr 2016 13:42 (UTC)I was just trying to escape, but then ... there was nowhere left to escape to. I'm just glad things worked out like they did. We suffered losses, but ... we won.
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Date: 28 Apr 2016 18:13 (UTC)Re: action »
Date: 28 Apr 2016 19:45 (UTC)[Breeder, Milker, Half-Life, a very easy way to see how you fit into the machine that Joe ran. No, she doesn't want to go back to that. Nux was just as worthy as any Full-Life.]
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Date: 28 Apr 2016 23:52 (UTC)Re: action »
Date: 29 Apr 2016 00:56 (UTC)action »
Date: 30 Apr 2016 14:12 (UTC)[ there's a compliment buried under all that somewhere. ]
Re: action »
Date: 1 May 2016 05:40 (UTC)[She's certainly very wise ...]</small
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Date: 1 May 2016 11:17 (UTC)[ peggy knows what awaits her in the future. she's been told. but for now: ] It's almost unheard of, back home, that a woman should hold rank of any significance.
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Date: 1 May 2016 21:18 (UTC)action »
Date: 1 May 2016 22:03 (UTC)action »
Date: 3 May 2016 14:14 (UTC)Our world was once ... advanced. You can find evidence of it. I don't know if Max mentioned anything about its history, but there aren't many still alive who remember it before it broke. [Meaning it could have been good, at one point. It could have been what Peggy is describing.]
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Date: 8 May 2016 22:01 (UTC)action »
Date: 8 May 2016 23:07 (UTC)[She nods in grim agreement on the mention of nuclear explosions.] The stories that persist support that idea. The destruction, the the Half-lives, the poisoned Earth. It's anyone's guess, but ... it does make the most sense. From what I've heard.
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Date: 9 May 2016 13:49 (UTC)action »
Date: 10 May 2016 09:23 (UTC)action »
Date: 11 May 2016 10:29 (UTC)action »
Date: 13 May 2016 20:19 (UTC)action »
Date: 14 May 2016 00:04 (UTC)