video | un: Mercy

[valcurie]

Hello there! ( the image that appears is of a smiling blonde woman, healthy and bright looking, dressed now in pristine weight to present herself, projecting poise and elegance and friendly invitation to hear her out. her German Swiss accent is quite strong, though, so hopefully no-one is overly attached to their w's. ) I hope everyone is doing well this evening. I am coming onto the network to reach out to anyone I might not have been able to yet. My name is Angela Ziegler, and I am a doctor from Earth. Human, as you can see. ( a light, pleasant laugh and an even more pleasant smile ) You may also know me as Mercy. It's my agent name from when I was in service to a global peacekeeping organisation known as Overwatch.

I'm from the 21st century, so the treatment that I can offer you is science based ( a slight pause here as if she's considering one last time how to phrase this ) rather than magic based, but I have a good deal of practical experience with general medicine so there's almost nothing I haven't seen or dealt with. My expertise is in applied biotics, and I also have experience with gene therapy, prosthetics, and cybernetics, if there is anyone here who may need more specialised care. My qualifications also include emergency and trauma response so, if you ever find yourself wounded and in need of immediate attention, please do not hesitate to contact me. Think of me as personal 999 for refugees!

If you do come to me for any kind of care, I promise to do the best I can help you, while upholding all the oaths I've taken as a doctor to do no harm and to protect my patients. I'm not charging anything at this time.

And, if you'd like to humour me and help me to understand our group a bit better, I have a set of questions: do you believe you have a soul? What makes you think you do or don't have one? And is such a belief common where you're from? ( she doesn't mention religion, because it isn't strictly speaking a religious idea. she's known plenty of atheists and nay-theists who thought there was something beyond intelligence that made people paramount to other species. whether they called this unique internal animating light a soul or not, it didn't really matter. )

Comments

[valcurie]

( of course. he was a rather interesting individual, someone she'd like to examine if she's being completely honest. at this questions she's amused though, so her tone is somewhat teasing. )

Ah, now those are some questions I cannot answer! I have never tasted a soul, but I don't think one would taste like anything.

As for what I can answer, well. A soul is something like an immortal spark inside a person. It is constant, and continues to exist after the body dies, if you believe in such things.

video;

[shashka]

[ that almost gets a smile. you'd think that she'd be too old for that sort of idealism, but here she was nonetheless.

it was endearing, if nothing else. ]

A little more than that. Back home, we did some pretty extensive research into ESP. [ most people thought it was just a disinformation campaign... however... ] During the Great Patriotic War, there was a soldier with the codename "The Sorrow". He was able to communicate with the spirits of dead soldiers, and learn things that only they could know.

[ and he was also his father but... ]

video, un: Yousoro★

[ayes]

[Aha! It's the pretty lady from that first night!] Hello, Dr. Ziegler! We met the first night we were all down here, remember? It's really nice to meet people from Earth! Even if you're from a little further ahead of me. [The question makes her take a little longer to think of a good answer.] I think we have souls, don't you? I mean, there has to be something that makes us "us," right?

[valcurie]

What do you mean by channelled? Can it actually be used?

[valcurie]

( hey, being stubborn can go both ways! it's not always a bad thing.

but as she speaks she keeps a straight scientist's face, considering what he's saying and parsing through the details. The Great Patriotic War? She figures that's a Soviet name for one of them. {though at the name of the soldier her eyes do light up for a moment with a flare of amusement at the coincidence of the name, coupled with spirits. recently she's actually meet someone with that name who apparently visits spirits every night. }

for Ocelot she has a few questions for him. ) Are you sure that that was information only they could have had? It's a pretty common trick for alleged mediums and psychics to just be uncannily good at manipulating people. He may have also been a spy with a lot intelligence.

[insurgent]

life energy is still energy, isn't it?
all you need is the right conductor

or at least that's what the stories say

[valcurie]

( she smiles of course, glad to see that the girl is doing well. she was kind and helpful, things that everyone could use more of just now. ) Indeed I do! You, was it? How have you been?

( she smiles still, but her tone has evened out. ) I do know that we are conscious people. Our self-awareness, and of others arounds us, allows us to achieve much more than we would otherwise.

