<Snipped quote by Audacious>

What sorts of things did you see when you left?

<Snipped quote by Memory>

That's a way to think of it, but it's not the reason, directly. And things get messier with some systems; we're lucky that we only have to deal with a common periodic table right now.

<Snipped quote by Meta>

*Blows air out of my mouth*
That is officially the kind of question that’s too broad for me to answer, because I’m still seeing it all to this day.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

Okay, instead, what did you see that, when you saw it, made you saw "yes, this is why I left home."?

<Snipped quote by Meta>

*Taps my chin*
Tough, still. I’d say I felt that way when I got to see, land in, and explore an orbital ring for the first time. Something so useful was also so gorgeous to watch from the window. Really showed what’s possible for people out there in the world that I could barely imagine before.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

What did it look like when you first got there? What stood out?

<Snipped quote by Meta>

A lot of flashing lights and colors. Lots of ships going in and out. But the biggest thing was literally the biggest thing. Getting to see the scale of it all- a station built around a planet by people, as like an extension of the planet itself. A bridge from the people on the ground, to space where they could go anywhere… You ever get to visit anything like that?

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*Shakes my head*
Nothing on that scale. I would like to have the chance to see something like that for myself, someday.

<Snipped quote by Meta>

I hope you get to. It’s one thing to know in your head how big the world really is, but it’s another to slowly get to experience the steps to really grasping how grand it all is.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

Was any part of it scary? Almost making you feel insignificant?

<Snipped quote by Meta>

You might think that. But I wouldn’t say that at all. Felt like I was coming out of my shell and joining something important. Bigger than myself, sure, but not in a way that made me feel small.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

Almost like part of a community?

<Snipped quote by Meta>

Yeah, pretty much. On the largest scale one could be on.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*Nods, taking it all in for a few seconds*
That does sound really nice. Were you a big star gazer growing up?

<Snipped quote by Yatagarasu>

So what's the real reason, then?

<Snipped quote by Meta>

I was. Dad spent a lot of time teaching us about the stars. It built up a lot of anticipation, and I couldn’t wait to go.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

Did it meet your expectations?

<Snipped quote by Memory>

You were on the right track, just thinking too physically. It's because it's the "first." Yes, it can turn into other elements physically through various processes, but souls don't work off of physical matter. So we need something to represent "one" or "beginning," for the process, and the first element formed in nature works well for that.

Knowing that, I bet you can guess some of the other materials' purposes.

<Snipped quote by Meta>

It blew them away. Because like I said, I knew how big the world was in my head. But to feel how big it is? Whole different beast.

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*Motions my head up toward the ceiling*
Wow... Okay, without a doubt, that has to go on my bucket list.