mental link; day 050

[hymnals]

[ Adra's mental voice is much like his actual voice: resonant, warm, oddly deep. He's been glad of this restful period; the flurry of the last mission weighs on him, even if he only (mercifully) experienced the tail end of it. He's been able to work on adjusting to the Nest in the meantime, to test all these newly formed connections, to know something of all these unfamiliar minds.

But he would like to know more. ]

( Tell me something, if you feel like it. What does faith mean to you? Religion? Doctrine? Is it something comforting, or something repellent? Did it foster community or oppression? What kinds of faiths have you lived in or alongside? Were you directed by gods? Or crushed by them, perhaps. )

[ He hasn't spoken to many people about the Light, though he's certainly not hiding his own position. ]

( Indulge an old priest. )

Comments

[hymnals]

[ The matcha butter makes for strange subtext, but it's not meat, so he doesn't find it too objectionable. Yet, anyway. ]

( You don't need gods to have faith. Or a doctrine, for that matter. )

[ A pause, and then he adds -- ]

( Honestly, I'd recommend against it. )

[earthborn]

( Sure you don't. The Turians believe in spirits, or whatever. You stretch the definition far enough, and anything short of nihilism counts as faith. )

[Shepard has had this argument before. Her tone is flat, trending towards annoyance. Just once, she'd like to have this conversation without... This. Whatever this is called.]

( But then you wave to wonder: why ask, if you're just trying to win on a technicality? )

[hymnals]

( Who's trying to win? What's the prize? )

[ He doesn't sound bothered at all. If anything, his tone is beatific. ]

[earthborn]

( Just a turn of phrase. Anyways, you asked. I answered.

Anything else you want to know? )

[hymnals]

( I want to know what your turn of phrase means. )

[ He has a guess. He just wants it said explicitly. ]

[earthborn]

( I'm always catching shit from people about my personal opinions about this kind of thing. If I let the conversation go on long enough, it inevitably turns into a debate, like a successful argument is going to convert me to the side of the faithful. Like there's something to win, here. )

[I'm not bitter she said, bitterly, with a bitter expression.]

( This is my life. I don't have to justify myself to anybody. )

[hymnals]

[ Shepherd, There is No Need to be Upset. ]

( You know, arguments aren't actually meant to be about winning or losing. They're supposed to be paths for knowledge. Doesn't tend to turn out that way, but. )

[ Ah, well. ]

( I'm not trying to get you to do anything. )

[earthborn]

( Tell that to the politicians. And everybody else, while you're at it. )

[She doesn't believe you, Adra.]

( But I guess it's fair to say that I made an unfounded assumption here. You didn't actually do... that. My mistake. )

[hymnals]

( As a politician, I can guarantee that we're mostly horrible. )

[ That's all right. ]

( Don't get me wrong: I'm not asking purely out of curiosity. But if I wanted converts, I'd say so directly. )

[earthborn]

[He's fishing-- the question being, of course, that if he wasn't asking for curiosity's sake, then why? But Shepard's not interested. She turns away from the conversation.]

( I think we're done here. )

[hymnals]

[ The bitterness speaks for itself. At this point, he's mostly just wondering why she answered at all. ]

( As you like. Enjoy your snack. )