Chapter 125

Chapter 125

The void was all around me. Nothingness. No sensation, no sense of weight or distance.

Black.

It was strange to be here again. Back where it all started.

If I relaxed my mind, it was almost like everything that had come to pass was a fever dream, and I was reset to the frantic moments after the meteor. In reality, it wasnt the same. The overload of panic and existential terror was entirely absent.

Id gotten used to it. Accepting the unknown was almost automatic.

The text loomed in front of me, magnified several times larger than what Id grown accustomed to on the system overlay.



When I went to select the only option, I was surprised to find the text field empty. Before, the options had all been selected for me. Theyd all been answers I likely would have selected if I was being completely and totally honest with both the questions and myself, but generally things I never would have admitted to. Other Users had similar experiences.

Maybe that was meant to be a safeguard. There was no way Id have taken it seriously enough to answer honestly the first time around.

Given the lack of mouth, I didnt speak so much as focus my thoughts on the text. Yes.



I waited.



The window snapped shut. Confusion formed the beginnings of alarm as it became clear something was wrong. This was either a malfunction or something worse.

Hello?

There was no response. The silence dragged out long enough for my alarm to turn to dread. If something went fundamentally wrong, did that mean I was stuck here? Forever catatonic in my bed.

Suddenly, the text reappeared.



No.



A quiet anger swept over me. Apparently, the old saying held true. Three people could keep a secret if two of them were dead. Even in the realm of gods. And I was getting really fucking tired of deific interference.

More importantly, I needed to know if Nychta had intentionally set me up to fail.

And what, if I may ask, would have happened without this intercession?

are friends of a sort. In answer to your question, the session would have timed out, and youd be returned to your body, with no penalty or benefit.>

Miner? They were going to present Miner as one of your options. Blech.>

I mean, Im not opposed to a resource gathering class.



A wall of laughter scrolled, long and excessive. If I had a body, there was no question Id be in cold sweats right about now. When the text returned, it was all business.





I hesitated. On the surface, it looked the same as the sheep and wolf question from the first go around. Only, it wasnt. Hawks were generally fiercely solitary and territorial. By contrast, ravens werent nearly as passive as sheep. They werent necessarily birds of prey, but in addition to scavenging, they did hunt. Sometimes alone, sometimes cooperatively. And their cleverness was well documented.

Raven.



Good. A softball.

There was a common undercurrent of thought that more severe penalties worked as a deterrent for criminals. If I remembered correctly, this wasnt the case. Surprisingly, it did almost nothing to reduce recidivism, either. It just made people more likely to commit additional crimes to cover it up. If the penalty for robbing someone is already horrific, youre much better off just killing them after to reduce the chances of being caught.

Reformation.



I wanted to roll my eyes. Really? Were doing Theseus?



Another philosophical problem with a twist. The unaltered version didnt refer to man at all, rather whether a ship that had all its components replaced over time was the same ship. There wasnt a correct answer to the paradox. This version was further complicated because the question made no reference to the mans brain. No notable damage or otherwise. And with the brain being key to who we are, it was entirely valid to argue that he was the same.

I changed my answer at the last moment. No. Hes not the same.



It was a struggle to put it into words. My reasoning has nothing to do with the replacements from the surgery. And theres no mention of brain damage. But his mind wont be the same. Trauma and hardship always catalyze change. Good or bad. And after an accident of that severity, grieving over what he lost, and undergoing treatments and exhaustive physical therapy? I cant imagine anyone would come out unaltered.



Before I could respond, the darkness faded, and I jolted upright in bed.