JANUARY MINGLE | OPEN

[oneandmikleonly]

[It's a new year! Well, by the fragile construct of calendar time we're creating on this planet, anyway.

Here's a an open mingle for all your January needs! Are you trying to stalk our new alien stalkers back, or reach out to them, or fight them? Building? Exploring the biomes, for fun and/or to uncover more about our alien friends? Researching? Hugging URSULA? Raising Birdogs or getting involved with other wildlife? Making or breaking resolutions? OTHER? Whatever it is you're doing, you can put it here.

Don't forget to check the OOC plotting post to see what's going on and get involved with missions!]

Comments

[guidance]

[she pauses, and then bows her head a little.]

I do not require assistance, or favors owed to me for my aid. It is simply what I have been created to do.

[hatamon]

Created?

[It's an impulsive question, and he immediately realizes it's probably too invasive.]

It's not about obligation or anything. I'd just like to be able to do something to thank you.

[guidance]

Your words are sufficient.

[she means it when she says it. being thanked wasn't even something she was used to still. it was still something that needed time. but being the odd existence she was, the idea of someone doing something for her for thanks wasn't quite there yet.]

But to answer your question, yes. I was created.

[hatamon]

[He's not convinced, but paying attention and learning about her will get him further on that front than trying to argue the point.]

To help the people of your world?

[How do you tactfully ask people about their wild backstories?]

[guidance]

To guide the Goddess's chosen hero in what he must do.

[thankfully, Fi doesn't seem to take offense, and is answering easily enough. just ask, it seems, and she provides answers.]

[hatamon]

[Chosen one talk comes with an edge of familiarity, but more than that, it sounds like the start of a great story. He grins bigger, clearly fascinated.]

And what was that?

[guidance]

To prevent evil from swallowing the entire world.

[there is time. perhaps she can tell him a story while the devices interact.]

The Goddess foresaw, and so She created a plan to ensure that such a fate would not come to pass, for She loved the world and those in it. As She had fought against evil's forces before, so would She again, but this time, through a hero that would awaken when the time was upon them.

[hatamon]

[That's about everything he could hope for.]

Like a prophecy? What was the hero like?

[guidance]

Someone who would have the courage to undertake this mission, the power within himself to sustain the endeavor, and the wisdom to know what he had to do. Someone who grew into what was needed. But ever from the start, he had a heart strong enough to withstand the trials he would face.

[hatamon]

That's a lot of responsibility for one person.

[Saving the world, he thinks, is always better as a group effort.]

But he had you to help him, right? So you're a hero too.

[guidance]

[for a second, Fi is silent, before she bows her head. her? a hero? by design, it is not so.]

I was created to assist and guide the hero, not be the hero.

[what is being a hero? it is something she thinks she will have to meditate on at the least, until she can come up with a factual, concrete answer.]

[hatamon]

Are you sure you aren't just being too modest?

[He can't resist sounding a little teasing, but there's sincerity there too. Created or not, nothing about Fi so far suggests a lack of free will.]

I don't think anyone starts off a hero when they're born. Even when it's destiny or something... they still have to be willing to make the choice to help. It sounds like that's something both of you did.

[guidance]

Modesty is not something I was made to display.

[there is knowing her place, after all, knowing what was required.]

He took on the trials and struck down the evil. He made the decision to do so. I would follow him and my purpose regardless.

[it's difficult to explain, when to her it's as clear as the fact that they're underwater. tools are not heroes.]

I....do not understand how I could have made the choice to help when helping is what I do.

[hatamon]

If he was here, I bet he'd be the first to say there's no way he could have done any of it without you.

[Confidently, since understanding partnerships is something he feels pretty secure in. Fi downplaying her own contributions is like saying Patamon doesn't really matter because he was all but engineered to be by Takeru's side.]

Maybe it's hard to imagine because of the kind of person you are, but isn't it possible you could have resented your purpose and walked away?

[guidance]

That is impossible. My purpose is a fact of my existence.

[she's never been without it. even here, she knows the task she was built for had succeeded. so walking away? something that just doesn't exist in any reality.]

[hatamon]

[For a moment he looks like he might contest the point, but a debate on the nature of free will when he doesn't actually know about her life is probably a step too far. He smiles and holds up a hand in acquiescence.]

Okay. [Maybe not entirely convinced.] But no matter how you look at it, helping to save the world is still really impressive.