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

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"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

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

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"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.

YESSSS

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

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.

Re: YESSSS

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"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.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"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'?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"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?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"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.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"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."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"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."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

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

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

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

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"If you can program a robot without free will to vacuum your house for seventy-two hours, you can program a sentient being to not bug you for permission for every little detail as they collect food and have babies."

Shut up. Roombas are cool.

"Besides, if you're an all-powerful god, how big a hassle is it really to make someone else's decisions for them?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"There's a big difference between a robot whose only functions are 'go forward' and 'turn around' and a sentient being," Zouichi said, looking dubious. "And what would be the point of making everyone's decisions for them? You might as well not make anyone at all."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Hey, don't diss Roombas. And maybe that's what we are, compared to omnipotent god figures - little robots with a set amount of options bumping up against whatever stupid shoes or chair legs someone left in our way." If that analogy wasn't so stupid it might even be profound.

"I'm just saying it's efficient if all gods want is worship."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Excuse me," said Zouichi, "But I turn around before I run into chair legs." What was this conversation even about any more.

"In any case, if I were a god, I don't think worship would be all I wanted out of my creations. I'd want to give them free will, space to move around, all that."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Metaphorical chair legs, god!" This is one metaphor that is never going to make it into Howard's rough drafts.

"Yeah, but no offense, Zou, you get way too involved in your fish, too. That kind of thing interests you more than it would most people. Probably most gods, too."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I know," Zouichi said, raising an eyebrow. It was a joke, Howard, jeez.

"Oh, sure. Well, in the next life, I'll be sure to spend much more time making roller refrigerators. Anyway, what's wrong with fish?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Look, it's not my fault that you think the only cool rolling things are motorcycles." He's proud of the roller fridge, Zou. So proud. "Nothing's wrong with fish, they're just really boring and don't do anything."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Where I come from, those are fighting words," Zouichi said, with... not quite the right tone, there.

"Maybe if you put a leash on the roller fridge."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard puts his hands out. "I am not knocking the motorcycle, man. But think of all the exercise I could get dragging the roller fridge around. It's not totally useless!"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Well, he had to give Howard that. "I thought the point of putting wheels on it was to make it easier to drag around. So how do you power it when you're rolling it?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Easier. Not easy. I mean, it's still a mini-fridge, and Stacy's terrain isn't exactly bump-free." Still, easier than that broken golf cart he dragged across town the other day. "Repurposed car battery. Really not that complicated."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Maybe you can get some antigravity stabilizers installed on it," said Zouichi. "What do you carry around in that thing, anyway? Ice cream? Spare organs?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"That's way beyond my know-how, man." Even though Howard's fairly convinced that given instruction and enough time he can learn just about anything, anti-gravity stabilizers would take a lot of time. "Ice cream and some perishables, some meat from XaXing and stuff. Spare organs would be gross."

And clearly meat from four months ago is probably still 'not gross'. What of it?

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"From XaXing? That was kind of a while ago, wasn't it? Shouldn't you hurry up and use that? And... why are you carting it around?" Howard, were you offering the ice cream to all the good little children aboard the ship?