kenoscomm | locked to zenith

[ Link's mental space feels like being outside, so depending on where you are, you might not realize that someone has started Communion with you. Since joining the Zenith, the landscape of Link's mind has gone from idyllic, sunny forests to icy, overcast mountains. A frigid wind blows against your face, carrying the scent of firewood and meat roasting over an open flame. The diminutive Hylian is not sitting by the fire, but standing at the edge of a rocky ledge, his back turned. ]

There's going to be another Oracle soon. I can feel it. The rest of you can feel it too, right? That... pulling feeling.

[ He sighs. ]

If we lose this one, it's over. The Meridian isn't going to go easy on us. I know them... I know how badly they want to win. To them, the stakes couldn't be higher.

So let's talk. About what we're going to be up against, and... well, planning ahead isn't really something we can do, but at least we can warn each other of the dangers that individual Meri pose.

And I... I want to say something, too.

[ He sits down where he stands, his feet hanging off the cliff. There's a sense that he knows this isn't going to go over well, but it's important enough to him to say it anyway. ]

Killing the other guy before they kill you is what war is. That's normal. But Kenos is different. Death doesn't work the way it should here. We don't die permanently. You can neutralize someone threatening you by just dissipating them. There's nothing to gain by destroying their soul after you're no longer in danger.

So, I don't think any of us should shatter anyone ever again.

If you claim someone's Shard, you should protect it. If you feel that you can't do that, give it to someone else.

...I'm not stupid. I know a lot of you aren't gonna agree to this. And the Meris probably won't either. I'm sure they want revenge for what happened to Quetzalcoatl, and those of you who lost the Shards Yima gave you probably aren't feeling very merciful right now either...

But if we don't come to some kinda agreement now, that's going to become normal. Things are gonna get really bad. I don't want that. So... can we talk about it, at least?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Oh, oh are we talking chess metaphors now, finally someone is speaking his language. ]

So I've heard. And when the time comes, I'll be ready to do whatever it takes to claim victory. [ Even, ew, teamwork. ]

Nevertheless, I object to this idea that we should always spare the enemy's Shard. There's no checkmate without losing a few pieces.

Just remember they continue to keep their numbers because they can dress Meridian up in a little bow and call themselves, "the good guys". Most people delude themselves into believing 'good' or 'bad' has a place in conflict like this, and the more ammo we give them to call us 'bad' the more new shard-bearers will shy away from our goal.

Though I do see your point, that begs the question of: do we really want those weaker willed within our ranks? Manpower may be important, but so is conviction-- and I can say for myself that I am not lacking in it.

Which is why I say numbers can and should be evened out. In moderation if we must, but permanently. Preferably, without making a public show out of it.

We're making a new world, not the universe's strongest killing team! Do you really think if it was only survival of the fittest that noncombatants would be called to this place? If power was the only thing that mattered, wouldn't shard-bearer counts be overrun with more non-humans? Both you and Silco are so exhausting and wrong about this.

[ There's the sense that Akechi is giving her a long, long stare, his jaw just a bit slack. ]

... I literally just said conviction is just as important.

[ Seriously. He's starting to get concerned for all this Zenite cognitive deficit, maybe that's why they keep losing........... ]

Whether they can engage in combat or are even human at all, it's clear all Shardbearers bring valuable assets to the table. But those assets will be meaningless to us if they're so spineless as to defect to the pretty-bow side at the first sign of getting our hands dirty.

The problem is that, at least with him, conviction means undying loyalty and just stomaching the worst pieces of human trash to get what you want. Well, if the whole reason why someone would be willing to entertain the idea of a new world is to avoid said pieces of human trash, then obviously they're going to stop entertaining that idea if the human trash is the one spear heading the new world! Until we make it clear that this new world is obviously supposed to be something better, people will refuse it. The devil you know is always safer than the devil you don't and all that.

[And she doesn't care if Silco sees her griping about him. She's not the only one.]

Besides, even those who aren't "spineless" have defected factions before. And it's more often away from Zenith to Meridian because of mindsets like yours. Zenith bleeds in more ways than one, and it's those who claim to be the most loyal who are doing the bloodletting.

And therein lies the problem: the expectation that the new world will be a flawless garden of Eden. To sell it like that is no better than the "pretty little bow" you've claimed Meridians to dress up their lies in.

[ Or: no person on earth is all good. Even if you take out the trash, there'll always be just enough leftover rot to fester and spread. ]

If Zenith bleeds because people reject an ugly truth, then Zenith was never truly their place, to begin with. They would be a liability, prone to betrayal at the smallest sign of inconvenience, perhaps at a crucial moment, thus compromising all of our efforts. It's about time we drop the rose-tinted glasses and keep both our expectations and our loyalties realistic. How else are we supposed to coordinate any plans if we can't even trust our own allies?

No one ever said it had to be flawless. Just better. It has to be worth it. If it's just more of the same why even bother?

That right there is another problem: there is no objectively better world. Whatever past you deemed so worthless as to cast aside may be a life of privilege to someone else. Would the new world only be worth fighting for as long as it favors you?

[ He's cold, but there's no judgement in his tone. ]

Cut the edgy bullshit, of course there's an objectively better world. We had a kid here who was from a world that was overrun by demons and zombies. My own world had its own magical horrors that have no place existing in a new creation. Maybe your world was so nice and cushy that its only problems were systemic or interpersonal, but that is absolutely not the case for everyone. Don't be so self-absorbed.

[He almost sounds like the sadistic priest who raised her — posing stupid ethical quandaries like that.]

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