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[img]https://i.imgur.com/C7nwoGY.png[/img]
[b]2075[/b]  +3 (+6) (+50) (+3 rapport)
[b][color=ea590c]Edward Portsmith: Level 8 (20 cells) (1 level up stored)[/color] [/b][color=ea590c]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]////////////////////////// (55/80)
[b]Location[/b] Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk 
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They’d won, but in the end all their preparation, ingenuity and teamwork had paled in comparison to the power of a Guardian spirit. Edward wasn’t entirely sure if the impossible creatures were able to feel disbondent, or if he was just projecting and seeing their tiredness as something more, but they had certainly been lain lowest by the encounter. Really it was a miracle they were still alive, and that the monstrosity had been distractible enough that it hadn’t hunted them down.

He and they had done well enough in the mass battle, but that wasn’t what awaited them at the end of this road, now was it? It was one man, one self-proclaimed god, which presented a problem much more like what they had just faced.

Still, even if it was emotionally unpleasant to be reminded of this problem, it wasn’t anything that would be solved by idleness. As soon as everyone was ready, they were back on the road again. Which provided a slight problem as while the chillanth could stalk along at a relatively swift and steady pace, and the Trafficrab was small enough to ride the stagecoach, the stubby legged Snoruyo lagged behind, necessitating a golem escort to hang back as well.

The pause to let the seekers reunite at least gave them some time to catch up, but once everyone who’d gone to and from space (something he was very much looking forward to discussing with Ramattra) was onboard, they stuck following in its wheeltracks again.

It was a good thing they’d be stopping soon and the creatures could catch up, but the issue would likely prove to be a greater problem tomorrow. 

While traveling out from the spire, Edward made sure to fill Sandalphon in on what she had missed, speaking through one of her screens to avoid having to shout through the thick walls of the stage coach. While the discussion of the combats was fairly dry, the both of them were experienced in giving and receiving such reports, his discussion of the revelation of the nature of the Naytibas was more conversational.

[color=ea590c]”As it turns out, these Naytibas were the result of humans transforming themselves into weapons to fight a second war against being known as Andro-Eidos. Apparently these Andros had declared themselves the new human race and then attempted to wipe out the ‘real’ humans”[/color] he said, before speculating that [color=ea590c]”If they were rebelling creations or simply another kind of altered humans I can’t say, but a cautionary tale to be added to the ledger either way, certinly”[/color] 

Although Sandalphon was especially weary and sore after the tense escape and then turbulent descent from the infested space station, her expression gave no sign as she listened at rapt attention. This extra information gleaned by the ground crew helped provide much-needed context to the odd conversation between Adam and Eve. The scavenger being a Naytiba explained a lot, and not just why she couldn’t connect to him via her ergo strings right after confirming that she could interface with Eve.

“So, that is the fate of mankind in the world they come from,” Sandalphon summarized. “An empty title abandoned by mutated aberrations and assumed by deluded machines. A story that reaches its turning point in the meeting between Eve, ‘an Andro-Eidos with the most advanced Unisonous Hyper Body ever seen’, and Adam, ‘the ultimate Naytiba that has not succumbed to its hostile instincts’.” She tilted her head slightly. “How strange to have witnessed the story’s end before learning all the necessary details. I am somewhat curious about the conclusion they reached…but in the end, it makes little difference. This is the World of Light, after all. There is no shortage of humans.”

She looked at Edward, then stared off into the middle distance for a moment. “I wonder. Is their ‘new beginning’ the product of the World of Light’s unique circumstances, or is it an eventuality from their own world, a pattern they unwittingly fell into?” She reached up, pulled down her halo, and began to polish some of today’s dust and grime from its surface. “That seems to be the fate of Galeem’s people. Stuck in their stories, and unable to write any new chapters.”

[color=ea590c]”Any new chapter that does not result in more war at any rate, be it from some new threat to replace the Naytiba, or getting embroiled in Dr Willing’s war of impossible creatures. Even then, ten years is all they get, and they’ll have to do it again”[/color] Edward replied/agreed grimly. War after war after war. That was all the people of this world would find. True, the same likely went for many of the ones they came from too, but there was at least a hope that one day, maybe even some day soon, there would be peace.

But peace needed stability, and in this world where all lives were curly cut short, no such thing could be found. 

Well, not quite all.

[color=ea590c]”Still, maybe they’ll make something entirely new that will last beyond the scant remaining years. This world might have no shortage of humans, and yet it might need a ‘new humanity’ nonetheless”[/color] Edward said, glancing at the Cillanth stalking beside the stage coach and then back to Sandalphon, saying [color=ea590c]”If this world was overflowing with new life there could finally be peace, and yet the price…”[/color]

Well, it was practically unthinkable. 

“Peace…?” Sandalphon idly peered at the solid wall of the stagecoach, not sure what Edward was looking at. “Unlikely. There are simply too many species or factions that are inherently destructive or violent, if not inherently evil. Demons, fiends, zombies, Others, Raptures, Naytibas…” She brought up a screen, ready to name more examples, but ultimately shrugged and brushed the screen away. “The list goes on. But even if all such species were eradicated, I doubt there would be peace.”