[valcurie]

That is true. If 'force' isn't just a mystical cognomen, then that might imply it could follow basic laws of physics.

I take it you haven't seen this force for yourself? If it's all over the universe, I imagine that would be something hard to miss. Or at least witness the effects of it.

[silverhound]

[Maybe if he'll get injured badly, she might get the chance to examine him. Loz is a tad reckless even on a good day.]

A soul wouldn't have a taste? Um, I guess it's not edible then. [She could almost hear him suck his teeth. Loz is definitely pouting.] That's kind of lame, I guess.

[He pauses for a moment as he listens, undoubtedly trying to make sense of what she said.]

An immortal...spark? Ah, kinda like energy, right? After the person dies, that...that energy goes back to the Planet. I think that's what happened to me.

[insurgent]

[ it takes her a few minutes to reply. she recalls her mother's earnest belief — or perhaps it was only desperation. trust the force. across the galaxy, people (rebel, imperial and unaffiliated) revered and valued kyber crystals. she thinks of chirrut, blind yet possessing foresight. most of all, she ruminates over the words he uttered to her the day she lost her papa on eadu. the force moves darkly near a creature that's about to kill.

he saw something that day. ]

i've seen things

[ informative. ]

[ayes]

Yup, that's right! I'm doing pretty well, I think. I've been thinking about starting to work some odd jobs to see if I can get some money and experiment with food here. I wanna see if I can make some of the stuff I remember from home!

Right, so doesn't that mean that there's like a soul, or something? That if you and me suddenly swapped bodies, we'd still be "us" even if we were in someone else's body. That stays the same no matter what!

[valcurie]

( well, that's is what she's here to do--even if it means she has to help someone who gets hurt over and over again.

sorry, but she's just going to laugh at that, and then suggest brightly: ) Well, there are plenty of better things to eat that it could never beat the taste of. If you're looking for a treat, you should try some good chocolate. Ideally Swiss! Besides, if there are souls, eating them would have some pretty unfortunate consequences.

Something like that, yes. Do you remember that happening to you? ( her interest is genuine now, though she's thinking of several possible explanations, she'll listen for now. )

[valcurie]

( well, thanks for that.

honestly, Mercy laughed at that. it suggests to her a statement of--not quite open-mindedness, but more a hint of willingness. there is a part of her that shares the sentiment. science has proven what consciousness actually is in her world, but if there's something more? provided it's not intangible, and given how crazy the world now is, she's not completely anathema to the notion of what if. but there has to be proof. )

That make you wonder?

voice; un: hawks eye

[strictdiscipline]

[ First things first: basic courtesy. ]

It's a please to meet you, Dr. Ziegler. I'm glad to hear we have a few trained medical professionals in our ranks.

[ After the spiders in the forest and more than one run-in with a clumsy teenager, she's more than happy to have emergency medical attention on speed-dial. As for the question: ]

Why the curiosity about souls?

[valcurie]

Ah, I am glad to hear that, and that you already have an idea of what you'd like to do. And your roommates are all right?

Not necessarily. We wouldn't be exactly the same, since our consciousness would start to experience the sensations of the body we are swapped to. Theoretically we would start to become different, conditioned by the body hosting the consciousness.

[silverhound]

[Okay, he definitely perks up at the mention of "treats". It seems that someone is a tad peckish today. Loz hasn't eaten in days--no, it's been a week!]

Is chocolate that sweet brown stuff everyone likes? Yeah, that's delicious but expensive! I like the cholocate dipped fruits. I stol--I mean tried some at the markets. [cough, cough]

Swiss chocolate? What's...a swiss? Now that definitely sounds tasty.

[Loz falls idly quiet for a moment, almost as if he's hesitant to tell her. He lingers there on the other end of this chat just staring out the window. It's drizzling a little outside but not much. The rhythmic drumming of the raindrops cut through the unexpected silence like a quiet hum.]

...I was returned to Mother. [Finally he speaks.] The Planet didn't want me but Mother, our real Mother, did. She kept us warm and protected. She said we could come home and rest.

