nexus_crossings | +1 Cylon to the Nexus

+1 Cylon to the Nexus

There is a man standing near the vending machines in the Plaza, dressed in a well-tailored, peacock blue suit. He looks like he could get you an excellent rate on your second mortgage, but you'd be wise to double-check the fine print before you sign anything. As he fixes himself a cup of coffee, he glances periodically at the people who pass by, his expression perfectly neutral. Although the more astute might pick up on the way he tugs at the cuffs of his sleeves impatiently, as if wishing he were somewhere else.

Finally, he sighs. "Okay. Listen up. Adia asked me to come here because she thought it'd be good for me to make some friends, so if you see her, you can tell her that we chatted and save yourself the actual trouble. All right? I'm sure we're all very busy people."

He takes a sip from his to-go cup and grimaces. "On second thought, can anyone tell me where I can get a decent coffee around here? I can't believe she's been drinking this stuff for the past three years.."

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He looks down at the cat, brows furrowed. He know what the cat wants, he's just trying to decide if he wants a shedding fur ball sitting on his lap. The suit is very important to him. But he does like cats, this one in particular. It has good taste.

"All right," he sighs, scooting back a little so that the cat has room to sit on his lap. "But no claws, please." Orange fur he can get out with a lint brush, a snag in the fabric is much more of a pain to repair.

As for Hermione's reply, he looks a little surprised. "Only a couple of months? Did she help you around or anything?"

Crookshanks nods at his request, moving into Caspar's lap, and settling quickly, purring contently. He will be pleasantly surprised to find out later that Kneazle's do not shed.

"She did. We met outside the Grand Library. And started speaking about books."

That will definitely be a pleasant surprise. For now, he smiles down at his furry companion and scratches gently between his ears. It's almost like Caspar is a different person with a purring cat in his lap. Much softer around the edges. This must be the side of him that Adia sees.

"She loves libraries," he says, his tone a little warmer as he talks about her. "She talks about the Grand Library all the time. Gave me a tour the other day. I can see the appeal, it's huge." He looks up at Hermione. "The Nexus must seem less crazy for you if you come from a world of magic."

Crookshanks also knows when people just need a kitty in their lap. And Hermione knows that she can trust Caspar, because Crookshanks is a good judge of character.

"Not really less crazy. It is very unusual for me, since most people who come to the Nexus are from worlds with no magic. Or from worlds that have advanced technology."

"I just started learning about computers." Hermione smiles. "I am quite excited about it. And while my spells and potions do help me in everyday things on my world... not everything here can be solved with magic."

That makes her the first human to trust Caspar, aside from Adia. Good thing he likes cats.

"Magic is that commonplace where you're from?" He looks at the teapot, the cups that came from her small bag. "I feel like it's all over the place here." Maybe it's selective bias on his part, only noticing what's different from him. "Seems like mostly humans around here, too."

"Not everything here can be solved with computers, either," he points out. "But good luck with that. They're useful tools."

"About half of the population are either wizards or witches. The other half are Muggles, non-magic using humans." Hermione explains.

"And the Nexus magic is different from my own." She pours them both two cups.

"That doesn't cause problems? Half the population walking around doing things the other half can't?" He sounds incredibly pessimistic about it. He knows how easily differences in powers or abilities can spark a war.

At least he thanks Hermione for the tea. He picks up a cup and gives it a sniff. Blows on it. He's not much of a tea drinker but it smells pretty good. "How's it different?"

"We have a Magic Secrecy Act that is still kept in pretty good control." Hermione explains. "But I have been looking at ways to unite the two worlds, once again. It would be of benefit to Muggle-borns, like myself, for their parents to know more about the Wizarding world."

"Well, there is always a balance to my magic, something to control it. Nexus magic can be chaotic and uncontrollable at times. No one around to legislate it."

"Once again? Must have been a trainwreck the first time if it's a secret now." He leans back, his fingers unconsciously scratching a gentle pattern in Crookshanks' fur. "But at least anyone can be born using magic. You'd have a lot harder time otherwise."

"Hmm." He takes a sip of tea, considering her words. It's another point against the Nexus, in his mind. He likes the convenience, but anything that puts Adia more at risk is suspect to him. "Are you referring to the curses? The LOLs?" His mouth sours on the phrase. There's nothing funny about being cursed.

"The wizarding world and the muggle world once worked together a long time ago, before the 14th Century. Then there was a change in society, where many in the wizarding community started to feel that the Muggles were taking advantage of the partnership. And a few power-hungry Muggles felt that if they could not have control of their magic themselves, that those who did should not exist."

"That started the witch hunts. There was widespread persecution of wizarding children by Muggles, escalating attempts by Muggles to force witches and wizards to perform magic for Muggle ends and teach them magic, and increasing numbers of witch-burnings. And by the 17th Century, wizard-Muggle relations were at their worst."

"The International Statute of Secrecy was signed in 1689, and wizards went into hiding for good. We formed own small communities within a community, and used power secrecy spells to hide our schools, our government, our powers from Muggles."

Hermione lets the history lesson sink in for a moment, as she sips her tea. "Yes. I am. I have been fortunate not to have run afoul of a LOL yet, but I know people who have."

He listens silently, unsurprised. Of course humans would try to take advantage of the ones who could do magic. Of course they would respond with violence at the slightest pushback from whomever they were oppressing. "And you think things can be different now? Are humans any more enlightened in your current century? Because it took two wars and a genocide for the humans in my universe to get a clue."

