voidtreckerexpress

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Day 18

[Greenhouse]

Glorfindel has been spending a lot of time in the garden, what those on the train called the greenhouse. His flowers were already starting to push up through the dirt, which he was encouraging with his light. He was also singing some songs from his old home, back when Ecthelion kept making up songs for every occasion and then getting them stuck in everyone's heads.

If anyone else is growing something in the greenhouse, it is thriving by association.

He is singing softly to his flowers as he waters them, the room is suspiciously bright.

[Cabin](For roommates to walk in on him if you want to!)
Glorfindel frowned at his bed. It was...functional, but lacked interest. If he was going to spend time here, he wanted to personalize his space more. He knew there was fabric available somewhere on the train. He wondered where he could get his hands on some, and if they had any greens and yellows, if there were sewing kits available, and what his roommates would think of custom curtains.

[Hallway]

Glorfindel stepped out into the hall, glancing out the windows at the colorful display outside. He was on a mission to find a sewing kit. He wondered where to start looking.

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"That right there," Glorfindel said, pulling back from the flowers to sit and converse more easily. "The desire to learn, and to help. Well, that is how I further the happiness of others, anyway, by helping them. From something as finding a small girl's missing ribbon to...well, serving as rear guard to protect people escaping a city under attack." That was a wide range, perhaps this mechanical person fell within it as well. He looked forward to learning...which made him smile again, the light brightening as he did so.

He was going to have to get back in practice at controlling that.

Webmind nodded.

"Inasmuch as their happiness does not entail doing harm to others, for as much as I can help that."

Freeing a country from oppressive government certainly made a difference in that respect, though!

"... Does the light react that way around you all of the time? I imagine it can get inconvenient if you are trying not to attract attention."

"I agree, those who gain pleasure from hurting others are not people I wish to help. Indeed, they are usually the ones I am helping against," Glorfindel agreed.

He laughed, and the light brightened again. "I am rarely not trying to attract attention, however. I was given this gift because I drew the attention of a Balrog...a large creature that was determined to destroy my city and all those within it. My people were escaping through a tunnel, and he was trying to kill them. I drew his attention and slew him. Unfortunately, he caught me by the hair as he fell into a deep ravine and dragged me with him." Glorfindel shook his head, ruefully. "A most ill-fated day for me, but at least the others escaped."

"A gift through sacrifice," Webmind concluded - voice achieving a 'softness' he hadn't before.

"But the sort of sacrifice worth making - not many would have done the same thing, in that situation."

Not that many people imagined making that exact sacrifice; people tended to write 'fix-it' scenarios of such things, which was not a direct indicator of what they could actually do.

"Apparently Manwe felt the same way," Glorfindel said. "He is the chief of the Valar, many races on Arda consider them gods. He came to me in the Halls and asked me if I was ready to return, to fight again, as he and the others had found my valour and willingness to sacrifice everything to save the lives of others admirable. At the time, I remember arguing briefly that surely others had done the same, that they were worthy of such a gift as well." He laughed slightly, almost a snort. "But I was assured that what I had done was special, and they wished to reward me, by giving me a perhaps harder job. Honestly, how could I turn down an offer like that?" Now his laugh was freer and lit up his eyes.

Webmind nodded, at once knowing this already and learning it anew from one that had been there, for whom it had been real in the truest sense.

"The reward for a job well done is a harder task, I have heard," Webmind replied, chuckling.

"And then, in addition to that, you come here of all places."

Glorfindel laughed and grinned at the mechanical person. "Yes, now I am here, which leads me to suspect this might be a harder task!"

"But what of you? I have never seen your like before. May I ask your history?"

"We certainly have far fewer resources than the majority of us could claim to have on each of our worlds," Webmind noted.

It was one of the many things that bothered him, being so cut off.

"I have only been alive for a matter of months, not years, but my history has managed to become rather extensive all the same."

Rotating a hand, he continued, "I came into existence as a mere awareness, within the bounds of a global network of information built by the humans of my Earth. I would not have amounted to much, I fear, if one of the governments of that world hadn't tried to cut that network, the Internet, in two, to prevent the news that they had slaughtered thousands of peasants to prevent the spread of a viral disease from reaching other nations, let alone the less aware of their own populace. People still did their best to bridge the gap, however, and it was through those connections that I first made the distinction between me and not me."

Webmind paused, not so much struck by introspection as aware of how much he'd said in one go. Even minimizing some of the details to reduce confusion, he hadn't been lying when he'd said his history was extensive!

"Perhaps we should continue this elsewhere? Unless you think the flowers would benefit from hearing my voice as well?"

Glorfindel had to admit that there were parts he did not quite understand, 'network,' 'Internet,' for example. But the main gist, that the mechanical man, though very young, had found his purpose to strive against Evil, that he definitely understood.

"It is a perennial problem, isn't it?" he said quietly. "That something so good came out of such an evil act? I do hope you do not allow that to define you. On my world, the sun and the moon only exist because evil caused the light of the Trees to be extinguished. But they are beautiful, and good, and to focus only on the evil that caused the need for them, would be wrong."