Then everything just faded. No more pain or sorrow, just...warmth.

voice;

[valcurie]

Likewise, Miss. Helping is its own reward, so if there's anything I can ever do I am glad to do so.

( a courtesy for a courtesy, though she does mean it with every iota of what she is. )

I would understand my potential patients better. We are a group more--diverse ( a small laugh at how insufficient that description is) than any I've worked with. I also admit some personal interest in the matter, to see what kind of common ground we might have among us.

[valcurie]

( if only she knew, she could get the poor boy something, along with a lecture about proper self-care. as it is: )

Well, I hope they didn't taste any better because of a five-finger discount. In any case, the dipped fruits are a better idea than just eating entire bars of the stuff, so that's a good choice.

And I'm a Swiss! I'm a person from Switzerland. But you may definitely not eat me, young man. ( she tries to make her voice admonishing, but she just ends up laughing. then comes the somber pattering of rain, and she waits, and then she listens. )

What you've described is how a lot of people have said they remember a near-death experience being. ( and there are plenty of scientific explanations for why everything feels so good, but she saves them for now. )

It sounds like it was nice. Like you were being surrounded by a mother's love.

[insurgent]

yes

[ it's not much, but jyn's willingness to give little answers like this means something, for her. ]

have you?

[silverhound]

[No more lectures! Loz hates those. They're always so long and boring. Everyone lectures him nowadays. Loz deserves each one even if he's tired of being lectured. They're helping him somewhat.]

Heh! The "five-finger-discount" made them taste better! But not by much since they're really tasty already. I like chocolate but eating it by itself is too sweet.

[He really doesn't like overly sweet things. They're nasty.]

Oh! A swiss is a person? I never heard of Switzerland before. Is it nice--?

[He was about to pelt her with so many curious questions until the conversation turns a tad dark. Yeah, he's supposed to be dead. Loz knows it but somehow, he's alive again.]

So that's what it was like to have a "real" mother, huh? It was...nothing like the other one.

The Other Mother was cold and mean.

voice;

[strictdiscipline]

Hawkeye. Riza Hawkeye. [ It's been a long time since anyone's addressed her as 'Miss', and it sounds alien to her ears. ] Most would start with background, or perhaps favorite food.

[ But fair enough reason, enough for her to oblige. ]

All humans do have souls, where I come from. Most of the time, soul and body are one, but there are—ways to separate them, none of them encouraged.

[ Her voice cools considerably at the end; it's clear 'not encouraged' in this case leans closer to 'prohibited'. ]

[idealog]

[ It probably doesn't, but he thinks it might be nice to have one. ]

I don't think a soul was included in my schematics. I have something similar, but it really depends on what you think a soul is.

[valcurie]

( well, she's humoured her and more, so she only thinks it's fair to answer in kind. does she believe in souls? no, not as people in her world think of them. could there be something else? of course, that's always a possibility, and with the way things have ended up working out? she's not just about tell someone they're wrong because of her own, realistically very limited, experience. )

I have always been too busy for such things.

But there are people I know who have experienced things I have not.

[valcurie]

( well he could get one about stealing, but apparently he already knows he shouldn't be doing that. sometimes not hiding disappointment is its own form of nagging. )

Better until you get caught, anyhow.

( but then comes the more serious bits, so she puts aside the other things for now. he's a child, younger than a child actually, and she both sees this and can't help but treat him like one. his immaturity is actually somewhat endearing; she feels nearly impelled to mother him in her own way. )

A real one that loves you, yes. I don't remember my own mother very well, but I have been lucky to have other people love me that same way.

This warm mother, she isn't the one who gave life to you, correct?

[valcurie]

It's a pleasure Riza. ( without being given a title, she defaults to something familiar and easy. not for a lack of respect however, though she does laugh at the very accurate observation. ) Indeed they would, but this is a brave new world, isn't it? If we just talked about background I might not get anywhere, given how fascinating magic is to someone from a non-magical world like me.

( proof of her point is the interest with which she listens to this explanation. after considering for a few moments, her own tone evens out, save for the tips of her sharp prejudice peaking out. ) Those ways wouldn't happen to involve blood magic, would they?