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third tear ♫ video;

[ For perhaps the first time over the network, Elizabeth doesn't exactly look chipper. She's fidgeting, pulling at bits of her hair and moving as she talks. ]

Hello. I... I was hoping that I could ask you all your opinions, based on your own experiences. I realize that what I'm asking is situational and... well, really, private, but I really do need advice.

... When you have to kill, or... had to, before, what was it that allowed you to reason through it? Even if the act is for the greater good, it's still the taking of a life. Someone told me once that it was a necessity, though a terrible one, and I know now that he was right. Still, though, if it wasn't for survival-- for your own survival-- [ She pauses, reconsiders. ] If someone else was in danger--an innocent--is it any easier?

[ Clearly, she's never killed anyone before. Elizabeth chews on her lip, very much agitated. ]

Oh! This isn't about anyone on the ship, not at all. I'm only wondering for when I return to Columbia.

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Well, [Fortescue cants her head to the side, thoughtful,] about that. I've spoken to one or two people who don't think time passes the same, back home. I suppose we can't be certain, but some people go back and forth from this ship to their world. And sometimes they don't remember this place.

It could be a dream, but I don't think it's all cut-and-dried. So who knows. You may yet return the same time you left. Stranger things happen here.

I was told that I'd been here before, but I certainly don't remember it. I mean, I think that I would. [ Definitely would. ]

This place is one, big, strange thing, isn't it?

That's the crux of it, love. It's a strange thing, this place.

[She offers a smile.]

If this ship can snatch us out of our universes and stick us here, who's to say it can't rewrite the memory center of the brain, too?

[Sorry, Liz. That's not very comforting. Hence the smile.]

[ Despite the smile, she frowns at the thought. ]

... Do you really think something like that is possible? [ The question would be ironic, if she were further along her timeline, but, alas. ] How could we forget something so important? How could they make us forget?

I know it's possible. Through magic, where I'm from, but I'm certain technology could get there.

[Fortescue shrugs slightly.]

As my father liked to say, the brain is a computer.

Magic? [ She tilts her head. ] I don't think I've ever seen magic, really. In Columbia, everything that could be claimed as magic is metaphysics.

Well, I could show you a bit, sometime.

[Not just a bit, but a lot, given how strong a voidcaller Fortescue is. But she also likes to downplay her talents. It's almost second nature, now.]

There are those back home who say that magic is science, but it's definitely a different sort of energy, if you ask me.

[In that it comes from beings from another dimension, which she knows. But that's not accepted even a little, because that knowledge comes from magic treated as taboo. Her own magic.]

Really? [ Her face lights up excitedly; Elizabeth, a touch magic herself, is a naturally curious person. ]

I can't say that I have enough experience to really know, but it sounds as if you do! And I would love to hear about it if you wouldn't mind!

[Fortescue smiles; it's good to see a similar expression on Elizabeth's face again.]

Not at all. One of the best parts of being on this ship is learning about other places, I think. [And meeting all sorts of interesting people.] We'll get together sometime, you and I, and I'll show you a bit of magic. What I can do safely on board the ship, anyway.

Of course! I'll be waiting with bated breath. [ She smiles brightly, looking more than excited to have the opportunity. ] I suppose I'll speak with you later, then?

[She nods.]

Anytime you like, darling. No need to be shy.

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