Link to article: Re: You Want Happy Endings?.
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[[>]] [[module Rate]] [[/>]] > From: Lisle Naismith [lnaismith@foundation.scp] > To: Lisle Naismith [lnaismith@foundation.scp] > Subject: Memo To Self > > > {{You have set this message to be sent automatically to <lnaismith@foundation.scp> every day at 11:00:00 CST. You may edit or cancel this setting in the Preferences menu.}} > > //Why bother?// > > ----- > > Let's say the Scarlet King awakens. Let's say he eats 4,000 sacrificial virgins for breakfast. > > Halfway through #2,374, he remembers a particularly funny knock-knock joke. > > He laughs, he chokes, and none of his slaves know CPR. > > ----- > > Let's say the flesh god and the machine god decide to settle their differences once and for all. Let's say they bring every Sarkic cultist and Broken-God-fearing soldier to the final battle. > > The battlefield is on the other side of a wormhole, which closes and never opens again. > > Only catch, we never know who wins. But we can live with that. > > ----- > > Let's say we find an infinitely huge wall of drawers. > > Let's say we fill them up with every anomalous item, where they'll be perfectly content until the heat death of the Universe. > > //And let's say we still die screaming.// > > ----- > > //Why bother?// > > ----- > > May 12th, 2016. One of my few days off in spring. I drank milk straight from the jug without looking at the expiration date - it should have been spoiled for two days. It wasn't. Still fresh. > > 8:00 AM, Penny Naismith was off to school, and Mrs. Rosa Naismith told me that she had to go to a parent-teacher conference for Penny later. > > "I'll go," I said. > > "Don't," she said. "It's your day off." > > "Last week, I saw a D-class eaten alive by a snake made of intrusive thoughts. I think I can deal with bitchy teachers." > > Rosa grimaced, skeptical. //It's Mr. Glassman, isn't it,// I thought, starting to miss the Mind Viper. > > 9:00 AM. I sip a mimosa. There's a classic Doctor Who marathon on PBS. Old Tom Bakers. Rosa catches me grinning ear-to-ear as the title theme comes on. She laughs. > > 3:00 PM. Mr. Glassman, assistant principal, told me that my daughter "doesn't handle bullies well." > > I said, "then how about we do something about the kids trying to provoke her?" > > He said, "look, when she's older, you won't be there to force her to toughen up. Do you want to coddle your daughter all your life, or let her build character?" > > Half an hour of smiling and nodding later, I took a photo out of my wallet. Said it was of Penny at her baptism. > > The photo was a of NARCISSUS-class visual cognitohazard that had just been decommissioned. Seeing the foam come from his mouth was one of the finer points of my life as a father, and well worth the reprimand from the O5 council. > > Mr. Glassman's still healthy, of course. Only difference is, he believes that if Penny ever cries, a seven-foot-tall eel-man lurking outside his peripheral vision will eat his eyeballs. > > 6:00 PM. Penny and I watched a movie that introduced her to swear words. She laughed hard enough to start wheezing. > > 8:00 PM. Penny's in bed early, contented. > > 8:30 PM. Pretty sure I can't go into detail on a Foundation email server, but Rosa's still got it after ten years. My pelvis still hurts thinking about it. God Bless America. > > ----- > > You want happy endings? > > Fuck you. > > You want sad endings? > > Again, fuck you. > > There are only endings. If 15 years of service to a shadow fascist organization bent on locking up all our demons in boxes has taught me anything, it's that "good" and "bad" are completely subjective. One man's ZK-class reality failure is another man's orgasm. > > ----- > > So. > > //Why bother?// > > ----- > > Because sometimes, temporarily, everything goes right. > > Whatever your situation, however bad things get - As long as you're alive, there can always be a great day. > > ----- > > You got this, Lisle. You're making Penny and Rosa proud, and Dr. Henderson too, wherever he is. > > Don't let the nihilists and quitters seduce you. There will be more May 12th, 2016's if you can keep the bastards locked up. > > And if you can help it, don't detonate the on-site nuke until you've finished the Tom Baker episodes. > > Love, > Dr. Lisle Naismith > Site Director, Foundation Site-59 @@ @@ [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box]] [!-- N/A (No Images) --] [[include :scp-wiki:component:license-box-end]]