It's not that Eren doesn't understand the sentiment. He does. Desperately. But he's got no illusions about the stakes. He's got responsibilities. And he's learned that sometimes that means making sacrifices. Bowing his head for a while and surviving long enough to fight back. He's trying. More recently, he's been on the other end of some very specific warnings from Warriorhead. So maybe he isn't trying hard enough.
Hinata's meta flies right over his head though. He's too tired to read too far into that "but." So.]
[If this were in person he'd be a lot less succinct about it and tip a bit more into a tirade. But text is hard on a good day, let alone when the screen is blurring a bit while he struggles to stay awake. So, to the point.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org they'll do whatever they want if they think they need to keep you in line. [Warriorhead's warning is still ringing in his ears. "If you're not meticulous in your caution..." Himself and everyone he cares about could wind up dead.] they'll threaten your comrades. decide to take out your home next. they're murderers.
[And they're not just talk, either.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org the CDC blew a whole crew sky high because they decided they were a liability. tied them up and slaughtered them like animals. we couldn't do anything but watch it happen
[a good thing Eren wrote even that much - Hinata had been seven words into a surprised and demanding reply, all of which froze on receiving the other's text. the cursor blinked at him in his own bunk's darkness, the implications hitting home hard and fast. he believed Eren completely and instantly - why wouldn't he?]
[watch it happen...?]
[after a minute or so,]
[very simply, very feebly,]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org But they said part of the contract was that our homes were safe
[a business with its own personal army, able to toss away their employees in the blink of an eye because of course they could gather more anywhere and anytime.]
[he'd question why they needed them, the recruits, since they had so much power, but that was obvious. someone had to do the dirty work.]
[that was that.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org It seems like they're everywhere across in the universes
[He's not entirely sure what that really means. Universes are still a pretty new concept to him in general. But.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org they can't be everywhere it doesn't matter what they do. they can't keep everyone under their control forever.
[If there are this many worlds. (This many universes?) Then there are places where people are free. And if there aren't, then there will be. He won't believe anything less.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
It's not that Eren doesn't understand the sentiment. He does. Desperately. But he's got no illusions about the stakes. He's got responsibilities. And he's learned that sometimes that means making sacrifices. Bowing his head for a while and surviving long enough to fight back. He's trying. More recently, he's been on the other end of some very specific warnings from Warriorhead. So maybe he isn't trying hard enough.
Hinata's meta flies right over his head though. He's too tired to read too far into that "but." So.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
what
no subject
[succinctly, after a twenty second pause (long for this teenager),]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
What happens to people who disagree after they signed on?
no subject
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
they'll do whatever they want if they think they need to keep you in line. [Warriorhead's warning is still ringing in his ears. "If you're not meticulous in your caution..." Himself and everyone he cares about could wind up dead.] they'll threaten your comrades. decide to take out your home next. they're murderers.
[And they're not just talk, either.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
the CDC blew a whole crew sky high because they decided they were a liability. tied them up and slaughtered them like animals. we couldn't do anything but watch it happen
[And he hasn't forgotten.]
no subject
[watch it happen...?]
[after a minute or so,]
[very simply, very feebly,]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
But they said part of the contract was that our homes were safe
no subject
long as you hold up your end of it
[And that means doing what you're told.]
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
how else do you think they get people to play along with this shit
no subject
[he'd question why they needed them, the recruits, since they had so much power, but that was obvious. someone had to do the dirty work.]
[that was that.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
It seems like they're everywhere across in the universes
no subject
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
they can't be everywhere
it doesn't matter what they do. they can't keep everyone under their control forever.
[If there are this many worlds. (This many universes?) Then there are places where people are free. And if there aren't, then there will be. He won't believe anything less.]
no subject
[but it isn't something he disagrees with in the slightest.]
FROM: hinata.shouyou@cdc.org
Hopefully that forever's less then 80 years
no subject
FROM: jaeger.eren@cdc.org
it won't be
[But he doesn't plan on waiting that long if he can help it.]