In a Town

[Bjorn]

"'Certainly don't disagree.'"  Bjorn snorts wryly.  "If you hadn't already said you were some sort of caseworker, I'd be ready to guess it.  Or do you always watch your words that close?"

He stretches, staring off at the mountains.  "Don't get me wrong," he says, finally.  "If we win, it'll cause no end of chaos, I'm pretty sure.  But right now, the power that the Dream represents is in the hands of a tiny few, mostly Pax and the Cabal."  He eyes Tim shrewdly.  "And you've seen what they do with it."

He rubs the back of his neck.  "We could have argue over the stagnation of civilization and the stultification that arises from the self-preservation instinct of institutions, but that's all beside the point.  The real point is that by giving everyone access to the Dream, we take away the monopoly that Pax and the Cabal have leveraged into their dominance."

Falling quiet for a second, he adds, in a low voice, "Like I said, it's important to believe in what you fight for.  Saying 'it'll have its problem, but its better than the alternatives' isn't something that'll help you win, y'know?"

[Halbarad]

Tim chuckles. "Yeah, I generally do. A few years of working for the government will do that to you.

"For the other... how do I put this. I do think your cause is the right one, and of the approaches that are available, the Order's is infinitely better than Pax's or the Cabal's. I don't doubt that I'll come to believe in that cause more strongly as I work towards achieving it; I always put more energy in with the more I have invested in something. But I've just heard about your cause an hour ago. I'm just not wired to jump in immediately and say 'oh my god you're exactly right I have to throw everything I've got behind you NOW!' " He shakes his head. "I'm really not trying to be argumentative here, I'm just doing my best to try to adjust."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn shakes his head.  "No, sorry.  I'm not trying to make you believe.  I'm just trying to say, 'think it over.'  If you don't believe, then you shouldn't join the Order itself, though there's still a lot you can do to help."

He grins at Tim.  "As you might have noticed, I do believe in what we're doing, so you'll pardon me if I start to get carried away when I'm talking about it.  If you have questions -- and I'm betting you do, and you should! -- if you have questions, I'll try'n answer them.  But at the same time, I feel like I gotta make clear that just knowing a lot is riding on this isn't enough, y'know?"

[Halbarad]

"Heh, I can understand being fervent about it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes, I do believe in your cause. Obviously not to the degree that you do, but I think that'll come in time."

Tim lets the staff reappear as the pair start up a rather steep hillside, using it to help him keep his footing. "I guess I don't have any more questions about the Order, at least not yet. Mostly what I want to do now is clear my head, get some normal sleep, and then start figuring out what I can do."

[Bjorn]

"Fair enough," Bjorn says, matching Tim easily.  "You say you're a Dreamer?"

[Halbarad]

"That's what I'm told, yeah. Given the kinds of things I was doing while we were in the Dream, it looks like it's probably true as well. Once I get some actual rest, I'm going to try to visit the Dream to see exactly what I can and can't do - get some practice, so to speak."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn nods at that, and then stops.  "Well, if you don't have any more questions, I should probably head back.  Leave you to do your thinking."

[Halbarad]

"Thanks for your time," Tim says, giving Bjorn a nod.

[Bjorn]

With a final parting nod at Tim, Bjorn makes his way back to town.

Time to go say "hello" to people... Bridgett, Mikey, Jonah if I can find him.  Then sit down with Lazarus, bring him up to date.

[Carthrat]

After wandering aimlessly about the house for a bit, Tom shrugs.

"I think I'll go for a walk, too," he comments, and heads outside, musing on this and that.

It doesn't take that long for him to run into Tim, and Tom greets him with a clap on the shoulder.

"Yo," he says, looking around. "Nice place, isn't it?"

[Halbarad]

Tim's a bit startled by the approach of Tom, having been somewhat lost in thought. "Huh? Oh, hey Tom. Yeah - bit small, but if they haven't even been organized for six months that's not too huge a surprise. Bet it'll shape up really well in time, though."

[Carthrat]

"Yeah," replies Tom, nodding. "They'll make a nice little village out of it yet."

He goes silent for a moment, just listening and looking at the place around him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

[Halbarad]

Tim snorts. "I see the concept of inflation hasn't reached you yet.

"Just thinking over some of the stuff that Bjorn guy was saying. What do you make of it?"

[Carthrat]

"Makes me wonder," replies Tom, shrugging. "I suppose what he's saying is true, and all. And since we're here, I guess we're caught up in it as much as any of them.

But I can't help but wonder about what he said. He seemed pretty emphatic about believing about the cause, y'know. Bringing the Dream closer to Reality. Strengthening the connection. Whatever.

Yeah, as I said, it's better than culling humanity by a long shot. But about these groups. Pax Arcana. The Seventh Cabal. The Order of Symmetry. He says it about the power of will determining the outcome of the Contest, so that one of the groups can change the world.

I suppose that at least one group has to succeed by the end, which is why he seemed far more focused on what he was going to *do* rather than what he was trying to *stop*.

And I think I want to get behind this reason. I really do. Look at the ramifications of it; people start developing powers everywhere. Sure, there'll be chaos for a while. Maybe a long while."

At this point, Tom really, really sounds like he's trying to convince himself that what he's saying is true.

"In the end, though, it could mark the evolution of humanity as a whole. And that's a positive thing.

So I can sorta get behind it, and maybe I'll like the idea more as I get into it. But there's one thing I want to ask.

What effect, exactly, does this all have on the real world?"

[Halbarad]

"That's probably a question for Pandora - I expect she'd know if the Order's ever won. The guys here seem almost as new to this as we are, though."

He shakes his head a bit. "I can see what they're trying to do, and if this Enemy is really that big of a threat, something HAS to be done. I don't even want to THINK about Pax's solution in today's world; we'd be talking about World War 3, most likely. For the Cabal, I've got no idea what 'bringing in another reality' would mean.

"If the Order wins, though, we've got people all over the place starting to develop weird powers and magic. And I KNOW that's going to be trouble.

"But if Bjorn's right, the only real choices are between Pax and the Order, since the Cabal's idea just plain doesn't work. And between Pax and the Order there's no real choice at all. I'm not looking forward to the craziness that'll pop up if they do succeed, but it's a hell of a lot better than wiping out half or more of the population."