quiteagooddonor | ONE. be curteous and present yourself well

Entry tags:

ONE. be curteous and present yourself well

[The audio turns on and there's a short pause before a moderately young, eager British voice speaks.]

Hello! My name.. Well, it's Tommy D. I'm-- I'm a new warden here.

[His words become more careful.]

I don't-- I don't know if you know about The Cottages or White Castle or anything, but it really doesn't matter that I'm a student of Hailsham. It really made... it makes no difference in the end. [A beat.] I know I'm not the best out there, but if you give me a chance, I'll work hard and I expect I can surprise you.

[A pause and then he's back to his original chipper tone again.]

I heard that the inmates are assigned to us. Is that right? Do I.. Do I talk to the Admiral about it or is it automatic or... ? Sorry. I'm rubbish at this sort of thing. I promise I'll be better once I've gotten to know how it all works.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, of course nobody wants to have disease, but... they've got to see that you're people too, right?

It's not as nice as that - we... our entire world was based around who could see what colour and how much. Then I end up here and everyone except me and Jane can see all the colours.

Maybe the people in comas. [adds, almost in a conspiratorial tone] I keep a close eye on the doctors. As much as I can. If I even suspect they're doing it, I'll find a way to bring it down.

Jane's my friend, yes. She's from home.

Not really, no. The way I understood it, they weren't even certain we had souls. That's why they had The Gallery with all our art.

I doubt many people care about that here. I heard rumor once that some Originals couldn't see colors. I don't know if it was true, though. There were a lot of stories told at Hailsham.

If you've only just learned about this, why were you watching them before?

That's lovely. I quite wish I had Ruth or Kath here with me. It would make it easier.

Why should I mind?

I've eaten there once before. The burgers are shit. Never heard of The Cottages, though.

In case you are one.

You've.. eaten at White Castle?

Yeah, I have. Like I said, the burgers are shit.

'White Mansion' White Castle?

..Were you a Guardian?

Hello, Tommy! Welcome to the Barge. Everyone's a little confused when they first arrive, not to worry!

It is automatic, in a sense; on the fifteenth and thirtieth of the month the Admiral will announce the pairings that have been assigned. You might be paired up or might not be, but it always happens eventually!

...Do you think that made it easier for them to... use your organs.

Hm. That's interesting. I can see Red, but that's it. Nobody else here is like me and Jane, though.

Because, ah, the equivalent to doctors in my world do... they're responsible for a lot of deaths.

You never know! I was here a few days, and then Jane turned up.

I have not heard of Hailshem. Where is this city located?

Tommy, I'm not. I'm fairly certain of this.

..Probably..

What color does she see? Is it the same? Do you see shades of red or just red or not? Is the rest of it gray or is it black or white or can you not see it at all? Like a.. blindness, it's called?

Doctors don't really seem to be the sort to have any sense of humanity. That's why we had Carers.. to help with our recovery. We never really spoke to the doctors. They just did the procedures and we were less an organ by the end of it.

Yeah, maybe. I don't think Ruth will make it, but Kath could. She might.

[Hesitantly and obviously missing the point.]

..Does that mean you're okay with it then?

Oh. Thank you! [Pause.] ..Who are you?

What do I do if I'm not paired up? How do I make certain that I'm paired? Is there something I'm meant to be working on right now?

Hailsham. [Feel the very minute difference in accents.] It's a school. I'm actually not entirely certain where it was. In England somewhere.

Green, but a lot less of it than I do. We see... things in shades of grey, basically, and then one colour, or sometimes two - she can see 12% Blue and 14% Yellow. I can see 86% Red.

So... did doctors in your world have that oath? About not doing harm and things? Someone told me about that. Did you not apply because they didn't believe you were... people? [He sounds like he's shuddering a little.]

I hope she does. It's not fair to be left alone here.

[Also slightly missing the point, or at least moving orthogonally to it.]

It won't be the first time someone on the Barge has said that a person here resembles a person they've known at home.

How do you know what percents you see? Do you see the grey tinted in red or is it only grey and red?

I never heard about any oath. We never knew much about the doctors. It wasn't really relevant, since we knew what was going on. We'd move from Hailsham to The Cottages, then begin our Donations and recover in Care Centers. The rest of it didn't really matter. ..We had a good education growing up, of course. I only mean that you never learned much detail about anything unless it was something you took an interest in on your own at The Cottages.

She's alright. She's a Carer, not a Donor... It might be better for her there. Rather than here.

There's a test that you take called an Ishihara when you're twenty. I see the red components of colour; so I can see someone blush, for example.

I suppose if they told you that, you might...

We... learned an ever decreasing amount of things as time went on.

But I don't know what I'd have done without Jane.

Oh. Well. You don't look like her. You look like.. I think she was your Original is all. You'd still be your own person. And if you weren't raised to be a Donor, then.. well. There might not be any way for you to know it yourself.

[What is it with unpersuadable people from dystopian worlds this week.]

I'm pretty certain that I'm not ... Well, be that as it may, I don't mind if you mention it to Eddie.

What's the Ishihara?

We learned more than most at Hailsham. I thought maybe they told us things the way they did when they did to prevent us from looking at it too hard. But now I know that's only partially true. They told us what they did to do us a favor.

Maybe Kath will come then. She would, if she knew. If she got offered it somehow. [Hear the false hope.]

A test where they show you pictures made up of dots. Differently coloured dots. Depending on what you can see, they work out your colour perception.

Is it really a favour? Is ignorance ever a favour?

I hope she does.

No, 'White Castle' White Castle.

And nope, I'm an inmate.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 3 of 5

ONE. be curteous and present yourself well

Re: PRIVATE

PRIVATE

private. video

as somebody makes the inevitable 'White Castle' misunderstanding

private. video

ilu.

somebody had to. <3

<3

no subject

Re: PRIVATE

no subject

private. video

PRIVATE

private. video

no subject

no subject

Re: PRIVATE

private. video

PRIVATE

Re: PRIVATE

private. video

private. video

PRIVATE

Re: PRIVATE

no subject