trans_9 | They say of the Acropolis where the Parthenon is... [Open]

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They say of the Acropolis where the Parthenon is... [Open]

Another day, another patrol; by now, Zouichi was accustomed to the layout of the ship, and though nothing in particular seemed to be amiss (well, beyond the ordinary conflicts and problems, of course), he dutifully canvassed what areas he was assigned. His bike ran smoothly and quietly, and using it to get around made things a little easier. On the occasions when riding wasn't an option, however, he'd simply sling it over his shoulder and carry it along (that was what the handle was for).

He stopped to chat with people he ran into along the way, but at the end of the ride, he found himself wandering about in an area of the City he'd not yet visited. Which is how he ran into the Parthenon, not a crumbled ruin as it had been in his own time, but fully restored (or perhaps it had simply not yet had time to fall into disrepair). He looked up at the stone structure, curious. A relic of a time when people believed in divine beings as patrons of their cities.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'd imagine not. But it was still no excuse to behave the way he did."

Zouichi shook his head. "I'm not sure. She was a friend of mine, and I had always considered her attractive. And I care about her, of course. However, I'm not sure I would have mentioned anything to her if people hadn't encouraged me to do so. As for when I crossed the line to wanting to get to know her better... I don't really know. It just happened."

Howard thinks a little on that, chewing away at that hangnail. "How did you know you considered her attractive?"

He still feels a little guilty for having pressured Zou into exploring that relationship, even if Zou seems cool about the whole thing.

What what kind of question was that. Zouichi had to think about that for a little bit.

"She's vivacious, brave, enjoys helping others... physically, she's tall and rather handsome. I suppose I could go into details, but those would just be personal preferences. Why all the questions?"

"No reason," Howard says, trying to say it casually and not suspiciously quickly. "Just, you know. Curious."

'Just curious'? Zouichi looked a little skeptical. "This has to be the first time you've ever brought it up without mocking me about it. What's really going on?"

Howhow, did someone on the ship catch your eye?

"Hey, I'm not totally insensitive. If you give me the go-ahead to mock again, I'll be right back to teasing you," Howard says, not responding to Zouichi's actual question.

~~shut up Zou.~~

Yeah, you're not getting out of it that easily, Howard. "If you're concerned about something or someone, I'd like to know about it."

"I'm not concerned. Really. And anyway, you're not my babysitter."

~~whatever whatever I do what I want!~~

"Right, everything's perfectly normal. You're just asking me personal questions about who I'm attracted to and why, something you've never demonstrated any interest in in the past." In fact, if this were a mission, he might be suspecting alien mind control right about now.

"If it's too personal, fine; I just want to know you're not carrying around a chestbursting alien or something." Just don't expect any more details about a Day in the Love Life of a Synthetic Human, Howard >:(.

Howard fixes Zouichi with a Look. "Zou, look me in the eyes and tell me I would be this calm if I had an alien incubating in my chest."

WHY YES THAT IS A CHANGE OF SUBJECT

He let it happen. But he was STILL SUSPICIOUS.

"I think the point of that alien is that you don't know it's there until it's too late."

Edited 2011-11-14 20:52 (UTC)

Could you really suspect this innocent, angelic face, Zou?

"I'd have to be the first infected, then. Because there's no way I'd be this calm is aliens were bursting out of other people's chests either."

Yes.

"So how does it feel to be a disease vector?" Zouichi asked dryly. "Get any good perks?"

"Naturally. It makes getting alone time that much easier, to threaten to infect people with chest-bursting aliens. Except you, you'd probably crush the alien's spirit with your stoic badass vibes."

"Well, you know me. Crushing spirits is what I do best." Zouichi paused for a moment, looking about at the temple again. "You know, gods might actually exist in universes other than our own. Wouldn't be the first impossibility I've run into."

P.S. Howard you know you want dating advice

"They do. The Norse gods exist in the Marvel universe, and since we know Marvel must be real because we've got jackasses like Spider-Man on the ship, that means the Norse gods are real. Except in Marvel they're actually aliens that humans worshiped because they didn't understand the concept of sci-fi." He shrugs. "Which I can handle as an explanation for religion, honestly. I just don't think any of it's real."

Nuh uh nuh uh nuh uh times infinity, Zou.

Zouichi waved a hand. "I don't mean aliens that happen to have technology that's a little more advanced than ours. I mean actual entities with powers and abilities we'd consider godlike." Of course, that would put him in the awkward position of not knowing how to related to gods at all.

You're missing out on so much, Howard. SO MUCH.

"That sounds different than gods. I mean, that just sounds like people with really ridiculous superpowers or something like that. Not like people you pray to and make sacrifices for because they wrote a book for you to follow, judging you all the time, and then shoving you into heaven or hell when they're done with you." He chews his lower lip a little. Maybe it's the judging bit that really gets to him.

Possibly the idea that Zouichi is a god of romance hasn't occurred to Howard yet.

"Isn't it generally mortals who supposedly write down those laws? Though that's another thing. In some worlds, there may indeed be some kind of afterlife." After all, when the Eldar died, they returned to the Infinity Circuit within their craftworld. Didn't it stand to reason there might be something similar for other people?

"In any case, say there exists a being that is all-powerful and all-knowing. Wouldn't that be a 'god'?"

"Supposedly. Or we're all in the Matrix. It's kind of impossible to reconciliate all those different universes, isn't it? I mean, physics don't even work the same way where I'm from and where you're from."

Howard takes a seat on a nearby stone slab. "I don't think so, unless they're using that power to do something. I mean, if that being isn't doing anything and no one knows it has all that power, is it a god?"

"Who said anything about no one knowing anything about their power? And besides, if you were all by yourself, would you still be Howard? Would I still be myself? Of course. It's not like you stop existing if no one's around to see you." Zouichi was a big believer in object persistence.

"I don't know, would I be? I could be someone else who thought I was Howard." Are they seriously argue about trees falling in the woods now? "I think getting believed in is part of a god's job description."

"So a god needs to be believed in before they're a god? But supposedly, gods create their believers, don't they? So now we have a chicken and egg problem."

"Why would they create believers who could stop believing in them, though? That's like buying a flashlight and not checking the batteries first."

"To give them free will? Potential? The ability to get things done without asking a god to do it for them every three seconds?"

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we should find a way to have this lead to AWKWARD BABEWATCH down the line

YESSSS

Re: YESSSS

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