007. Light reflects from your shadow

[drydrown]

So does someone want to tell the hapless fool trying to steal my job that

1. law is difficult and there's a reason we have to get certified to practice it, and also
2. he probably doesn't actually want my job?

He can take the rest of my life, for all I care - the only possible exception to this is that I draw the line at all the befriending of my cat he's currently doing - but I'd really prefer to not have to deal with this at the office day in and day out.

So if anyone has any advice for dealing with the tactless pests, I'm all for hearing it - and don't start with telling me that I shouldn't speak ill of the apparently deceased. If they don't want me to speak ill of them, they'll learn their place.

Comments

[drydrown]

I'd be lying if I said I weren't...interested...in talking to the party responsible if they ever showed up on the app, though I'm aware that won't go well for anyone involved.

[thisloveisjustice]

I can't say I wouldn't be a bit interested myself. But yeah, that would probably be a rather... uncomfortable conversation for all parties.

[drydrown]

Here's to hoping it never becomes an issue, then. It's one that I could do without on several levels, ultimately.

[thisloveisjustice]

Indeed. Other than that individual though, is there anyone from your memories you'd be open to meeting?

[drydrown]

...Yes, actually, though I admit one of them would be for the sake of asking them two things: what the hell they thought they were doing at certain points in time, and why they didn't tell me about it.

[thisloveisjustice]

Those are some very specific questions that have a broad range of application. Was this someone that was close to you in your past life and didn't confide in you about something? Or were you like... coworkers with this person?

[Tatsuo has a feeling he'd be the one getting asked those questions if certain individuals from Ikuo's life got the app]

[drydrown]

Closer to the latter. Let's say my commanding officer had some extremely interesting outside activities that it might have been nice to know about.

[thisloveisjustice]

And you'd have nipped it in the bud if you'd known? So, you were in the military?

[drydrown]

Technically. It was a bit more high fantasy than that; we were knights.

I don't know if I could have stopped him, or if I even would have wanted to if I'd known. It's just one of those things that casts an incredibly creepy light over every interaction I had with him beyond that.

[thisloveisjustice]

[why does he know so many people with weird high fantasy or sci-fi memories?]

Knights. Neat. Have you gotten your old armor back?

[TATSUO. NO. YOU DON'T WANT TO GO THERE.]

Yeah, it gets tricky when it's someone higher ranked than you.

[drydrown]

Oh, I'm fairly sure I was committing treason seven ways from Sunday anyway, so I likely would have just used it to blackmail him or something, if we're going to be honest with ourselves. I was really charming, I'm telling you.

As for the armor...well, I had it before I was removed from the network for some time. It was...interesting, to put it gently?

[thisloveisjustice]

Yikes. Yeah, that's real charming. How do you deal with not liking aspects of your past self?

So... not exactly historically accurate armor?

[drydrown]

I'm sure you'll get to see the armor if I get it back. It's...unique.

[If he has to have this inflicted on him, so does everyone else. At least he's confident...?]

As for not liking my past self very much... I don't know, really. As I've said, I've mostly just been trying to ignore him as a general concept. I don't put much into trying to understand him or anything, because frankly I'm not sure I want to know. Outside of what I've already told you, he was a walking human rights violation that deserved what he got, and "what he got" comes out to "getting murdered in a desert somewhere."

[thisloveisjustice]

Yeah... I'd probably want to ignore him as well.
While my past self doesn't have quite as severe an offense as yours does, I still spent a good year doing my best to ignore him.

[drydrown]

Unfortunately, "ignore it until it no longer feels like your problem" isn't the most uplifting advice, but it's really all I have.

If you figure out how to deal with these things otherwise, do let me know.