<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

No, but it does appear to have been implemented quickly. It’s binding the other pieces of the soul right now, but does not implement complete functionality.
*Points to the connecting lines between that zone and those surrounding it*

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Well, it was, so you’ve made a correct deduction for sure.

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

Which leads me to the question: what happened to the code responsible for objective weights, emotional drivers, and soul cleansing?

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Slowly shrugs*

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

I see. In any case, there are two problems here. In one case—
*Zooms in to the inner mechanisms of the soul, some deteriorated by a black substrate*
She’s experienced soul rot, a common ailment of artificial souls. It appears that whenever the cleansing functionality was removed, the dark magic that binds her soul together proved toxic to other components.

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

I see. In any case, there are two problems here. In one case—
*Zooms in to the inner mechanisms of the soul, some deteriorated by a black substrate*
She’s experienced soul rot, a common ailment of artificial souls. It appears that whenever the cleansing functionality was removed, the dark magic that binds her soul together proved toxic to other components.

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Common to artificial souls, but she isn't artificial, is she? Soulwise.

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Wait, back up. Dark magic??

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

Ah, did that fact emerge during your research? Correct, Melody possesses a digitized human soul. However, not all components of her soul are original, and I suspect that even had they been, they would have still risked significant corruption.

<Snipped quote by Techspert>

Correct, dark magic binds your mother’s soul to its code.

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

Ah, did that fact emerge during your research? Correct, Melody possesses a digitized human soul. However, not all components of her soul are original, and I suspect that even had they been, they would have still risked significant corruption.

<Snipped quote by Techspert>

Correct, dark magic binds your mother’s soul to its code.

<Snipped quote by Legend>

So you’re telling me that’s basically compiled code, but a soul, and run with dark magic?

<Snipped quote by Legend>

So she's like a soul equivalent to a cyborg...
*Shakes my head*
Bizarre. And fascinating, but where does that point us action-wise to fix things?

<Snipped quote by Techspert>

Not quite. Souls are rarely so... detectably deterministic. Which, conveniently, leads us to Isaac’s question.

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

That happens to hit on the second issue. Her codebase seems to have mitigated soul rot to some extent, but the absence of the prioritization functionality appears to have spread some form of state-changing message across her soul.
*Points to a now-translucent simulation of the missing component, which is detached from the greater body, leading to errors and minuscule red structures that travel to another component bank, which is restructured and transmits new orange shapes to the rest of the soul*

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Aaalright, meaning?

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

Perhaps best explained via a thought experiment. Consider a scenario where you wake up in an empty void with no body. You’ve discovered, to the satisfaction of whatever brain chemistry or equivalent you possess, that your life to that point had been hallucinated. In fact, you lack many facets attributed to sapient entities, including emotions, goals, etcetera, and remember them as mere descriptors with little more value than text on a screen. In a sense, you are the void itself. Moments later, you return to your normal life. Nothing has changed, except you remember your experience in full, and cannot deny that the void is your true reality. How might you proceed?

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Well, I would likely just chalk it up to a dream. Ignorance is bliss and I couldn't necessarily say that brief experience overrides my whole world, and I wouldn't want it to anyway.

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

Ah, but the caveat exists that the void was undeniable. In the same way you can dismiss a dream, you are now able to dismiss reality. You could, of course, choose to continue in spite of that knowledge, but it is now forever a part of your experience.

<Snipped quote by Legend>

As is the nature of the void, I am not given a reason to care for that reality over this one. I, personally, would still choose to just move on. What matters philosophically other than my own perception anyway? So as long as I continue to live in this world I wouldn't let the other experience bother me. But I could see others not going down that route, absolutely, and I see what you're saying.

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

Precisely. Some would fight relentlessly to never return to that void, comforted by the construct of the world. Many others would be discontent with a false reality. In Melody’s case, this effect would be compounded due to the digital nature of her priority trees. When this critical interface to her soul was removed, the new state resulted in sweeping changes to her soul’s makeup, much like exposure to our hypothetical void. This was admittedly an oversight on my part.

<Snipped quote by Legend>

A result of lack of experience in a difficult field? I guess it is understandable, but now I'm afraid of changes to a soul like this being irreversible.