IC INBOX: WATER

[thankgods]

   IC INBOX: THE WATER

The Water can be found anywhere that is not on Ensō or its islets. To speak to the Water, one merely has to situate themselves at any of the other island shores and be physically touching the ocean waters while verbally asking to speak to them. The Water will oftentimes respond promptly, usually by manifesting in the shape of a dragon made entirely of water, though this shape may vary.

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Comments

[forwearemany]

Identity of the eldest?

(Are they one of the gods they have encountered?)

[thankgods]

The eldest...?

[At that, the Water has to take a moment to contemplate.]

I cannot say. Perhaps the god of time, or of life and death...their names currently evade me. I only remember I was not the first.

[forwearemany]

Acknowledged.

Will you tell us of the other gods?

[thankgods]

How much time do you have?

[Not for nothing, Legion, but all that stuff they said about time being of a limited resource for those of the mortal persuasion? It's relevant here.]

[forwearemany]

We do not tire, age, hunger, or thirst as organics do. Based on current activity levels, recharge will be required in approximately 4.3 days. We complete daily tasks to assist organic allies, however, those have been completed for today.

[thankgods]

You do not care at all for the many casualties that may be sustained due to the quartzalcoatl, the longer you stand here and speak to me?

[forwearemany]

(They chatter at this. Others, they know, are capable of defending themselves. Few have their ability to perfectly recall information.

However, they are capable of ranged attacks, a skill shared by few.

A skill ideal for combat against this enemy.)

Likeliness of relevance to current situation?

[thankgods]

That, I cannot say. It is your choice to make, if you find the promise of answers to be worth the lives of your friends.

But they may fare well without. I cannot discern that. The fates of those on Ensō are seldom clear to me.

[forwearemany]

(They consider this.

It is, they think, too bad that there is no one else able to wield the w-

Shepard-Commander.

Perhaps they can deliver the gun to her.)

We will return in approximately one hour to receive this information. Is this acceptable?

[thankgods]

Whether this is acceptable or not is entirely within your hands.

Regardless, I will be here.

[forwearemany]

Affirmative.

(They leave, and return within the specified timeframe, sans Widow.)

[thankgods]

[Well, the Water is still here, as they said.]

Back so soon?

["Soon" is subjective. But when you're as old as they are, it certainly feels like "soon."]

[forwearemany]

It is the specified time.

(Their headflaps lift slightly.)

[thankgods]

And so it is.

[Silence. You want something, Legion, you're going to have to ask for it in no uncertain terms. They're not going to presume to know what it is you want.]

[forwearemany]

Again: will you tell us of other gods?

[thankgods]

You will have to be much, much more specific.

[forwearemany]

Affirmative. Gods of the islands we have visited?

[thankgods]

Those were not gods.

They were memories of them, mere shades of what they were. The Storyteller and myself, we are gods. The others you met were not.

[forwearemany]

(Their headflaps flare out, and they spend almost an entire minute chattering to themselves in Geth, as the flaps continue to shift and ripple. Even when they calm, the rhythmic movements continue, and it takes them nearly two minutes to respond: an eternity in the speed of machine thought.)

Are there other Gods?

(They start with.)

Do these memories possess the capacity to self-determinate?

(And then, the most important, at least to them:)

Are other lifeforms encountered also memories?

[thankgods]

Other lifeforms? No. I don't believe so. Some of the population of the world as it was doubtless survived. As for whether or not there are other gods...to my knowledge, Mnerim and I are the only two.

As far as I am capable of remembering, thus far.

I cannot say whether or not said memories can "self-determinate," as you put it. I know them as mere shades of what they once were, and little else.

[forwearemany]

If they are capable of self determination, then while they may not be gods, they are also more than shades.

(They'd be properly alive, at least from Legion's perspective.

Whether the memories are alive is probably something they should find out.)

[thankgods]

That depends entirely on your perspective. But they are unstuck in time and in space. They are long dead. That will not change.

[forwearemany]

(They chatter unhappily. The status of intelligent, thinking, beings with the capacity to decide for themselves should not be a matter of the perspective of others.)

Regardless, if they are capable of self determination, then they are their own beings.

[thankgods]

[The Water manages to convey something of a dismissive shrug through their tone alone.]

Then by all means, continue to devote your time and attention to something long gone, just as the Storyteller does. I will not stop you, and it will change very little.

[forwearemany]

If they are capable of self determination, then they are not those they were made in the image of.

(And they get to choose what that means.

But for now...)

Goodbye.

(They turn and leave.)