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expiationnet2025-06-07 11:28 pm
chimericalclaw) wrote in expiationnet2025-06-07 11:28 pm
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audio 🌌 un: altius
[It's only thanks to jotting down notes to himself before passing out that he even recalls the conversation he had with that sorcerer of eld... It's not much, but it's still vital enough to share.
His tone is succinct. He's not pretending to be lighthearted about this.]
I was recently alerted to the fact that there are permanent consequences to dying here. Our souls degrade despite being brought back, with no apparent way to restore them. Given the fact that the man who was able to perceive this appears to have left, there's only so much I can tell you about it. If anyone recalls their own experiences after revival, I encourage you to share them.
I have a theory this degradation may be related to why the other cycles failed to the point the AI felt the need to forcibly change former Chosen to "save" them, but I'm afraid that's all it is for the moment.
Ah, that reminds me. I had an odd interaction with the people from across the sea; they muttered about remembering airplanes almost like the Naga reacted to Mr. Howe's questioning about their pasts. I wouldn't be surprised if they were former Chosen as well.
His tone is succinct. He's not pretending to be lighthearted about this.]
I was recently alerted to the fact that there are permanent consequences to dying here. Our souls degrade despite being brought back, with no apparent way to restore them. Given the fact that the man who was able to perceive this appears to have left, there's only so much I can tell you about it. If anyone recalls their own experiences after revival, I encourage you to share them.
I have a theory this degradation may be related to why the other cycles failed to the point the AI felt the need to forcibly change former Chosen to "save" them, but I'm afraid that's all it is for the moment.
Ah, that reminds me. I had an odd interaction with the people from across the sea; they muttered about remembering airplanes almost like the Naga reacted to Mr. Howe's questioning about their pasts. I wouldn't be surprised if they were former Chosen as well.
voice; un:curtaincall
Are you quite certain about that? He may well be sleeping somewhere.
audio
That said, I'd prefer to be proven wrong in this case.
Audio
Alone again, it would seem.
[His voice is more tired than wistful.]
Well, in his absence I suppose it falls to me to solve this puzzle.
no subject
[Does that remark come from ego, or some strange sense of responsibility? Or something else? Curious.]
I take it you know Emet-Selch well enough to trust what he said was accurate, then.
no subject
'Twould be foolish to doubt the eyes of the Overseer of the Dead. Would you not agree?
no subject
[And yet the man couldn't see his soul...? Such is the power of a deity, Altius supposes.]
Do you have any expertise with souls, Fandaniel?
no subject
While I am not the most esteemed and glorious Emet-Selch, [he says with some venom] I've been studying souls since my arrival.
Alas, the souls of once-dead Chosen are not something I've had a chance to evaluate.
[He and Bondrewd had once agreed to chain kill someone, but it never happened. What a shame.]
no subject
You must have found some interesting things, even so?
no subject
If Emet-Selch's eyes were truthful, then the previous Chosen must have had an unfortunate habit of dying. Imagine it! Dying, being revived, then dying again, over and over until the AI merges you with data to preserve what little of you is left.
Horrid fate.
Someone should do something about that.
[They should destroy whatever resurrects everyone and all die together.]
no subject
It does make me wonder just how much worse the circumstances must have been in previous cycles, if they were corrupted to such an extent.
But we're among the few "someones" left, I'm afraid. Once the former Naga are feeling less skittish I plan to see what I can learn from them about the process. [In the hopes of finding a something to do about it.]
no subject
[Certainly not because it decides they are innocent. Emet-Selch was many things, but innocent was not one of them.
Maybe certain people aren't worth the trouble? If so, then why is Fandaniel--
Not important right now. Focus!]
Ahem.
A question for another time, perhaps.
I would like to question the erstwhile Naga as well. [And torture one half to death to see if they have a soul now.] I wonder if they are still snake enough to be lured out of hiding with a fresh rat or two?
no subject
[He decides not to inform Fandaniel of where that trio have apparently decided to stay, content enough with his own methods... but he recalls something he read last month, a conversation that didn't involve him. He'll have to ask Dante the details, but he can offer it as a suggestion for now.]
For all we know, our departure may be out of the AI's hands entirely. It would certainly help to explain its drastic measures, even if it doesn't excuse them.
no subject
Mmm...
Potentially an issue if so. We've reason to believe that the entire simulation, as well as the AI that governs it, was once managed by someone, but that someone is long gone.
no subject
[A vaguely frustrated breath through his nose can be heard. Though he's not giving up on the idea of doing meaningful things from within it...]
... are we aware of any instances we've been able to communicate or see into the "outside," other than those cracks during the Dark Hour?
no subject
Though we may wish to ask those who were around in the days before the map was updated into this more technologically-advanced form.
no subject
Ms. Kiramman might be aware. But there are still a few others from that time if not. I'll make some inquiries.
