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Inner Sanctum Exterior | 5:09 PM | Second Day
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What?"
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shocking thing to hear as it was absurd to the point of being a non-sequitur, as though we''d just heard that the secret to perpetual motion was making a machine that ran on custard. It defied common sense to such an extent that a meaningful request for clarification didn''t even feel possible.
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will, in other words."
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is, only what it does. We know nothing about why these fundamental forces exist, and barely more about their attributes beyond what directly affects us - at best investigating the residue on reality''s window. For all we know, this could all be happening within the nightmare of a sleeping god."
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do know what entropy is," I insisted. "It''s just an emergent quality of energy in some planes in which gravity is exceeded by motion in terms of potential force, without anything else to taper it. You taught me that countless times yourself."
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She really believes this insane idea, I realized. This isn''t just playing devil''s advocate. It''s genuine theorizing.
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body being built to facilitate it, though," I said, feeling like I needed to push back. "The anima script, cells - they''re all built to cultivate coherency in the physical processes of the human mind. It couldn''t just arise on its own without that framework developed by evolution to support it, just... Pop up at random."
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process to develop beings beyond human understanding?"
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nuts," Ptolema said, wide-eyed.
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want to do that which you aren''t telling us," she continued. "And also that your argument is hypocritical."
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-myself to be smarter, and I''m comfortable with the others because I know them well enough to render them predictable-- To consider their potential fuck-ups known quantities." She smirked. "I''m sure they all feel the same way."
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foremost goals to promote self-awareness among the administration of this organization."
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crazy, but..."
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That is the true, or at least foremost, nature of this place. You might think of it as an observation facility for death itself."
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So that part of the vision was correct...
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That was ominous. I shared a look of unease with Ran, biting my lip.
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What had he said? Something which could change the world...
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miles out of your wheelhouse."
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can say something about that, but it''s also tricky in its own right," Neferuaten said. "What you must understand that, while the reality we experience appears as a consistent three-dimensional space - and from a human perspective, more or less is - the Ironworkers, by all accounts, actually did a very patchwork job. Behind the scenes, space-time in the Remaining World is a mess."
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can''t. The most I could tell you would be how the order came upon this place, and that, already, is something it would be dangerous for you to even understand."
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able to exist, because we have all come to deeply understand that conflict and navigate it as we conduct our business. But you are just children. That makes you inherently vulnerable."
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be an entity that could be described in that way, and that group is actively fucking with it."
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That''s a good point, I thought, my eyes widening a bit.
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What is she saying? We haven''t seen Samium yet!
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Ran. I can appreciate that you''re not the type to indulge in idle curiosity, and that probably everything you''ve asked in the last few minutes has been solely out of concern for your and Utsushikome''s well-being. "
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nothing will happen to make this event in any way dangerous for you or your classmates. I''m sure you knew from the outset that the order would be keeping secrets from you, and it is true that our work is sometimes dangerous, both personally and at a grander scope." She knelt to meet Ran at eye level, where she was sitting. "However. Much has been spent to make this one weekend absolutely insulated from that danger, and I say that as someone who understands the situation more than any other, even the rest of the council."
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That''s an odd claim to make. But I could see that she was being sincere.
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inexplicably- decided to being in another guest with prosognostic overlap, thus inviting about the only existential threat for which we -don''t have a defense..." She clicked her tongue, then refocused her gaze on the girl in front of her. "...then I promise you, nothing will happen. And should you choose to walk away from our organization forever afterward, trouble will not follow you. I have done everything to ensure that these four days exist solely that you might make a fair judgement of us from a position where you are safe."
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choice we were here to make. To accept the Order of the Universal Panacea, its dangers, and its history and goals... Or to reject them.
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What''d she said, back then? ''Before what happens later today'', she wanted us to understand.
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research? That''s like something from a Mourning Period drama."
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Murder stuff."
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This could only be about one thing.
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The second moment of truth.
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What would she think, if she knew what I really was doing?
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Would she try to stop me? Or would she just be disgusted at learning what kind of person she''d been close to, all this time?
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Or would she call me a fool for having even tried, like Autonoe basically had?
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Yes," I spoke, without even a moment of hesitation.
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Shit." She ran a hand through her curly hair. "I didn''t want to..." She exhaled sharply, getting a little flustered. "I didn''t mean to put it like that, okay? Of course it''s a good thing to do-- To want to do, I mean, even now. I just..."
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should have been, would give me the strength to finally be completely honest. To bare my depraved and misbegotten nature without anything to soften it. To be righteously loathed, as I once was, and as I craved more than anything except for an end to this quest.
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So stupid. I could have used the moment to talk about so much that was weighing on my mind. The body I''d found with Kam, and her increasingly awful-feeling idea of keeping it a secret. Zeno''s bizarre agenda with me, and how that related to what we''d just been told. Hell, it would have been nice just to have been able to process some of that in greater depth. There were so many things I only trusted her enough to talk about.
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Worthless. Absolutely worthless.
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