Hatate Quest Kolme

[Oldmansour]

>"Oh yeah, that's probably not a good idea."

>"It might actually be the safer option." Celes replies. "You see, this place may be a trap, a construct of magic and desire, but it's still dangerous. The people here will be programmed to remove things that it deems could threaten the book's hold over people's minds. It's a self-correcting system, their reactions to Dio is proof of that. And we can still be killed. I don't believe we'll age, but we can be ended. Assuming this is one of his traps that allows its victims to die and stay dead."
>"You really think that sitting here in this trap and letting this book do whatever it's doing to us, and to Aya and the others, is the safer choice?" Momiji demands, not looking too happy about the prospect.
>"In these circumstances, yes. Patchouli has wisdom, power and skills that no one else does. Combined with Setsuka's knowledge of his traps, in addition to all the other beings of considerable and variable power and knowledge known and befriended by them, they may already be close to finding a way to free us."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, even if they do come, we'd still probably have to shake the others loose anyways."
>"You know, that brings up a very good question. If they kill us, we probably die. What happens if we killed them?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, even if they do come, we'd still probably have to shake the others loose anyways."
>"You know, that brings up a very good question. If they kill us, we probably die. What happens if we killed them?"

>Celes opens her mouth to reply, but Momiji yells, "Hatate!", cutting the steward off. "How could you ask that?" The old soldier seems rather mortified at the idea.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Because it's a valid question. Not like I'm planning on doing it, geez."

[Oldmansour]

>"Because it's a valid question. Not like I'm planning on doing it, geez."

>"It is a fair question." Celes agrees diplomatically. "There is no harm in asking about any eventuality. To answer your question, Hatate, I can't be entirely certain. Some traps of his were designed to revive a soul after death, to prolong its torment. Quite a lot of them, frankly. But others were designed to be a test of survival, and death was permanent. In such cases the soul of the deceased was completely at his mercy, to corrupt and pervert and use however he saw fit. But since he is gone, that means the soul would simply be freed upon release from its trap, to go on to whatever afterlife awaited it."
>"And... if it was never freed?" Momiji asks after swallowing audibly.
>"Again, it depends on the nature of the trap. But most often, the soul remains in a state of waking stasis, not living nor dead. Suspended between life and death. Sometimes for centuries." Celes finishes after a pause.

[Hello Purvis]

>"So you're saying they have souls even if they aren't real?"

[O4rfish]

>"Or possibly, some of them have souls and some don't?"

[Oldmansour]

>"So you're saying they have souls even if they aren't real?"

>"Or possibly, some of them have souls and some don't?"

>"Oh, you meant the constructs of this world? I'm sorry, I thought you were referring to Aya and the others."

[Hello Purvis]

>"What? No! No! What kind of person do you think I am?"

[Oldmansour]

>"What? No! No! What kind of person do you think I am?"

>"A curious one." Celes replies matter of factly. "And it IS still a fair question. I and my fellow Cobalts have sometimes been attacked by those who we tried to save that had been cursed by him, and with great fervor. There's no reason to think the same can't happen here."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, that's not an option. Sorry Momiji, if that's what you thought I meant. I meant the people that are made by this place."

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, that's not an option. Sorry Momiji, if that's what you thought I meant. I meant the people that are made by this place."

>Momiji smiles and shakes her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, too. I should have known better."
>"The people created by the book are a very different story." Celes informs you. "They are no more alive and possessed of a soul than a dream. The only souls within this book are we that have been trapped, and the soul of whatever poor being he used to make this book. But that doesn't mean we can destroy them with impunity. The book will register abnormal deaths among its characters and marshal its defenses accordingly. We could strike down one only to invite the attention of a dozen more."
>"Can the book regenerate dead... 'characters?'" Momiji asks, hesitating before using the word.
>"I would assume not, in this case. This world seemed based on the premise of giving those pulled within their deepest desires, and keeping them trapped in that illusion. A person returning from the dead would be too unbelievable to keep their minds subdued in fantasy, unless of course their desire WAS to see someone returned to life."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So...is there any way to hide what we're doing from the book at all?"

