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Inner Sanctum Underground | 1:02 PM | Third Day
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that''s right," Zeno said, grimacing. "I''d half forgotten that whole ridiculous tradition. Fuck me, why did the one decently-established organization dedicated to extending the human lifespan have to double up as a moralizing mystery cult?"
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you submit a fetish, professor?" Kam asked flatly.
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ever be enough to let you skip other people''s bullshit concept of what''s important. Human beings, whether it''s at work, home or government, will put their brain dead little tradition over rational self-interest, nine times out of ten. It''s nothing but prayer for the modern age - ideological signalling, the sign of a yet-infantile culture."
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"No, nothing," she said, her voice echoing in our eyes. "But I wouldn''t recommend wasting too much time."
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grace. Regardless of how stupid I find the whole concept behind the display here, I can still call a spade a spade when it comes to mindless vandalism. He wouldn''t be so tasteless." She bit the edge of her thumb. "And besides, this could have happened at any point over the last 24 hours. Barely anyone comes down here."
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that what they were trying to say? I wasn''t so sure.
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definition benefit the discoverer. We could do so much better than a platitude of selfless intent that doesn''t survive a moment''s serious introspection."
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personally ill of the dead, but suffice it to say, trying to appease the masses is a fool''s errand. The average moron is only capable of making judgements by regurgitating whatever tropes the media has fed them, and even then, only the recent ones - just look at how fast public sentiment changed in favor of longevity research as soon as the Old Yru Convention changed its tune." She kicked a bottle (presumably representing someone''s drinking problem) to the side as she strolled to the other side of the room, still looking around. "It''d take a little too long to tell the story of how we got the Biological Continuity Oath re-interpreted in our favor, but let me assure you it had nothing to do with winning hearts and minds."
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yes," Zeno said, sounding pleased with themselves. "I bet you''d be surprised to know just how many little changes in policy this organization has affected over the years. Assuming you don''t all grow up to become total nobodies, you''ll come to understand how much of this world is shaped by the handful of people who possess the vision and intellect to do so, and how utterly irrelevant the opinions of everyone else are." She smiled with what was, by her standards, relative sincerity. "You four are at the top of your class, so you probably have a fair shot."
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It''ll be okay, a voice soothed me. It''s five against one, and your only job is to keep a barrier up around your group, or Zeno if it comes to a duel. Even if she''s obnoxious, she''s one of the greatest arcanists in the world. Hamilcar is old, but he''s average for his experience. He''ll lose.
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Maybe you should question your beliefs, then, I thought, but didn''t vocalize.
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someone is down here. And you yourself proved they had to be the one in contact with Lilith. So the only variable is that we may be taken by surprise concerning their identity."
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I''ll try and help you speak with him, if you''re still invested in the idea. Since it''s increasingly clear you have less manipulative skills then a child trying to angle for better birthday gifts." She adjusted her mask, which seemed to have an uncomfortable fit, slightly. "I suppose I do owe you for dragging you along with my idea to hide what happened to Vijana, since it ended up being so bloody stupid."
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"Anna and I just performed the final round of incantations. There''s less we can do at that range, but it doesn''t seem like there''s any traps or other defenses down there," Ran told us. "That said, be ready for anything."
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Form-Levitating Arcana, ascending off the ground.
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very deep pit, practically bottomless - and, after making sure our barriers were aligned properly and our speed was correct, began to slowly descend into the darkness.
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the easiest, outside of just moving objects telekinetically - that the mind slipped into without much effort, like it had always been ready to start moving in three dimensions, but just lacked the means. But more importantly than that, it was perhaps the first time most people became aware of how almost transhuman you became, and could become, as an arcanist. Doing something that for most people would always be nothing more than a childhood fantasy as if it were no big deal at all.
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we only did because of habit or social convention. You could draw enough eris for simple techniques just from your own body and the surrounding environment with practice, partially divorcing you from the need for a scepter, and that point many things were possible. You didn''t have to walk. You didn''t, as Ptolema had colorfully mentioned earlier, have to use the toilet. You didn''t have to eat or drink; you could conjure the things your body needed right into the bloodstream. You didn''t even need to breathe, or make use of your five mundane senses. The only primeval aspect of one''s humanity that proved difficult to escape was sleep, and even that was close to being rendered obsolete itself by unrelated advancements.
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will lingering around a body then a thing of flesh and blood. I wondered what it would be like to float into the sky, far into space where there was no stimuli at all. To become a being of pure logic, that could dismiss everything mortal about the person I''d been as no longer relevant.
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pushing boundaries in general right now, y''know? Never hurts to question your assumptions."
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I need to stop thinking about this.
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knew people wouldn''t even find it funny, but it couldn''t be helped. "He tells him that he''s nothing like the first guy - he''s socially houses, deep in luxury debt from vices he can''t shake, and can''t hold a job. ''But I can see you have a family,'' the fourth man tells him, spotting a photo in his hand. ''A wife and two children. They surely love you very much. Before going this far, isn''t it worth trying to open up to them?'' The second man sighs wistfully and concedes, turning to leave."
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gods, it''s getting hot in here."
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isn''t," she replied flatly. "But most people aren''t quite so characteristic about it."
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