Iku Quest Sedem: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

Need to go to work. If she gets belligerent, tell her what happened to all those people after the incidents were resolved.

[Hello Purvis]

> Shake head, but keep the smile.
> "You severely underestimate the tenacity of Gensokyo's residents. They have faced a region-wide chilling red mist, a prolonged and extremely cold winter, total isolation from the moon, rampant destructive earthquakes, psychotic nuclear annihilation and a handful of other major issues. They did not run in fear. They instead opted to seek out the source and defeat them in combat until that source gave up and returned everything to normal. They have defeated great magicians, an incredibly shrewd vampire, the princess of the netherworld, multiple immortals, the greatest genius existence has ever known, full-fledged goddesses, a Hell-born creature that ate a god, and even the final presiding judge of the afterlife, someone with whom not even the grandest youkai here desire to trifle with if they can avoid it. Tenshi and myself are on the long list of overcome obstacles, and to be completely honest, the two of us are almost nothing but footnotes in the grand scheme of what Gensokyo has overcome. And I can tell you first-hand that it is not a pleasant experience. I very much do not desire to get in their way again."

>"That may be so, but I'm not like them. All they need to do is leave me alone, and the problem stops. None of those things you just said were like that."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"If I leave you alone, will Nitori and Kogasa come back?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"If I leave you alone, will Nitori and Kogasa come back?"

>"They won't come back no matter what you do," she says.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

> Raise eyebrows.
> "Are you saying you don't know how to bring them back?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Then the problem doesn't stop if you're left alone. The problem doesn't stop until they're back to themselves."

[Hello Purvis]

> Raise eyebrows.
> "Are you saying you don't know how to bring them back?"

>She doesn't answer.

>"Then the problem doesn't stop if you're left alone. The problem doesn't stop until they're back to themselves."

>"They wouldn't leave me alone," she says. "The consequences speak for themselves. Would you blame a tree for hurting you when you walked into it?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"The tree would not have hurt me of its own volition. It was simply there. But you chose to take their shadows away. You could have chosen differently, but you did not. You have even demonstrated that you can choose differently. Volition is one of the most defining characteristics of sentience. But it means that we, and no one else, are responsible for our own actions. You chose to turn them into hollow beings, all but lifeless to the world around them."

[Hello Purvis]

>"The tree would not have hurt me of its own volition. It was simply there. But you chose to take their shadows away. You could have chosen differently, but you did not. You have even demonstrated that you can choose differently. Volition is one of the most defining characteristics of sentience. But it means that we, and no one else, are responsible for our own actions. You chose to turn them into hollow beings, all but lifeless to the world around them."

>"Because they chose not to leave me alone," she says. "Had they left me alone, there would have been no problems. You can blame them for their actions, that is why it happened."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm sure that is indeed what led you to do this. But they are responsible only for their own actions, not for yours. When you met Nitori, you were near her own home. She thought you were attempting something malicious against it. Your manner and bearing suggested that you were there with ill intent. She didn't know who you were; she mightn't have even cared, if she'd realized. She didn't want to expose YOU, she just wanted to ensure the safety of her own place. But you weren't attempting to harm or steal from her home. Did you try to tell her? Or did you just attack her when she accused you? There were other ways to deal with her. Yes, she made a mistake in judging your motives, but you also made one in judging hers. The situation never needed to come to what it did."
>"Moreover, the method you used to force her to leave you alone had consequences. It led to more people looking for you. It led to me finding you. And, as I have said, I cannot leave until she is restored. If you had chosen differently with her, and with the others, you could still have had your solitude, and none of the rest of this would have happened. All actions have consequences."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm sure that is indeed what led you to do this. But they are responsible only for their own actions, not for yours. When you met Nitori, you were near her own home. She thought you were attempting something malicious against it. Your manner and bearing suggested that you were there with ill intent. She didn't know who you were; she mightn't have even cared, if she'd realized. She didn't want to expose YOU, she just wanted to ensure the safety of her own place. But you weren't attempting to harm or steal from her home. Did you try to tell her? Or did you just attack her when she accused you? There were other ways to deal with her. Yes, she made a mistake in judging your motives, but you also made one in judging hers. The situation never needed to come to what it did."
>"Moreover, the method you used to force her to leave you alone had consequences. It led to more people looking for you. It led to me finding you. And, as I have said, I cannot leave until she is restored. If you had chosen differently with her, and with the others, you could still have had your solitude, and none of the rest of this would have happened. All actions have consequences."

>"You're wrong," she says. "The kappa said she was going to tell others, and demanded I tell her who I am to help her with that. She got what she deserved. And you people will learn to leave me alone, just as you've learned not to walk into trees."

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

> "And what of the tree you mimic right now? Surely it didn't threaten to tell everyone who you are."

