voidtreckernet | Day 28

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Day 28 | Video

[It's late at night. Not quite the early morning but certainly later than you would normally see Romeo around.

The video turns on into the kitchen, Romeo is a little bit away from the ICP, stirring something in a bowl but he glances over, as if to check that the ICP is recording.]

Um hello everyone. I hope I don't wake anyone up with talking so late but I was in bed and thinking really really hard about some things and my mind wouldn't go to sleep so I came to bake cookies but I'm still thinking and sometimes when you got lots of big questions in your head it's a good idea to talk about it.

[He gets closer, bowl in hand as he keeps mixing.]

I was thinking about Osiga and all the people we saved but also how we left all their bodies and I guess that's okay because we brought the bit that was properly them into the void.

But then I was thinking about what made a person a person because it's really confusing. Because some of the people didn't want to come into the void at all. Because without a world or a body then... that's bad for them I guess but I know lots of people without bodies or worlds and they are all people.

So I read a book that said a person was a person because of all their memories and experiences, that it's what we do and see and know that make us... us. But I knew I was Romeo even when I didn't have any memories at all. When everything was nothing I was still Romeo.

But then I wondered if I was. Because there's people here who look the same as each other and they are different people because they... had different lives I guess so am I the same Romeo as I was when I was alive? Because I don't remember any of that and all the things I did and my friends I made since then have made me me. But did that mean I wasn't really a person when I had no body and no memories?

It's really tricky to think about and I'm worried about all the people we rescued and if they are sad or scared about it because I guess it's different. If you have to live in the void 'cause your world was eaten then if you got snatched in the void but maybe can go home.

And that's different again then not knowing where you come from at all because I guess you can't really miss or be sad about somewhere that you don't even know about.

[Big Questions indeed. He sighed.] It's just really big. So I'm making cookies. If anyone is still awake they can come and get them, they'll be ready once they've been in the oven.

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I don't know if this will be any comfort, but where I'm from some people just lose their memories instead of dying. They're still the same person afterwards, more or less, but they're treated more as another version of themselves. Not quite someone different, but not really the same either.

[Well this is a subject Elidibus has some expertise on. His video shows him with a thoughtful expression.]

While I can say with assurance that what many might consider a soul exists, the an individual views their existence varies. The existence the Osigans now face is not one that's unfamiliar to me. Though I wonder if this system and its technology has a means to give them freedom from a tether. Time will tell.

[Clones, also very much a thing in his world. But there really wasn't time to ask during the evacuation. Elidibus doesn't seem particularly worried though.]

I'm not sure of your own situation, though. Would you be willing to share what you mean? Even if in private. But if you're not looking for an answer to your own personal circumstance, I can say from my own experience that a soul which persists is still the person it was, even as it passes into death. Unlike the multiple realities we're pulled from, you would not be different than the living self of your own Star.

Edited 2022-04-25 01:19 (UTC)

[ .. those sure are a lot of questions and thoughts going on in Romeo's mind, huh. And while Madoka certainly has thoughts on some of these things.. she isn't too sure whether or not to voice them.

Besides, isn't there something more important here in the first place? Something she can't help but think about as she listens to all this. Romeo seemed fine coming off the mission, but.. ]

Romeo.. Are you okay..?

[ It's the obligatory Biffle Check In, okay. ]

I wish I had an easy answer...but I guess I'd say? As long as you're alive and able to make choices, you're a person. That's what people do. Some of us are in a sucky situation now, but we can try our best to make it better.

They do?

[He blinked at her through the screen.] So they are sort of the same person but also a new person? What about their friends? Do they got to pretend they never knew them so they can make friends with them again?

Um I can explain if you want. It's not very tricky. [Not really, even if it feels a bit big right now.]

I'm a shinki so that means I died in my world and then went to another one to be a weapon for a god and I don't got any memories of my life. Well I do have a couple but that was later.

So all the people from Osiga, they are still people and still themselves? That's good.

Hello Madoka, why aren't you sleeping?

[Okay Madoka was technically older than him, but she's still small and it's very late so now he's a bit worried about her.

But he nodded.] I'm okay. I just got a lot in my head. Are you okay?

Most Blades will believe you if you say you knew a previous version of them, so long as it sounds plausible. Hell, some of them keep journals and set up plans for the next them. The worst you're likely to get is them being surprised by how much you know about them.

What if you are dead but can make choices? Does that mean you are a person too?

[It's all very tricky.]

Are you in a sucky situation?

[ Thanatos is in his cabin with the lights off. However, the light from the ICP glows bright enough to show Mort on the table, wiggling his nose at the screen. Thanatos is off to the side, writing something in the dark. It's fine. He's a child of Night. ]

Shades are still themselves, even separated from their body. If that wasn't the case, then the Underworld would not need the amount of recordkeeping we have. The difference here is if they chose to escape to the Void, then there is a chance they could gain a new body instead of remain in their afterlife.

