Video Two: In Remembrance

[lesliemonster]

Good afternoon, everyone. For those of you hailing from different planets, today is a federal holiday in America called Memorial Day.

As Captain Rogers has already aptly mentioned, today we take the time to remember the sacrifices of our men and women in the armed forces. I suspect that is a sentiment that isn't limited to my country or planet alone. Those of you who would like to are welcome to join me on the deck at 7, for a small candle lighting ceremony and a moment of silence.

Thank you for your time.

Comments

[timesbureaucrat]

[Narvin has calmed down since Steve's discussion of Memorial Day, so Leslie doesn't get verbally attacked like Steve did. He's still in a bit of a cranky mood, though. He doesn't like being reminded of war.]

Why candles?

For that matter, why is it only the sacrifices of the military forces that are memorialized? Why not others who died in the course of carrying out a service to their state--diplomats kidnapped and murdered, intelligence officers killed, politicians assassinated, civil servants bombed...

[lesliemonster]

Because, thank goodness, there aren't any graveyards here to put flowers on.

[Leslie takes Narvin's questions at face value. He'll see her pull a book from her desk and open it to a dog-eared page.]

That's what happened on the first official Memorial Day, in 1868. Flowers were placed on the graves of soldiers from both the United and Confederate -- [Erm. Alien?] From both sides of a very, very bitter war. Five thousand volunteers came to Arlington National Cemetery and placed flowers on the graves of over twenty thousand men. You’ve got to understand, this was barely three years after the end of the Civil War. America was desperately looking for a way to heal, and we started to find it in the memory of our soldiers.

That’s not to say that we can’t honor men and women who have died for their country outside of the military – only that that's how the tradition got started.

[timesbureaucrat]

[Narvin's eye twitches very slightly at the phrase "Civil War." A tiny wince that he can't quite entirely suppress.]

I see.

And did it work to heal the damage? Well, obviously the country recovered eventually, I am aware of some Earth history, but did that, in particular, help?

[lesliemonster]

It was over two hundred years before I was born. But I do think that there is something to be said for healing in the shared experience of mourning.

[timesbureaucrat]

[Proper Time Lords don't share in the experience of being moved by an emotion. They repress them and try to convince their fellow Time Lords that they barely have feelings but if they did they certainly would never be moved by them and certainly not in public.

Maybe that's why after their civil war ended they just went back to the usual bickering and backstabbing and never really recovered.]

Did you lose anyone in a war, Miss Knope? [Pure curiosity now.]

[lesliemonster]

[That sounds like the Ron Swanson method of coping.]

Not in a war, no. But I work quite a bit with local veterans in Pawnee. I'm thinking about them, today.

[timesbureaucrat]

Then who or what are you mourning? Why is it meaningful to you?

[Private | Text]

[most_feared]

[He's weirdly adamant about this.]

My father was a serviceman, Narvin. Hush for a moment and observe the sacrifice his fellow officers made.

[Private | Text]

[timesbureaucrat]

[He doesn't mean to disrespect, especially since this is important to Kay. But...]

Gallifrey doesn't have an army or a tradition of forming an army in times of strife. A lot of people died in the civil war, but none of them were soldiers.

[He's not really angry at Steve or Leslie or the concept of Memorial Day, he's angry because it's reminding him of the war that tore Gallifrey apart and in the end seemed to count for nothing. But he can't explain that to Steve or Leslie--it's too personal--so he ends up lashing out irritably instead. So he's trying to explain to Kay in his somewhat emotionally-fail way.]

[Private | Text]

[most_feared]

A lot of the soldiers that died during the American Civil War didn't start out as soldiers. And the draft was still in place then- a lot had to fight against their will. Remembering them was a little bit of a big deal because they might not have even wanted to be a part of it.

But the US also has a day for celebrating mothers and for fathers and for the day their Declaration of Independence was signed. They're just days for a lot of people to appreciate an idea together.

[Private | Text]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Between Leslie's history lesson and Kay's explanation, he's starting to warm to the idea a little more. Less angry and more sad. Many of Pandora's supporters had fought against their will because their free will had been taken from them by her psychic virus.]

Perhaps I'll go to the ceremony. [Time Lords like rituals and ceremonies.]

[Private | Text]

[most_feared]

[And now his stumbling block.

Since coming to the Barge, he's gotten into a lot of bad habits. Narvin gets to find out more about him willingly than very few people ever have. But he has taken to mentioning stuff he normally wouldn't and/or not neuralyzing people after he tells them. It's a difficult thing, but he knows that he shouldn't celebrate memorial day for how he sees it.]

I'll just be doing the moment of silence myself, but that would be good of you.

[Moment will probably be sitting for hours in his room.]

[Private | Text]

[timesbureaucrat]

Perhaps later we can sit. [He means together. And possibly talk, although given how bad they both can be at talking about feelings... It might be just sitting.]

[themountie]

And policemen, sir.

But I've never felt that honoring one in any way diminishes the work or the sacrifice of the others.

[timesbureaucrat]

It may not diminish their work, but it leaves it comparatively unappreciated.

[themountie]

A general truth about civil servants, I'm afraid. Still, you may be glad to know that the times are changing in that regard. There's even a National Libraries Day in America now.

[timesbureaucrat]

It seems the general lack of appreciation for civil servants is true the universe over. Although I'm sure the librarians are very happy.

[There will probably never anywhere be a National Spy Day, though. But Narvin accepts the fact that everyone hates spies. (Mostly. Sometimes a little more respect and gratitude from the High Council would be nice.)]

[themountie]

Well, it is very rewarding work, of course. As for my part, I've always felt that the position is reward enough.

Private

[rass_bestie]

Is there anyone in particular you'd like to honour, Narvin?

Private

[timesbureaucrat]

No. [Maybe.]

Private

[rass_bestie]

Are you sure, Narvin? If you want, we'll remember them together.

Private

[timesbureaucrat]

I didn't particularly like any of them. [So he doesn't know why he feels sad.]

Hallan was a fool. All the Chancellery Guards were fools. [But loyal. And brave.]

Private

[rass_bestie]

[Omega considers that question for a couple of moments, thinking about what Narvin values.] Fools who protect the Capitol as best they can.

Private

[timesbureaucrat]

Yes. Yes, they did. [They may not like each other, and their respective organizations may be rivals, but they were on the same side fighting for the same thing.]

Private

[rass_bestie]

Then they've done something worth honouring.

[lastmanstanding]

I'll come.

[Maybe he won't light a candle for soldiers but for brothers in arms. A lot of his comrades were former soldiers after all]

Nod to the uh...Civil Servants aspect of it.

[lesliemonster]

I'm glad. I'll be sure to save a candle for you.

[lastmanstanding]

Nice to see so many people interested in the idea.

[thestarspangledman]

You already know I'll meet you there, Miss Knope.

[Spam]

[with_discipline]

[Ms. Knope is definitely one of the stranger humans T'Pol has met, but she seems good natured, and well meaning, and that's why at nineteen hundred she heads up to the deck, hands clasped behind her.]

Is there anything I can do?