[Truthfully North kind of makes them wary, but the request comes and they know saying no isn't their style. To repair damages, it's best to try and clarify things.
It's why they wait near the river for North by the sakura tree, looking up and quietly waiting for her to approach]
North, for her part, heads over there as soon as she gets the feeling her request has been accepted. That doesn't stop her from raising an eyebrow at them once she's arrived, though.]
[There's...a low chuckle, not entirely amused but they shake their head.]
Can't really show my face in the first place, can I? [A hand lifts, gently gesturing at the hood before it drops to their side. No comment about the day though because, well, it was bad. Today was a very bad day, but saying it out loud feels like derailing from the point which is to get answers for everyone.]
Running away wouldn't fix this anyway. So it made sense to face everyone now whenever they ask.
Good for you. [Blandly...] Will you be employing that approach to the trials from now on? You might as well have ran away from our questions towards the end.
Again, don't get into a fight with him. You could have done that.
[Gosh!!]
Let's say one of the corrupted is suddenly unable to lie. [Hypothetically. Because I, Kyuu, wouldn't want to Spitfire on anyone's parade.] What would they consider to be the truth if asked whether or not they murdered the victim?
It wasn't even--forget it. [There's no winning this one. In the end, North asks a question and Sol debates an answer.]
You're not getting it. You can't ask the question of if someone murdered the victim because even if they didn't know it, it still happened. There was still some part of them, the person that they were before they were corrupted, that's still there and still acting on their thoughts.
So what's the truth? The physical, the subconscious, or both?
[... Hm. It does take some effort to wrap her head around that, if only because she's always considered the truth to be something strictly personal. Every person has their own version of the truth, kind of?]
Mary appeared to have no idea of what happened to Tsurumaru, up until you called out the darkness within her. It's just— [...] I want to understand what happens to that person's mind, to their cognition, once the corruption takes root in them.
..I understand. [Just like that, some of the fight drains from Sol and they appear more contemplative than anything.] People want to know if those who've been corrupted are really "still them" or if they're something else entirely. And I think...the heart of every person, even if it's been corrupted, is something that still belongs to them. No matter what.
When corruption takes root like that, I think it's something that takes over all of their logic, but the emotions don't really change. It's like any time a person's sad or angry; they aren't always in control of what they're doing, but what they're saying or thinking comes from who they really are.
The purification process is a cleanse of light to ward off the darkness and allow the heart to be whole again. During corruption, goals become more important than everything else. Finding something. Doing something. Completing something. All of those things become more important...
...but inside they're still the same. And that's why I want to know what difference does it make if she does or doesn't remember? The heart doesn't always make sense, but it's rarely wrong, even if it gets overshadowed and needs to be saved.
[The brain is a whole other issue, but we're focusing on this right now.]
So it's not so much a suppression of their personality, as it is a shift in priorities...
[Which option is more disturbing? Getting shoved to the passenger seat of your own body, or consciously accepting that shift without even thinking of questioning it? The more Sol explains, the more visibly discomforted North becomes.]
There's a difference in technique between interrogating a suspect who remembers what they've done, versus one who can't remember shit. [It's pointless to threaten the latter with violence, after all. That sure would be bad!] ... That, and isn't it better to get the facts straight now before we waste our time in a future trial talking about this? You can try to avoid answering the question all you want, but that doesn't mean that the survivors won't be thinking about it.
I get what you're saying, so...I want to be clear here. [A pause.] Lune and I do know how things happen because we have a way to find out these things. But because of the laws of the universe, we aren't allowed to say the facts outright.
So this isn't even about not getting facts straight. It's that we physically can't answer some questions.
Right. Of course there are laws like that. [the universe! is a binch!] For something that supposedly needs us, the universe seems to have fun making our job harder than it needs to be.
[A beat, and she crosses her arms.]
... By the way, I wanted to ask. If I ever needed to disclose something privately, how do I know you two won't go telling anyone else about it?
Tell me about it. [Sol is really pissed too, it's fine.] Sometimes I can't tell what it actually wants.
[But that sure is a question and Sol has to think of an answer that'll be satisfying enough.]
First of all, we don't really have a reason to be telling you guys about each other. But second of all, I know you're not gonna just take my word for it...so what do we have to do to assure you it'd stay between us?
Don't even joke about that. [That's a real possibility at this point, Sol doesn't know.]
I wouldn't say collateral's out of the question though, but maybe not this early. It depends on what you're thinking would work. There are certain things we can't do just yet, but...they're not impossible. So. Name your price, let's see what we can do.
Look. There are certain...negotiations we can make with the universe if you guys do certain tasks or accomplish certain things. If the universe deems it worthy, it can help you out. That's it. We also go back every week to get more information and can share with you when the time is right.
