[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.

private voice fiveever

[aurathread]

... Maybe. I... I don't even known if I'm a guy or a girl...

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?"

[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]

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

[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.

[electricyousei]

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

[aurathread]

I don't know, though. I don't know who I am.

[electricyousei]

"What is your name?"

[aurathread]

... Tsukasa. But not really. That's just my character's name. I don't know my real name.

[electricyousei]

"Character?"

[aurathread]

In The World. It's a video game.

[electricyousei]

"I did an analysis of someone who was exhibiting similar issues. Their body read as alive even if they thought they were a MMORPG character. Perhaps it has to do with the way you were brought here, but I'm less a philosopher than a computer technician."

[aurathread]

It's not that I think I am. I know I am. I've been stuck in the game for six months. And I was brought here from there.

[electricyousei]

"I wasn't aware it was a fully immersive experience. Is it a holographic interface?"

[aurathread]

It's not supposed to be. It's got a headset and a controller.

[electricyousei]

"Well if you would like I could run scans on you to see if you are alive, but I'm not a doctor."

[aurathread]

... If you want, I guess.

[electricyousei]

"If anything it would prove you are alive."

private voice

[bladedskies]

[How does that - ah.]

At least we've all got time to figure these things out here. Better than not.

[aurathread]

I guess. It's just... I don't know much about myself...

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]

Yeah, but... it's not a matter of if I physically exist... but the 'me' that's here being the real me.