[Vault] Analysis of a Failure

[curebootleg]

Library - Information Overload

[Preme is one of the more enigmatic new members of the Vault. She seems incapable of fun, expression seldom changing from a distant frown. Mostly disinterested in getting to know other people, or engaging with her peers in general.

It's not like she doesn't have interests, though. The library has been her main focus, and she's been tearing through books at a voracious speed; sitting on the library floor, the stack of books around her slowly gets taller. Books on world history, magic, and martial arts seem to be her main focus, but there are plenty of weird non-sequiturs in there, too - cookbooks, camping guides, even fairytales for children. It's like she's trying to figure out the whole of the human condition without having to actually talk to anyone.

If someone did catch her eye, though, she has plenty of questions.]


Training Room - Grindset

[The other place he's seen most often is here. Preme wants to become strong again, and he's rapidly finding that his patience is not what it used to be.

The beastkin(?) is sometimes eager to spar, comparing his power level to others to estimate his progress, and sometimes just repeating basic katas or beating the hell out of a sandbag. On this particular evening, something snaps, and he lets out a frustrated yell and puts all of his strength into a single punch. Despite his mental image of the bag being pulverized, it just moves a little more than normal.

He looks at the gently swaying sandbag with a defeated look.]

This is a waste of time...

Comments

[curebootleg]

The Empire and the Corsairs. Some of them are viciously self-serving, while others will put themselves in danger to help strangers.

What makes them differ, I wonder?

[purplexing]

That's... a good point.

[Donnie frowns thoughtfully.]

I guess...it comes down to what their ideals are and who it makes things better for.

[curebootleg]

Ideals...

[Precure wouldn't shut up about what they believed in. Preme ignored most of it, possibly at its own peril.]

...Do you think that what you believe in can make you strong?

[purplexing]

I didn't know I was going to be quizzed. Do you do this to everyone or just...non-humans? But yes. I do think what you believe in makes a difference that can have an effect.

[curebootleg]

Humans, beastkin, they're all the same to me. This is something I want to understand. The source of your kind's power.

["Your kind" referring apparently to all humanoid life.]

[purplexing]

Uh-huh.

[He tilts his head.]

And...what kind are you then?

[Given that it sounds like this person isn't including themselves in the aforementioned.]

[curebootleg]

I'm no kind but my own. I was a cosmic existence with no equal, before having my power stripped away and being bound to this pitiful shape.

[purplexing]

You were a what now?

[Because whatever Donnie could have expected as an answer, that's not one of them. He blinks.]

Are...you being punished?

[That's what it sounds like anyway.]

[curebootleg]

Maybe. Yes, that's a good way of thinking of it.

For the first time in my existence, I faced defeat, and this is my punishment. Trapped in the form of my enemy, as weak as any of them, with nothing to do but try and understand why I lost.

[purplexing]

Huh... Guess that goes to show you that even unequaled cosmic existences can meet their match...

[Fascinating. And weird. He's not entirely sure how that all works but it helps setting boundaries by things he does understand. There's just maybe the smallest of a snout-scrunch at the implication of people being weak.]

So this is you trying to understand, then. But...are they really weak if they've managed to best you somehow?

[curebootleg]

That's the real mystery. I could feel their weakness, easily shrug off all their attacks, right up until the moment my back was to the wall, fighting desperately to survive. What happened? What changed?

That's what I hope to figure out. Maybe I don't know what strength or weakness really mean.

[purplexing]

From what it sounds like, you're defining strength in terms of physical capability. That's part of the fault. Strength comes in many forms, and where one might fail in one field, they may excel in another.