It's not the collateral I'm thinking of, but— If completing tasks will convince the universe to help us, then wouldn't it be beneficial for all of us to get as many of those done as possible?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Week 0, Saturday post trial
It's why they wait near the river for North by the sakura tree, looking up and quietly waiting for her to approach]
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North, for her part, heads over there as soon as she gets the feeling her request has been accepted. That doesn't stop her from raising an eyebrow at them once she's arrived, though.]
I'm surprised you answered my invitation.
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[it's
maybe not for the reason they think.
but she definitely could have phrased that more nicely, given what she actually means here.]
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Can't really show my face in the first place, can I? [A hand lifts, gently gesturing at the hood before it drops to their side. No comment about the day though because, well, it was bad. Today was a very bad day, but saying it out loud feels like derailing from the point which is to get answers for everyone.]
Running away wouldn't fix this anyway. So it made sense to face everyone now whenever they ask.
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Good for you. [Blandly...] Will you be employing that approach to the trials from now on? You might as well have ran away from our questions towards the end.
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[That sure did happen.]
Was Kazuaki's question one you're prohibited from answering? Because it's one I'd like to rephrase.
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Anyway...sort of. [So there's that.] How would you like to rephrase it?
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[Gosh!!]
Let's say one of the corrupted is suddenly unable to lie. [Hypothetically. Because I, Kyuu, wouldn't want to Spitfire on anyone's parade.] What would they consider to be the truth if asked whether or not they murdered the victim?
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You're not getting it. You can't ask the question of if someone murdered the victim because even if they didn't know it, it still happened. There was still some part of them, the person that they were before they were corrupted, that's still there and still acting on their thoughts.
So what's the truth? The physical, the subconscious, or both?
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Mary appeared to have no idea of what happened to Tsurumaru, up until you called out the darkness within her. It's just— [...] I want to understand what happens to that person's mind, to their cognition, once the corruption takes root in them.
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When corruption takes root like that, I think it's something that takes over all of their logic, but the emotions don't really change. It's like any time a person's sad or angry; they aren't always in control of what they're doing, but what they're saying or thinking comes from who they really are.
The purification process is a cleanse of light to ward off the darkness and allow the heart to be whole again. During corruption, goals become more important than everything else. Finding something. Doing something. Completing something. All of those things become more important...
...but inside they're still the same. And that's why I want to know what difference does it make if she does or doesn't remember? The heart doesn't always make sense, but it's rarely wrong, even if it gets overshadowed and needs to be saved.
[The brain is a whole other issue, but we're focusing on this right now.]
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[Which option is more disturbing? Getting shoved to the passenger seat of your own body, or consciously accepting that shift without even thinking of questioning it? The more Sol explains, the more visibly discomforted North becomes.]
There's a difference in technique between interrogating a suspect who remembers what they've done, versus one who can't remember shit. [It's pointless to threaten the latter with violence, after all. That sure would be bad!] ... That, and isn't it better to get the facts straight now before we waste our time in a future trial talking about this? You can try to avoid answering the question all you want, but that doesn't mean that the survivors won't be thinking about it.
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So this isn't even about not getting facts straight. It's that we physically can't answer some questions.
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[A beat, and she crosses her arms.]
... By the way, I wanted to ask. If I ever needed to disclose something privately, how do I know you two won't go telling anyone else about it?
[It's mostly pertaining to robostuff, but.]
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[But that sure is a question and Sol has to think of an answer that'll be satisfying enough.]
First of all, we don't really have a reason to be telling you guys about each other. But second of all, I know you're not gonna just take my word for it...so what do we have to do to assure you it'd stay between us?
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[sol and lune should go on strike against the universe.]
Collateral. But that's out of the question, isn't it?
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I wouldn't say collateral's out of the question though, but maybe not this early. It depends on what you're thinking would work. There are certain things we can't do just yet, but...they're not impossible. So. Name your price, let's see what we can do.
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Her expression shifts, making it clear that she wasn't expecting that answer. Or, you know, any answer that wasn't a non-negotiable "no."]
Wait. What things are going talking about?
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What things are you thinking of? [No.]
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squints.]
Sol.
[tell her, you fun sized binch.]
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Look. There are certain...negotiations we can make with the universe if you guys do certain tasks or accomplish certain things. If the universe deems it worthy, it can help you out. That's it. We also go back every week to get more information and can share with you when the time is right.
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[Lord.]
It's not the collateral I'm thinking of, but— If completing tasks will convince the universe to help us, then wouldn't it be beneficial for all of us to get as many of those done as possible?
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But a few at a time? Sure, why not.
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