Iku Quest Sedem: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Raise an eyebrow. If we were still smiling, drop it.
> "But you had previously told me you didn't need anything beyond privacy."

>"And? You didn't need to know. You still don't, I'm just hoping this will get you to stop."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You've pretty much admitted you're choosing to risk self-destruction, though. I admit I've done the same thing, but I've done it for others, and presumably you are not. So I am left as curious as ever as to why you'd choose such a path, especially when you've been willing to tell me as much as you have in the interest of avoiding that same self-destruction."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You've pretty much admitted you're choosing to risk self-destruction, though. I admit I've done the same thing, but I've done it for others, and presumably you are not. So I am left as curious as ever as to why you'd choose such a path, especially when you've been willing to tell me as much as you have in the interest of avoiding that same self-destruction."

>She is quite for a moment, looking toward the ground, eyes shifting to and fro with no real pattern.
>"Because it doesn't make any difference," she says at length.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Soften our expression to one of empathy again.
> "You...do you mean...what I think you mean?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Soften our expression to one of empathy again.
> "You...do you mean...what I think you mean?"

>"I mean what I said," she says, "It won't make any difference."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "...You need them to survive at all, don't you?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "...You need them to survive at all, don't you?"

>"I think so," she says after a moment.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Is... that why you took the shadow of that rock and tree, then?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Is... that why you took the shadow of that rock and tree, then?"

>She nods, no longer looking at you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"It must be a terribly frightful thing, to worry that one is slipping away... Did they help? For a little while, anyway?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"It must be a terribly frightful thing, to worry that one is slipping away... Did they help? For a little while, anyway?"

>She nods again.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"But can you feel... yourself slipping away again?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"But can you feel... yourself slipping away again?"

>"I don't know..." she says. "It's just not enough."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Did it ever feel more sufficient at one point? Earlier on? Has it been getting steadily worse?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Did it ever feel more sufficient at one point? Earlier on? Has it been getting steadily worse?"

>She shakes her head. "It's more like it seemed enough at first. But then...it wasn't."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Do you think something changed? Or do you think you just became more aware of that feeling over time, and that it had always been there?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Do you think something changed? Or do you think you just became more aware of that feeling over time, and that it had always been there?"

>"It's definitely always been there," she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And taking shadows makes the feeling go away, for a little while?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"And taking shadows makes the feeling go away, for a little while?"

>She nods. "They made it less bad. But it's gone now, you see?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Gone now? I'm not sure I understand. They're still there, within you, aren't they?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Gone now? I'm not sure I understand. They're still there, within you, aren't they?"

>"I was talking about that feeling," she says, giving you a sharp look.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Forgive me if I'm getting things backwards, but did you mean that the feeling of insufficiency was no longer there?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Forgive me if I'm getting things backwards, but did you mean that the feeling of insufficiency was no longer there?"

>"It is no longer there," she says. "It's gone, since I took the Island's shadow."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"So, I guess you're worried what will happen if you keep the shadow... and what would happen if you gave it back."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, I guess you're worried what will happen if you keep the shadow... and what would happen if you gave it back."

>"I'm never giving it back," she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I guess that feeling... is just something you never want to think about going back to. Even if you don't know what will happen now, either."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I guess that feeling... is just something you never want to think about going back to. Even if you don't know what will happen now, either."

>"I'll make this work," she says. "That, there was nothing for it."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I wonder what the root cause of this insufficiency was in the first place, though? The other poltergeists I know have managed to exist in the world for a very long time without doing such a thing, and the principles behind both of your existences are similar. I wonder if they would understand better what it is you've experienced..."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I wonder what the root cause of this insufficiency was in the first place, though? The other poltergeists I know have managed to exist in the world for a very long time without doing such a thing, and the principles behind both of your existences are similar. I wonder if they would understand better what it is you've experienced..."

>She shrugs.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I mention them because I think it might be valuable to speak with one of them. They doubtless have more insight into some of these matters than either of us. I cannot truly know what it is like to exist, as a poltergeist, and they have all lived many, many times longer than you. They could know something important."