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[hollow_king]

[You never know, he might respond to a message. If he feels like it.]

Comments

[hollow_king]

A vigilante, not a word I have heard before. Is it one of your world's words for 'criminal'?

[spoileralert]

Only partly. It means someone who takes law enforcement into their own hands, illegally.

There are a lot of them in Gotham. Mostly because the actual police are corrupt, incompetent, outnumbered, or some combination of the three.

[hollow_king]

Yes, that sounds like something the judges of the Father's order would not take kindly to. Reasonably enough, those actions have led to decades of blood feuds and death and put trust in a judgement that is likely not any better than there's and yet has even fewer people to watch and be able to speak out at injustices.

[spoileralert]

Yeah, totally, all of those things.

But in all seriousness, Gotham cops were in on a plot to assassinate me last year, so I don't have a lot of confidence in the legal system as a whole.

[hollow_king]

It sounds as if your kingdom suffers greatly on all sides.

[spoileralert]

[ She nods sedately, eyebrows raised and lips pursed. ]

It's kinda hellish.

[hollow_king]

What drives you to fight for it?

[spoileralert]

I figure I have the skills, so I can make a difference. I'm just not always sure what kind of difference I want to make.

[ She needs Tim for that. He was the one who really made her believe in what Batman was doing. ]

[hollow_king]

If you do not know what you wish to achieve, all the skill in the world means nothing. [He's not, for once, being insulting. He sounds faintly sad, if anything.]

[spoileralert]

There's plenty to be achieved in the short run, anyway.

[ And even if she isn't sure where on her priority list "stopping a mugging" falls, that doesn't mean she doesn't have goals. ]

[hollow_king]

Yet if you find that what you have achieved in the short run is opposed, or hinders, your long term goals - what is the point?

[spoileralert]

That's just life. Things change, problems arise, all the time. It's nothing to get worked up about.

[hollow_king]

[He snorts, almost a laugh at that. It's been centuries since he's been worked up about anything, really. Still;]

Do not be so quick to dismiss that. Your life has an end, it still has meaning. That is something to care about.

[spoileralert]

I care about things.

[ Mostly her dead boyfriend. ]

And living in Gotham my life may be ending sooner rather than later.

[hollow_king]

Even more reason to find some meaning.

[He shrugs.]

But most do not. I am sure you will live your years as well or badly as any other.

[spoileralert]

[ She shrugs back. ]

That's my plan: as well or badly.

[hollow_king]

I wish you well. [Sardonic and even his moment of vague interest is gone but it's not a lie. He just doesn't care.]

[spoileralert]

I'm sure. [ She can kind of tell, honestly. But he's been helpful, and not unreasonable. ] You too.

[hollow_king]

[He gives her an informal sign of the five, more farewell than he often gives. If she wants to talk to him again, she knows where he is. He might even say something back.]