Tank O The Lake

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

Human, non-human, what a blurry line we find ourselves tightwalking. It would not be unfair to call me a human, but a member of mankind? I'm not so bloodthirsty as they. A small distinction, but an important one.

@Etcetera

A mage, then? I've certainly trafficked with them more than enough for my age.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Nods with a smile*
A sentiment and challenge all humans seem to wrestle with. Usually on the inside. Where do you hail from?

@Etcetera

It's been long enough that I don't remember myself. You? You... speak of humans as though you were not one of them, and I can only assume that is actually the case.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

Mm, I've pontificated enough to talk your ear off at this point. What kind of man are you, exactly? If man is even the right kind of word.

@Etcetera

"Man" is a word you can use. As is the female counterpart.

*I switch which elbow I'm leaning on. For a moment, my form flickers, a blurring, crackling haze falling over me. When it clears, I've taken a female form, a young blonde woman in what appears to be an early 21st-century police officer's uniform.*

I never settled on what face to wear.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

And yet, we all see their consequences on their victims. Every single issue you listed can be traced back to the same evil, whether directly or otherwise.
*Takes a sip of my hot cocoa*
Mankind's fascination with death. A mistress whose temptations fell the whole race time and time again.

@Etcetera

It's not the worst thing to be fascinated by. I've certainly wished for the Lady to visit me time and again.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Nods*
And what if they could evade these traps? Ascend and become something greater than themselves? Every one of those events you listed share a cause beyond human ambition. Their striving isn't the source of their evil, but the bait that brings out the true evil inside of themselves.

@Etcetera

If you ask me, the rest state of reality as a whole is one of conflict, and will be until the last star in the last little timeline burns out. The laws of thermodynamics dictate it; something must transition from a higher state of matter to a lower to perform any form of meaningful work. Gasoline burns to drive cars, stars burn out to heat worlds and make life, and governments fall and men fight to exact societal change. There's nothing morally wrong with conflict, just as there's nothing evil about a hurricane or an earthquake. Conflict, disunity, discord, are all simply entropic forces writ large.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Lifts a hand*
Do you ever think they could aspire to something more?

@Etcetera

Of course they can. Anyone can. Unfortunately, as with all sentient species, myself included, their own drive to "embetter" themselves is often a masked drive to engage in the same primal activity, just with a more advanced veneer. Take the difference between, say, the Punic Wars, the first two World Wars, the Great Asian War of 2040, and World War III. In all cases, they advanced drastically in a technological sense, but, in all cases, their fundamental cause was the collision of rival imperial interests. Rome versus Carthage, France and Britain versus Germany and Austria, the United States versus China, I can go on for hours.

*He leans in.*

History does not repeat, but does rhyme. Humans are human, and fall into the same... primal traps.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

We're just a circus in your eyes, then?

@Legend

In my eyes, everything is. Including myself.

*I chuckle.*

I don't find myself particularly funny, so I watch humanity go by.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

What redeems us to you, then?

@Legend

You've never, ever, ever ceased to entertain.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Finally opens my mouth to speak*
If that's all humans are good for, then we sure are a sorry race, aren't we?

@Legend

*I shrug.*

I wouldn't say that.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

Perhaps we do.
*Folds my hands*
Tell me, how do you see it?

@Etcetera

Humans are... funny things. From their earliest days, I've watched as they fought, aligned, broke apart, fractured into polities, and in the midst of all of that, retained the fundamental "humanness" that attracted me to them at the start. They still loved, still hated, still took their cruel world and wrought beauty from it, even as their wars got worse and their dissensions more divisive--that leads me to believe that such things are intrinsic to their nature.

*I cast a sidelong glance at the workingwoman.*

I struggle to find a higher purpose than what they already do.