Gladiolus Amicitia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
callmegladio) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hugtopia2021-07-06 07:15 pm
callmegladio) wrote in hugtopia2021-07-06 07:15 pm
[Video]
[The feed opens on Gladio, sat in his garden, the sun shining down on him. The sky is bright, the weather warm but a cool breeze ruffles his hair. The garden is well tended, green and well kept. The scene might have been a lovely and calm one if not for the serious look on Gladio's face. He's not quite looking at the screen, but off to the side, seemingly lost in thought for a long moment before he heaves a heavy sigh.
Still not looking at the screen, he starts to speak.]
It's been long enough. I've had time to think, so I'm going to tell you why I did what I did.
[He goes quiet again, considering his next words.]
I know... some of you are pissed we did this. You were happy livin in blissful ignorance, trusting this world without question. And for a while I was too. Till I realised how messed up that was.
I was so desperate for a peaceful life I didn't think...
[Gladio glanced at the screen then, his eyes narrow slightly.]
When did we all just roll over and accept this insanity? We were kidnapped from our homes, our families, and trapped in this bubble. We were given the most basic info and told to accept it. The most basic food we can't even really call 'food', and we accepted it. We were given tasks and rules and hoops to jump through, and we accepted it. We were forced to touch, kiss, hold and reveal secrets to strangers, and we accepted it. It was the 'will of the Gods'. We all just nodded and accepted it. Why? Why have we accepted all this? Why do people keep coming and going? Where do they go? Do they just go home? Or are they taken? Are they being hurt? Experimented on like the animals they had us catch? Why do these weird things keep happening? Why can't they answer our questions?
And why are we terrorists for wanting answers? We hurt no one. We destroyed nothing. We're the heroes of this world, right? Here to save the planet. So what are they keeping so secret?
Why aren't you all asking questions?
Why're you just rolling over and accepting their truth?
[Again he looks away, heaved another heavy sigh and brought a hand up to rub tiredly at his eyes. He definitely looked tired. Stressed. His tone shifting from angry to confused to desperate for people to understand, and for himself to understand why no one else was fighting.]
We're forced from our homes... Our families. We form bonds with people only to watch them vanish. And... I don't know bout anyone else, but I didn't consent to this. I never signed up for this world.
I want answers. We wanted answers. And we weren't gettin them. So we went looking for them.
[Here he laughs, low and without humour. A shake of his head and a sardonic glance at the screen.]
The fact the natives reacted the way they did should be a red flag. What're they protecting so badly? What's so secret? What aren't they telling us? Is it about what really happened to this world? Who these 'Gods' are? How we actually got here and why? Where our friends go when they suddenly disappear?
And we're the bad guys?
How's that make sense?
[Gladio shrugged and with one last sigh he reached out and switched the feed off. He'd said what he wanted. Now he would lie down in the sun and try and calm down.]
Still not looking at the screen, he starts to speak.]
It's been long enough. I've had time to think, so I'm going to tell you why I did what I did.
[He goes quiet again, considering his next words.]
I know... some of you are pissed we did this. You were happy livin in blissful ignorance, trusting this world without question. And for a while I was too. Till I realised how messed up that was.
I was so desperate for a peaceful life I didn't think...
[Gladio glanced at the screen then, his eyes narrow slightly.]
When did we all just roll over and accept this insanity? We were kidnapped from our homes, our families, and trapped in this bubble. We were given the most basic info and told to accept it. The most basic food we can't even really call 'food', and we accepted it. We were given tasks and rules and hoops to jump through, and we accepted it. We were forced to touch, kiss, hold and reveal secrets to strangers, and we accepted it. It was the 'will of the Gods'. We all just nodded and accepted it. Why? Why have we accepted all this? Why do people keep coming and going? Where do they go? Do they just go home? Or are they taken? Are they being hurt? Experimented on like the animals they had us catch? Why do these weird things keep happening? Why can't they answer our questions?
And why are we terrorists for wanting answers? We hurt no one. We destroyed nothing. We're the heroes of this world, right? Here to save the planet. So what are they keeping so secret?
Why aren't you all asking questions?
Why're you just rolling over and accepting their truth?
[Again he looks away, heaved another heavy sigh and brought a hand up to rub tiredly at his eyes. He definitely looked tired. Stressed. His tone shifting from angry to confused to desperate for people to understand, and for himself to understand why no one else was fighting.]
We're forced from our homes... Our families. We form bonds with people only to watch them vanish. And... I don't know bout anyone else, but I didn't consent to this. I never signed up for this world.
I want answers. We wanted answers. And we weren't gettin them. So we went looking for them.
[Here he laughs, low and without humour. A shake of his head and a sardonic glance at the screen.]
The fact the natives reacted the way they did should be a red flag. What're they protecting so badly? What's so secret? What aren't they telling us? Is it about what really happened to this world? Who these 'Gods' are? How we actually got here and why? Where our friends go when they suddenly disappear?
And we're the bad guys?
How's that make sense?
[Gladio shrugged and with one last sigh he reached out and switched the feed off. He'd said what he wanted. Now he would lie down in the sun and try and calm down.]
[Audio]
And that alarm was set before any had ever given them reason for doubt. It would seem that despite two years of peace they set snares for us regardless. I suppose I must commend them for their foresight, but it doesn't bode well for us that they would take such efforts. Moving forward we shall be aware that they are on guard for any lifeforms.
[Video]
Really now? That doesn’t do them any favors with regards to appearing suspicious… though, that they would do something like that, it seems nothing we have done as of yet has done much to make an uptick in our trustworthiness in their eyes, either. They’re more shrewd than I gave them credit for. Bloody clever.
You speak as though you plan to continue your efforts in spite of all that has transpired.
[Audio]
A researcher always moves forward, never back. And though one man may take one, two, three decades of his life answering a single question after a million failures, his answer will be yet another rock placed atop the mountain for the next researcher to climb. That is our strength that not even the gods will overcome.