tushanshu | [video]

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Well, that was... quite the event, now wasn't it? I'd like to extend my thanks to anyone that helped clear out the infestation of those little creatures.

[Bruce tosses the camera a disarming smile, pushes a fountain pen out of the view of the camera. There's a slight shift in his demeanor, the sort that few people would be able to recognize much less understand. Batman has just hung up his Bruce Wayne hat.]

I'd actually like to address a matter that concerns us all. I notice there've been considerable tensions lately between the metahuman or powered individuals and those who are more commonly considered 'baseline'. It's my understanding that we're all here to help this world inasmuch as we can regardless of our abilities or beliefs. As with all things, there is always the potential for those with power to abuse that power, but it's my belief that the majority of individuals here deserve our trust equally as much as our respect.

[You owe him for this one, Clark. He coughs, and then brightens.]

Also, it's my understanding that the first wave of Foreigners began arriving a year and four days ago. I know many of you are missing your friends, your families, and others may have those friends or families with you. For better or worse, this place has been a prison, a home, a second chance to a variety of people, many of which are no longer with us. The community we've created here has been strong and each obstacle we've encountered we've overcome, together. And together is the only way we can move forward.

[He folds his hands on the desk in front of him, gives the camera a firm nod.]

On that note, Wayne Enterprises is always hiring, and my pharmecutical branch is available for anyone missing medications from their respective homes, so if you've any interest in working for or speaking with the longest-standing foreigner-run business on Tu Vishan, my office is in the Metal Sector, and I'm available between six AM and noon on Mondays and Tuesdays. Thank you for your time, Keeliai.

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He is a good man.

[ Her tone is fiercer than she'd intended, and her eyes fall to the table for a moment. She takes a breath. Take it easy, Sharon. This isn't a bad guy. Just some... enormously wealthy, possible ladies' man. ]

Sorry. I knew Steve back home. And here. Wherever he is, he's alive. I'm sure of it.

[ Not because she knows for sure, but because she has to be. ]

And if I get out of here and find he isn't alive... Well. [ Her grin is dark as she plays absently with her glass. ] Then I'll just have to find a way, won't I?

[ Wow. Dinner party conversation. Sure. She clears her throat and looks at Bruce anew, trying to relax and not think about where Steve might be at this instant. ]

You have someone like that in your life, Mr. Wayne, surely.

[Mildly,]

Good men? I've known a few.

[But that outburst is interesting. Steve, he knew, inspired loyalties galore. But the particular ferocity with which she speaks... hm.]

[ She continues to take measured breaths in an attempt to calm down. She's better now, but still not relaxed. ]

There always seem to be a few.

Too few, really.

[ And now one of them is gone. Once again.

She studies the rest of the restaurant to give herself something to do other than mope about Steve. ]

It's a lovely place. I have to admit, I hadn't expected to find something so familiar, seeing as how we're living on a turtle's back. [ She frowns faintly. ] Can it really be called living, though, if we're neither truly living nor dead?

[He pretends not to notice her outburst, instead focused on straightening a folded cloth napkin on the table.]

At the risk of sounding a little 'New Age', I believe that so long as we perceive ourselves as being alive, we must therefore be so.

[ She smiles at that. She's grateful that he isn't pushing the Steve issue. ]

Then are we dead when we're brainwashed?

That depends on the elements of our personality the theoretical brainwashing removes, I should think.

[He lifts his glass in a cheery almost-salute, takes a sip.]

But that's verging rather into the existential, isn't it?

[ Her lips twist at the corners, and she leans forward in her seat. ]

I'm game for it if you are.

Okay. Situation. Hypothetical, just for the discussion. A man is able to use a tool of almost limitless power to completely take over another man's mind. He doesn't appear to be aware of his actions, claims not to remember anything after, and yet, when his friend confesses a major, emotional secret - let's be cliched and say it's something about love - he breaks free of the brainwashing. It's sudden, more from shock than trying to fight.

Which aspects of her personality were removed? How aware could the man have been? Did they break free because of what personality traits were left, or was it a convenient twist in the plot?

