001

[forceofnature]

[More information? One new arrival, at least, has all the information she needs. The influx of energy from this one is massive, completely unsubtle, almost as if purposefully designed to attract the attention of anyone with any sense whatsoever of the divine. It doesn’t fade away nor does it seem to be easily localized. This surely wasn’t ‘Magatama Energy’…

Whatever ambiguity this might present is cleared up almost immediately. Despite that no one may be in the vicinity, the voice of a young girl sounds clearly throughout the city of Hinoto-Ri to nearly every inhabitant, as intelligibly as if the speaker were standing right next to those she addressed. …Perhaps too intelligibly. The first sound they hear is an vehement, despairing cry.]

NO!

This can’t be…! The forests… The oceans… The deserts and mountains, the tundra and the plains! W-Where are they?! Who did this?! What did you do to them?!

[For a few moments, the speaker seems too overwhelmed with ire to speak.  The sound of her breathing eventually slows...]

Humans. Look at this world. Look at it!

I knew this would happen.  In every world across every dimension, it doesn’t matter! You -- you’re all the same! See for yourself! This is what will happen if you tear through all of nature without respect for anything but your own wealth and gain! Are you happy?! My children… 100 million species. One hundred million. There's almost nothing left...

I am Viridi, Goddess of Nature, ruler of the Earth and all living things! And I will not allow this land to be desecrated any further.

They say there are monsters ravaging what remains. If you stand against them, then... heed the command of a goddess and CRUSH them!

Comments

[forceofnature]

It's one of the abilities available. Not everyone has access to it.

[primordial]

Not everyone...

[He frowns, looking like he's mentally considering something, before shaking his head and looking up at the camera again.]

I guess that means you've got yours working by now? I think somebody said, erm, "awakened"? Did yours awaken yet?

[forceofnature]

Of course not. I only just got here. This is something I can do naturally - goddess, remember?

[primordial]

Oh, yes. Um, right.

[A long pause.]

I don't think I ever imagined talking to an actual goddess before...you were taken here too like the rest of us, right?

[forceofnature]

No!

...Well. Yes. But it's different! I'm here to make sure that none of you mess this up, which you'll definitely do because humans never see the forest for the trees!

Think about it! What good is defeating the monsters if you don't plan for the future? You'll run out of clean water and fresh food, you'll reach a population bottleneck, the sheer absence of biodiversity will make you ridiculously susceptible to disease... One super-bug against your one strain of potato and bam! No more potatoes forever.

[primordial]

[There's another long pause as he takes that all in. And then he speaks, hesitantly:]

Um. I might be wrong about this, but...aren't those all things that kind of happen over long periods of time? Like the fresh water and food sort of thing. And this place really has only one strain of potato? Really?

Maybe we can get other strains of potatoes from other places...I mean, if they can get people here, I'm sure that getting a simple vegetable won't be at all that hard.

[forceofnature]

It's not just about you. All these people have left is this one city. How much fresh water and food do you think you have? Even if we're done here by then, they won't last another 50 years! That's less than a blink of an eye! It won't matter, anyway, because there's barely enough people here to sustain genetic variance.

And you can't just keep zapping in potatoes; they don't operate a trans-dimensional teleportation system.

[primordial]

Maybe this city wasn't created to be a city like what you're saying, though? Kind of like a...erm, camp, or temporary colony or stop point or something. And once they're done with one group of people, they'll just send them back and get another group of people if they need to. I don't really know, I'm just guessing out loud, really.

[He looks slightly incredulous at that next part, though.] Then what is the name of the system that brought us here, then?

[forceofnature]

I'm talking about the inhabitants of the world. The people who actually live here.

[A brief pause.]

......Oh, gross. That would just be wrong. You can't pull people in just to breed with them.

And what brought us here is our souls.

[primordial]

How are you sure they've always lived here, though...? Have you asked?

No, no, you completely misunderstood! [Oh god, he sounds so flustered, as if he's walked into the girl's bathroom by accident.] I mean kind of like the International Space Station! Once one group of people has done their job, they're sent home and another group comes and takes their place! T-that's what I mean!

