elnysa | video | un: Mercy

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video | un: Mercy

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. )

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Then share with me the difference between the "data of a consciousness" and a person's immutable self.

[He could just correct her. He knows for certain, with intimacy, that those are definitely the souls of old royals resting in the ring. But a discussion in this manner is far more entertaining.]

Though, for clarification's sake... yes, it was a magic ring, to put it lightly.

( she laughs a bit, with the sense to see that the distiction really isn't an important one to him, if there actually is something special about his world, if people actually have something immortal about them, but this is something that does make a difference in her world. or, did. ) There are many. For one, the former is quantifiable, the latter is not. How do you measure the weight or mass of a soul? The amount of data will vary, but, looking at omnics for example, we can see just how much data storage is required for a self-aware identity to be assembled. But this is not an immortal one.

A magic ring that's something more. All right. I will keep that in mind.

It might yet be quantifiable; the process just may be beyond your world's current understanding. Who is to even say that a soul can be measured in weight and mass? Perhaps it merely adheres to rules that have yet to have been discovered.

[There are many ways in which a soul (or the essence of one's life, in general) and technology can be merged in a number of (sometimes questionable) ways. Ardyn knows this also from first-hand experience.]

A magic ring, and gifted by the gods, at that. Surely they're allowed to bend the rules now and again.

Anything is possible, even if it's improbable.

( what with how universal laws of physics have proven to be, it seems unlikely that something like a soul can't be measured in some conventional way, if not already discovered by now. but then, to be fair, noetic sciences aren't exactly her subject. )

Now, magic is one thing, but, gods? Are you have observed that they are real, too?

Yes.

[A simple reply, adorned with no further explanation. At least not immediately. Ardyn is once again choosing his words quite purposefully.]

They are called the Six where I'm from. Take a guess at how many there are.

( well, that is an answer, and it's not wrong. )

Hmm, it couldn't be six, could it? Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed by the name.

Well, they have their individual names, too. Or, if you like, we can refer to them as Astrals instead.

It doesn't make a difference to me. I suppose, if they had some grandiose title, you wouldn't be the one to use it.

( an assessment of his character, but also something he more or less said himself about his own title when they first met. )

What manner of gods do you believe the Astrals are? Are they creator-gods?

Edited 2017-08-12 06:49 (UTC)

[He raises a brow at that, questioningly so.] And what might make you say such a thing? Do I not look like a gods-fearing sort of man?

[What a joke that is. A complete and utter farce of a thought. Once upon a time, maybe. Certainly not any longer.]

They had a hand in creating my world -- Eos, that is. There were others, of course, but the Six were the ones who stayed to watch over it. Or so the legend goes.

Honestly, no, but you're telling me they are real in your world. I'd figured you had some opinions on what they might be.

( she actually surprised he even concedes that there are gods. he spoke about observing, so what had he seen, just the ring? )

Was it the Six who are responsible for that magic ring, or were the ones who cut-and-ran also in on it?

I have quite a few opinions yes, but the most straightforward one is this: they are indeed gods, or at least entities with powers beyond what is obtainable for the rest of mankind. Each with their own personality and temperament, each representing a different sort of... ah, element.

[A shrug.]

The Six were. There is very little known about those who left.

I guess I am just surprised you call them gods. Whatever anyone else calls them. ( She pauses a moment, considering what she's learnt about gods so far, from people here who actually believe in, and served, them. ) Especially if they are individuals. Worshiping or revering anything with a personality seems like it couldn't end well.

Did they say why they made it?

Just because I call them gods does not mean I hold any particular reverence for them. Certainly no more than most.

[A noise of amusement, though wry.]

It was a gift to the Lucis Caelum line. The royal line. So that they may more easily protect the Crystal bestowed upon the world, as well.

[But now they're getting into more complexities that he's not sure she's at all interested in. A wave of a hand.]

An item of powerful magic. Since I know you'll ask.

( Giving this a moment's consideration, she shrugs. ) Which is why I am surprised. You don't seem like the kind to put a lot of stock in them. But what else would you call them? In my world 'god' has a lot of baggage. Your world must be different. Perhaps because they actually exist.

