Iku Quest Otto - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> Shrug.
> "I suppose you would feel that way. But, to be honest with you, my home's situation really doesn't depend that much on what you think you can or cannot do."

[Hello Purvis]

> Shrug.
> "I suppose you would feel that way. But, to be honest with you, my home's situation really doesn't depend that much on what you think you can or cannot do."

>You shrug.
>"Are you agreeing with me, then?" she asks.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I'm pretty seriously considering just letting you do what you want to do, since you seem so hell-bent on it. See, when you die - and you will die, probably within the week - you won't be holding on to those shadows you possess right now. They might be scattered to the winds, or the Yama may end up just returning them to their rightful places. It is not a sure thing that she has the resources to return all of the shadows on her own, but since you took Bhava-Agra's shadow, The Dragon will have a vested interest in making sure they are returned to their rightful places, and I imagine it's a very good bet The Dragon will be able to shore up whatever resources The Yama lacks. So, as far as I see it, you can realize how unnecessarily stubborn you're being and return things to the way they were, or you can go ahead and kill yourself, like you're doing now. My home gets its shadow back either way."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'm pretty seriously considering just letting you do what you want to do, since you seem so hell-bent on it. See, when you die - and you will die, probably within the week - you won't be holding on to those shadows you possess right now. They might be scattered to the winds, or the Yama may end up just returning them to their rightful places. It is not a sure thing that she has the resources to return all of the shadows on her own, but since you took Bhava-Agra's shadow, The Dragon will have a vested interest in making sure they are returned to their rightful places, and I imagine it's a very good bet The Dragon will be able to shore up whatever resources The Yama lacks. So, as far as I see it, you can realize how unnecessarily stubborn you're being and return things to the way they were, or you can go ahead and kill yourself, like you're doing now. My home gets its shadow back either way."

>"And what will you do when that doesn't come to pass?" she asks.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "A silly hypothetical, because it will, no matter how much you want to believe it won't."

[Hello Purvis]

> "A silly hypothetical, because it will, no matter how much you want to believe it won't."

>"You're running away from the question," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Because I have no reason to believe it is valid. I've done my research. I know the situation. Can you say the same?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Because I have no reason to believe it is valid. I've done my research. I know the situation. Can you say the same?"

>"I know myself," she says, "And I know shadows much better than you. It will work."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You know shadows better than me, but the librarian knows them better than you, and she has told me what I need to know."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You know shadows better than me, but the librarian knows them better than you, and she has told me what I need to know."

>"I doubt it," she says. "If you've truly not exposed me, as you claimed, then she knows nothing about me or my capacities."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You can doubt it all you want, but your refusal to put your money where your mouth is gives me zero inclination to believe you. Especially when she diagnosed your discomfort problem in mere minutes without needing to know what type of creature you were when you had extra information and over a day to think about it and still produced nothing."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You can doubt it all you want, but your refusal to put your money where your mouth is gives me zero inclination to believe you. Especially when she diagnosed your discomfort problem in mere minutes when you had over a day to think about it and produced nothing."

>"What do you mean, put my money where my mouth is?" she asks.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

 >"It's simple. You claim you know more about shadows than her? Prove it."

[Hello Purvis]

>"It's simple. You claim you know more about shadows than her? Prove it."

>"How many has she taken?" asks the poltergeist? "How many has she used for herself? Has she even noticed her own?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Where is our shadow relative to the poltergeist?
> "Those are questions for her, not for me. I only asked her what I could based on the incomplete information and tight restrictions placed on me."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Those are questions for her, not for me."

>"You have confidence in her over me, and you don't even know the answer to that?" says the Poltergeist.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I never asked her. It's entirely possible she's taken and used hundreds of shadows in her lifetime, and that it just never came up. She knew they could be taken, she knew they could be used by the taker, and she knew that taking Bhava-Agra's shadow is stupid but possible, and if not for the self-destruction involved, she would have done so herself ages ago, to use her words. But I pressed no further into the matters you ask about, because they were not pertinent before."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I never asked her. It's entirely possible she's taken and used hundreds of shadows in her lifetime, and that it just never came up. She knew they could be taken, she knew they could be used by the taker, and she knew that taking Bhava-Agra's shadow is stupid but possible, and if not for the self-destruction involved, she would have done so herself ages ago, to use her words. But I pressed no further into the matters you ask about, because they were not pertinent before."

>"Or she could have done absolutely nothing and just be guessing," says the poltergeist. "Given that book, it seems pretty likely."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "There's one way to find out for certain."

[Hello Purvis]

> "There's one way to find out for certain."

>"I am not exposing myself to her!" the Poltergeist cries, her expression hardening.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Where is our shadow relative to her?
> Shrug.
> "Then your claim is nothing but empty words. You have demonstrated power that she may or may not have, but she has demonstrated knowledge that you have demonstrated you don't have. The choice is not hard to make."

[Hello Purvis]

> Where is our shadow relative to her?
> Shrug.
> "Then your claim is nothing but empty words. You have demonstrated power that she may or may not have, but she has demonstrated knowledge that you have demonstrated you don't have. The choice is not hard to make."

>It is noonish, your shadow isn't very close to her at all.
>"I know what I'm doing," she says. "She's never shown she does. I have nothing to prove; she has everything."

[Kilgamayan]

> "If you knew what you were doing, you would never have told me anything."

[Hello Purvis]

> "If you knew what you were doing, you would never have told me anything."

>"And she knows less," says the poltergeist. "She hasn't even touched a shadow! If she had, you would have said so when I asked. Just admit it, she has no idea what she's talking about."

[Kilgamayan]

> The Scarlet Devil Mansion was to the south, correct?
> "I told you I don't know because I don't know. Because I didn't ask. How would I have known without asking?"

[Hello Purvis]

> The Scarlet Devil Mansion was to the south, correct?
> "I told you I don't know because I don't know. Because I didn't ask. How would I have known without asking?"

>Yes.
>"So you didn't even bother to find out if she had any idea what she was talking about," says the Poltergeist. "You just assumed she's right and I'm wrong."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I assume she is right for two reasons. One, because she has been alive for many years, and resides in a massive library. It is unlikely that anyone in Gensokyo has spent a greater percentage of their lifetime doing magical research than her. Two, because she took mere minutes to produce the solution to a problem that has been bothering you for over a day despite the informational advantage you have, a problem that so boggled your mind that you were willing to tell me all about yourself and then let me go to get outside help."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I assume she is right for two reasons. One, because she has been alive for many years, and resides in a massive library. It is unlikely that anyone in Gensokyo has spent a greater percentage of their lifetime doing magical research than her. Two, because she took mere minutes to produce the solution to a problem that has been bothering you for over a day despite the informational advantage you have, a problem that so boggled your mind that you were willing to tell me all about yourself and then let me go to get outside help."

>"And that doesn't mean she knows anything about this," says the poltergeist. "She guessed. And she is wrong, I will do this."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I'm getting the feeling you would have rejected any answer I provided you if it wasn't an answer you liked, regardless of who I asked."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'm getting the feeling you would have rejected any answer I provided you if it wasn't an answer you liked, regardless of who I asked."

>"Maybe," she says. "I can't help I know more about this than pretty much anyone else."

>_