voice; un: eliasainsworth

[thornydisposition]

I believe I have some information that might be of use, or at least to consider.

[The voice is low and very even, having only the barest hint of a conversational cadence.]

My companion, Shuyi, and I managed to locate and capture Miz Poppy. We captured her and two of her Deemer companions, and as we began to take them back to Perdition's Rest, she had some very interesting things to say.

She reaffirmed that there was no way to safely separate a Taraxa from its host without the destruction of the latter. What is more troubling, however, was that she insisted that hers and her compatriots' mission of destruction was something which the TIMELINE.EXE asked of them.

Before we could deliver her back here, one of the other captured Deemers sacrificed himself so that she may escape in the confusion.

It is not my intention to offer this information in order to incite mass confusion or doubt, as it is quite possible she was lying. But I do not think we can completely discount that she might be telling the truth—or that she and her fellows are somehow deluded enough to believe that they are. It is, as I originally said, something to at the very least keep in mind.

Comments

[gunah]

So what she told us maybe a lie. A half-lie, at best.

[ She doesn't fancy herself smart enough to discuss the nature of living. ]

[predomination]

It was probably a truth as she sees it, especially since it corresponds with the file we received from Keith-san about the Taraxa. They wipe everything clean when they invade the host. I had hoped that perhaps the host's dormant personality would simply be pushed aside and resurface when the Taraxa was gone.

I didn't believe for a moment anything could erase a person's entire mind.

[he's seen spiritual bodies dissipate, he's seen hollowfication, but this is entirely new to him. and selfishly, he's glad he would be immune to the Taraxa, though there's quite a few people here who aren't that he'd be pressed to see ruined in such a way.]

[gunah]

If we give them time, will their true personalities recover? Maybe more time will tell.

[ She does want to believe that Miz Poppy was lying. ]

[predomination]

We've left the ones who survived with their people for the most part, just in case. Time will tell, I guess.

[gunah]

I hope.

Do you think it is foolish to hope for the most comfortable truth?

[predomination]

Well. We've rescued their people- or at least confirmed that there's nothing to save. We're giving them an alternate way of life to prevent anymore mining. We've done all we can for them, and when we leave here, I doubt we'll know much about where they go from here.

But at least we did all we could, and leaving here hoping it might end better than expected isn't foolish at all. It's all in their hands now.

[gunah]

We did all we could for our own peace of mind.

[ But is that really enough? ]

But it would be presumptuous to believe we have done anything to help them, to better their lives, at all.

[predomination]

Perhaps that's true. But that's the cost of meddling- if you can't commit to your belief that what you did meant something to them, then you shouldn't be doing it.

[spoken like a true meddler. a sigh] But we didn't exactly get a choice to stand back and stay out of it entirely, did we, Shuyi-san?

[gunah]

[ Shuyi thought she was done with meddling. That was why she walked, out to the wilderness, and kept walking. But look at her now. ]

We have made our choice and here we are, carrying the consequences. Would the Qorrals ever forgive us if we were wrong?

[predomination]

Would it bother you if they didn't?

[he'd like to think he's past the point of being able to cope with people not forgiving him for the choices he makes for the sake of other people, but it still grates on him. he's just good at pretending to be unaffected.]

[gunah]

Yes. [ She would be lying otherwise. ] I know we have no right, but it would still bother me.

Is it wrong to care for how others see us?

[predomination]

Maybe not practical, but... I wouldn't call it wrong, exactly.

[that's as close as he's willing to admit it's something he also struggles with.]

[gunah]

One must believe so strongly in one's own judgment not to consider that of others.

[predomination]

I would say they're full of themselves, but... [he chuckles] I suppose those things aren't mutually exclusive.

[gunah]

You would be right in saying so.