to the pleroma (text)

[passio]

[ it’s not an intentional attempt at anonymity. dextera just has no experience with this kind of broad communication, and to him, there’s little point in introducing himself anyway. those who have met him may be able to recognize the emotional “signature” attached to the words newly displayed in their minds, and may be able even to attach the soft sound of his breath or the perpetually-uncertain expression he wears to the message he knows is about to be contentious.

but, it’s been bothering him since the events in venera. perhaps the seed was planted even before that, from his very first experience with the kenoma and having the pleroma overtake it to save him in the end. ]

Are we wrong?

[ it’s… actually not what he wanted to open with, but the panic of broadcasting a message so publicly has him blurting things out even through what should be the most temperate of mediums. ]

The Regent said it was the Pleroma that caused the disease in Venera. That force wanted us to live forever in delusion. I don’t want to destroy the world. I don’t want to make a new one either. I was happy there. I would have been happy there.

The distilled Kenoma tried to manipulate our thoughts. Didn’t you all feel that power when we escaped? The Hope that allowed us to fight? Are we still being manipulated?

Comments

[goldendeceiver]

You ask some pretty intense questions, you know that?

[ Though there's no emotional feedback that suggests Ernesto is bothered by them. The only sense Dextera might be able to pick up is a vague thoughtfulness as Ernesto takes a moment to answer. ]

People have their own reason for making the choices they do. I don't know what their lives were like before this, and for all I know there might be some valid reasons they think that existence as it is needs a reset.

[ There are things that Ernesto has seen that makes him understand that point well, and while he's not going to say it, there is a complicated flit of emotions that passes by during a pause. ]

Not that I agree with it personally, but I don't really feel like I can fully judge them when I barely know them or their motivations.

But that's just for throwing their hat in that particular ring in the first place. There are definitely choices they could make after that I'd be just fine with judging them over.

[passio]

[ dextera does take the observation to heart, even if ernesto doesn’t actually seem to be judging him for his questions. he’d gotten absorbed in his own need to understand and hadn’t really stopped to think how difficult the questions he’s been asking are.

ernesto still gives him a good, thoughtful answer, and for that dextera is appreciative. ]

That’s true, isn’t it? The initial choice is still only one choice. Everything after that is a choice unto itself, too.

[ he hadn’t thought of it that way, even if it seems obvious now that he’s repeating it back. ]

[goldendeceiver]

[ As long as it's about other people, Ernesto finds answering these kind of questions to be an interesting enough thought experiment. It's only when things turn personally that he gets squirrely. ]

Right, and some of them still have a chance to show us their choices make some sense, whether we fully agree or not.

But some of them already seem willing to toss that out the window.

[passio]

We haven’t been here long. There’s still time for everyone.

[ for good, and for ill. ]

[goldendeceiver]

Guess you're right! We'll have to see what people do with that time then.

[ Let's hope for some pleasant surprises... ]