[That is a very specific example he's willing to bet is no example at all.]

Well, having never been mind-controlled...

[Not quite true.]

It's difficult to say. But I believe that who we are can never fully be erased by-- I suppose this was magic? The imprint of our personalities, our 'souls' if you will... well, I'd expect that would always be there. Human nature is very resilient, on the whole. People can come back from almost anything, and the stronger a person is to begin with the less likely that any hypothetical brainwashing would stick. Perhaps this man was always aware on some level but needed something, a shock to his system to jolt him out of it.

[He shrugs.]

But then, it's hard to say for sure. I never have been much for science-fiction.

Isn't magic just science we don't understand yet? And science-fiction has inspired people to make some of its aspects a possibility, even a reality.

After all, we know more about outer space than we do about our own oceans, and we know more about our oceans than we know about our own brains. Isn't it possible that some scientist has found a shortcut to breaking a person and rebuilding them into something the scientist wants?

[ She taps a finger against the table with her fingerpad, keeping it light enough to not disturb anyone. ] Can people who are brainwashed be held accountable for their actions when they're aware enough to fight someone's hold on them but not enough to remember afterward?

You're asking questions of a remarkable depth for a simple dinner date, Ms. Carter. If I'd known these were the questions you planned to ask, I'd have done some light reading beforehand. I'm afraid I don't really have any answers for you.

[Because everything she says is theoretically a possibility, but Bruce Wayne would hardly be aware of it with anything more than a passing familiarity.]

Ah. Sorry. Most of the people I spent time with back home dealt with things like this rather often. I suppose I forget that other people don't. [ She bites her lip lightly. As a matter of fact, Sharon had rather dominated the conversation so far, hadn't she? For shame, for shame. ]

It's admirable that you've turned your stay here into an opportunity as you have. I imagine the people you've hired are also grateful.

[ One of the things she's learned as a spy is that people, when given the opportunity, will talk about themselves. Time for her to let go of the conversation and let him take the reins. After all, it isn't as if he'd be modest about his work. Sharon can count the number of modest businessmen she knows on one hand. ]

[He laughs, and leans back in his chair as one of the waiters finally arrives with a course.]

I hope they are, but I'm not really doing anything more or less than the rest of the people here.

[Oh, Sharon. People you haven't met before: Bruce Wayne.]

[ Sharon joins him in leaning back so the waiter has room to place their food. The meal looks delicious, and she smiles softly to herself. This place isn't as bad as it could be.

And damn you, Bruce. You couldn't do better to avoid talking about yourself if you'd done it on purpose. ]

So you don't think founding a business here and giving jobs to... how many people is impressive?

Why, Mr. Wayne. I wouldn't have figured you for humble.

[His smile is perfectly helpless.]

I've had a lot of help.

The kedan, I take it? Considering that we've effectually invaded them out of nowhere and tend to disappear the same way, they've been very helpful.

Did they give you your sense of humility, too?

The kedan have been part of my success, certainly, but there were a great deal of Foreigners who assisted me who are... no longer here. Miranda Lawson and Doctor Marta Shearing were two people that are responsible for the successes I've had.

[He unfurls his napkin with a little flick of one wrist, and then drapes it across his lap.]

The sense of humility, though... [Since she seems almost unerringly focused on it,] Well, if you must know, I bought it at an auction. Cost me quite a pretty sum.

[Total deadpan.]

[ She laughs. Of all the answers she'd expected, she certainly hadn't been expecting that. Tony indulges his ego and only brings out the humor when people try to look at the man underneath. A man who is the complete opposite when he has so much seemingly in common with Tony is... refreshing, to be honest. She takes a bite of her food. ]

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet Miranda Lawson or Dr. Marta Shearing. They sound like incredible people. [ She doesn't want to make this part of dinner as depressing as earlier, however, so she tries not dwell on all the people he must have lost, even though the thought bothers her. Is that what will happen to her? That she'll live her long enough to see all the people she loves disappear? ] Maybe they could even have helped you get a cheaper humility. Or maybe two of them, one for every day and one for special occasions.

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