thenearshore | 005 | Sakura In The Night

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005 | Sakura In The Night

Who: Everyone!
What: Cherry blossom viewing
When: Nighttime March 26, 2016
Where: A park with sakura trees
Summary: Heaven is throwing a small party to view the sakura and let everyone relax.

After the absolute disaster that happened with handing out chocolates, the Heavens are tripping over themselves to make up for their inability to properly handle the situation. They are eager to make amends and assure everyone that they are hardworking individuals who want nothing more than to make everyone's stay here enjoyable or at least pleasant. To that end, they have invited all of the gods and shinki to a lovely flower viewing, since the sakura are in season.

And by 'invited', they mean 'mandatory', of course. You will accept their apology, whether you like it or not.

It's not all bad, though. The Heavens have provided various kimonos that can be worn, if you haven't brought your own, but you're not required to wear a kimono. They would, however, really like it if you did wear them. It's very traditionally Japanese, after all.

The party is taking place at night so that you can all hide your merrymaking from the Near Shore residents and also because the night sky is beautiful against the cherry blossoms. So try to at least enjoy yourselves while you're here.

Banquet

Every kind of food imaginable is available for your eating pleasure. On top of that, there are dozens of different kinds of desserts ready to be devoured as well. For the older crowd, booze has been provided and is being served by white-clad shinki bearing the golden chrysanthemum of Amaterasu. They are, however, refusing to serve alcohol to anyone who looks too young to drink, sorry guys.

Cherry Blossoms

The blossoms are absolutely gorgeous this year, and they are at the peak of their blooming right now. Nearly every single bud has bloomed and the pink petals are floating by everywhere you go. There is an ethereal light emanating from each of the trees, lighting up the area with a soft, pink light, yet it doesn't seem to be drowning out the brightness of the stars at all. It really is the most beautiful cherry blossom viewing anyone could ever hope for.

"Secret" Corner

Somehow, the Heavens have managed to make one small corner of the grotto into a completely secluded area. There is no marking or signs to indicate what this corner should be used for, but anyone entering it will suddenly realize that this is a place for lovers to meet privately. Only those that you enter the corner with will be able to notice your presence, and you will be unable to notice anyone else's presence as well. Enjoy yourselves, young ones!

Counselling

Off to the side, there is a tiny table set up with a small, nicely written sign that reads "Gentle Counselling". On the other side of the table is a sweetly smiling shinki who is willing to listen to your problems and answer any questions you might have. She is also here to help out any gods that are having a hard time dealing with knowing about how their shinki died and any shinki that is having trouble coming to terms with the fact that they are dead. Counselling will also gladly be offered to anyone who is still pissed off or upset in any way about what happened after White Day.

In Summary:

Enjoy the cherry blossoms
Eat lots of good food
Promise it's not poisoned
Spend time with people you like
Meet the newbies
Have fun~

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More nonsense about hearts. He sighs again, bringing up a hand to block some of the sun from his eyes. Trying to get Roxas to explain anything in real terms is like pulling teeth.

"That doesn't mean anything to me. Explain it more plainly." He's trying to be patient, but his tone might be a bit strained. It's been an annoying day. "Do you mean a heart as in the physical organ inside a living body, or something different?"

The latter seems to be implied, based on what he's heard previously, but it doesn't hurt to make sure. Whatever world his god came from, it sounds needlessly complicated.

The attempt at patience is something that Roxas notices, and he takes pause to consider how he might put it in more understandable terms. It had been so long in Monad that people had come to understand what he was saying, more or less, because they'd shared all that time together. One of the benefits of being confined to a small world occupied by so few inhabitants, he figures.

"The last place I was in... People told me how I described hearts was what they'd call a soul." That's what he remembers the earliest responses being. Souls were like hearts, to worlds outside of his records - perhaps to universes outside of his own.

Though it's very difficult to believe that all worlds aren't part of a much greater, divided World.

A person without a soul...

"Hmm. A soul isn't something that's easy to measure," he comments, though he dislikes admitting that it might be something beyond the capabilities of science... it's not that it's impossible to measure, of course, but more complex subjects would require a great deal more research.

