Network: A Survey

[whiteshroud]

A few questions:

1) For those who just arrived in Vitae: Where were you before and what year was it?

2) For those who live in Vitae: How long have you lived here and before receiving this app, have you ever had an experience that you'd describe as unexplainable by science or "supernatural"?

3) Please tell me which of these brands are familiar to you:
- a) Duel Monsters, Magic: The Gathering, Vantage Masters
- b) Rolex, Kronos Orden, TimeKeepers Inc
- c) Xiphone, Apple

Thank you.

Comments

[whiteshroud]

[Making notes of all that. All things checks out...!]

Alright, thanks Noah. Even if you told me this stuff before, it still helps to have the information.

Have you heard from your brother or other relatives since the barrier went up?

[morient]

I try to text him daily. He says he's fine and hasn't seen anything out of the ordinary, so it's probably just this city.

[whiteshroud]

So the barrier hasn't cut off communication... Interesting.

And now that I think about it, even if people don't notice the barrier, you'd think they'd notice a supply shortage - but I haven't noticed anything like that.

[morient]

Yeah. Instead of the world being weird... maybe it's just our perceptions being weird.

[ Or this could be the Matrix for all he knows. ]

Then again, I haven't found any previous records of anything able to induce hyper-specific hallucinations on such short notice. So I'm forced to conclude there's rules and other laws that haven't been discovered by modern science.

[whiteshroud]

[.....]

Noah. You have healing powers and a green haired teenager from Japan in the year 2015 staying in your guest bedroom, with a phone made by a brand that doesn't exist in this world.

You should be past the point of theorizing hallucinations.

[That's nice talk for DON'T BE STUPID]

[morient]

[morient]

Well frankly I don't know what else to think about. Unless you've got experience with this sort of stuff?

[whiteshroud]

[Yeah he's not answering that question.]

Let me rephrase it:

- There is a barrier around the city. We can see the barrier, but other people can't.
- Mr. Yaeger's experiment with touching the barrier ended in the baseball being fried, and yet there's been no physical sign of daily trade being affected.

This would imply...?

[morient]

That the city is an illusion?

But does that mean I'm an illusion too?

[whiteshroud]

No! Stop thinking of the Matrix!

[JESUS]

It implies that the barrier only blocks those who can see it.

[morient]

[ When you have an aged 'noble' education.... ]

Oh, okay.

Isn't selective filtering implying a certain sort of attribute being given to us though? Something that makes us 'other'?

[ Jun has successfully avoided giving Noah an existential crisis, but only just.


He'll go hug his mom to make sure they're both real. ]

[whiteshroud]

Potentially, yes. But it could also be random chance or for some arbitrary reason that doesn't actually matter.

I wouldn't spend much time thinking about that aspect, in other word. It never matters as much as people think it does.

[Jun "Fate is bullshit" Kohinata here]

[morient]

[ He'd subscribe to that more if he wasn't so much of a stickler about his own duty, alas. ]

What should we be thinking about then?

[whiteshroud]

[a pause]

You should think about how much you want to be involved in all this. If you want to continue your life as it has been, or pursue a thread that may irreparably change your life - and perhaps not for the better. And think about your reasons - are your beliefs based on anything substantial? Is it what you want or what you feel you should do?

Think it over carefully. Don't give me an answer right now. Eventually this may reach a point where you can't change your answer, so you need to be sure.

[morient]

If I can help, then I will.

[ He's already had to bring two people back from the brink of death or serious injury. ]

I'm the only one who can do it right now. If I don't come along, a lot more people will get hurt and stay hurt.

[whiteshroud]

What part of "don't give me an answer right now" did you miss...?

Don't use "you're the only one" as your reason. We can find another way to treat injuries. Take time to think through what you want for your life. At least a day, maybe more.

Ok?

[morient]

[ He's got a pretty strong conviction about this, but he's also not going to argue with his friend so: ]

Okay

[whiteshroud]

[Look he just wants to make sure ok. Shit gets real freaky on his end]

o(*￣▽￣*)ブ
Just take your time, we'll talk about it again later.

[morient]

Okay ^^

[ He's sure they'll run into each other again sometime during the day, so the rest of the conversation can be had in person. ]