[so scien is reading over profiles and obviously doing so, but i do feel obligated to mention there's probably a new blood stain sleeve on his floppy lab coat sleeve where his arm should be (but he hasn't had an arm since game start i'm including this just in case)
tough he'll look up to where anise is walking by and with some amusement in his voice:]
I must say your profile may be one of my favorites of the bunch.
A few reasons, but the most pressing that might be relevant to you is that they've mentioned there's nanites in our system. Tiny, microscopic machines that allow for the use of this [a flick of his wrist to bring up the I.R.I.S. interface] and who knows what else.
They probably wouldn't tell us if it's possible, but it might be able to kill us or override our bodily control.
[ The day after Anise stormed out on Scien, she can be found sitting in the lounge. She looks up at him, then seems to mull something over... then abruptly stands up to face him. ]
[he'll also go to take a seat, lounging comfortably like he's already tired of how much standing he's been doing]
I assume 'replica' is the term your fomicry uses, but I still consider our technology different. We are Relivers. It can be seen as replacement, but it is a temporary way to extend life for those who otherwise would die prematurely.
Why do you have such a visceral reaction against these 'replicas'?
Oh, this again. I suppose it is a more normal mindset.
[his emotions are a little odd still - like they're not being processed correctly. there is a sense of almost amusement, but more than that a curiosity. distantly, very small, a quiet murmur of appreciation.]
That's right. Though more accurately, it would be me with all the memories just before arriving on this ship.
Because there shouldn't be two of me. I agree that protocol is to replace me so that I'm able to continue my work on the research to save the rest of the island. I wrote it myself.
However, Relivers were never meant to co-exist with the individual they're replacing. They should only be a last resort after death.
I don't know that much about how it started. The technology's supposed to be banned in the first place. But... a group of people tried to use it to make a replacement for an important person who was about to die without a successor. They did it secretly, so nobody would know he died.
[ she's trying not to show it, but there's a mixture of heavy emotions there. sadness, longing, frustration, grief. ]
And when a replica meets their original... it's not like there's a "protocol" for that. They work it out. Or they don't, and they fight about it like idiots.
It is a reasonable technology to be banned. [and because he's not polite enough to ignore the feelings that he gets from her (even though they don't quite process all the way for him, disappearing before they reach full strength)] You clearly have a personal investment in it.
Then I'll answer that the Reliver process was developed specifically because the residents of Arpéchéle all die by the time they reach age 23. I invented as a temporary measure until I discovered the cause of this so-called curse. Relivers cannot coexist with each other because the procedure is for the corpse to be brought to the Institute before we create the Reliver. This is to prevent, as you call it, 'fighting like idiots'.
My case is an exception, as the country would fall apart without me. I've been assassinated via abduction and murder before, after all. As such, a new Reliver may be created once I have disappeared for a long enough amount of time. The reason I cannot exist with another me is because the power struggle would be too annoying to deal with, and bystanders who have nothing to do with it could get caught in the mess. It is easier for myself to accept that, as the outdated vessel, I should die.
[i wish that he could have even the slightest flicker of emotion about this - about any of this. but no, there isn't so much as a ripple of uncertainty or anxiety]
[ anise, on the other hand, is having a lot of emotions, because she's slowly realizing just how much death that is. it's horrifying. it's sad. can it even be true? ]
[all of her emotions resonate with him - to a degree. when they enter his end of the connection, they do the same thing of that rise in crescendo until they suddenly falter and disappear.]
All my life, and then at least since my father and my grandfather's lives before me. Supposedly, hundreds of years.
Reliver technology is used to, at least slightly, delay the extinction of our population until a remedy is found.
[ . . . eugh there's so many emotions here and there's a vague sense of annoyance from him - mostly at just having to feel all of it. but even thee annoyance doesn't resonate quite right]
It won't last forever. I won't allow it.
Reliver technology is a temporary measure to grant us more time until we're able to discern the cause of the curse. Don't pity us, or overly worry.
But that is where we differ from fomicry. Don't conflate the two, when the circumstances of their origin were different.
[ not that she can actually control her feelings like that. but she understands that fretting doesn't fix anything. ]
I just can't stand the idea of people's lives being treated like something that's easily replaced. The way you were talking before, I thought you were taking this way too lightly.