"We've also been told that our 'souls' have been brought here for both gods and shinki alike, so that would be a contradiction if a soulless entity was brought here. The definition of a soul can differ between theories, so I'm interested to hear your own description. What aspects of a person would you consider their 'heart'?"

"Do you really trust what they have to say around here?" Roxas would be surprised if Add entirely bought into all of it, for all that he had a mind to investigate and test. But he doesn't want for an answer to that question - he was asked one himself, after all. It seems to him that he might as well address that.

"A heart's where your memories reside, along with the things that make you who you are. The things that let you feel. Since I was only an imitation, could I ever really have one?" The question isn't really a question at all. Despite what Monad might've shown him to suggest that he might be wrong, Roxas has yet to be convinced of that much. Perhaps he can feel for some strange reason, it might be a borrowed trait like his face is.

That's the best guess that he has.

"Why would I trust what you say, either?" he calmly retorts. It's not like Roxas calling something a soul has more merit than someone else's definition, if he doesn't know either side to be a trusted source. "You call something a soul, and they call something different a soul. Obviously, I'm going to need more details than that."

Memories, emotions, possibly personality traits? All of that information would be stored inside a human's brain, so it seems a bit redundant to him to give it a different name.

"Simulated emotions can be programmed, and memories are something that's acquired, so unless you have no long-term memory to speak of I wouldn't say it's impossible for you." Even if he's still not fully convinced Roxas is what he says he is, considering the circumstances... "Do you believe that there's a required level of emotional response for something to have a valid soul? If so, how would something like that be determined? Your responses are a bit stiff, but the other one seemed to react normally to emotional stimuli."

Add would know, since he's an expert at pushing people's buttons. An emotionless entity wouldn't get annoyed or upset so easily.

"It's because of his connections to others that he's able to respond that way," of that much Roxas is certain. He can't necessarily argue just which connection it was, but he has a pretty good idea based on the information he is aware of. To that end, he thinks he knows - but he can't prove it, and it'd come in terms that Add is liable not to understand. Both of their universes had magic and some level of dealings with time, but not that much else had seemed to be common between them.

He's quiet for a time, following that statement. It'd be difficult to translate things in such a way that Add would find them acceptable. Monad had, in some ways, eased this problem considerably in contrast. Perhaps that was owed to no one having lost their memories.

At least, not unless it was the consequence of a death-glitch.

"Unlike him... I don't forget. But it's true you have no reason to believe me," he can admit that freely enough with a little shrug. These are things he can't prove, however... "I don't see a point in lying though. There are things I can't tell you, but I'd rather say that than bother with pretenses."

He pauses, turning his head a little so he can look at Roxas with both eyes. There are things I can't tell you...

Ah. He was created to guard information, right? So it's probably something to do with that. Makes sense. The other Roxas must be involved in some of those secrets, so it would be against his programming to reveal that information to Add freely.

"Fine then, don't worry about it." He raises a hand to wave dismissively. "You can't tell me everything unless I prove my worth, correct? But that's too much of a pain, so I'll just ask the source directly."

That would probably be much easier, anyway. His god is way too vague sometimes. It's probably just these conditions of his getting in the way, but maybe he'll be able to get some real answers now that he has a second Roxas to interrogate.

"... However," he starts again, still watching Roxas from the corner of his eye, "I disagree with your definition of a soul. More specifically, I don't believe that a soul is something that can't be created artificially. Things like memories, emotions, all of that is just a result of chemicals and electrical signals in the brain. It's complex enough to be difficult, but it's not impossible to recreate in some fashion." By his own definition, is it possible these Nobodies are just afflicted with brain damage? If the effects are that they've lost memories and emotions, it seems to be a suitable explanation...

Roxas shakes his head in answer to that theory. "There was only one person I was supposed to test." And even now with that scant clarification, he can feel that strange dread creeping up on him, one he's sure has everything to do with this world, and little to do with anything within himself. Strange that world would have such an effect, but not impossible.

Of course, not much seems impossible after his time in Monad. That world was made of data so it made a lot more sense to him in some ways, but it's done something for his level of disbelief.

"It's...something about this world," he thinks, and he's somewhat relieved when he's able to say that much. At least he can tell Add that, even if he can't tell him about his past. It may not count for much in Add's perception, but it's something to begin with. "We'll have to settle with disagreeing where hearts are concerned."

