Day 28 | Video

[myblueskies]

[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.

Comments

Video

[healerscorned]

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.

Video

[wewillwewill]

[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.

video;

[happyends]

[ .. 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. ]

[monkeyinthewrench]

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.

video

[controlsthedie]

[ 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.

voice

[redprayer]

[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.

[Action]

[nell_of_soulwood]

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?"

[unrecovered]

[It has got to be way past this kid's bedtime.]

[Then again, given the most recent mission, Wash can't exactly blame him for having questions.]

[A while ago, Wash would've said your memories are what make you a person. That was before he'd wound up with two extra sets of memories that weren't his burned into his brain. That was also before he'd met - before he'd dealt with - Locus.]

[He's got a different answer now.]

If you can think for yourself and make your own choices, you're a person. Everything else is just built on top of that.

[And then, because he can't not ask:]

Think you can get some sleep when the cookies are done?

[najaran]

[Gremlin dragged her over to the video, and she missed the very beginning, but caught the rest.]

[Normally the cookies would be the important part to her. But not this time. This time one part caught and held her attention to the exclusion of all else.]

"What do you mean we left their bodies?!"

[They had saved all those people, hand't they? Hadn't they? Panic filled her and her legs were weak under her. She clung to the ICP to keep upright. What had it all been for? Had they just saved... ghosts? But they had been there! There had been time! The train had space! She thought the people had boarded trains like this one! Hadn't they????]

Not an actual reply

[nobodys_puppet]

[Xion happened to be near the ICP and heard this. She froze, listening. Internalizing.]

[Because... she was... just her memories at this point... wasn't she? Was there some way to record this? She grabbed out her notebook and started writing down everything that was said as best she could. She would bring this to Axel. He'd understand more... right...?]

Action

[flameinthedarkness]

[Ughh, what a topic… and it really isn’t one Idia wants to go into as he was already heading to the kitchen for late night snacks for his current gaming session. He knows what happened was… well… a thing, but… ughhh, to have someone bring all this kind of thing up.

Pass.

However…] I just came for the cookies. [Idia mumbled as he shuffled into the kitchen, having looked around to spot where Romeo was. Kid was too young to be up at this time… but… yeah, that was some heavy stuff to deal with having stuck in your head.]