Iku Quest Otto - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "How?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "How?"

>"I'll figure it," she says. "I've not got much choice, do I?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I've already offered you a much better one. You just don't want to take it."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I've already offered you a much better one. You just don't want to take it."

>"If you were in my situation, and the solution I offered was to take the hearts of others, would you call it better?" says the Poltergeist.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You draw a parallel between depravity and murder that I'm not sure I agree is valid."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You draw a parallel between depravity and murder that I'm not sure I agree is valid."

>"It's as valid to you as it is to me," she says. "If you want to pretend otherwise, there's nothing I can do about it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I agree with what you're getting at, with the close personal value. The difference is that your violations would hurt yourself, whereas my violations would hurt others. If you could produce a personal violation where I would only be harming myself, then I could answer your question better."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I agree with what you're getting at, with the close personal value. The difference is that your violations would hurt yourself, whereas my violations would hurt others. If you could produce a personal violation where I would only be harming myself, then I could answer your question better."

>"If you know what I'm trying to say," she says, frowning, "then why are you worrying about anything else?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Because the situations are different. For example, if I could only survive by running around in the nude every waking second of my life, I would be unhappy about it, and probably very cold, but it would certainly beat the alternative."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Because the situations are different. For example, if I could only survive by running around in the nude every waking second of my life, I would be unhappy about it, and probably very cold, but it would certainly beat the alternative."

>"Except it's not even close to a comparison," she says. "You know what I meant, stop acting like I meant something different!"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You meant a great personal affront, yes. I would be willing to take on any great personal affront to myself in the name of survival."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You meant a great personal affront, yes. I would be willing to take on any great personal affront to myself in the name of survival."

>"And if you didn't need to, you wouldn't," she says. "I don't need to."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Because you think you can solve a problem in less than a week that has confounded great magicians with access to research for centuries. And because you think you can circumvent the entire foundation of what it means for a poltergeist to exist at all."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Because you think you can solve a problem in less than a week that has confounded great magicians with access to research for centuries. And because you think you can circumvent the entire foundation of what it means for a poltergeist to exist at all."

>"I'm not a magician," she says. "I don't have their issues."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You're also not a deity. The problem isn't limited to magicians. They've done their research on the effects of such an act on a multitude of creatures. I'd be happy to go ask Patchouli how long an isolationist poltergeist would last before the end comes."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You're also not a deity. The problem isn't limited to magicians. They've done their research on the effects of such an act on a multitude of creatures. I'd be happy to go ask Patchouli how long an isolationist poltergeist would last before the end comes."

>"It doesn't matter what she says, I'll make it work. I don't have a choice, why do you keep acting like I do?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Because I don't want you to die, and everything I've heard from sources more knowledgeable than both of us combined says that you will, either from the overload of power or from the complete isolation."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Because I don't want you to die, and everything I've heard from sources more knowledgeable than both of us combined says that you will, either from the overload of power or from the complete isolation."

>"So you'd rather have me endure worse?" she says. Despite her words, her tone isn't accusatory. It's more of an honest question.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Will you help me understand why it is so bad, then? I really do want to help you, but I fear this is the fundamental disagreement that will prevent it from ever happening in a meaningful way."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Will you help me understand why it is so bad, then? I really do want to help you, but I fear this is the fundamental disagreement that will prevent it from ever happening in a meaningful way."

>She sighs. "It's like I said, I can't explain it to you any more than I have. If you can't understand it by now, there's no hope for you."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "But it must be a conclusion you reached somehow. What evidence do you have to support your assertion?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "But it must be a conclusion you reached somehow. What evidence do you have to support your assertion?"

>"How do you understand what color the grass is?" she says. "I merely understand it based on what is there."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "If it is simply because it is the way of things, how do you account for the way of poltergeist survival being that of being noticed?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "If it is simply because it is the way of things, how do you account for the way of poltergeist survival being that of being noticed?"

>"I don't know," she says. "I would say it's just one way. I've found a better one."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I would hardly call it a better way, given all the suffering it has caused."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I would hardly call it a better way, given all the suffering it has caused."

>"...Maybe so," she says after a moment. "But that's already been done. If I gave it back, it wouldn't change anything."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "It would free the celestials enslaved and the islands conquered by the vampire in the manor near the lake."

[Hello Purvis]

> "It would free the celestials enslaved and the islands conquered by the vampire in the manor near the lake."

>"There are other ways to free them," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "There are, but all would involve violence, which I would rather not do unless I am forced. But I suspect that you are not concerned with such things."

[Hello Purvis]

> "There are, but all would involve violence, which I would rather not do unless I am forced. But I suspect that you are not concerned with such things."

>"Maybe so," she says. "But I still can't give it back."

>_