@marcos.diaz

[heliophilous]

with everything that's gone on lately, i had a question.

if given the choice, how many people would stay here and how many people would leave? i get that it's a pretty personal question and don't feel like you've gotta answer. i'm just curious considering the way the place has changed lately and the people that have been lost.

could you live your life here? or would you leave and take your chances?

Comments

[heliophilous]

or maybe we're being used.

[ sorry, he's not a very optimistic person after some recent events. ]

i'd prefer it your way but i can't shake the thought that we're just pawns.

[shield]

I know the feeling, and I can't say I disagree. I don't think we'd be wise to take anything here at face value. But helping this world and investigating what brought us here don't have to be mutually exclusive goals.

[heliophilous]

so, what's the limit?

how far do we go before we just come to the conclusion that what brought us here isn't gonna be discovered?

[shield]

I don't know if I have a limit, personally. It's been said that knowing when to quit isn't my strong suit.

But I also don't know if that's the most pressing question, at least for me. If we can figure out how to get back without ever discovering how we were brought here in the first place, I could live with never knowing.

[ He would hate it, but he could live with it. ]

[heliophilous]

i don't know if i could. i'd wonder every single day even if i was safe and healthy back where i came from.

[ would it bother him enough to try and get back here to figure out it out? that's a question he doesn't know the answer to. ]

i'd be pissed. taking me away from what i was doing but not giving me a reason? i'd be pissed about it.

[shield]

[ That's—a good point, actually. Steve wants to leave more than he wants to know what brought him here, and he's desperate enough to get back that he'd sacrifice his chance at getting answers. But there's no guarantee that getting back would truly be the end of it. ]

You know, I heard that our memories of this world don't follow us back. I wonder if that's a precaution to keep us from digging.

As much as I want to get home, I think you're right. It's not the sort of thing you just forgive and forget.

[heliophilous]

i hadn't heard that.

[ but he also hadn't asked. ]

i was here once before. but a different version of me, if that makes sense. i didn't have his memories. didn't remember anyone here.