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]

( 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.

[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]

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.

[ayes]

Yeah! I knew one of them before, and the other's perfectly nice! It's a little weird living with a guy, but he's probably one of the best ones I could've hoped for! [She's mostly over the nervousness and awkwardness. Mostly.

She's also not following Mercy at all.] Uh... you're saying that being in the other body would... make us change somehow?

[valcurie]

That's nice if it's someone you knew from your world? At least there is someone to watch out for you while you adjust. But try to stay safe, all right? The city isn't the safest place right now.

A little bit, yes. A lot of people that things their body's telling them are an important part of who they are, so what if what you're being told is different? That might affect you. ( hopefully that's simple enough to understand. of course that's not always true, and plenty of people have remained pretty much the same after getting prosthetics, but a whole body swap is like a new identity. she's had a close friend of hers struggle with that. )

[ayes]

No, she's not from my world. Her name's Jade! We met back up on the station. She's got dog ears; they're really cute. [Actually.] So you're saying that... because we'd be in a different body, we'd start to act different? Like, if I had dog ears like Jade, so I could hear things better, I might act like a different person? I guess that makes sense, when you put it that way.

[valcurie]

They are real dog ears?

Because, yes, something like that. We will still be us, and we won't lose our memories theoretically, but when your perception of the world is vastly altered, your outlook and responses tend to, too. Being able to understand this is a good way to help you find a different mindset, if you'd like one.

[ayes]

I... think so? I don't remember the story she told me about them. It seemed pretty complicated. Have you ever experienced something like that yourself?

[valcurie]

Huh. Did she say something about getting them put in? ( You strikes her as rather young, so maybe a lot of this is beyond her. although herself a child prodigy, it had taken Mercy many years to gain meaningful insights into her own field. the advancements of technology can be overwhelming. )

Personally, no, but I have seen it happen to my patients, as well as my friends. I would imagine that there are some here who would also tell you that such can happen even if you stay within the same body.

[ayes]

Gosh, I don't really remember what she said, but there was something about a super-powered dog, and she... merged with him or something?

You would probably have to ask her. It sounded like magic to me.

[valcurie]

I have to admit, I'm not sure what to think. Either magic or, more likely, some kind of gene therapy.

What did you say her name was again? And did she just tell you this by way of introduction?

[ayes]

Her name's Jade Harley! We actually live together. [You laughs self-deprecatingly.] Um, I definitely asked about the dog ears, I'm pretty sure. They're a conversation starter...?

[valcurie]

Ah, that's some good luck, then! She sounds like an interesting roommate, at the very least.

That is true! ( After a little bit of thought she adds: ) I probably would have asked within the first five minutes, depending.

[ayes]

She's really cool, I like her a lot! But the dog ears are hard not to notice, so I'm sure she's probably used to people asking about them.

[valcurie]

Probably? Well. ( a light laugh, as she's amused, but wants to make a considered point. ) Maybe she could have been from a world where they were normal. There are people here with--different kinds of ears, after all.

[ayes]

No, I don't think she was... ah, but I probably can't answer that as well as she could! She could definitely tell you the story better than me.

But I get your point! If I had dog ears so I could hear different things, maybe I'd start acting and thinking of things differently. Or if I was taller, or shorter! Or a boy.

[valcurie]

Ah, well. I will have to talk to her, to be sure, if she'd like to.

( at the return to the subject, though, she nods and then tilts her head, gesturing with one finger. ) It is something to think about every so often. 'Why am I making this choice?' But I you might not have any problems with what answers you find, You. ...Before you came, were you in high school?

[ayes]

Yeah, I was just about halfway through second year! [She answers, quickly. And then.] Wait, what does that have to do with anything?

[valcurie]

Nothing, really. I was just wondering if I had correctly guessed your age. ( She smiles and holds her hand to her chest--it's an honest gesture. ) Some people here have appearances which can be misleading.

[ayes]

Ohhhh, that makes sense. I haven't met anyone like that yet, though. D'you mean people who are older than they look, or younger?

[valcurie]

So far it's people who are much older than they look. ( she laughs, because really, it's a lot older. ) Are you sure you haven't met any? It seems like if you were to toss a stick in any direction, you'd probably hit one. Maybe two.

[ayes]

I mean, I haven't been asking people their ages... how much older are we talking?

[valcurie]

( like, way older than their written languages combined, if she's being honest. ) At least a few thousand years. I think after the first few centuries though, they might have lost track of the indvidiual years.

[ayes]

There are people here who have lived that long?! That's nuts!