[ He sighs, knowing full well what he senses on the train. Meanwhile, Mort squeaks and waves at Romeo. ]

Well, maybe they could even after they died. The rules aren't as strict out here.

As for memory... those who drink of the Lethe are still themselves. Even if they were to completely forget who they were, there are others who remember, and even if someone completely lacks their memory, then... they make new memories and still become a person.

[ Thanatos has no idea if he's explaining himself right. He still doesn't know what it means to be a person, but he's recognizing that he is one now, wants to remain one. (He still thinks it's different for gods.) ]

... If you are at least wondering about these things... that makes you a person, I think.

...my body's still alive, apparently. But for who knows how long until the world eaters get it, or something else. But that's what we're here for, right? Fighting for whatever we've got?

And you don't stop being a person when you die.

[No visuals here, so all Romeo will be able to tell is that Rezo is somewhere relatively quiet.]

Personhood… is one of those concepts that seem clear-cut until you look at it closely, isn’t it? I tend to treat the matter as though it’s a person’s emotions that make them a person, but I cannot say I have confidence in that definition.

[A quiet sigh as Rezo hesitates, gathering some thoughts.]

Because by my own definition, it would mean that a person who loses their emotions is no longer a person. To imagine yourself losing your personhood is a frightening thought, so it’s tempting to look for a quality that is unchangeable, and attach one’s personhood to that.

Is that what those people are called? Blades? Do they die a lot? If they keep diaries and things they must!

[He's very curious.]

Shades? Are they people who are dead? [Oh hello Mort! He gets a wave back from Romeo with the cookie dough spoon. Snacks Mort!]

What's the Lethe? Does it make you forget things?

Do you think so? If you think about these things then you're a person... So does thinking make you a person?

Oh I'm glad that your body is alive! I hope we manage to get you back to it before anything bad happens!

[He really hopes so! Jake is right, they had to fight hard and work together for everything they have.]

I'm glad. 'Cause I always thought I was a person. But it's a bit tricky because I didn't have a body or a memory.

[He recognises the voice. Mister Rezo.

Emotions made someone a person?] So if you stopped feeling anything you'd stop being a person? [That was pretty scary.]

I don't really know what is unchangeable. Things change a lot...

In theory, yes. [And if Romeo had voiced that next thought, Rezo would also be quick to agree with it. Losing any part of yourself is scary.]

Complex emotions such as joy, desire, or hatred are associated with personhood strongly enough that someone who lacks such emotions… Well, they’d certainly feel like less of a person.

[Which is another question- can one be only partly a person?]

I would say circumstances change a lot, and often quite rapidly. I am unsure if people themselves change much, and not without resistance.

Well, near everyone dies at least once. Jokes aside, Alrest is bloody dangerous, so yeah. I know a Blade that's been with the royal family of Mor Ardain for five hundred years, and they hang on to her diary for her so she can know what the previous hers were like.

[ Please, Romeo, who are you to policy your fellow young teenagers! In truth, Madoka was probably discussing stuff with her girlfriend, considering how much there's been to talk about lately.. ]

I'm okay. [ But she's not the one philosophizing on the network in front of everyone, so.. ]

The stuff you're thinking about though.. It's really deep. Or maybe I should say heavy.. [ Especially considering Romeo's own situation, and what he is. ] Are you sure none of it is bothering you..?

Nell pulled on her boots, tucked Selena into a big pocket and headed to find Romeo. She went straight over to him when she got to the kitchen.

"First things first," she said. "Can I give you'un a big hug?"

Well I don't think I feel hatred... I never felt that before.

[Now he has a whole lot of different things to worry about. Was he less of a person because he didn't hate people?

That was confusing.]

Five hundred years! That's a really long time. Are lots of people blades? Do other people in your world... is it called Alrest? Do they die just as normal?

[He has so many questions.]

It is really heavy. [He sighed, but then smiled, because it was important to keep his spirits up, especially for Madoka.]

I guess it is a little bit and that's why I keep thinking instead of sleeping. But I'm being careful!

"Miss Nell!" He was a little surprised to see her so late. But considering how many people had replied to him he guessed lots of people weren't sleeping good at the moment!

He nodded and put the mixing bowl down so he could go over to her and wrap his arms around her.

Oh?

[Isn't everyone full of loathing for something or someone or other? ~~Maybe his perspective is horribly, terribly skewed?~~]

Well, you're quite young, aren't you? You may simply have never had reason to feel hatred before. That doesn't necessarily mean you lack the capacity.

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Day 28 | Video

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