[Voice]

[undyingcrow]

[In the middle of a restless night, Akechi addresses the radio.]

One thing has become abundantly clear since my arrival: the vast majority of us hail from different times, if not different worlds.

[He pauses, letting that sink in.]

For instance, I'm from Japan in the year 2017. However, it is specifically the same version of Japan shared by Akihiko Sanada and Naoto Shirogane... in the future. That places the three of us in a shared reality, but not the same point in time.

However, our version of Japan has endured a number of odd, even supernatural occurrences, such as a "Dark Hour" and, more recently, the vigilante work of a group of "Phantom Thieves" who quite literally changed the hearts of wicked adults through the use of a parallel, cognitive world.

[His voice remains calm, if tinged with a subtle weariness.]

But that is far from universal. In my time here, I have encountered a talking turtle from a world where yokai and mutants are real. I've spoken with someone who had been sent into a digital world, like an isekai protagonist. I even had to explain the concept of religion to Serph-san, as well what a horse is.

[...]

All this to say, it may be worthwhile to cross reference the worlds and time periods we hail from. If nothing else, it may help us discern patterns that could in turn heighten our understanding of our present circumstances.

Comments

voice

[bufudine]

[What the hell Akechi, don't let everyone know how little he knows!! Is how he'd feel, if he actually cared.

Since Akechi had mentioned a digital world, Serph explains in a much more straightforward manner than he has to most others prior.]

My original world was virtual, created by people of Nirvana.

[So that probably explains a lot about him not knowing things.]

voice

[undyingcrow]

[He remembers Serph discussing his world, briefly, but virtual...? How interesting.]

It's interesting that you're familiar with a Nirvana, and now we're tasked with finding it ourselves.

[Is it the same? Akechi has his doubts, but still...]

I'd no idea you were digital, however.

[bufudine]

[There's a tiny hint of wryness in his reply.]

Neither did I.

Digital data and... [Serph falters for a moment, trying to think of an appropriate word. 'Real' didn't sit quite right with him; the Junkyard was real] ...what exists in Nirvana aren't so different.

[Fred had said he'd jumped out of a video game, before asking him what level he was. What was that even supposed to mean?]

We were infected with the demon virus, turning us into monsters. The information gathered from us made the virus suitable for use in Nirvana.

[undyingcrow]

[There are a lot of missing pieces to this puzzle. Details that don't quite fall into place, and yet...]

So, essentially, you were useful to some higher power within Nirvana, and they intended to spread the same virus.

[It's just a hypothesis, of course.]

[bufudine]

If the moon is broken here, so is the sun in Nirvana. It's a black orb that turns humans to stone. If you have the virus, you won't turn.

[undyingcrow]

[That's... frightening, actually. Not to mention uncanny.]

So, you trade your humanity for survival, essentially.

[...]

That begs the question if this world's Nirvana holds a secret just as ghastly.

[bufudine]

We won't know until we get there.

[But for all their sakes, he hopes it doesn't.]

The virus marked us, same as entry to this world.

[The brand on his face is obvious to anyone who's seen him, though what's less clear is that it is from before his arrival.]

[undyingcrow]

I suppose it isn't entirely dissimilar. We are becoming monsters, after all.

[His own sigil, the claws, and now his teeth... All these changes, made without consent, serve to cement his disdain.]

I suppose for someone like me, it's an outward reflection of the internal, but I still can't stand it in principle.

[bufudine]

[Understandable.]

There were many who felt the same way about our demons.

["For someone like me, it's an outward reflection of the internal...?" It feels like the sort of thing that speak to Akechi about in private.]

What's an isekai protagonist?

[undyingcrow]

[In hindsight, he walked into that one.]

Protagonists are the lead characters in a story.

Isekai stories involve one or more characters being transported to another world.

In concept, it's a very old framing device for stories, though in the modern day, people tend to associate isekai with light novels, manga, and anime that often involve virtual reality or protagonists being reborn in a parallel world, rather than entering through portals, magical doorways, or being summoned by outside forces.

[bufudine]

[..............................]

...We contain data from humans who died in Nirvana. Does that make me an isekai protagonist?

[undyingcrow]

[That's... a good question.

Huh.]

I suppose it could. You did travel from one world to another...

[bufudine]

[Thinking about his possible previous life makes his thoughts run in circles so he snips that thread of conversation before he can start on it. Instead, speaking of being reborn...]

If your world makes stories about rebirth... You don't know what happens after you die?

[Rebirth was mentioned in Blake's message and after conversations with others, he can't help but wonder if knowing definitively what happens after you die is common at all.]

[undyingcrow]

Correct.

[It's a loaded topic, especially for one who fell so close to death's door.]

There are concepts of an afterlife that vary from culture to culture. Then there are those who simply believe death is an end, where your consciousness ceases to be. Others believe in reincarnation, cycles of death and rebirth.

[...]

I thought I had died and been resurrected. As it turns out, that was not the case, so I'm afraid I can't give a definitive answer.

[bufudine]

[Akechi thought he died? How does someone make a mistake like that?]

In my original world, we knew what happened after we died.

[Oblivion after death seems like such a strange idea. But with the Junkyard gone... ]

We rise to the clouds and are reborn with the rain.

[undyingcrow]

[That's... actually somewhat poetic. Evocative, certainly.]

When you're reborn, do memories persist, or is it a fresh slate?

[bufudine]

Fresh slate.

[Now that he thinks about it... Has he undergone that process before? His gut feeling is no -- he and Gale had agreed that there was something different about himself, Heat, Argilla and Cielo compared to everyone else -- but how would he know? It's not like he would remember anything if he had been reborn in the Junkyard cycle.]

I think there's a similar cycle in Nirvana.

[undyingcrow]

So it's closer to genuine reincarnation.

[Hmm... Though, when you really stop and think about it...]

It raises questions of whether or not the reincarnated self is still you. Our memories and experiences shape us. Scrubbed of all of that, is that not someone new?

[bufudine]

[As much as he wanted to avoid thinking about it, here he is, thinking about it.]

Is it truly gone without a trace? Have you seen something you've never encountered before, yet it feels familiar?

[undyingcrow]

Like deja vu or repressed memories... The concept isn't unfamiliar to me, at least.

[So that might be it, then. A lingering trace, even if it's faint, like faded scars.]

[bufudine]

[Therefore...]

A past we don't recall still touches our present.

[Not as strongly as current memories and experiences maybe. Even if he and his officers don't remember, was it their shared past that had drawn most of them to him? They could very well have joined other tribes but instead, they ended up serving him even before the floodgates of emotion had been forced open within them.]

[undyingcrow]

True enough.

[Philosophically, it's still so daunting. He's rather attached to his sense of self, despite all his crimes.]

Still, given the choice, I'd rather be "myself." I was given an "option" to start over in a world where all of mistakes no longer mattered.

I refused, of course, because the one making the offer was a sentimental fool who believed he had the right to dictate the entire world's happiness.

[bufudine]

Is your answer unchanged if it were someone else making the offer?

[undyingcrow]

Yes.

[No hesitation, no uncertainty.]

I've been used and manipulated for far too long. I refuse to live in a world conjured up by someone else, with no true agency and no meaning. A world defined solely by happiness is a stagnant world. A gilded cage at best.

[bufudine]

[A world conjured by someone else, with no true agency... Serph can't help but wince a little from behind the radio. Even though the demon virus cursed him with its unending hunger, he can't go back to such an existence where he was making decisions without deciding.]

In such a world, you will not notice the cage.

[Take it from him; he knows from experience.]

I wouldn't relinquish my past either. It doesn't seem right to remove what we suffered through.