Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Rewind
Posted Dec 26, 2022 8:23:18 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Dec 26, 2022 8:23:18 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Las Vegas
Status: Alive " You really need to watch what you're speaking, your tongue slips every other sentence." It was impossible to not notice the breaks and jumps Niji made as she accidentally invoked her memory of the other Maria, then was forced to backtrack, all the time. Whether or not she asserted that she was handling this well - she really didn't seem to. Hearing Niji's textbook description of her Division, Maria briefly grinned. It was the first time she had to represent her squad to someone who was completely unfamiliar with the Shinigami, ever since she joined not that long ago - so, she had to make a good, and accurate, first impression. " Well, it depends on what you mean by "special forces". We don't got high tech equipment or stealth or nothing - that's the other guys, the, uhh, Second one. We're sent in when the rest of the organization don't got enough strength to power through whatever obstacle is in their way - so, that's what we focus on. Threats that need someone to hit them hard, preferably with a sword. In that way, we are less the Navy Seals and more the... Spetsnaz." She snorted under her breath. Unlike the JimJim reference, she wasn't sure if Niji would get that one. " I'm talking things like... giant Hollows which are threatening entire cities and the average Shinigami of the other Divisions can't quite handle, or various flavor of bastards who want to hurt people and are out in the open," Maria continued to clarify. " Like, say, that time I "saved the world". There was an attack on Soul Society a year ago, where a few assholes calling themselves Demons barged in and sent an entire horde of minions to invade and thrash an entire district. From what I understand, they are the rulers of Hell, the dimension where all the evil souls are sent to after death - you can imagine that, I assume - and they wish to break out of that dimension in order to invade and conquer everything." The Shinigami displayed a shrug, then finished: " I jumped in to help a bunch of my friends take down one of the Demons' leaders, and we rescued the... thing they were using to bypass the walls of Hell, or something. A piece of the "Hogyoku", whatever that is. Buuut, the important part is that they can't stage any such invasion, for the time being." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Rewind
Posted Dec 26, 2022 10:14:36 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Dec 26, 2022 10:14:36 GMT -5
Niji rolled her eyes at Maria, ”Get over it, I am not used to holding my tongue around someone that looks exactly like you.” The Fullbringer flashed a mischievous smirk at the Shinigami, ”Besides, that is the whole point of this exercise, is it not? To remind me you are not my Masha, and therefore I should not trust you?”If she did get the Spetznaz reference, she didn’t make any particular indication of it. She did get quiet for a moment on the mention of demons. ”A year ago…” Niji thought back to her conversation with Muimina Hyakuji not long before the Battle of Broken Skies. There was still a conversation that needed to happen there; he had asked about how she would react if Valentina suddenly had power to accomplish her dream, and a week later. In her experience in the spiritual world, coincidences happened far too often to be dismissed entirely. And if the Demons were trying to get ahold of a new hōgyoku, well…that made the whole conversation even more suspicious. Had the Vice Captain known that an artificial hōgyoku was about to be created, and he wanted her help in case the demons had tried to make a grab for it? Had he just been covering his bases? If forced to choose between demons and an empowered Valentina Tokareva, which side would she fall on? She frowned, momentarily deep in thought; these were questions for another day. At some point she’d run into the man again, and she’d get her answers. ”Yeah… It does seem like I deal with more beasts from Jigoku than hollows these days. Mostly just the small things like hell hounds that have the bad luck to cross my path. Does Twelfth have any idea why the walls of hell might be weakening?”
Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Rewind
Posted Dec 27, 2022 7:05:58 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Dec 27, 2022 7:05:58 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Las Vegas
Status: Alive " Beasts of what now?-" Maria blurbed, faced with a Japanese word she had never heard with, before Niji clarified that she was talking about hell hounds in particular. " -oh, you mean Hell. Yeah, the hell hounds are getting more common these days, and I assume their spread is related to the whole Demon plot." She still wasn't certain what the purpose of the Hounds was, though. All Maria knew was that they appeared to hunt after any source of Reiatsu they could find and leave destruction in their path. It's not like you can ask a dog why it's doing what it is doing, after all. To Niji's question, the Shinigami answered with a big fat shrug. " The big Demon Prince guy I was fighting in Soul Society yelled something about a seal on Hell that they could only be removed with the Hogyoku, and that was put on the dimension two thousand years ago. Aside from that... I'm really not the person you should ask on whether we've figured out why it's happening. I'm not of any position in the Gotei 13, I really only know much about the Demon invasion because I was there, smacking the prince and listening to his exposition." Maria folded her arms behind the back of her head and leaned back. " Buut, if we get a clue how to put an end to that threat for good, I'm definitely gonna be there on the front lines, too. If it were to happen on Earth, can I call you in? You're... really strong, ya know, and I assume you don't want any innocent lives to be put in danger either." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Rewind
Posted Dec 27, 2022 8:28:25 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Dec 27, 2022 8:28:25 GMT -5
Niji began to respond just as a waiter finally came over to take their drink orders. ”Coke, please.”She waited a moment for Maria to place her own order and the waiter to depart; and it gave her time to think. More on the hōgyoku, and why the demons needed it; she really needed to drag the answers out of that Vice Captain. But the delay also gave Niji time to remind herself that this woman was not Masha; she owed the woman nothing. Answers, maybe, but here she was asking her for a favor after threatening to try and beat answers out of her. That instinct for violence as a first solution must run in the Tokareva family. So she offered a big fat shrug of her own, ”I have already offered my assistance to assist against the demons to a more senior member of your organization. The issue is I do not exactly have spiritual sensors dispersed across the world, and tend to be unaware of activity that is not happening within about one hundred kilometers.”
There was a slight hesitation after the noncommittal answer; unless there was a world spanning phenomenon like when Valentina had shattered the sky, of course. She continued after that half-moment, ”I am not exactly easy to contact most of the time."Which of course, now that she thought about it, did raise the question of how this woman even knew where to find her. It was not like her travel schedule was public information, so clearly someone was keeping an eye on her. She didn’t like the idea of that. "While I have a spirit phone given to me by the Gotei 13, I do not keep it on me. In fact, I only check it about once a week. I can count the number of contacts on one hand.'
"So I guess the reasonable next question is how did you know where to find me?”
Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Rewind
Posted Dec 28, 2022 7:16:43 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Dec 28, 2022 7:16:43 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Las Vegas
Status: Alive " I'd like a coke too, also, do you sell hamburgers here?" Maria asked after Niji's order. As it turns out, they do - but not the unhealthy yet delicious fast food she had gotten used to and loves, but those... big crafty burgers, which weren't as good. Still, she kept that in mind. Once the waiter departed from the table, Maria returned to the conversation. Niji, as it turns out, has received a similar request before and already promised assistance to another Shinigami, higher up in the organization. Considering how powerful she was and that she has already participated in saving the world before, it only made sense that she was recruited to go to the front line. Still, the Fullbringer addressed the communication issue, and then turned the conversation around by asking how Maria had found her in the first place. Maria released a deep breath. Once again, she recalled Tendo's request that his role in this meeting be held secret, and she was going to keep it. It will make the story a little harder to explain, though. " I'm friends with one of the Shinigami who fought by your side against my sister, you see," she began. Hopefully, Tensai won't mind getting thrown under the bus if Niji presses for his identity. " When he was telling the story of what happened, he mentioned that Val called you out by name and that she was deeply invested in beating you. That sent me down on a path of searching for your trail. And for another person's trail, but, well, that's a whole other story and it's not relevant here. So..." No lies said so far. " Eventually, I learned that you might show up at Las Vegas every once in a while, so I began patrolling here," A little omitted, but that was basically true. " The rest was, effectively, a freak occurrence. Had you not released Reiatsu while by the fountain, I might have never found you. But when I did sense you, and approached, the hair gave it away - I was told you were a ginger." Which too wasn't incorrect - Tendo did not tell her where to find Niji, only that she should look in Las Vegas. |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Rewind
Posted Dec 30, 2022 19:27:47 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Dec 30, 2022 19:27:47 GMT -5
Niji scanned the Shinigami’s face during her whole answer, and she frowned, shook her head, and let out a small huff that was almost half a laugh, ”Your tells are the same as the woman I knew.”Rather than continuing the line of interrogation, she gave a small shrug, ”You are clearly just as stubborn as she was, so pushing you to betray your informant would be a waste of time. There are less than ten individuals that know me as both Gaia and Niji, which now includes you. Only a few them know any details about my mortal dealings, and fewer still would be willing to tell you. I will figure out who told you in short order.”It wasn’t delivered as a threat, just a casual statement of fact, and Niji continued in a conversational tone as the waiter returned with their drinks, ”That being said, we have two conversational paths to go down, but I will start with the more pleasant one. Other than training and saving the world, what do you like to do in your free time? I do not know much about day-to-day activities for Shinigami, but I imagine there must be something in the afterlife other than official duties.”
Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Rewind
Posted Dec 31, 2022 14:57:41 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Dec 31, 2022 14:57:41 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Las Vegas
Status: Alive Shoot, well that didn't work out. Maria shifted her eyes to the side when Niji accused her of hiding the truth. Thankfully, she did not immediately figure out who had supplied Maria with information about her, but she assured the Shinigami that will she figured it out eventually. Since Niji immediately moved on from that verbal confrontation, Maria did not defend herself or try to convince Niji that she was saying the truth. Rather, she merely blurbed under her breath, barely audibly, with her eyes glanced away from the Fullbringer: " ...of course, you're allowed to lie to me to "keep me safe"..." She wasn't doing it specifically for keeping Niji safe, sure, but was it really that different? The Fullbringer instead moved on to questions about the afterlife, and what her life there was like, what did she do in her free time. Fairly obvious - perhaps Niji was even wishing to know what to expect when she inevitably has to move on there? It got Maria to sigh, briefly sinking into the seat. The waiter brought both of their drinks, and after taking a sip, the Shinigami began: " Life in Soul Society... well, it's neither paradise nor hell, and not what the assholes in school tried to drill into our heads so we'd listen to their orders. It's more like a second life, just a lot more medieval and you never have to eat, unless you're abnormally strong like you and me," She took another sip. " I've made friends there, and when I'm not busy training or working, we go out to the city much like you would go out with friends on Earth. Many Shinigami attend to various clubs, too. There's even a club in the Academy where members share gacha games and anime they brought from Earth - though, uh... those lads are quite odd. I showed up to their meetings once, twice, and that was enough." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Rewind
Posted Jan 1, 2023 9:01:48 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Jan 1, 2023 9:01:48 GMT -5
Niji scoffed, ”I did not gaslight you, we do not know each other.”She took a sip of her coke, then gave Maria a small smirk, ”As I said, I was forced to lead a false life where I spent the better part of a decade with someone who is shocking like you. Right up to the crinkle in their nose that shows up when they are pouting.”Of course, even if Niji didn’t have conflicting feelings about this woman, and if she had been strong enough to be a significant ally, she wasn’t intending to bring her into her plans. Right now only a few people in the world outside the Red Lotus knew about Virgil; she had to be very careful who she told. At the moment, no one in the world knew of her plan to eliminate that monster, and she was still gathering information that she’d need; the more people that knew of her plan the more opportunities there were for the man to become aware of her movements. So that wasn’t where Niji wanted the conversation to focus, and fullbringer waved a hand dismissively, ”And, I am not asking about what Soul Society is like, I know that already. I am trying to learn what you are like. I found Masha and Val when they were ten, and the real you clearly had a decade that went in a vastly different trajectory.”She offered a small shrug, ”But, that is one difference, at least. The real you is not a self-proclaimed weeb.”
Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Rewind
Posted Jan 1, 2023 15:05:13 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Jan 1, 2023 15:05:13 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Las Vegas
Status: Alive " -Huh?" Niji's unexpected comment about Maria's appearance when she is pouting got the Shinigami self-conscious, and it broke her out of her expression. Nobody had mentioned that to her, not that it was anything to notice - but the specifics of the detail on her nose caught her completely off guard. The Fullbringer did not enjoy the answer given to her. She complained that this isn't what she asked about, and that all she was interested about was specifically about Maria herself. And- " -Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Maria responded to Niji's last sentence, with a mockingly confrontational tone, then slumped to her seat, with an exasperated sigh. " I dunno, I tried to give you an answer... You almost sound like you're tryin' to be my mom and figuring out whether I have found enough friends in school... not that Mom would ever have given a shit, but, you know..." She took a large sip from her glass of coke. " I plop down in my room often, play games that we shoplifted out of Earth. We've set up an internet connection in the Division Barracks not that long ago, though it's only a local area network, but it means I can play games with my friends, too. I dunno... there's not much else I can add. Basically all of the clubs and groups are boring. Many of them are just weird Japanese crap that doesn't interest me. I don't have the patience to just... drink tea for four hours. Or draw pretty letters for four hours." Maria shrugged. " The job is the more interesting part of daily life, really. Sparring is exciting, picking fights with idiots is exciting, and just the daily exercise takes up some of my time every morning, too." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Rewind
Posted Jan 1, 2023 23:22:09 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Jan 1, 2023 23:22:09 GMT -5
Niji held herself back from defending Polina, she had not been particularly stable even in the alternate reality; and without anyone confirming her experiences, Niji could only imagine how the troubled woman ended up. The fact was, while she had been an older sister to the twins, they were going through a lot of changes when she met them that Polina was not equipped to deal with even if she had been well. She smiled faintly at Maria’s accusation of trying to mother her, she wasn’t wrong, entirely. Both Masha and this woman had died young, and she had never heard from Masha after her death. Knowing that this woman was doing well as a Shinigami would be some strange relief, even if illogical; ”Old habits, I suppose.”The woman nodded slightly as the woman continued. It…it didn’t paint a positive picture, the woman lived for combat and training. While Niji had familiarity in the trappings of tea ceremonies and calligraphy, it was never something that held her interest beyond learning how to not embarrass herself doing them. Maria had a unique perspective, growing up on the streets of Moscow; it was something that, even in the other life, she could never truly understand. Perspective that could be helpful in charitable work thr– No; if she found joy in her training, then leave her to it. The Fullbringer shook her head, clearly dismissing a thought that she chose not to voice, ”Well, it is clear your training regime is paying off. Surely you must be on the fast track to a Vice Captainship, or at least a high ranking seated position.”
Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Rewind
Posted Jan 2, 2023 10:08:23 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Jan 2, 2023 10:08:23 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Las Vegas
Status: Alive Niji didn't seem very satisfied by Maria's answer, but at least it was enough for her to not pry any further. Perhaps, from an outside's perspective, this response made her appear rather... boring. Maria could not entirely deny that. Beyond her job as a Shinigami, which she thankfully enjoyed, she felt rather aimless. Drifting about, just waiting for something to strike her. Moving on from that point, Niji complimented Maria's strength and suggested that she may rank up in the future. That got Maria to pause, with widened eyes, and stammer: " Uhhh..." After that brief glint of worry, she laughed. " A seated position is a maybe, but I dunno about the Vice-Captainship. Our Division hasn't had a Vice-Captain for over a hundred years, and the only way you can even qualify for the position is if you put up a good fight against our Captain. Problem is... he's one of the toughest bastards ever. He's so strong that he doesn't even use his Zanpakuto anymore, 'cause he can kill his opponents completely on accident while using it - and even then, he can knock fools out of their Bankai while completely unarmed." She sighed and took a sip from her glass. " So, you know... that goal is going to be a bust for a long, long time. Plus, I... just don't really see myself as a manager or a leader, anyway. I've seen people who can naturally inspire, to whom managing a Division and getting their respect is a piece of cake - and I'm anything but that. Hell, the Val I know would be better at it than I am." Since she was familiar with a Val that that was very different in character from the world destroyer that Niji described, she had to add that distinction to get ahead any unwanted confrontation. |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Rewind
Posted Jan 2, 2023 22:21:13 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Jan 2, 2023 22:21:13 GMT -5
The Fullbringer gave a half shrug at the woman’s response; she did seem somewhat aimless, but it would be better for Niji to not get entangled in this Shinigami’s life. It was not her duty to take in every stranger, ”Well, you have time to grow into whatever position, should you decide it is something you want. You are still young, and have the benefit of a nigh-immortal lifespan to determine and pursue your goals.”She nodded faintly at the comment about her twin; it was true, after all. The Valentina Tokareva that Maria remembered was probably more similar to the one from the false reality than the twisted individual she had become. The two of them had functionally managed to rally the mortal spiritual world to contest the rule of the Shinigami in the wake of Masha’s death. But she saw no particular reason to dwell on the memory of either Val; the fact was that she did not know the real Valentina all that well. ”From what I understand, leadership in the Shinigami has very little to do with anything but raw strength, but I can appreciate the desire to avoid paperwork.”
Their waitress returned, and Niji offered them a smile, ”I’ll take the garlic-parm fries.” She nodded at Maria, as she folded up her menu, ”Feel free to go nuts, I did just come from a celebration, so I’m not particularly hungry.”
Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Rewind
Posted Jan 4, 2023 4:50:03 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Jan 4, 2023 4:50:03 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Las Vegas
Status: Alive " Oh, no, I don't mean paperwork. I mean that a good Captain, from what I can tell, has to have at least some leadership quality as well - most of them are hundreds of years old and figured out how to make their division members respect them with experience. I don't have any such quality, so I'd probably end up hating the job." Their waitress arrived, and Niji invited Maria to go wild with her order. As tempting as that was, she did not want to overuse someone else's generosity - so, she figured that she'd make a moderate order instead. " I'd like two of your largest burgers - oh, and two more glasses of coke, large, please," the Shinigami declared. Once the waitress departed from their table, and they could safely converse about matters which did not concern the people of this world, Maria continued: " I'unno... Just hearing the fact that I'm going to live for basically forever makes me anxious, too. It hasn't affected me so far since I'm still in the ballpark of human age, but... I can't even begin to fathom what it feels like to live for centuries. Could you imagine having to live that long and still having new things to experience? Or being excited for something new and fresh? The last thing I want is to feel nothing more than... monotony, I wouldn't wanna train for every day for five hundred years, ya know." She had already mentioned such anxieties to Yoshi, and even though he's lived for over a century, he could understand her worries somewhat. Niji belonged to the whole other side of the trenches, and Maria wasn't sure whether she'd be conscious of what this worry feels like. But, it never hurt to try. |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Rewind
Posted Jan 4, 2023 19:47:31 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Jan 4, 2023 19:47:31 GMT -5
Niji had trod this ground with a Shinigami intruder into Haven not too long ago. That woman had not been mortal for centuries, and seemed to have either entirely forgotten her mortality, or never had it in the first place. She gave a slight shudder, and nodded at the woman across from her. Of course, Maria had at least some idea of what Niji had experienced through Val’s psychic attacks. The fullbringer gave a mirthless chuckle, ”I was forced to experience decades in the span of seconds. I have the memory of those fake lives in my head; and it took me months to separate fact from fiction; clearly, I am not done dealing with it. But the fact is, those memories are now part of who I am. I have instincts that were not there before; gut reactions from a life that was not real.”She sighed, ”As a result, I have been thinking quite a bit about memories and as they relate to who you are. In centuries, a mortal life would be, at best, a distant memory; just echoes of impressions that may have faded entirely. In twenty years, you will have been a Shinigami longer than you were alive. In a hundred? How much of your memories from when you were five do you have? Without the memory of who you used to be, you might as well be an entirely new person.”Niji glanced at her engagement ring, shaking her head, her expression distant; ”I believe that memories are who we are, Masha. With immortality, who you used to be will fade with the memories. In a hundred years, you might be the person that gets excited to wake up and train every day. It is impossible to know the future, to know who you will become.”
Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Rewind
Posted Jan 5, 2023 16:58:52 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Jan 5, 2023 16:58:52 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Las Vegas
Status: Alive Niji responded to Maria's thoughts with unexpected contemplation. She once again drew attention to the fact that she lived with alternate versions of Val and Maria for ten years and pointed out that in spite of their fakeness, those memories now form a part of who she is, and stated that after living for centuries, Maria will feel the same - all the memories of her past life being replaced with those she will gather in her Shinigami life, so, presumably, her anxieties about the infinite life ahead will just... fade away. " Fuck..." Maria muttered after some pause, giving time for Niji's words to sink in and leave a slightly moody atmosphere at the table. " You have a point, I'm just... not good at all this philosophy stuff." She hardly ever stopped and contemplated herself, nor were the people she knew in the Eleventh Division any better at it. She took a long gulp from her glass of coke. Just in time, the waiter brought her two additional glasses before the burgers and Niji's fries arrived, saving her from the horror of having nothing to drink while having these heavy conversations. " But... it can't be just our memories," Maria answered back, staring down at the remaining coke in her glass, briefly swirling it in her hand. " There must be something authentic about every person, that stays around and holds on no matter how many memories you forget and receive. Otherwise, there'd be nothing that makes a person unique - it would mean that, if someone were to switch you and me around when we were babies, you would have lived the exact same life I did - and would be sitting on my seat right now. And that makes no sense. You wouldn't act the exact same, in spite of the same memories as me you held." |
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