video: un: swan

[sheriffing]

Uh, hi.

[ can she have points for effort? the wave she gives is more uncertain than friendly, like she's not entirely comfortable addressing the entire network (she's not). she figures it'll work for everyone else the same way it does for her. when Emma has something to offer, she answers. when she doesn't, she leaves it to someone else.]

My name's Emma, and as a lot of you have already noticed, I'm new here.

[ she's been called out on it enough to know that it's obvious. some part of her still doubts everything here and it bleeds into conversation too easily. most people have been here long enough to accept this reality, but Emma's still thinking of home.]

I'm not gonna pretend that my first instinct wasn't to wallow in my disappointment until my family wakes up, but I know there's a lot to be done here. I've seen all of you getting things done here, and I just wondered... how have you been able to use the skills you learned in your home world to keep you busy in this one?

[ because it's time for her to think about taking on a job, and making a difference, and she's pretty sure that doesn't mean a sheriff's badge and a cruiser anymore. so far, she's been part of the clean-up effort, but she needs something else to get by on.]

Back home, I was the sheriff in a town called Storybrooke, Maine. Here, I don't know. How did you know where to start?

Comments

[sheriffing]

Some of them are.

[ some laws are stupid. most of them serve a purpose. in her time in Storybrooke, she saw both. Regina building the town from the ground up probably had something to do with that.]

Most of them are there to protect people. That's what mattered to me.

[vorrutyer]

Ah. Hm. Is that what will matter to you here, too?

[sheriffing]

It's still something I'd like to do.

[ ask her what else matters to her, and it's the people still sleeping in their pods; her parents, her son, his other mom, the pirate.

for a moment, she's quiet. trying to get an impression of him via video.]

What do you do here?

[vorrutyer]

[ Byerly smiles cheerily. The impression he gives is someone who's a bit of a ne'er-do-well, but good-natured enough. A bit droll, a bit ironic. ]

I work in a brothel.

[sheriffing]

[ she shrugs, as if to admit she's yet to find herself in one of those. she doesn't remember seeing him around, but she gets the sense he's been here longer than she has. the same thing is true of most people here.]

Is that what you did at home?

[vorrutyer]

No. At home I was a professional parasite.

[sheriffing]

That's not a profession.

[vorrutyer]

Why, of course it was. There's lawyers, after all. And me - I wasn't a lawyer, thank heaven. I merely sponged off those who were richer than I, and better-positioned than I. The privilege of nobility.

[sheriffing]

That kind of parasite, huh?

[ it's the thief in her that still thinks, well, if they were that rich, it's not like they missed it...]

Not as easy to manage that with everyone starting over here.

[vorrutyer]

Hence turning to a more respectable profession.

[ The corner of his mouth quirks up. ]

Stripped of my privilege! Don't you pity me, Madam Sheriff? It's been very hard for me.

[sheriffing]

I think if I pitied you, this conversation would already be over.

[ Madam Sheriff. she used to be Miss Swan.]

It's been hard for all of us.

[vorrutyer]

Yes, but so much harder for people like me. Someone who's already had a difficult life has hardly had to make any adjustments. But for a fellow like me, accustomed to the lap of luxury, it's been the rudest of shocks.

[ He's...probably not being sincere. ]

[sheriffing]

Poor you for having had it so good in the first place.

[ it does have her biting back a laugh.]

[vorrutyer]

Thank you.

[ He sighs grandly. ]

See, this is what most law enforcement lacks. Empathy.

[sheriffing]

Really zeroing in on that law enforcement thing, aren't you?

[ she's not technically a cop of any kind here.]

[vorrutyer]

[ A cheerful shrug. ]

Well, it's all I know about you, and so I'm trying to speak a language you understand. Do you have something else I should zero in on?

[sheriffing]

I don't know, it's weird to think about being the sheriff when the position's long gone.

At least you have my name, pretty sure that username isn't yours.

[vorrutyer]

Oh, it is. My writing system is very esoteric. But the name is pronounced "Byerly." A pleasure to meet you, Madame Sheriff. Any time you'd like to pull out those handcuffs, I'd be delighted.

[sheriffing]

Byerly.

If I had to pull them out, I get the feeling you wouldn't be nearly as delighted as you think.

[vorrutyer]

What - you think I've never been arrested? I know how it goes.

[sheriffing]

So do I, Byerly.

[vorrutyer]

Well, yes. I'd hope an officer of the law knows what it's like to arrest someone.

[sheriffing]

Clearly.

[ or maybe she's been on the receiving end of the handcuffs a few times, too.]

[vorrutyer]

[ And indeed, By asks: ]

Or were you referring to a different sort of experience...?

[sheriffing]

You mean have I ever been arrested before?

Yeah, more than once.