The archangel leaned back against the wall of the coach. “In my time among humans, I have observed…that conflict is simply human nature. Or, to put it more charitably, perhaps, it is core to the human experience. Even if some savior ridded the World of Light of all problems for one golden hour, more would soon arise.”  She narrowed her eyes slightly as her pupils became inverted triangles. “Of course, that’s not to say such a goal is futile, or not worth pursuing. Peace among men was the goal of every archangel.” With nothing more she could think of to say on that subject, she trailed off. 

After a moment, though, Sandalphon glanced at Edward with question marks in her pupils. “You talk about the future of this world. But should our mission succeed, this world will pass away. Our true selves will return to our own worlds. Or so we’ve been led to believe.” Sandalphon did not like thinking about the World of Light from a meta perspective. She’d heard a number of things about how it happened, how it worked, and what might one day happen, but who really knew for sure? Could anyone truly know? Baseless conjecture was not her forte. “Do you look to this world’s future simply as a thought exercise, or because you think that we might not succeed? Or perhaps that we should not?”

[color=ea590c]”It’s always important to keep options open, I think. As you said, we have been [i]lead[/i] to believe that things will simply go back to the way they once were, but what if that is not the case?”[/color] Edward pointed out, noting that [color=ea590c]”As I understand it the source of that ‘fact’ is not held in particularly high regard when it comes to trustworthiness."[/color]

He then shrugged and went on [color=ea590c]”Even if that is true, there is no inherent worth to the way things were. Galeem has compiled the learning of untold worlds into one place after all. Just imagine the age of wonders that could be brought forth, if only there was time to scratch more than just the surface of that accumulated wisdom. To utilize it for something other than war.”[/color] 

As he said this, the man briefly seemed to look twenty years younger, full of wide eyed hope for the future. Then the weight of those twenty years came crashing back down as he admitted [color=ea590c]”Then again, that same wisdom can just as easily be used to create horrors the likes of which we could have never dreamed of as well, and allow self conquering despots and monsters to inflict far more suffering than if they were sealed way on their original worlds.”[/color] 

[color=ea590c]”Yet at the same time, is it fair to lock the innocent in with the evils of their own world when connection to other worlds could allow them to be saved?”[/color] he added in turn, before stopping himself from going on at even more length than he already was.

[color=ea590c]”My apologies. My world, or rather, worlds, have been stuck in the throws debate like this as of late. The re-opening of the gates that allowed travel between the worlds in the astral sea had, well, consequences. As such, discussion as to if things are better, worse, or simply different now are as common as they are contentious.”[/color] 

Sandalphon listened quietly to Edward’s talking points. He summarized the issue well. This world ultimately faced the same conundrum that every constituent world did, that being whether or not good could triumph over evil, albeit on a much larger scale. She worried that the sum of all worlds’ evils would vastly outweigh the sum of all worlds’ goods, which meant that the Endless Now’s Moebius-induced stasis might actually be serving to keep even greater evils from running rampant, but there was no way to know for sure. That one sentiment, really, characterized the whole issue from top to bottom. For all her accumulated data and mental ability, Sandalphon felt just as ignorant and powerless as ever–the blind, leading the blind.

“I understand,” she admitted. “The fact of the matter is that we simply do not know. There is no good answer. We can only console ourselves with the hope that doing the best we can will someday lead us all toward the greater good, as trite as such a thing no doubt sounds.”

[color=ea590c]”It has its merits. Certainly more than sacrificing any and all ethics in the name of some nebulous greater good has”[/color] Edward agreed in part. Naturally the man was rather fond of planning and forethought, but with all the unknowns and untrustworthy actors in play, it was rather difficult to do so.

[color=ea590c]”Still, just because there is no answer in sight, does not mean we should stop searching for one. If Galeem’s world proves one thing, it's that people can achieve the impossible”[/color] he said, beneath the shadow of a heaven piercing tower built with not a lick of magic within it, a notion any one from his reality would have considered an absurdity in the extreme. 

Those words brought to mind the particular task Sandalphon had before her. It was such a sudden and sobering reminder that her breath caught in her throat, her pupils rapidly shifting between a half-dozen symbols before settling on stress marks. “...Yes,” she murmured after a moment. “I pray that it is so.”

Edward blinked in surprise at the reaction, but that was the only perturbment that he allowed. Rather than poke at it and ask if she was alright, because quite clearly she was not, he instead gently asked/offered the angel an open ended lifeline if she needed it [color=ea590c]”Is there anything I might be able to assist you with?”[/color] 

“No, thank you.” Sandalphon closed her eyes, shaking her head. “At least, not right now. I’ll inform you if I need anything.”

The man nodded after only a moment of hesitation, taking her word for it. Then, sensing that was the end of the conversation, returned to his own thoughts as the snowdrifts passed them by.