( That's...quite a name. She smiles to herself, a slight derisive curve to the smile. ) Hah, because heaven itself shown its light down upon the dynasty? ( She waves her hand...at the device, yes. ) Is the crystal some promise to protect the world as well? 'So long as it remains protected, so shall you.' Something like that.

You misunderstand me. I put stock in their existence, yes, but little more than that. They've made their own mistakes, which they should indeed be held accountable for, in my humble opinion. And so -- if it pleases the both of us -- let us merely call them astrals instead.

[Her dismissive tone might be offensive to others from Eos, but not at all to Ardyn. His smile is thin, but perhaps for reasons unsaid.]

In a way, yes. It was initially granted to stop the halt of the Starscourge, a disease which plagued many throughout Eos. Though it does provide magic for that one particular dynasty, so that they may protect and aid others with it.

Edited 2017-08-14 13:57 (UTC)

( nodding in agreement, if not also in concurrence. ) Works for me, Ardyn. Especially if they have made mistakes. Usually--from where I'm from, at least--infallibility is considered a pretty basic criteria for actual godhood. Not needing to prove yourself, et cetera, et cetera. Astrals sound much more--down to earth.

( these names though... at least the elven names were foreign enough for her to not think they sound like something out of a cliché fantasy. ) Are there any other such artefacts? Or just the one? I imagine it's something that people try to steal, either way.

[Sorry for Final Fantasy naming conventions, Angela.

Ardyn considers it for a moment.]

Just the one, or rather, the only one that truly matters. And you're right about attempted thievery; we've a whole war ongoing, circling around the retrieval of said Crystal.

Well, we did at any rate. Hardly any of it matters now, wouldn't you say?

( as if she's one to talk, though, really.

in turn, she gives what he's said some thought. after a few moments with her hand on her chin, her head tilted just ever so much to the left: )

I think it depends on what kind of trouble you think it might bring. Was this ring stolen by someone specific? If it really can cause a lot of trouble and it's in the thief's hands, it might be worth looking into keeping an eye on their pod. ( here comes a very, very noticeable pause. she's mulling over whether this is information she should be sharing. it's vague enough, though, so in the end she decides, why not? ) From what I have seen, the Natha my not necessary know what is rightfully whose. Or what should be theirs.

The ring itself is where it belongs for now. On the finger of royalty itself. No one else would be able to use it anyway -- the last man who tried died. The one before that? Lost his arm.

[No big deal.] No, it's the Crystal that the Empire wanted. Power for power's sake.

How do you know the Natha are ignorant about what belongs to whom?

Well, that royal better keep track of it then. Sometimes people need to be protected from themselves.

( Not that people who tried to use something like that weren't asking for it. Really. Who wouldn't know better than to meddle with something like god-gifted artefacts? She shakes her head, then, and his question throws her off just enough that she doesn't think to ask what Empire he's talking about. Because that sounds like something that might have a chancellor. )

I've seen people with things they shouldn't have.

[It wouldn't have been an incorrect assumption. A chancellor of an empire, indeed, even if that empire crumbled in darkness. Much like the rest of the world as they knew it.]

People you know?

[Prying, prying.]

People I'm sure you probably don't know.

( haha, she's aware enough to not just come out with it. plus, if she's being honest? she doesn't trust him enough. )

Hm.

[Well, that's fair enough. While it would be good to know, even Ardyn must admit that such knowledge would not prove very beneficial to him now, only to sate his curiosity, little more. There are many implications there -- of objects of worth being tossed about where they may not belong -- but he keeps that to himself.

The slightest shift in topic, while keeping it relatively the same regardless. A talent of his, to be sure.]

Do you have many from your world here?

There are four of us, myself included, that I know of.

( There's a fifth who could be, but she isn't sure. Whatever else she is, she's not a liar. )

More than you?

There are five of us, though that is also including myself.

[She can relate to having others from her world here too, then. Yet Ardyn highly doubts the... dynamic is quite the same as his.]

Comfort in familiarity, most would say.

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