[ and if she misunderstood, it's probably his own fault for sounding like that... ]
if anise finds herself returning to the observation room, there's scien. for once, he's up. no longer lounging on whatever the closest surface is, instead moving to inspect the different doors and vents that might be in the area. he's more unkempt than usual, his usual braid nowhere to be found, clothes even more rumpled as if no one's bothered to fix him. or no one's around to anymore. even then, his expression seems as unbothered as always except -
once getting close enough to him, there are those broken, not-quite right emotions are at play again. normally, any type of feeling coming from him would be a rare thing. but right now they seem to be playing out without his permission. bewilderment, dissatisfaction, frustration, and this slow, building sense of anger. as with earlier in the week when he felt it from someone else, every time that feeling grows too strong it seems to stall and suddenly disappear—
but this time it comes back. a loop of slow-building fury. because this time, that strong, burdensome feeling is his own.
when footsteps approach, he's direct, gaze sharp and message to the point:]
[ Anise does return, holding Tokunaga in her arms and wearing her Nuts & Bolts sweats. She stops as soon as he looks her way, looking right back and... wow. He unraveled fast.
... Not that she can blame him. She's in shock, herself. At his question, she shakes her head. ]
[sometimes you're just a stupid lil hamster that needs someone to make sure you don't fall apart]
Run through what diagnostics you can on your I.R.I.S. for anything amiss. Check the doors, vents, windows. The spot where Luke died, if you can stomach it.
They were both here.
[he's not sure if that means something, but it is a place they still have access to]
None of you have any reason to be personally invested in Dahut's death aside from the idea that it's human decency [said in a tone that suggests scien thinks it's not] except for feelings of supposed friendship built over one week or the fear that it'll be you next.
horizontal again i'm sorry this man is really splayed out on the ground looking at the ceiling. his emotions are still in that tight little box bundle, but the strongest one that leaks through is this sense of being lost.]
[a pause, coupled with an echo of feeling. a flash of violence, as if being recalled, and scien's brow furrows, as if trying to navigate through the mess of his own emotions]
My feelings at the time were that I needed to see his heart, and to dissect it for myself. I was curious, and that curiosity led me to deciding that I should perform the operation.
[ . . . ]
But days ago, Dahut had already given me his report. I told him that I'd let him dissect himself, if he wanted. We already solved the design flaws of the Reliver heart.
[does the embed once and never again because i'm lazy. it's pixel shu unless i say it's not pixel shu.
which is why sometime after paint nonsense, he's going to approach. still a little painted up. was shu always this much of a slob? whoa. also that's the funny thing about having the same voice actor, because if anise isn't paying attention or looking in his direction, it might be easy to hear the voice of someone else. someone who died a few weeks ago.]
Twintails. You really sent mail to all of us trying to get all the info you could, huh?
You'll get one, it might just not be from me. I got too much mail this week. [he sounds annoyed about this for some reason] Everything I send will be going to the Enda Brat and the New Hire—Yuri. [scien will use their names just this once because it's plot related] So just chat with them.
We get all our letters at the same time, last week it was Wednesday and this week it was Tuesday. It hasn't been more than that.
Beans isn't a bad information source. He seems like the quickest on the uptake. Like I mentioned, all my letters will go to the Enda Brat and the New Hire so check in with them.
If you send me information, I'll read it, but I can't always ensure a response depending on the priority of what comes in from others.
[he shrugs... he's not a polite person. anise knew this.
but he'll follow along]
They were. The parts from the scrap yard could be used to create things that assisted in the Helly Belly, whether it be an improved television, some strange automaton contraption, a camera system, some drones, a memory machine...
It's only theorizing... but since the lotus planet was pink, and lotuses often appeared in the Helly Belly upon death, there is possibly some relation between the planet and the pink haze. Supposedly the incidents of the past Eudora tour also started after visiting the lotus planet.
