wildlittlegirl | 2 Monster Friends [Voice]

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2 Monster Friends [Voice]

[ There comes a day in every person's time at Luceti when they discover that they really might have wanted to work on their filtering skills. Had Arietta known there were such things, today would have been that day. ]

Ion, if you hear this, please answer. If you're going out for a while, you should tell me. I don't have to protect you if you don't want. But if you just go out without telling me anything I'll get worried. So could you tell me if you're alright? It's already dark out...

[ There's a pause, then a bit of shuffling. ]

Other people can hear this too, right? Can someone tell me what this is for?

[ And the camera suddenly shifts to show a picture of Arietta holding up... a whip. ]

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[The line fall silent for a number of minutes. And unless she has anything else to say, it'll stay silent. But under a filter, a written message appears, made to look like it's coming from another source. It's not the best filter, but he can come back and bump it up later:]

There's something you need to know about Ion.
Something important.
I can't tell you over the journal.
Please meet me at the barracks on the southern side of the village in two hours.

[The message seems finished, until a final, somewhat hastily written sentence is tacked on to the end:]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Huh? Why can't you tell me now?

[ She looks out the window, and the sun has mostly set. She doesn't mind being out at night, far from it. But staying inside after nightfall was something she'd gotten used to because all the people around her tended to do it, so it feels strange for someone to ask her to go out when it was late. ]

It's something you need to see for yourself.

[...is this the right thing to do? He isn't sure. But given his only other options, save for adopting Sync's habit of wearing a mask all the time, there isn't much he can do about it. Nothing, except this.]

[And he can only hope it won't be something he'll come to regret.]

Oh... alright.

[ /UNSURE but she will go anyway because ~~Ion is the bait for the loli trap~~ she wants to know if it's important.

She doesn't quite know which building is the barracks, but she knows where south is. So she will be wandering in the general southwards area of the village in more or less two hours. ]

[She won't need to find the barracks, since Ion will be finding her first. There was a reason he wanted to do this at night; the darkness made it much easier for him to conceal himself. He didn't have more than a simple cloak and hood for a disguise, but with only the light from the moon and the few buildings scattered around, it was more than enough to hide his face.]

[He just needed to stay in disguise long enough... and hope that things will work out. Once she's close enough, he calls to her, staying a safe distance away.]

Arietta?

[ Oh, hello stranger! ]

Um... Are you the one who's going to tell me about Ion?

That's right.

[He doesn't turn to face her, instead turning to the side and keeping his gaze fixed on the ground. He needed to be careful. It was more difficult to disguise his voice when he needed to speak loud enough for her to hear him. He speaks slowly, choosing his words carefully.]

What I'm about to tell you... it wasn't something you were ever meant to find out. But I believe the circumstances under which you weren't told have changed. As it stands now, I don't think it would be possible for things to carry on as they are without you knowing.

Even knowing that learning the truth could be painful... do you still want to hear it?

[ You had her at "Ion", there's no way she's not going to ask... ]

If it's something about Ion, you have to tell me! Please!

[He nods. There's still a part of him that wonders if it wouldn't be better to just continue to lead her on for as long as she's in Luceti... but that would hurt her as well, wouldn't it? To have "Ion" here but never by her side... not to mention how she might react if she caught him while he was with Anise. Anise can't find out about what happened to him. She can't...!]

[But isn't that just another lie to keep someone happy? How is it he can find himself willing to be honest to Arietta about a painful truth and not to Anise?]

...all right. But first I need to ask... how much do you know about replicas?

Replicas?

[ The question throws her for a moment. ]

They're like copies of places and people, right? Van wants to make a lot of them. He's even recreating my city for me.

[Recreating her city...? That gets a pause out of him, if only because he's not sure what to make of that statement. Arietta was from after his time, after all. There's still so much about the future of Auldrant he doesn't know... which, in retrospect, was such a strange thing for the leader of the Order to think.]

That's right. But even if something is a copy, that doesn't mean it will be exactly the same as its original. A replica of a human being is a separate person, regardless of how they were born. Just like how Asch is a very different person from Luke.

[...] Do you understand?

