The Lost Goats, 53
Aug. 5th, 2012 03:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avevale_intelligencer"Aren't you going to say 'you'll never get away with this, you swine'?" Snood inquired.
Definitely-Not-A-Quiet-Sleeper Jenny was snoring thunderously in Zander's bed, and Snood was covering Zander with the gun. They were a day out from Wuk, and so far Zander had avoided being shot (which, while not fatal, was still something very much to be avoided if possible).
"I'm sure someone ought to," Zander said. "I'm just not sure I'm the right person to deliver the line."
Snood laughed. He seemed calmer now that everything seemed to be going his way. "Of course I will," he said. "Even if they find me, even if they drag me back for trial. That's the beauty of your Nyrond coups. The only illegal things I did were the pin-money operations right at the start. It's no crime to own a lottery on Ridding-Goat, even a fixed one. Even the stuff on the tickets...made entirely from legal household ingredients. And it's not illegal itself, because..." He spread his hands. "Nobody ever heard of it before."
Structure and Mechanics, thought Zander. Always Hilary's forte. Frod him.
"Plus," Snood went on, "I know things. People who are desperate for a Poppo ticket will tell you anything. By the time I've finished spilling my guts they'll be giving me a medal. That's how the law works."
"On UnAffiliated planets, yes."
"Everywhere," Snood argued, and now the metallic edge was back in his voice. "Affiliated, unAffiliated, they're just words. The law serves the people with money and power; that's all. You inform on someone else who has hurt them and they suspend the law for you."
Zander began to pay attention. "So you basically believe that life is unfair?"
"LIfe is unfair, the universe is unfair, everything is unfair!" Snood began to pace, the gun dangling forgotten from his fingers. "Wherever people are it is the same."
"And your solution is to make it even more unfair, yes?"
"My solution is to do what anyone with intelligence would do!" Snood ranted. "Be the one on top! Do whatever it takes to get what you want!"
"You mean like working hard and saving prudently?"
Snood laughed. "That's the myth they sell you. Nobody ever got rich that way. The rich would never allow it."
"That's not it, though, is it?" Zander said gently. "You're just fundamentally lazy and greedy and you expect someone else to do it all for you. Like most humans."
"That's where you're wrong," said Jenny from the doorway. "Look at all he did. I happen to know that nobody worked harder to make this scheme pay off."
"But it's not his scheme, is it?" Zander said, his heart sinking as the gun was transferred to more expert hands. "He stole it."
"And that is what life is all about," Jenny said. "We musicians know the score, so to speak. Take all you can; give nothing back. Or be a chump all your life, work till you die for pennies and console yourself that at least you're not a bad person. And don't even think about arguing that one...Mister Nyrond."
"I wasn't the right person for this entire scene, was I?" Zander mused disgustedly.
Definitely-Not-A-Quiet-Sleeper Jenny was snoring thunderously in Zander's bed, and Snood was covering Zander with the gun. They were a day out from Wuk, and so far Zander had avoided being shot (which, while not fatal, was still something very much to be avoided if possible).
"I'm sure someone ought to," Zander said. "I'm just not sure I'm the right person to deliver the line."
Snood laughed. He seemed calmer now that everything seemed to be going his way. "Of course I will," he said. "Even if they find me, even if they drag me back for trial. That's the beauty of your Nyrond coups. The only illegal things I did were the pin-money operations right at the start. It's no crime to own a lottery on Ridding-Goat, even a fixed one. Even the stuff on the tickets...made entirely from legal household ingredients. And it's not illegal itself, because..." He spread his hands. "Nobody ever heard of it before."
Structure and Mechanics, thought Zander. Always Hilary's forte. Frod him.
"Plus," Snood went on, "I know things. People who are desperate for a Poppo ticket will tell you anything. By the time I've finished spilling my guts they'll be giving me a medal. That's how the law works."
"On UnAffiliated planets, yes."
"Everywhere," Snood argued, and now the metallic edge was back in his voice. "Affiliated, unAffiliated, they're just words. The law serves the people with money and power; that's all. You inform on someone else who has hurt them and they suspend the law for you."
Zander began to pay attention. "So you basically believe that life is unfair?"
"LIfe is unfair, the universe is unfair, everything is unfair!" Snood began to pace, the gun dangling forgotten from his fingers. "Wherever people are it is the same."
"And your solution is to make it even more unfair, yes?"
"My solution is to do what anyone with intelligence would do!" Snood ranted. "Be the one on top! Do whatever it takes to get what you want!"
"You mean like working hard and saving prudently?"
Snood laughed. "That's the myth they sell you. Nobody ever got rich that way. The rich would never allow it."
"That's not it, though, is it?" Zander said gently. "You're just fundamentally lazy and greedy and you expect someone else to do it all for you. Like most humans."
"That's where you're wrong," said Jenny from the doorway. "Look at all he did. I happen to know that nobody worked harder to make this scheme pay off."
"But it's not his scheme, is it?" Zander said, his heart sinking as the gun was transferred to more expert hands. "He stole it."
"And that is what life is all about," Jenny said. "We musicians know the score, so to speak. Take all you can; give nothing back. Or be a chump all your life, work till you die for pennies and console yourself that at least you're not a bad person. And don't even think about arguing that one...Mister Nyrond."
"I wasn't the right person for this entire scene, was I?" Zander mused disgustedly.
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no subject
Date: 2012-08-05 04:24 am (UTC)Anael: Yep.
Mitchel: He needs a hug.
Anael: He needs more than that, kid.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-05 01:19 pm (UTC)Some smallships, it was said, were now more than 94% lash-up and were safer left alone that flown in.
On the other hand, Nyronds themselves ....
Soren groaned as the restraining straps cut in to his tender flesh. Hwe had been adamaent that none of the others should accompany him, and he was starting to regret that. The on-board auto-pilot was glitching like a spark in a snowstorm, and he was dalling the undeniable feeling that Zander was getting close to his utmost.