Conversation Space III.

[powersthatbe]

A poured concrete floor and cinder block walls are lit by a single bare light bulb hanging overhead. Shackles dangle from brackets on every side, and the chair in the center of the room is clearly an electric chair. A tall glass sits on top of a stool made of what looks like pure gold - but the liquid inside it is almost definitely blood.

Comments

[callmemeibe]

"Indeed it would," Mortimer muses, giving a bit of a smirk. "That is why we have chosen names, as well, for further clarification. You can call me Mortimer, if you wish. That's the name I've chosen, this cycle. Now, do you have any further questions, or shall I get to the point?"

[wildmagician]

"I think I prefer to call you Mortimer from now on. Makes things less confusing." Talking about death could get double meanings if he continued to use that name.

"Nothing else in mind, since I'm pretty sure you'll explain what 'Synodiporia' is when you get to the point. So go ahead."

[callmemeibe]

"Synodiporia is... a tournament of sorts, between us Arcana," he explains hesitantly. "It has been going on for... well, this is the seventeenth cycle. Last cycle's winner, Fortuna, chose the rules for this cycle - that being, that sentient creatures with ambition were to be selected at random to participate." There's a pause. "I did not choose to bring you here, nor did any of my other... compatriots. You were chosen at random out of billions of possible candidates."

[wildmagician]

In other words, everyone here was just very unfortunate. They weren't selected by some method, just on random. That was actually pretty reassuring, but also very disturbing at the same time.

"It can include anyone. Kids and old people, those with medical conditions and even villains. What kind of a person makes a rule like that and takes a risk of anything happening to us?"

[callmemeibe]

"Not a person at all, as Fortuna was one of my kind," Mortimer answers promptly, but then inclines his head curiously. "Are you saying the old are not as capable of aspiring to something as the young? That the sick are not as motivated as the healthy? That those you consider villains do not yearn for their personal goal, as you do?"

He pauses once more, his fingers threading together. "I believe every child and every elder can be just as strong and capable as someone your age. I believe those with medical conditions, including death, should be given a second chance at living. I believe even the most virtuous of men can be capable of great evil. Fortuna, also, saw this complexity in humans, and chose to take a gamble on it. Would you deny her last act among the living?"

[wildmagician]

Yosuke is a bit taken a back by the reply and falls back into a bit more defensive mode and a lot less aggravated at the thought than before.

"That's not... That's not what I wanted to imply. I know there's strength in every kind of a person. All of us have limitless possibilities", he says before sighing. "I'm just worried. I keep hearing about baby Rose and thinking about what kind of a life she will live. Born as a Traveler, never knowing what kind of a life she could have had. Then I keep thinking about the people who do know. People who have a peaceful life without any danger, ripped out of their normal life to become a part of a game. Perhaps even stuck thinking if it's a punishment for something they've done."

It's not that Yosuke is the world saving hero kind of a person, but he does get his moments when he worries for the normal people. The type that he was before ever entering the TV world. In Naoki's world he never acquired a Persona. He's had to think about what his life would be if he hadn't followed Souji in the beginning.

"I'm not saying that those things can't be overcome either. Perhaps they'll find strengths they never knew they had while becoming a Traveler. But there is always a risk that someone ends up breaking under the new circumstances and that bothers me."

[callmemeibe]

"While the baby Rose is an... unusual case, I can assure you that she is being protected. The Royal Couple will prevent any harm to her person, naturally, and if she does become sick or hurt, I can heal her. We have all agreed to keep her out of this round of Synodiporia, and there will be grave consequences if one of us oversteps those bounds." Pun totally intended, though Death doesn't smirk or laugh.

"I know that she would have been sent to her mother's world in which she has no father, and would constantly in danger as part of her parents' crew traveling through space. Hoban and Zoe Washburne... have lived tough lives. I don't think life in Liminal Space is so bad for her."