But Luke just replaced Asch, didn't he? And no one noticed. Why else would there be replicas?

[ the point

her head ]

[...]

[He didn't really expect her to get it right away. It was difficult for plenty of people to accept replicas as being separate beings. Ion himself considered himself nothing but a replacement for so long... but if she couldn't understand, that would only make things harder for her in the long run. One can only stay in denial for so long.]

...but the Luke who "replaced" Asch had no memories of the past. He grew up to be an entirely different person than the "Luke" everyone else thought he was. Even though they look the same on the outside, they're different people on the inside.

Perhaps it's true that replicas are created as replacements, but that doesn't they can live as them. Living beings aren't just replaceable... what if someone replaced one of your liger friends with a replica, one who didn't know who you were... how would you feel about that?

[It's a dangerous question, and he knows it. The answer could set the tone for how she'll react to hearing about the original. But she needed to at least understand... even if she may not accept it right away.]

[ Oh gosh mysterious stranger, you are asking very hard questions 8( ]

We'd make friends again. Then things would go back to being how they were.

[ Right? ]

[The questions don't get any easier from here, unfortunately.]

What if they were completely different from how your friend was before? What if... they didn't want to be your friend?

Do you still think it would be just like it was before? Or wouldn't it be different?

Edited 2012-05-14 08:13 (UTC)

No... No, they would be my friend! Because they're the same!

They're not the same, Arietta. Just because they look the same doesn't mean they are.

[He has to make her understand... but so far, this isn't really getting them anywhere. Even if she doesn't understand, he still has to tell her. And then maybe hope in the future, she'll be able to learn to understand.]

...if someone made a replica of you, would you want Ion to think you were the same?

...

[ She goes quiet for a long time. When she speaks again, her voice is soft. ]

I'd be more useful to him than the replica. That way, he'd keep me by his side instead of it.

[It's a small victory. Even that isn't quite understanding the point Ion had been trying to make, but it's a start. If she sees herself as being more useful, then she would see a replica as being less so -- or, to put it simply, she sees herself and a potential replica of herself as different different.]

[It's not a full understanding, and perhaps it's not nearly enough for her to understand what he's about to tell her... but right now, it's the best he's got.]

...what if someone made a replica of Ion? [His voice falters only a moment, but he knows he can't reveal himself just yet.] If you were given the choice, would you rather be with the original? Or would you be fine with... just a replica?

Huh? A replica Ion...

[ Why does that sound so familiar...? ]

If it's Ion, then... that means I wouldn't be lonely. Right? [ But she doesn't sound entirely sure of herself. ]

But a replica wouldn't remember any of the time you spent with the original. He wouldn't remember your friendship. He wouldn't remember you. He may as well be an entirely different person wearing a mask that only looks like the Ion you know.

[He bows his head before continuing, bringing a hand up to his chest.]

...if you were to meet such a replica, you would start to notice the difference. He wouldn't act like the Ion you remember. He would have different memories and different thoughts. He would treat you as if you were a stranger... because you would be. Just as he, the replica, would be a stranger to you.

No. No it's not true! He'd still be like Ion! He... he would be Ion! Even if he doesn't remember! Ion would-!

[ Her voice breaks, and she falls to her knees, shoulders shaking. ]

[He doesn't react when she falls. He doesn't rush over to see if she's all right. Right now, he knows the only feelings he has towards her are pity, if only because he truly doesn't know her.]

[Does that make it easier? For him to talk to her in such a detached way right now? There was no need to stall anymore. He needed to tell her. To tell her now before things became too much and she ran away.]

...Arietta. Do you know the reason you were removed as Fon Master Guardian?

[ It takes a while before she responds, though she doesn't move from where she sunk to the ground when she does. ]

It's because of stupid Anise.

She's not stupid. [The words come out before he even realizes he's said them. But he composes himself quickly enough that hopefully it doesn't give Arietta enough time for a rebuttal... yet.]

...you're wrong. It was for a different reason that you were removed as Fon Master guardian. A reason you weren't supposed to know.

[...]

On that day... the person you knew as Fon Master Ion died. And he was replaced with a replica.

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