005; video; l.morningstar;

[dealwiththe]

[ He looks thoughtful, today, but otherwise unchanged. ]

I've discovered a class of people more annoying than lawyers: theologians.

[ Hopefully there aren't any lawyers or theologians on this boat. ]

Comments

text | grace.g

[expectaspectre]

oh hey you came back !

i thought you might've died

[dealwiththe]

not everyone hates me enough to want to kill me. besides, I usually bounce back.

These academics were pretty ruthless, though. Wouldn't have surprised me to see blood spilled over some of their arguments.

[expectaspectre]

well it's a good thing you came back here then
i don't think anyone here wants to kill you

[ ...anymore... ]

that's academia for you
did you at least get to see any breakthroughs or enlightenment or anything ?

[dealwiththe]

There's definitely at least one person here who wants to kill me, but that's normal.

And no, no breakthroughs. Honestly most of the arguments I heard were clearly very old ones, and just went around in endless circles.

text; un: greyjoy

[reek]

An explanation on what either one of those things are might be helpful.

[ You know, for the medieval among us. ]

[dealwiththe]

Lawyer: someone who argues about laws.

Theologian: someone who argues about religion.

l.odinson | text

[shiftedshape]

This is the first time this has come up for you?

[dealwiththe]

Yep. I avoid those types, usually. No fun at parties.

Text: A. Mercer

[lessandmorethanhuman]

Welcome back, I think. And I'm not surprised--surely this has come up for you before, hasn't it?

[dealwiththe]

Why would it? Human religion traditionally has very little to do with me, and much more to do with a fictional version of me that they made up.

[lessandmorethanhuman]

You openly go by Lucifer Morningstar. No one has bothered you about that before, or do most people think you're joking?

...regardless of that answer, I've got a private question for you. Don't wanna put it in text.

voice;

[dealwiththe]

Most people react the way you'd expect them to react. Do you think someone who believed me about being the Devil would want my religious opinions? Most of them already have their minds made up.

And you know my door is always open. I prefer conversations in person, anyway. Where would you like to meet?

Re: voice;

[lessandmorethanhuman]

Somewhere private? Beyond that I dunno. Just...it's stuff I really don't want casually shared. Even among wardens, although I think Loki so far has kept it private and I'm glad of that.

[dealwiththe]

The observatory? If someone's in there, we can find somewhere else to talk. Meet me in ten.

----->Action

[lessandmorethanhuman]

That works.

[And then there's silence, as Alex makes his way to the observatory.]

[dealwiththe]

[ Luckily, the observatory is deserted right now, so Lucifer is seated, relaxed, when Alex enters. ]

As long as it's not a theological question - if it is, I might just walk out of here.

[ That is obviously a joke. ]

[lessandmorethanhuman]

[That makes Alex snort, half-smirking.] Nah, I'm still trying to figure out what I am, not if I have a soul or not. That's advanced shit.

[So Alex pulls over a chair himself, facing the view outside because he finds that calming.]

You were there for the Simulation, right? I...kind of fell off early and died during that so I don't remember as much.

[dealwiththe]

The weird alternate versions of ourselves in the weird alternate reality, you bet. What about it?

[lessandmorethanhuman]

A few things, a lot of which is...complicated. But to be succinct, I'm not human. Alex Mercer died, originally, unleashing a virus in Manhattan. A virus he worked on to make worse than an already existing one. It--I--recreated and copied him from the ground up, and for a long time because of faulty memories, I believed I *was* him.

[Alex crossed his arms, and stared resolutely out at space.]

[dealwiththe]

[ Lucifer takes a moment to parse all that out. ...Yeah it definitely sounds like something from a sci-fi movie of the 80's. But hey, he's heard weirder.

Probably.

Still, he whistles low after a moment. ]

So you were impersonating the real Alex, and you didn't even know it?

[ Isn't that like Blade Runner? Okay, okay, he's still not saying that. ]

[lessandmorethanhuman]

In a way. He's part of me. [More quietly, but Lucifer'd probably hear him anyways.] They all are.

[Still, that's a different and more complicated thing to get into. So he's at a low voice, but audible again.]
He's...familiar, I guess. Since I thought I was him, believed it. But I'm actually the virus. Sentient, and with my powers unlocked I'm a shapeshifter.

text | a.starkov

[solmate]

Theologians as in theology as in religion?
Everyone studies religion where I'm from.

[dealwiththe]

Your world sounds like a real party.

And by that I mean the opposite.

[solmate]

I didn't say everyone enjoys it.
Personally I find it a little gruesome at times.
But you can't walk down the main street without seeing stalls selling relics supposedly made out of various saints' bones.