[Hello Purvis]

> "And what of the tree you mimic right now? Surely it didn't threaten to tell everyone who you are."

>"That's different," she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I am not wrong. If she had truly known who you were, why would she have needed to ask you who you were? Think about that for a moment."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I am not wrong. If she had truly known who you were, why would she have needed to ask you who you were? Think about that for a moment."

>"No, you are wrong!" she says, glaring at you. "There was no need to for her to ask! No need to bother me at all! I was doing nothing to her or anyone else! You just don't get it, people aren't going to stop unless I stop them!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yes, I believe that you did not come to that hill with the intent of hurting others, or of doing anything else wrong. But your manner and bearing, and the way that you were trying to avoid notice made like LOOK as though you were. Perhaps you don't understand how those actions appear to others; I know you don't have much experience dealing with others. But if anyone else she hadn't known had been in your position that night, they would have garnered the same suspicion from her. Who you are made absolutely no difference to her reaction. It couldn't have, since she didn't know who you were."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yes, I believe that you did not come to that hill with the intent of hurting others, or of doing anything else wrong. But your manner and bearing, and the way that you were trying to avoid notice made like LOOK as though you were. Perhaps you don't understand how those actions appear to others; I know you don't have much experience dealing with others. But if anyone else she hadn't known had been in your position that night, they would have garnered the same suspicion from her. Who you are made absolutely no difference to her reaction. It couldn't have, since she didn't know who you were."

>"That doesn't matter!" says the poltergeist. "She didn't have to bother me, she didn't have to try to expose me! She shouldn't to it to anyone! She got what she deserved."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And if that person had actually been there to steal from her, or damage her possessions, as she suspected, should she have quietly let them do so?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"And if that person had actually been there to steal from her, or damage her possessions, as she suspected, should she have quietly let them do so?"

>"Then she could have stopped them," she says. "Why are you confusing that with what actually happened?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"The point is that Nitori thought this is what you were planning. That is why she asked what you were doing there; so that she could confirm or deny this suspicion. And when you responded to her questions by firing upon her, you confirmed her suspicions in her own mind. You gave her strong reason to believe that you had come there with nefarious intent, and she acted upon that."

[Hello Purvis]

>"The point is that Nitori thought this is what you were planning. That is why she asked what you were doing there; so that she could confirm or deny this suspicion. And when you responded to her questions by firing upon her, you confirmed her suspicions in her own mind. You gave her strong reason to believe that you had come there with nefarious intent, and she acted upon that."

>"It doesn't matter," says the poltergeist. "She had no need to approach me, no need to threaten me. She chose to do it. She could have waited and seen, then acted. She didn't! She sealed her own fate!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And if you had seen someone sneaking around the place where you had left your book, and you had reason to believe they might be planning to steal it, what would you have done?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"And if you had seen someone sneaking around the place where you had left your book, and you had reason to believe they might be planning to steal it, what would you have done?"

>"I would have watched, and waited," she says. "That is what anyone should do."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And you would not have taken any action until you had seen them physically pick up the book and attempt to leave with it?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"And you would not have taken any action until you had seen them physically pick up the book and attempt to leave with it?"

>"Isn't that what I just said?" she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Then what of our first encounter? You thought that I had come to expose you, and that I had known your identity and your secrets, when none of these were true. You made a hasty conclusion based on intuition, just as Nitori had done, and then you did not even allow me to finish my sentence before you attacked me."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Then what of our first encounter? You thought that I had come to expose you, and that I had known your identity and your secrets, when none of these were true. You made a hasty conclusion based on intuition, just as Nitori had done, and then you did not even allow me to finish my sentence before you attacked me."

>"And you did." she says. "You were following me."

>_

[DracoOmega]

"I knew you'd been by that tree on the night its shadow was discovered missing. I was wondering if you might have seen something or known what happened, since you had been there. I knew nothing else. Me asking you about it was no different than the fairies I sought out and likewise asked."

[Hello Purvis]

"I knew you'd been by that tree on the night its shadow was discovered missing. I was wondering if you might have seen something or known what happened, since you had been there. I knew nothing else. Me asking you about it was no different than the fairies I sought out and likewise asked."

>"You were trying to expose me," she says. "And, you've proven beyond any doubt there's no point in talking to you if this is what you call help."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I do want to help. From the bottom of my heart, I swear that I do. But I'll be the first to admit that I'm not fully sure how. I wish that I were. Knowing nothing but a life of being hunted is a terrible thing, and no one deserves that. I want to help you find a way to feel peace and safety in your own life. A way that doesn't involve harming anyone else. I want to help you learn about the world and find a comfortable place in it. To realize that people do not mean you harm, and might even wish you kindness, if only this cycle were broken."
>"But I also want to help Nitori and Kogasa and Bhava-Agra, and I refuse to believe there is no solution where we cannot all walk away from this happier than we are now."