As for LOLs, he takes another sip of tea before responding. "Is there a way to see them coming? Something to look out for?" Adia told him that it could be anything, really, but maybe a witch has a better sense of what to look out for.

"My concern is that the wizarding world is getting too detached from the Muggle world. We just fought in a Wizarding War, trying to prevent a deranged wizard from deciding that Muggles had no worth. And because of his delusions, Muggle-borns like myself, were viewed as criminals..." Hermione explained.

"I am a Muggle-born. I have connections to both worlds. I just think things could be better. That Wizard-Muggle relations could be better." It is something she feels very passionate about.

"Not really. That is one of the risks."

Edited 2017-12-05 16:00 (UTC)

The oppressed becoming the oppressors is a bit too close for comfort for him, and he shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah, well.. all it takes is one asshole to take things too far and screw everything up. Are there any of this wizard's flunkies still around? They won't make your goal any easier."

"Great," he sighs. "What sort of LOLs have you seen so far?"

Hermione frowns slightly. "As a matter of fact, I was recently attacked by one of the Dark Lord's followers recently. His most loyal follower."

"So yes. There is resistance."

"The most recent one was the gender-switching LOL."

"Was it here?" he asks quickly. That's his first concern -- always his first concern, because anything dangerous in the Nexus is a threat to Adia. "What happened? Did you stop them?" Hermione doesn't look injured, but that doesn't mean that her attacker didn't get away.

He raises a brow at the idea of a curse that can switch genders. Gender is a human construct, but he's rather partial to the construct that his consciousness is housed in. "Sounds harmless but annoying. Are they all like that?"

"Not in the general gathering area. There is an Anti-Violence Field that usually prevents people from hurting others here..."

"It was at a Nexus apartment I was sharing with my friend, Hunter. And he did get hurt."

"Bellatrix was brought in for justice. She is facing trial in my world now."

Hermione takes another sip of tea. Crookshanks is laid out in Caspar's lap, purring up a storm. "Most of them. The LOL stands for Laugh-Out-Land. Generally, they are harmless."

"Yeah, Adia told me about the anti-violence field." He trusts it about as much as he trusts anything else about the Nexus. Which is to say, not much. It's disconcerting to hear that it failed to protect Hermione and her friend. "Sorry to hear that. At least you caught her. What's going to happen to her if she's found guilty?"

Caspar has forgotten about his tea, both hands diligently scratching the cat in his lap. It doesn't look like he even realizes he's doing it, either. "I know what LOL stands for," he says. He appreciates the information, anyway. One more thing to try to protect Adia from...

"She is being sentenced for the death penalty." Hermione explains to him.

Crookshanks is in cat heaven. He rolls over, exposing his belly to the rubs. Cat trust.

"Huh." He wasn't expecting that, not after Hermione's whole spiel about wizard-muggle relations. "No rehabilitation for her?" He shakes his head before Hermione can reply. "Don't worry, I get it. If she's that dangerous, it's about the only thing you can do."

Crookshanks rolling over gets his attention. He looks down, that rare warm smile appearing on his face. "You are loving this, aren't you?" he chuckles. He goes for the belly -- gently, of course. "Adia told me she'd like to get a pet someday. Once there's a little less work to do and we're home more."

Crookshanks opens one eye, sharing a look with his witch, before closing it again. He is enjoying the belly rubs. A lot.

Hermione smiles.

Then returns to the serious topic. "I was tortured by Bellatrix, during the war. I would be the last person who would try to stop them from the only justice that is left for her."

Caspar is enjoying himself, too. At least until the subject returns to Bellatrix. He keeps a gentle touch on Crookshanks, but that smile disappears. Torture was a weapon wielded by both Cylons and humans during the Second Cylon War. At least he was never personally responsible. It's the only reason he can keep looking the young witch in the eye.

"Then good riddance." He smirks faintly. "Just make sure she doesn't have a spare body somewhere so the punishment sticks."

"We have dealt with something like that once... with the return of the Dark Lord..." Hermione explains. "So we will make sure that she doesn't return either."

"But she did claim something strange, before she was taken from the hospital..."

Well, that's interesting. "Wizards can resurrect?" he asks, leaning in as much as he can without disrupting the cat in his lap. "Or was this some special circumstances?"

As for whatever Hermione is about to share with him about Bellatrix, he's all ears. Sounds like this witch is going to be a problem even after she's executed.

"Tom Riddle, the wizard who was behind two wizarding wars, had created several Horcrux.. objects that had fragments of his soul. During the Second Wizarding War, we discovered that we had to destroy each of those objects, to truly destroy him."

Hermione thinks for a moment. "Bellatrix said, 'She will be the new past. She will be the new future. She will be the answer this world has been looking for.' It sounded like a prophecy about something that she believes would happen."

Oh. Magic, right. Caspar tries not to look disappointed. "And you got them all? Sounds like he went out with a bang."

His instinct is to say that prophecies are bullshit. That you can't trust the rantings of a lunatic. But... this is a world full of magic. This sort of thing might be commonplace. "Maybe she's talking about another witch. Someone to take the place of Mr. Riddle." Gah, what a ridiculous name. "Any more loose cannons out there in the wizarding world?"

Edited 2017-12-07 02:46 (UTC)

+1 Cylon to the Nexus

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