Kisume Quest IV - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "Anyway...for what it's worth, if Tenshi really did do this, she'd have to be beyond stupid to have done it maliciously. If nothing else, it's way too easily traceable to her. Even ignoring what the fairy said, all you have to do is consider that the fairy knew what it was going for and the suspect pool gets narrowed down to exactly two people. If we're gonna assume she's clever enough to delay cake payment to a fairy, we have to assume she's clever enough to realize that."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Anyway...for what it's worth, if Tenshi really did do this, she'd have to be beyond stupid to have done it maliciously. If nothing else, it's way too easily traceable to her. Even ignoring what the fairy said, all you have to do is consider that the fairy knew what it was going for and the suspect pool gets narrowed down to exactly two people. If we're gonna assume she's clever enough to delay cake payment to a fairy, we have to assume she's clever enough to realize that."

>"It might be possible that she didn't expect the faerie to be found," says Iku.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Shake head.
> "Doesn't matter. S'why I said to ignore what the fairy said. The initial attack shows the fairy knew where the seed was. Only four people in the world knew where the seed was, and two were you two. Only way that fairy would know is if one of the other two let the info out. Tenshi's already a major suspect without the description."

[Hello Purvis]

> Shake head.
> "Doesn't matter. S'why I said to ignore what the fairy said. The initial attack shows the fairy knew where the seed was. Only four people in the world knew where the seed was, and two were you two. Only way that fairy would know is if one of the other two let the info out. Tenshi's already a major suspect without the description."

>Iku nods. "I see what you mean, now."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Right. So what now?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Right. So what now?"

>"Shuuei?" says Iku, glancing around the tree. "I believe this is up to you."
>"Why don't you want me use it?" says Shuuei.
>"I've told you part of it already," Iku says, "It's best not to depend so much on it now, and I have faith that you can preserve your secrets without it. Also, and a bit more personally, I'd like to see you not have to rely on deception so much. And, I'd like to see you when we have lunch together, rather than your illusion."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You know, it occurs to me that you're using her name pretty freely in front of me."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You know, it occurs to me that you're using her name pretty freely in front of me."

>"I...like it better than 'you'," says Shuuei. "And I thought you didn't care."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Whether I care or not doesn't matter in this case. A name's a reasonably important part of one's identity. Handing it over so freely seems incongruous with minimizing what people know about you."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Whether I care or not doesn't matter in this case. A name's a reasonably important part of one's identity. Handing it over so freely seems incongruous with minimizing what people know about you."

>"I used to feel that way," says Shuuei. "But a name is really only as good as what you can attach to it, I've found."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "So it is your real name, then."

[Hello Purvis]

> "So it is your real name, then."

>"It's real enough," she says. "It is known, I respond to it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "And people associate this apparently fake you with it. The fake you's habits, opinions, likes, dislikes, and so on."

[Hello Purvis]

> "And people associate this apparently fake you with it. The fake you's habits, opinions, likes, dislikes, and so on."

>"That is true," says Shuuei. "It would make things difficult if I stopped using it."
>Iku frowns. "To be truthful, though, you have not acted much different, despite that. You've learned and adapted, but not in a way that's different than you are now,"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I was thinking more that, if the fake you is associated with that name, then you could just keep on using that name and behaving the same way and no one would ever know the real you or associate the fake you's habits with your real name. But if the behavioral shift is really that small, then I guess that doesn't work as well as it could."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I was thinking more that, if the fake you is associated with that name, then you could just keep on using that name and behaving the same way and no one would ever know the real you or associate the fake you's habits with your real name. But if the behavioral shift is really that small, then I guess that doesn't work as well as it could."

>"Almost no one knows my original name," says Shuuei. "I'm not worried that it would ever be known anyway. ...No, it's possible Tenshi might tell someone that, too..."
>"Shuuei," says Iku.
>"I'm not planning to do anything bad to her," says Shuuei, "Not yet."

>_

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Wait, she had an original name?

[Kilgamayan]

Yes.

> "Well. If you told someone your original name, would it mean anything to them?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well. If you told someone your original name, would it mean anything to them?"

>"Yes," she says.  "But...not quite for me. It's complicated."
>"Rather like if there was someone else named Kisume, and was much better known than you," says Iku. "Only quite a bit more unique."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Huh. So it's celebrity-ish. Kinda explains the desire to hide. I wouldn't want to be bothered by annoying fans either."

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Yes.

What was it? Namely, I don't recall it.

[Kilgamayan]

Last name Ever, first name Greatest.

In all seriousness, she identifies as 'Brocken Spectre'. No 'The', even. It came up in the second encounter with her by the riverside, before Tenshi came back from Turtle House.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Ah. Didn't pick up on that being her actual name.

[Kilgamayan]

It was very subtle at the time. The only reason I picked up on it was because I reread the dialogue several times due to it looking funny and eventually noticed that the 'the' was missing from her statement.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Huh. So it's celebrity-ish. Kinda explains the desire to hide. I wouldn't want to be bothered by annoying fans either."

>"That's a good way to think of it," says Iku.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Then that prompts another question. If you told someone your real name, would they believe you?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Then that prompts another question. If you told someone your real name, would they believe you?"

>"Not at first," says Shuuei.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "When would they believe you, then?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "When would they believe you, then?"

>"After far more explaining than anyone would normally want to do," says Shuuei.
>"It is a bit complicated," Iku adds.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "So you're saying it's unlikely anyone would actually believe you unless you actively went out of your way to convince them."