So it was a test for only that one person...? That must mean he isn't allowed to even attempt to test anyone else now. That's too bad, but again, it's not like he can't just interrogate the 'source' instead.

The other, more important half of Roxas' explanation goes mostly ignored as Add shrugs, staring back up at the trees again.

"He didn't strike me as someone without a soul." He says it mostly as an afterthought... though there is still one line of questioning he hasn't pursued yet. "... You said it was due to his connections that he's able to respond naturally. Can you at least clarify that point?"

"He's borrowed a heart from someone else, I believe. It explains a number of attributes that would otherwise be anomalous - for example, his physical characteristics and capacity for emotional response." A pause, then, as he considers... "Though I don't think it's the same thing, I guess I'd emulate that, too."

It's not the same in that he doesn't think he's got a simulated heart inside of him, exactly - he still wants to deny that with everything he has. He might've come to accept that he could feel, but what comes with that is not something he wants to touch on. Not right now.

Perhaps never, because of its implications.

If he decides he has a heart...so much comes with that.

"Our affinity for light, for instance - it's twice borrowed in his case. Three times in my own."

"He borrowed a heart?" Wouldn't that be like... stealing someone's soul? Can you 'borrow' those? Add doesn't sound very convinced.

"If it's borrowing, then that would mean he removed the ability from someone else so he could inherit it for himself. If you also inherited an ability in this way that he currently has simultaneously, that wouldn't be 'borrowing'. Perhaps the term you mean to use is 'sharing'?"

... Although, the idea of sharing a soul doesn't sound any less ridiculous.

"In my case it's an emulation. Just a recreation of what someone else could do." And Roxas has long since become accustomed to that reality, one in which he doesn't have much of anything unique unto himself. Some of his abilities were unique to being what others had called "AI" but aside from those most of his properties were built to resemble the original.

Now, in the case of said original...

"Sharing wouldn't be exactly right. He'd have had someone else's heart, and that person's out of commission without it." That much he knows and understands regarding the matter, if so little else.

"An emulation of something is still its own separate existence, so that would be a copy of a heart, not a borrowed heart." Stated very matter-of-factly. The idea of programming an AI to replicate human emotions is an interesting subject to him, but whether his 'heart' is accurate or not, it's still different from whatever heart it's based on. Calling it borrowed would be inaccurate no matter how he looks at it.

As for the other one... borrowing might be right for it after all. What an odd concept.

"The person this other Roxas borrowed from agreed to this?" he asks. If not, that would definitely be stealing. Sounds like a dangerous power.

Roxas doesn't see the need to further clarify, surmising that Add has the point. He doesn't mean literal borrowing in his own case, only that someone else's abilities and appearance are part of someone else. But he's phrased it that way throughout his time in Monad.

"...Agreed? No, it's not exactly like that. It was something that occurred because of the factors involved, rather than a conscious choice by either of them." His universe is a complicated place.

"I don't know if I'd call something like that 'borrowing'..." Is that stealing? Or does it still count as borrowing because he planned to bring it back...?

Maybe trying to sort out the exact reason behind it is too much of a headache. He sighs, resting an arm across his face.

"Whatever. It probably doesn't matter," he grumbles. "How much longer is this stupid party going to last...?"

"I don't think anything is keeping any of us here," Roxas suggests after a few moments of consideration, tipping his head back to look at the sky overhead. He isn't much for crowds after his initial existence in the Datascape, and Monad never did anything to change that.

Here and now, though, he doesn't find himself particularly minding. People seemed to have good hearts, at least, for the most part. But he prefers quiet moments like this, and he can imagine Add isn't so much for large gatherings either.

He'd so often holed himself up in his apartment in Monad, it seems to him. Then again, he could be mistaken.

"Did you want to leave?"

"They still made us come here..." And, more importantly, it would be a very long walk if he wanted to leave on his own. Roxas can teleport, so it's part of his divine responsibilities to act as a taxi for his shinki. That's how Add sees it, anyway.

"Staying here any longer than necessary would be a waste of time."

"Guess that's true. I wonder if they're trying to make us forget what happened." Not that Roxas can forget, and not that he will. He picks himself up then, brushing his coat off idly before he says anything further.

"I'll take you back then, if you want."

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005 | Sakura In The Night

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