We need to find more avenues to attack this situation from. The inside may not give us the opportunities we need alone.
voice; un: ushiromiya
Maybe it's why that isn't the part of all of this Ange ends up latching onto. Instead it's the extra information, making her wonder-- ]
Did the specific people you talk to look human? Unlike the Naga, I mean?
no subject
no subject
[ Ange pauses for a moment, seeming to mentally chew on that thought, but then she just lets out a sigh. ]
What a pain. I doubt those former Chosen ever got a choice in the matter. I don't want to end up as something weird.
no subject
[So it goes without saying, in his book.]
It's possible we could find more concrete methods of avoiding corruption by looking into how they were changed. That way we'd certainly have a better chance of making it out of this in one piece, physical and otherwise.
no subject
[ There's something about the way she says this that makes her dislike of suddenly being turned into something that's part of this world even more obvious. It almost sounds like it kind of bothers her, in a way that's different from the surface-level teenage style annoyance sometimes present in her relatively flat tone. ]
They didn't change right away. It started with little signs, and then they started to lose their minds. They weren't just turned into something else entirely right away.
no subject
[... once more this whole affair is reminding him of unpleasant times. He forcefully puts that train of thought aside before it goes anywhere self-reflective, pausing for a moment before continuing with a serious question.]
What sort of signs?
no subject
They had these really obvious black markings on them. [ Normal people would usually call them kind of creepy, but-- well, Ange is Ange, so she can describe this like it's a totally normal thing, her tone flat again now. ]
You haven't seen that on anyone since you arrived here?
no subject
Hopefully the slow, audible breath he takes in is just assumed as one to give him time to think back and try to remember.]
No, I haven't. When was the last time you saw it?
no subject
They had been in this place after that too, but-- when? Was it back when that entire mess with their memories had happened? ]
The first time I saw them was on people out there in the desert. It was even longer ago, back closer to when I first found myself here. Back then I thought they were just random people, but by now I guess they were former Chosen too.
no subject
[Still, there's more to address here... things he doesn't think he's heard about. Gaps in his knowledge that need to be filled.]
There were people in the desert?
no subject
Have you not been there yet? [ .. a slight moment of thought, and then: ] Well, it's not exactly like we go out there all the time, huh. We were only there back then because we had been sent there.
no subject
Were you given some specific purpose there?
no subject
[ And her head has been messed with so many times in the meantime that it's sometimes difficult to recall the smaller details of things.. ]
We found these tablets we have here for the first time there. Back then this city was just a small medieval village, and we only had pendants to communicate through, so I hadn't seen anything like it before.
no subject
Perhaps it's worth going out to take another look, [he says, half to himself, but he continues with a proper question:] Was it immediately obvious what the tablets were meant for?
no subject
Maybe it had been obvious to others, but Ange isn't good enough when it comes to technology.. ]
They had weird messages on them when we found them. Messages left behind by those corrupted Chosen. They were talking about being abandoned, or something like that-- In any case, they weren't happy.
no subject
Abandoned... I suppose they didn't say by whom.
[Those messages are probably long gone by now. A shame, but that doesn't mean the information might not be useful somehow. Could it be related to...]
That makes me wonder at what point the AI's creators abandoned it.
no subject
[ Not quite as quick or as drastic as things had been lately, but.. still.. ]
Who knows why they abandoned it though. I don't think we've had a single clue in that regard. [ Ange hums, then shrugs to herself. ] Maybe they just died, and now we're stuck with this mess.
no subject
Entirely possible. A mess we're at the mercy of while trying to clean it up.
[He lets out a breath to release some frustration, and reorients himself. If they're dead, they're dead, and where they should be. His focus is better spent elsewhere.]
Nothing to do but keep looking. We'll make a breakthrough.
audio ; un: echo
I do not fully understand what you mean about dying and degrading souls. When I arrived, it did not seem to be some sort of restoration. [It was in the last world she was in.] What happens here?
no subject
To my knowledge when we Chosen die here, we disappear for several days before reappearing, fully healed. At least in physical terms.
audio; un: grimreaper666
[ He says, as though people have any say in whether they stay or go. But he's just being a jerk, of course; he doesn't really believe that. ]
... So I guess everyone in this world used to be the Chosen, huh. We should probably make sure we don't end up the same as them.
no subject
Whether it's everyone, I couldn't say; I don't believe I've ever seen the Aldrip natives behave in that way, but perhaps I haven't been asking the right questions.
[Worth looking into. Hm.]
Regardless, there seem to be enough I'd expect it to be a pattern. There must be more remnants of Chosen we can find that could give us ideas of how to prevent it.