09 | the virtuous among us

[alephbet]

Characters: Aleph and you!
Setting: Floor 3, Floor 13, Floor 19, Floor 25 (afterwards)
Format: Starting with actionspam, but will match you.
Summary: Aleph is in search of something in particular: a Bible. He has no success and eventually retires to the meadow.
Warnings: Will edit if anything comes up.

[Floor 3]
[The first place to look would of course be the library.

But, it seems that religion and history are intertwined, and the histories of the worlds aren't covered in this library. No matter how hard he searches, Aleph can't find a single religious tract or book of divine scripture.

He's basically going to check every section of the whole library before he gives up, though. It'll take him awhile and make him obviously noticeable.]

[Floor 13]
[Churches generally have religious books in them, don't they? To read from and all.

This one doesn't seem to. It's not a clearly Mesian or Christian church, and he doesn't know well enough to determine if it's anything else, but he thinks its pastors must be hard on their luck if they have to recite everything from memory.

Aleph will turn this floor inside out trying to search, including looking under pews.]

[Floor 19]
[Now, he's pretty sure that this research library doesn't have anything either, but just in case...

He'll go over this entire library section looking, though with less enthusiasm than the other floor's library.]

[Floor 25: afternoon]
[Well that was a waste. Still, it was something to do. And...

Aleph knew vaguely that other worlds had kinder Gods than his had. Different Gods. But he failed completely to understand why they got so upset about the prospect of a different god than theirs being killed. He only sort of knew why Lucifer got such a bad reputation, in the barest possible sense.

He'd been reading books for a year to improve his ability to read, and to not be bereft of all knowledge but how to fight. It seemed time to get around to some of these, if he could find any of them.

Failing that, picking daisies and making them into a flower chain was never a bad use of time.]

Comments

[alephbet]

I didn't. I was made for the role.

[tohko_amano]

[And..that made Tohko try to pat Aleph on the head. She meant nothing bad by it, she just knew that living as a creation for a horrible god and then rejecting that god must have taken some courage..and left some pretty serious consequences.]

I see..I'm sorry to hear that, but it's good that you went against your role and chose your own path!

[alephbet]

[She'd have to reach up a little to pat him on the head, but Aleph allowed it.]

Thank you. That's one thing I don't regret.

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko, thankfully, was used to patting tall people on the head sometimes, so she stood up as tall as she could to do so before standing at her normal height again.]

I don't imagine you would! After all..even if it has a lot of pain, if you can walk down your own path and keep living, it's usually something to take pride in.

[alephbet]

Exactly how I feel.

[Tohko are you secretly a protagonist.]

[tohko_amano]

[And that earns Aleph a shoulder pat and a good smile.]

I'm glad to hear that! You can usually accomplish a lot of great things if you're able to do that and think you can. It's hard to make other people understand that sometimes though.

[It was never a secret that Tohko was a semi-reckless protag.]

[alephbet]

It's not that hard. It depends on who yo're talking to.

[tohko_amano]

[At that, Tohko sighed a little, but she kept on smiling.]

Well, it's not that hard for us..but it is hard for other kinds of people. I've met a few who would rather not walk down a semi-painful path, even if it got better eventually.

[alephbet]

That's... really kind of dumb.

[Chaos.]

[tohko_amano]

I suppose. They would usually try to choose a different path or just stop walking entirely, but it's usually because they can't see that there is some hope at the end, despite everything. We're all fools, but they've gotten to the point where they don't want to hold strong ideals or emotions in their hearts if they think it'll hurt.

[alephbet]

I could never be like that, taking the safe route if it meant not being free and true to myself.

[tohko_amano]

I wouldn't go down that route either..but I can see why some people would be pained enough to try and walk down it, or stop walking at all.

[alephbet]

I know people who are like that.

[tohko_amano]

Oh, you do too? How were you at dealing with them, if you don't mind my asking?

[alephbet]

...I don't think what happened went well.

[tohko_amano]

[At that, Tohko sighed and looked a little crestfallen.]

I see..and what did happen, if you don't mind my asking?

[alephbet]

Are you sure you want to hear?

[tohko_amano]

Of course. That is why I asked. No matter what exactly happened when things went wrong in your universe, I'll listen. After all, you can't be a proper book girl if you only e-um, read the sweet parts of a story.

[alephbet]

...There once was a man named Gimmel. He was hailed as the Messiah of Arcadia, which was a peaceful place without demons, with a lush landscape full of trees and lakes and beauty.

[tohko_amano]

[At that, Tohko nodded, burning the words onto her brain and thinking about what might have happened next.]

I see. I assume that this paradise didn't last for long though, right?

[alephbet]

It had never existed. All the residents were hooked into a virtual reality without their knowledge - the peace had come at the price of never being able to know the truth or to change anything.

[tohko_amano]

[While that was a surprising turn of events, Tohko had read of similar scenarios before. Not that it stopped her from looking a bit surprised and sad. She had a feeling of what was coming here..]

And once people managed to break out of that illusion, the reality they avoided was too great for them to bear.

[alephbet]

Well...

[Aleph shakes his head.]

Gimmel attacked me once I found out and I had to kill him in self-defense. When the battle was done, I destroyed the machine that controlled Arcadia, but with everyone's brains hooked up to it...

[It didn't leave them in a good state.]

[tohko_amano]

It probably left them a little off-kilter, at best.

[At that, Tohko sighed.]

I'm really sorry to hear that, Aleph. That must have been terrible..but I wonder what would have happened if you destroyed the machine after everyone was unhooked from it.

[alephbet]

I don't really know how to unhook things from people's brains without hurting them.