Oh, yeah... I guess some people were saying that maybe something there made the Eudora "sick," but like... was the Eudora always a living thing? Because it really seems like it is... [ looking cautiously at the walls. ]
auction items are unlocked :) which means that in the stasis bay, where scien had been spending a solid amount of his time, he's looking at the now glowing, active, awake reliver machine. it thrums with a foreboding energy and scien is at one of the monitors, running a diagnostics check. as anise approaches, scien will look up. and then a bit dryly,]
Due to an experiment I did on myself before arriving, each breath I take is fairly painful. [he's underselling it. it's debilitating, he's just gotten used to it.] My lungs are a problem, and this vessel is nearing its expiration date regardless. I'll probably be coughing up blood at some point.
The last reason is sentimental... but I've agreed to value emotions.
[so he could also fix his emotions while giving himself a new body... fun lil experiment]
[scien has been back two days and in those days, he first lost an arm and then he regained one. that's right! somehow scien already had both arms back! that much is probably obvious from how he's walking around (somewhere. anywhere. void.) messing with the IRIS with one hand and eating a piece of bread with the other.
but that's not the only thing. nearly two months ago, one might remember that scien's emotions were... not quite right the last time people could share feelings. echoes of what they should be. never that strong. more like small little bumps rather than the highs and lows of true feeling. that's what it meant to be a reliver.
they're getting trapped in a void - ugh memshare! gimme!! - but there is also one very, very immediate feeling in its strongest form: annoyance.
. . . but that's still a real emotion, isn't it? (anyway gimme a memshare or tell me you want one mwah)]
They can see a memory (14:54 - 18:46) and yes of course it's replica stuff. (English captions can be toggled on Youtube. If the timing gets messed up, refresh and it should fix it!) ]
[all this does is remind me how much i love abyss damn!!!!!! of course it's replica stuff!!!!!
but anise will probably notice one other thing besides the arm. as more of scien's emotions come in, watching her memory, they're... real. they're true, human emotions as opposed to the crunchy, slightly discordant echoes that he felt in the first week.
he observes with a understanding, contemplating, and—it's not quite sympathy but an almost sense of resignation.]
... what a chaotic technology.
[fomicry. any type of cloning. rip. he turns to her, mildly curious.]
Your feelings suggest that you possess concern for both of them—two different replicated individuals.
Relivers do not have to contend with these questions. [because the original is always dead by the time the reliver is made, and all memories carry over] But they seem to have to make sense of who they are in the world, and their purpose.
Are they their own people? Or are they only meant to follow the footsteps of the person they were created to replace?
[he nods, thoughtful. he wonders if relivers would be the same, if they did not have their memories transfer from life to life. is it not simply just creating another human entirely?]
And yet, it sounds as though the technology exists because they are meant to be replacements for their roles... and so if everyone thought like you, then they would never have been created.
[ After everything has resolved, Anise can be found in the church. She's standing at the front podium, staff held in hand, head bowed. It looks like she's offering a prayer.
... But whether you were planning on coming in or just poking your head in, it looks like you've caught her just as she finishes, because she suddenly lifts her head, whirls around, and gives a little start at seeing someone else here.
There sure are! Which I happen to be well-versed in. But I think we totally missed the mark on making good doctrine out of them, you know? And thanks to that, a lot of people ended up suffering.
Our last leader had a different, more open-minded view of things... and I think if the whole Order adopted something more like that, then we could actually be a force for good in the world!
... I suppose it's possible. People will do an awful lot for what they have faith in.
I'm sure you're well aware of the pushback you'll receive, so I needn't rehash the point for you. Instead... I can only say that I fully believe you capable of your reforms.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weekend zero, saturday
tough he'll look up to where anise is walking by and with some amusement in his voice:]
I must say your profile may be one of my favorites of the bunch.
[like he's picking out a top 5???]
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Huh? Really?
... Oh, is it because they used such a cute picture of me?
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Because you have the audacity to say such a thing after being capable of "doing violence" and "holding grudges".
The dichotomy is amusing.
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Y-you don't have to single those things out!
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[IS HE???? well he doesn't sound judgmental at least]
It's important for a young person to be resourceful.
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... Um, more importantly, what happened to your arm?
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[but he still lost...]
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[ it looks like it was pretty recent, she thinks? ]
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... Why?
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They probably wouldn't tell us if it's possible, but it might be able to kill us or override our bodily control.
1/2
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However they seem to refuse to be willing to offer me a lab for an analysis.