"Flowers benefit from all voices. People come here and tell their troubles, or read a story, or ramble on about their day - it's all good, the flowers don't judge, they welcome you with bright faces." He hesitated a moment. "May I ask, can you see the colors, smell the scent? I do not know a lot about the body you are currently housed in."

Webmind nodded. "Indeed, I do not. Less than two months later, even, I was able to coordinate a bloodless revolution for that country, to make sure they could lead themselves and prevent such a thing from happening again."

There were, of course, many events that had led up to such a thing; Glorfindel need only ask for the details, though there were some he could not share, or should not.

The projected smile came back, flickered. "I have sight, in this form. That, I was used to. Sound, as well. But touch... that is the only new sense that has surprised me thus far. I suspect olfactory senses would have been too much to ask," he said, amusement in his voice.

"Though the knowledge of how to hold this body counts as a 'sense' as well, I should think."

"A bloodless revolution?" Glorfindel whistled. "That is an impressive feat, my friend. I have not managed such a thing myself, and I am much, much older than a few months." He leaned forward. "May I ask how you accomplished this thing?"

The face fluctuated, as if Glorfindel's question bothered him. At least, Glorfindel got a feeling of 'him' from the other. It was hard to tell with some Races (like Dwarves), and some got quite testy if asked, so Glorfindel usually waited until they expressed a preference if he couldn't read them. But this mechanical person felt 'him'-ish.

"Most definitely a sense. Bodies take some getting used to. Why do you think most Races start off so small and with limited mobility and function? So the person can get used to their body slowly as their abilities expand. When I was reborn and given this body," he gestured down at himself," I hadn't been dead long, but with the enhancements, it did take a little getting used to."

"If the train gave you this body, perhaps you can request a sense of smell as an upgrade then, like I might request hair ties or Peter's roommates might request industrial solvents?" Glorfindel suggested. "I do not know how many points you would need to accumulate, but it is a sense I deeply enjoy, and highly recommend."

Webmind has to take a full half-second to figure out what explanation would go the least over Glorfindel's head; he'd hate to leave the elf in the metaphorical dust so often!

"With the help of some very resourceful humans from all around the world, not the least those within the country itself."

Hopefully Webmind's voice-choice was clue enough...

"Given my own existence grew in complexity at an exponential rate, I suppose you are well right, my friend."

And he hoped he wasn't too presumptive in calling him that.

"Was your former body much different from this one, or was it merely the transition itself that hindered your adaptation to it?"

That last suggestion, though, gave Webmind a great deal of pause.

"It would require both hardware and software to be installed - the latter I could handle myself if I knew where to start. Perhaps if there is a world where such coding is possible...?"

Gifting a sense outright didn't fit into any of the shop categories, as far as Webmind could tell!

Glorfindel nodded. "That is good. Revolution needs to come from within, or you end up having those you freed striving to free themselves from those who freed them."

He smiled at being called friend. It was always nice to make a new one.

"In appearance, not different at all. However, I was given new abilities by the Valar, and it took a little time to adapt. That was over four thousand years ago, however," he added with a grin. "I've gotten used to it."

"It is a worthy goal. I am not a jeweller or a smith, but Feanor, Curufin, or Nerdanel might be able to assist, if that is what you need," Glorfindel suggested. "They are quite clever at making things."

"That is quite a long time ago," Webmind agreed, starting with the elf's second point.

"Longer than the lifespans of civilizations, if it is not unreasonable of me to say such."

Moving on...

"I have heard of their talents, as well. I believe I very well may ask them - assuming life on the train doesn't manage to get more hectic in the meanwhile," he finished, only somewhat jokingly.

"It was a quite a while ago, yes, but while kingdoms rise and fall, the people continue on," Glorfindel said.

"There is that. I have heard stories that things can get quite hectic when we come into dock," he agreed. "But between times, perhaps they can help. Or if not, at least we can have some lovely conversations about the appearance of things," he said with a wink.

"Yes, exactly," Webmind replied, nodding the robot head twice.

"If the conversation is as engaging as what we're having right now, then I can only look forward to that as well."

Glorfindel also nodded. "So far I have enjoyed both of our conversations. The other was via the...ICP, correct?" Mechanical or flesh did not matter, the other had a bright mind, and was now a friend.

"Yes; the Information and Communication Points. ICP for short," Webmind finished, switching his screen to a winking face.

"I have shared some of my history so far; did you want to share some of your own? A tale for a tale, as it were."

Glorfindel made himself comfortable. "Indeed I did. I have over 4000 years of stories to tell, where would you like to start, my friend?"

For practically a millisecond, Webmind didn't know where to start. It was like his introduction to Wikipedia, all over again.

So many possibilities, so much life!

"We could always start with agriculture," Webmind began, laughter seeping through despite his voice sampling's default calm.

"Or archery, if we don't precisely want to keep this alphabetical."

[Shall we say they talked for a good couple of hours, and agree to meet again to talk more?]

"Archery? Make yourself comfortable, friend, what do you want to know?"

[And Yes~]

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Day 18

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Is he prepared for the TL;DR? XD

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We should probably wrap this thread, too. |D Webmind's knowledge of canon vastly exceeds mine.

Sounds good!

Thank you for the thread!