[Voice]

[aurathread]

[Tsukasa's voice comes across the network. He's not talking about how scared he was during that thing, okay.]

Mm. My Persona woke up during that... stuff. I don't like it. I can't get rid of it, right?

[That's annoying. He's quiet for a few long moments before speaking again, tone a little flat.]

And... how do you know if you're real?

[And even if he is real, what if the him outside of the game is so different than the him in the game that they might as well be two people?]

Comments

voice

[bladedskies]

I'm not sure about the first one - never bothered with mine. Reckon somebody around town would know, though...

[Hi Tsukasa.]

As for that second one. [There's a long, quiet sigh.] I don't know. How do you tell you're alive? It's all pretty subjective when you think about it, isn't it?

[aurathread]

[Oh. Hi.]

The body that's in a coma... that's the real me. So what am I?

voice - PRIVATE

[bladedskies]

I wouldn't know. I'm [her voice actually cracks a little] dead back home. But we're still here, existing, regardless.

Maybe that's the only thing that matters.

Voice

[electricyousei]

"I... Don't really like my persona either but it seems we're stuck with the one that forms from us when we come here. As for the other thing, are you looking for factual proof of some sort of philosophical justification of existence?"

[aurathread]

I'm not sure. I just don't know. My real self isn't... anything like this, I think.

[electricyousei]

"I'm not sure something like that is something to loose sleep over. You are who you are."

[Voice]

[faustianphantom]

Unfortunately not. [Or Ciel would be rid of his by now.] What do you mean? You should know that you are real.

[aurathread]

But this is just me from a video game. That doesn't mean it's... the real me. Lots of people pretend they're something they're not when they play The World.

Voice-private

[not_that_scary]

... I once knew a pair of twins when I was playing the game. They cared a great for each other, and shared an account together for playing the game. Then, I learned that one of the twins didn't have a real body. She was a split personality of the brother, created to protect him from bullies and be his friend, and the only way they could interact was to play The World.

She considered going back into the brother, to become a single whole again now that she wasn't needed anymore.

[Thoughts so far, Tsukasa?]

[aurathread]

That's... that's not the same, though. I'm... not a split personality... I've just been changed. And I don't know the rest of what's 'me'. So if I'm just a... a part, a piece of a person...

[... Maybe it's similar, kind of.]

I don't know if that... means I'm real or not.

voice;

[skyofreverie]

[Sora can't really answer the first one because he doesn't know how he got rid of his. That second one though, that he can answer.]

If you feel in your heart that you're real then that's all that matters.

[aurathread]

... I don't know. That's the problem.

[skyofreverie]

You have memories, don't you? And feelings. Even if you're not sure about either of them, they make you real.

[Voice]

[bondsofsuffering]

Nope! You're stuck with your Soul Persona for good.

[Sure does suck, doesn't it.]

[aurathread]

But... why?

[bondsofsuffering]

Because it's a mask unique to you. Or... something like that, anyway.

[Video]

[eyewillprotect]

[She's about to answer the first part, but... Something about his second question catches her attention.]

What do you mean? Why wouldn't you be real?

[aurathread]

This is just the body I have in a video game...

[eyewillprotect]

A body in a... video game?

[Guess who doesn't really play those!]

[voice]

[greatseal]

[Other people have talked about the Personas already but that second question... is still unusual.]

What kind of proof are you looking for?

[aurathread]

I don't know. This just... this isn't my real body. So how do I even know that I'm real and not just an AI or something?

[greatseal]

[well, that's definitely a complicated question.]

Not you real body... how? Is it a robot body?

voice;

[howfascinating]

...The fact that you're asking that.

[Because if you're not real, you don't exist, and if you don't exist, then...

Well, you get the drift.]

[aurathread]

I've known artificial intelligences that can ask questions like that...

[howfascinating]

Even so- you are now breathing, living, talking, and doing a lot of other things.

[and isn't that all that matters? Well, not really, but he's starting with the basics first.]

Whether or not you're artificial or human, it doesn't matter if you have sentience. For that means you're alive.