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[easily and immediately]
However, we are able to fulfill our roles. He is competent, and that's the primary requirement to remain in my company.
Week 0, Tuesday
Can I ask you some things?
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I don't accept one-sided interrogation.
But an answer for an answer is fine.
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[ she'll sit back down. ]
... So you and Dahut are replicas? You just... get replaced whenever one of you dies? Is that it?
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I assume 'replica' is the term your fomicry uses, but I still consider our technology different. We are Relivers. It can be seen as replacement, but it is a temporary way to extend life for those who otherwise would die prematurely.
Why do you have such a visceral reaction against these 'replicas'?
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Before, you were acting like it didn't matter if you died, because they'd just make another you. But even if they did that, you'd still be dead.
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[his emotions are a little odd still - like they're not being processed correctly. there is a sense of almost amusement, but more than that a curiosity. distantly, very small, a quiet murmur of appreciation.]
That's right. Though more accurately, it would be me with all the memories just before arriving on this ship.
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[and yet his emotions remain entirely even the whole time, not even a blip of concern]
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Why!?
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Because there shouldn't be two of me. I agree that protocol is to replace me so that I'm able to continue my work on the research to save the rest of the island. I wrote it myself.
However, Relivers were never meant to co-exist with the individual they're replacing. They should only be a last resort after death.
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They are two different answers.
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What was your fomicry technology developed for?
What do your replicas do when they are introduced to a world in which the person they were cloned from is still alive?
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[ so rude, to expect her to reciprocate. ]
I don't know that much about how it started. The technology's supposed to be banned in the first place. But... a group of people tried to use it to make a replacement for an important person who was about to die without a successor. They did it secretly, so nobody would know he died.
[ she's trying not to show it, but there's a mixture of heavy emotions there. sadness, longing, frustration, grief. ]
And when a replica meets their original... it's not like there's a "protocol" for that. They work it out. Or they don't, and they fight about it like idiots.
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It is a reasonable technology to be banned. [and because he's not polite enough to ignore the feelings that he gets from her (even though they don't quite process all the way for him, disappearing before they reach full strength)] You clearly have a personal investment in it.
Then I'll answer that the Reliver process was developed specifically because the residents of Arpéchéle all die by the time they reach age 23. I invented as a temporary measure until I discovered the cause of this so-called curse. Relivers cannot coexist with each other because the procedure is for the corpse to be brought to the Institute before we create the Reliver. This is to prevent, as you call it, 'fighting like idiots'.
My case is an exception, as the country would fall apart without me. I've been assassinated via abduction and murder before, after all. As such, a new Reliver may be created once I have disappeared for a long enough amount of time. The reason I cannot exist with another me is because the power struggle would be too annoying to deal with, and bystanders who have nothing to do with it could get caught in the mess. It is easier for myself to accept that, as the outdated vessel, I should die.
[i wish that he could have even the slightest flicker of emotion about this - about any of this. but no, there isn't so much as a ripple of uncertainty or anxiety]
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[ THAT'S A LOT TO TAKE IN. ]
... Everyone?
[ anise, on the other hand, is having a lot of emotions, because she's slowly realizing just how much death that is. it's horrifying. it's sad. can it even be true? ]
How long has it been like that? That... curse?
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All my life, and then at least since my father and my grandfather's lives before me. Supposedly, hundreds of years.
Reliver technology is used to, at least slightly, delay the extinction of our population until a remedy is found.
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[ it's sad. incredibly so.
... there has to be some hope in all of this, doesn't there? that's where her thoughts go to next, as he might be able to perceive. ]
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It won't last forever. I won't allow it.
Reliver technology is a temporary measure to grant us more time until we're able to discern the cause of the curse. Don't pity us, or overly worry.
But that is where we differ from fomicry. Don't conflate the two, when the circumstances of their origin were different.
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[ not that she can actually control her feelings like that. but she understands that fretting doesn't fix anything. ]
I just can't stand the idea of people's lives being treated like something that's easily replaced. The way you were talking before, I thought you were taking this way too lightly.
[ and if she misunderstood, it's probably his own fault for sounding like that... ]
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I don't particularly care to get into semantics. Everyone has their own relationship with life and death.