[A long sigh.]

Our souls?! [A scoff.] You're not kidding me, are you...

[forceofnature]

You mean the one that got dumped into the ocean for not being advanced enough? Some kind of comparison that is. Isn't the idea here to get rid of the monsters permanently?

And of course it's through our souls. What, did you think they chose you for your nice haircut?

[primordial]

Um. What.

[WOW WAIT WHAT]

The last time I checked it was still up in space...

And why would they ever choose me, then? It's not like I have a particularity nice soul to offer...in fact, I'm probably the worst choice.

[forceofnature]

((Oops! I got that confused with Mir somehow.))

Really?

Wow, wait, don't tell anyone I said that. It was... a test. To see if you were paying attention. Um.

Hey, souls, let's talk about those! Trust me, I already like yours a lot better than most of the others I've seen so far.

[primordial]

[[Hahaha, not a problem! Honest mix-up.]]

Right.

[And he sounds surprised, like as if he's won an award he knows he didn't get nominated for.]

What, who, mine? You like mine? [And a long pause.] I...don't really know how you do, I think my soul is rather dull compared to everyone else's. I mean, I don't see it having much worth as, say, a goddess would.

[forceofnature]

Yours doesn't start ranting and raving about how humans are obviously a font of perfection and they probably produce rainbows and sparkly snowflakes as waste and how dare I -- the goddess who created humans -- judge them when I should clearly just ignore all of the other 100 million species on the planet to let the poor humans go ahead with their plans of deforestation and mass pollution and global extinction.

...
...
...

I can't actually see souls, by the way.

[primordial]

Um, no, I can definitely say that people aren't rainbows or sparkly snowflakes or anything...anyone who says that definitely has their rose-colored glasses on. What can I say, humanity loves to destroy. It's just a part of what it means to be human.

[A pause.] Well, what can you see, then, if anything at all?

[forceofnature]

That's not acceptable! Being human is about having the potential to seek the higher paths you were meant to achieve! Not the lowest!

And what sort of question is that? I can see lots of things. The sky, the earth, the city crawling with humans... I could see you right now if I wanted to. Oh, and I can definitely see why kids love cinnamon crunchy squares™.

[primordial]

True, I guess...it's not like people want to achieve the lowest paths, though. Sometimes they just end up there.

[ASDFGHGFDSDF VIRIDI]

What do cinnamon crunchy squares have to do with anything?

And you could see me? [wow did this turn into big brother inwardly screaming] I-I was just curious, really...you don't need to see me, I'd feel very uncomfortable if you did.

[forceofnature]

Trust me. Whatever you don't want me to see, I don't want to see it more. I'm perfectly happy not knowing what teenaged boys do in their bedrooms in their spare time.

[primordial]

[MENTAL KEYSMASHING]

I-I'm nineteen!! And I...I don't do that stuff, goodness gracious, I mean...god.

[forceofnature]

What stuff? I haven't the least idea what you're talking about. That was a totally innocent statement based on un-pre-conceived notions I couldn't possibly be familiar with in my time.

You're awfully timid for nineteen.

[primordial]

Uhuh. Yeah. Sure...

[There's the mutter of "why am i even arguing about this, good god"]

W-what is that supposed to mean? Is...is that a bad thing?

[forceofnature]

Nah. I prefer timid. Scroll up and read the rant from earlier if you need to refresh your memory.

Not that I'm interested in hearing any sob stories, but I'm just saying it's a little unusual.

[primordial]

Oh. Right. Good...?

[There's a pause.] Well, yeah, like you said, no sob stories or anything, but...I just really don't like violence and things like that. I don't really know how to deal with that.

[forceofnature]

If only the rest of humanity was exactly like you.

.......Actually, no, that wouldn't really work out, either, but it's still preferable.

If you can't deal with violence, then just ignore it. Humans are pretty good at pretending that nothing bad is happening, I've noticed.