[Oldmansour]

>"So...is there any way to hide what we're doing from the book at all?"

>"Not completely, I don't think. But, I am operating under the assumption that its awareness, the parts that aren't focused on Ran, Aya, Marisa and Alice, is focused through the eyes and ears of its characters. If we are not observed by someone, then we should be able to operate outside of the book's awareness."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Does that mean we could trick it, and maybe try to get it to mess itself up?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Does that mean we could trick it, and maybe try to get it to mess itself up?"

>"You mean something like, catching it in a logic bind?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Or just make it think we're gonna do one thing, then do the other. Or make it think we want something we really don't."

[Oldmansour]

>"Or just make it think we're gonna do one thing, then do the other. Or make it think we want something we really don't."

>Celes presses her thumb to her lower lip. "It could be possible." she says after a moment's thought. "If we assume we haven't been bespelled by the book due to it being taxed to its limit holding the people it has, then we can assume it can't probe our minds to learn what we desire. In which case, deception could be possible."
>"But what if the book CAN read us?" Momiji counters. "What if it just doesn't have the power to react to what it sees in our minds?"
>"Mmm. You may have a point. I really don't know." she concedes at last.

[Hello Purvis]

>"If it can read us, then it doesn't matter anyways, we'd have no way to outsmart it. We'd just have to do more than it can deal with at once."

[Oldmansour]

>"If it can read us, then it doesn't matter anyways, we'd have no way to outsmart it. We'd just have to do more than it can deal with at once."

>"How do we do that?" asks Momiji.

[Hello Purvis]

>"If we're lucky, we're already doing that just by being more people than it can handle. Otherwise, well...wonder how it'd handle if we decided to start burning everything down, for instance?"

[Oldmansour]

>"If we're lucky, we're already doing that just by being more people than it can handle. Otherwise, well...wonder how it'd handle if we decided to start burning everything down, for instance?"

>"Optimistically, we'd just attract the Hakurei's attention." Celes says. "An event like that would probably be interpreted as an incident, at least initially."
>"That's probably enough." Momiji adds with a frown. "Just how strong do you think these book-people are?"
>"As strong as Aya and the others believe them to be, I would say."
>"That's strong enough. I know Aya well enough to know that, the way she thinks about Reimu, she could take the three of us by herself."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah. It seems like it'd be a hard war to win. We'd have to be in too many places at once, and I dunno if three would be enough."

[Oldmansour]

>"Yeah. It seems like it'd be a hard war to win. We'd have to be in too many places at once, and I dunno if three would be enough."

>Celes glances at the rings on her left hand. "Plus, I would hesitate towards anything that would damage the fabric of this world too dramatically. We could end up destroying the book itself in the process, and that would be extremely bad."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I assume that means we don't get to go free. Good to know!"

[Oldmansour]

>"I assume that means we don't get to go free. Good to know!"

>"You assume correctly." Celes says with a wry smile.
>Momiji, however, keeps the keep's steward a curious look. "That's happened before, hasn't it, Celes?"
>"Yes. It has."
>"Is that why you're still stuck on us not being able to help ourselves?"
>"In part." Celes admits, adjusting her cap. "All my experience tells me to have faith in my comrades and friends. If no one knew we were in here, that would be a different scenario, but Patchouli was there, and so was Sabine. I'm not saying I'm not willing to help if either of you has a good idea on how we can get out and save the others. That's why I suggested that course of action before. I'm simply not convinced it will work."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I still think if there's a way out, it's at Cobalt Keep, which is why no one wants us to go there, and why it's got all that weirdness around it; the book is trying to defend it."

[Oldmansour]

>"I still think if there's a way out, it's at Cobalt Keep, which is why no one wants us to go there, and why it's got all that weirdness around it; the book is trying to defend it."

>"Could there be some kind of exit there, Celes?" Momiji asks the rider.
>"Highly unlikely, but not impossible. It's far more likely that the Keep is where we might find the soul that he used to make this book. The 'core' of the world, to put it in a word."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, what can we do to that?"

[O4rfish]

hack the planet