But this is my life and extended life's work, and my responsibility. That's all there is to it.
week zero, friday
if anise finds herself returning to the observation room, there's scien. for once, he's up. no longer lounging on whatever the closest surface is, instead moving to inspect the different doors and vents that might be in the area. he's more unkempt than usual, his usual braid nowhere to be found, clothes even more rumpled as if no one's bothered to fix him. or no one's around to anymore. even then, his expression seems as unbothered as always except -
once getting close enough to him, there are those broken, not-quite right emotions are at play again. normally, any type of feeling coming from him would be a rare thing. but right now they seem to be playing out without his permission. bewilderment, dissatisfaction, frustration, and this slow, building sense of anger. as with earlier in the week when he felt it from someone else, every time that feeling grows too strong it seems to stall and suddenly disappear—
but this time it comes back. a loop of slow-building fury. because this time, that strong, burdensome feeling is his own.
when footsteps approach, he's direct, gaze sharp and message to the point:]
You. Find anything?
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... Not that she can blame him. She's in shock, herself. At his question, she shakes her head. ]
You're looking for clues? ... I'll help.
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Run through what diagnostics you can on your I.R.I.S. for anything amiss. Check the doors, vents, windows. The spot where Luke died, if you can stomach it.
They were both here.
[he's not sure if that means something, but it is a place they still have access to]
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[ ... she looks over the room, mentally trying to recreate the last thing she saw before passing out. ]
It doesn't make any sense... If they were both here, why isn't this room locked down for investigation?
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[plain and simple. it's irritating.]
I want to know what the other rooms must look like, in comparison, but apparently we're to trust our oh-so-competent Senior Crew with the task first.
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If they try to hide something from us, then we'll get it out of them one way or another.
He can't just disappear... I won't let that happen.
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[he has to acknowledge it]
But as it's useful to me, I won't stop you.
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[ ugh!! ]
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None of you have any reason to be personally invested in Dahut's death aside from the idea that it's human decency [said in a tone that suggests scien thinks it's not] except for feelings of supposed friendship built over one week or the fear that it'll be you next.
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To me, you're all bleeding hearts.
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[ a little smile, despite the grief. ]
Week 0, Saturday
Are you okay to talk now...?
[ it's more polite than asking are you stable or something, because wow. things sure happened. ]
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horizontal again i'm sorry this man is really splayed out on the ground looking at the ceiling. his emotions are still in that tight little box bundle, but the strongest one that leaks through is this sense of being lost.]
Go ahead, if there's something you want to know.
1/2
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You said you were "made to" do that to him... What did you mean by that?
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[a pause, coupled with an echo of feeling. a flash of violence, as if being recalled, and scien's brow furrows, as if trying to navigate through the mess of his own emotions]
... I did it. I chose to.
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But why? Why would you choose that?
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that just brings up some confusion in him]
... I wanted to see his heart. That's what I remember.
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yea the lost feeling comes back]
It did at the time.
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... You don't remember how you came to that conclusion?
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[ . . . ]
But days ago, Dahut had already given me his report. I told him that I'd let him dissect himself, if he wanted. We already solved the design flaws of the Reliver heart.
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... Did something cause you to forget that, then?
[ ... she can't help but think about some of those worst fears they had about the nanites. ]
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The reasoning just felt stronger, at the time.
week 4, post-mini event
which is why sometime after paint nonsense, he's going to approach. still a little painted up. was shu always this much of a slob? whoa. also that's the funny thing about having the same voice actor, because if anise isn't paying attention or looking in his direction, it might be easy to hear the voice of someone else. someone who died a few weeks ago.]
Twintails. You really sent mail to all of us trying to get all the info you could, huh?
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[ yeah, she knows that voice and those mannerisms. ]
... Oh, no way.
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[say more than this, you asshole]
I don't have enough letters to respond to you, but I'm sure one of us will.
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Did you all end up getting letters at the same time? Everyone I talked to who got one, got theirs on the same day.
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You'll get one, it might just not be from me. I got too much mail this week. [he sounds annoyed about this for some reason] Everything I send will be going to the Enda Brat and the New Hire—Yuri. [scien will use their names just this once because it's plot related] So just chat with them.
