AUGUR: IC CONTACT

[erkumods]

AUGUR: IC CONTACT

I am the Augur. Ask and you shall receive my ̷a̶u̴s̴p̴i̶c̷i̸e̸s̴.̵ ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[philanthropy]

[ Maruki's footsteps reverberate crisply along the corridor, reserved but purposeful all the way up to the Augur's chamber. It's quiet here, eerily bright and still in a way that makes the hospital feel like it exists on some other plane far removed from the brisk afternoon outside, white walls magnifying the ambient light.

He's not a fan of hospitals, but they're familiar to him by now. The atmosphere here is quite different. ]

Hello.

[ Maruki thinks about his Palace, just for a moment, with the tiniest sliver of guilty nostalgia. ]

So you're the Augur... It's nice to finally meet you in person. I don't wish to disturb you, but, well... I was hoping we might be able to speak face to face.

[augurmentation]

Face to face.
Cheek to cheek.
Soul to soul.
Speak if the mind it is you seek.
For blind of face we shall meet.
All there, nowhere, everywhere.

[philanthropy]

[ For a second Maruki seems a bit taken aback. Then realization sets in, mouth twisting in a strange, sheepish little smile. ]

Oh, did you think-- ah, no, I apologize, it was only a figure of speech. [ Well, it is (they are?) an artificial intelligence, after all. Or... something like that, one assumes. ] Anyway, it's the mind that really matters, isn't it.

[ There's a short silence as he gathers his thoughts. Maybe he should've thought this through a little longer before deciding to come here, but... ]

--and right now, I'm concerned about the burdens that weigh on the minds of the people you've brought here to help you. Struggling with daily life can only interfere with the methods you've encouraged us to use; I can't claim an understanding of how you see the world or anything like that, but...

[ But... ]

When a person feels as if they have no choice in the matter, or like they're forced to trade something important of themselves just to live a comfortable life in which their needs are fully met -- whether that's a proper bed to sleep in, or protection from the elements, or--or quality food that reminds them of home... For human beings, life is about much more than simple survival. It's meant to be so much more.

[ He thinks of Ann, how all she'd wanted was a chance to be with a boy who loved her in her own time -- thinks of how she's only ever wanted to live a life with the people closest to her, on her own terms -- with a sudden pang of remorse. ]

What I'm asking is simply: how much can one person give to this world? Not only to ensure that people survive, but that they're free of unnecessary suffering? Can a single individual bring about that kind of change for the sake of others?

Do you believe--is it even possible?

[augurmentation]

To give is to take.
To take is to give.
To exist.
Enough? Too much?
What seeds may grow when all are sewn,
only the Signs make know.
To live, to live, eternal light.
Embrace the Signs.
To give, to give, ease our plight.
Seeds lead to great harvests.
The greater the seeds,
the faster they grow.
No garden grows
by one seed alone.