firstworldproblem | CURSE YOU CAPTCHA

[dryly] Should I stand on something?

[He laughs and kneels down.]

Better?

[He will give Emet a quick peck on the cheek.]

I never really thought of myself as short before, but being here is making me rethink that.

[He kisses the top of his head before rising. Much like a parent or grandparent would.]

I've known races much shorter than you. Oh, how dreadful it was whenever a plan required to be a Lalafell. Ruthless almost to the last.

[He was about to proffer a cheek, so the kiss on the top of the head catches him a little off guard. He doesn't hate it, though.]

A what-afell? From the way you describe them, they sound pretty awful.

Think of the most penny pinching merchants your mind can fathom, make them short, and make them devious.

A whole race of them.

I stand by my earlier statement that they're awful. And you've, uh, "inhabited" one of those things before? Must have been a pretty big change, huh?

What do you do, when your body breaks down? Or is it quite durable?

Well, we were built for war, so we can handle quite a bit. But if the damage is severe, we can place our memories into a new body, so... I guess it kind of depends. Minor damage would be repaired, anything major and we'd probably be better off just moving to a new body.

Why?

We Ascians are no different.

[Though the bodies they borrow might already have a soul! Details.]

We can move into different forms. Though I imagine yours is a more mechanical transfer or memories.

[Surely a minor detail.]

Yeah, our memories are saved as data. I suppose it could be placed into any android body, but waking up looking completely different would probably be confusing. It doesn't sound like it bothers you much, though?

Once in a new body, I can mold it into any form I like. Coinvent truly. Most are off put by this. You simply seem curious.

Everyone here is weird in their own way. The way I see it, there's no reason to get too upset about it. Besides, I can do something kind of similar by hacking into machine lifeforms. It allows me to control them temporarily. Although usually when I'm done with them I detonate them... I'm guessing you do something a little different with a body when you're done with it?

Bodies eventually die, and it takes great effort to control one. I usually keep them until their death.

Do you imagine machines have souls?

What exactly is a soul? The essence of who a person is or something like that? If such a thing exists, I doubt machines would have one. They're all connected to the same network, which makes them less individuals and more parts of a whole. Unless you want to think of the network itself as their collective "soul", but... I don't know, that sounds kind of weird to me.

In a purely scientific sense, a soul is the makeup of aether within. It comes from the lifestream when you are born, and returns unto death. 'Tis your very essence.

On a more philosophical level, well, we could debate for days.

I can't say I've ever heard of aether or the lifestream... So those are things you know for a fact exist, on your world at least? The machine lifeforms aren't from our planet to begin with, so who knows what their metaphysical state is. I guess the idea of souls always seemed like a human concept to me.

I was able to see them, yes. Would I have my ability I would be able to discern if you did have one.

But as you move from body to body, you seem to retain your 'self'. I suppose that is a close enough proximity to a soul.

So, what does a soul look like, usually? I thought it was supposed to be something invisible.

I guess if you want to think of memory and consciousness data as a "soul". It's just a data transfer, so I'm not sure that counts.

A color mostly. And to most it is invisible, but there are some among my brethren who can see them.

What does 'self' mean to you then?

I suppose for androids it's what we were programmed with. We each have personalities that were given to us, plus the memories and experiences we create. Of course your self can't just be memories, or a lot of the people here would be like blank slates.

Truthfully, it sounds similar to creating a persona, a guise to act under. Though it is your core.

Do you change your personality if you dislike it?

Change it? No, at least not that I've ever heard of. I guess it could change through different experiences. We're created, rather than "born", but it's still a similar concept.

You might not have a soul, Jack, but I find you have more vitality in you than those that do. Or at the very least rationalism.

So in the end, you are you. Whatever form that takes. And I would hold onto it.

Oh... um, thanks. I'll do my best.

[What are compliments.]

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