We get all our letters at the same time, last week it was Wednesday and this week it was Tuesday. It hasn't been more than that.
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Have you been looking on HER-MES? Sometimes if we don't want to wait that long, we just send brief messages on there.
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[please be nice]
Who are you connected to on this side? To gather information and the like.
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But Charles is usually the quickest to share things with me. And I was going to help Totty look into some things, too! And there's Guy, of course.
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If you send me information, I'll read it, but I can't always ensure a response depending on the priority of what comes in from others.
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I know you have no control over the matter, but do your best to remain on this side.
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Was that... concern? For me? I'm so touched!
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[help]
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So did you end up buying stuff, too?
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[just the wholeass reliver machine out there]
You seemed possessive over one of the items.
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... Yeah. It belonged to someone I knew.
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[so dangerous,,]
Did you win?
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[ she is actually so relieved. ]
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I don't want to think what would happen if Reliver technology escaped my control... though I guess you'd feel that way about fomicry.
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[ which was a disaster. ]
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That is one of my apprehensions... It is much harder to unlearn knowledge once it's in the hands of those it shouldn't fall in.
Week 6, Saturday
[ waving at him wherever she sees him. ]
Man, you sure missed a lot on this side. Anything you wanted to check out, now that you have the chance?
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... actually, yes. There is something I still need to build.
The Helly Belly had an absurd number of labs - but were you all able to receive even one?
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... How many did you guys actually have?
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[he will perhaps try to make something work in a pinch]
At least five. Though they all varied in their use... One had something to do with an egg, another was attached to a pie shop...
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I feel like I've seen and heard way too much about the egg lab, and nothing about the others... Were any of them, like, useful?
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but he'll follow along]
They were. The parts from the scrap yard could be used to create things that assisted in the Helly Belly, whether it be an improved television, some strange automaton contraption, a camera system, some drones, a memory machine...
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I think I heard a little bit, about how you guys were able to mess around with memories somehow?
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but scien nods]
That is part of what my technology inherently does. Though I do think memory editing is too powerful and can probably only used for malicious reasons.
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[ like erasing people's memories entirely, or giving them false ones? bad!!
they arrive at the library! there's a big computer lab in here. ]
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In the Helly Belly, each of us were made of memory. We didn't have corporeal forms, which is why we were brought here via crystal rodents.
If someone's memory data was deleted, it probably would've destroyed their soul.
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[ she'll just come over to peer around his shoulder while he touches things. ]
Did you guys decorate your own vessels and guinea pigs? They were really cute.
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Dahut decorated mine. [because scien is BORING. he's wearing his stupid friendship bracelets tho. so there's that]
Though it would've been funny to see if you tried to put the wrong soul in the wrong body.
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Oh, right, I probably should've seen that coming.
That guinea pig that ferried you over had such a strong resemblance, too. For a moment, I wasn't sure which was the real soul vessel!
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I suppose I am rather judgmental.
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So, what do you suppose comes next? I think I heard we're heading to "Nut & Bolt HQ"...
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Ring any bells?
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... explain.
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... Oh, it was in that collection of documents Yuri shared with everyone!
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... Um, did you hear about it from somewhere different?
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Though I've heard that the zombie you all brought back [viktor] had pieces of his memory that he couldn't share...
So I imagine we may also encounter a lotus planet, or something about it.
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... Maybe the lotus planet is where HQ is?
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It's only theorizing... but since the lotus planet was pink, and lotuses often appeared in the Helly Belly upon death, there is possibly some relation between the planet and the pink haze. Supposedly the incidents of the past Eudora tour also started after visiting the lotus planet.
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But it could also be a living bacteria took on the ship and made itself comfortable and grow within its walls.
week 6 sunday
auction items are unlocked :) which means that in the stasis bay, where scien had been spending a solid amount of his time, he's looking at the now glowing, active, awake reliver machine. it thrums with a foreboding energy and scien is at one of the monitors, running a diagnostics check. as anise approaches, scien will look up. and then a bit dryly,]
It's not fomicry.
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[ uhhhh but she is coming over to take a look. ]
What are you doing, though?
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Worth a reminder. It's been a few weeks.
[but he'll look back to the screens where a bunch of text is running. nerd shit]
Diagnostics check. Making sure it's functional, and then contemplating using it later.
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Using it for what?
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but his answer is simple:] Myself.
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... among other reasons.
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Is this really better than getting a prosthetic...? What are the other reasons?
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The last reason is sentimental... but I've agreed to value emotions.
[so he could also fix his emotions while giving himself a new body... fun lil experiment]
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... Value emotions, meaning what?
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I told a few people that I would take an interest for their sake... so I intend to keep my word.
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You're really serious about that?
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I'm not the type of person to go back on my word.
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[ considering her heavy skepticism about reliver technology. ]
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It is one step closer to being able to retain humanity.
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Well, I'm nothing if not a big cheerleader for humanity, you know?
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dryly:]
I suppose I am the same.
week 7, monday
but that's not the only thing. nearly two months ago, one might remember that scien's emotions were... not quite right the last time people could share feelings. echoes of what they should be. never that strong. more like small little bumps rather than the highs and lows of true feeling. that's what it meant to be a reliver.
they're getting trapped in a void - ugh memshare! gimme!! - but there is also one very, very immediate feeling in its strongest form: annoyance.
. . . but that's still a real emotion, isn't it? (anyway gimme a memshare or tell me you want one mwah)]
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Whoa! You already -- huh!?
[ and they immediately get pulled into a rift.
They can see a memory (14:54 - 18:46) and yes of course it's replica stuff. (English captions can be toggled on Youtube. If the timing gets messed up, refresh and it should fix it!) ]
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but anise will probably notice one other thing besides the arm. as more of scien's emotions come in, watching her memory, they're... real. they're true, human emotions as opposed to the crunchy, slightly discordant echoes that he felt in the first week.
he observes with a understanding, contemplating, and—it's not quite sympathy but an almost sense of resignation.]
... what a chaotic technology.
[fomicry. any type of cloning. rip. he turns to her, mildly curious.]
What do you believe?
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... About fomicry?
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Your feelings suggest that you possess concern for both of them—two different replicated individuals.
Relivers do not have to contend with these questions. [because the original is always dead by the time the reliver is made, and all memories carry over] But they seem to have to make sense of who they are in the world, and their purpose.
Are they their own people? Or are they only meant to follow the footsteps of the person they were created to replace?
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I never met the original Ion, but... I don't have to, to know that Ion's a different person from him. And Sync's a different person, too.
If they'd gotten the chance to live their own lives, instead of getting forced into some role... things could have been different.
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And yet, it sounds as though the technology exists because they are meant to be replacements for their roles... and so if everyone thought like you, then they would never have been created.
[whoa complicated]
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[ but she still feels strongly about it. she can't help caring about them as deeply as she does. ]
Week 7, Saturday
... But whether you were planning on coming in or just poking your head in, it looks like you've caught her just as she finishes, because she suddenly lifts her head, whirls around, and gives a little start at seeing someone else here.
But then she smiles brightly. ]
Oh, hey Scien! I didn't expect to see you here.
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he looks curious. he's not religious in the slightest. he can't be, when he used to be regaled as a god, but.]
I found myself curious.
What were you praying to? Or for?
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[ a prayer to the dead. ]
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[he doesn't really understand it given the fact that he doesn't believe in an afterlife but,]
I suppose it is fine, if it brings you comfort.
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[ fortunately, it's actually very hard to offend anise when it comes to her religious beliefs. ]
So, what's next for you? Are you going back to your research and all that?
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Research, uprooting a monarchy, undoing a curse, finding a few cures to assorted to diseases...
Is your answer more fun than mine?
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Only if you don't think too hard about the details, but...
I want to reform the Order of Lorelei. As in, the whole religion and political body of the Order.
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[he tilts his head]
How does one reform a religion? Is there not scripture and existing legends?
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Our last leader had a different, more open-minded view of things... and I think if the whole Order adopted something more like that, then we could actually be a force for good in the world!
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... I suppose it's possible. People will do an awful lot for what they have faith in.
I'm sure you're well aware of the pushback you'll receive, so I needn't rehash the point for you. Instead... I can only say that I fully believe you capable of your reforms.