3rd Course - Necessary Ingredients [Video]

[starofpleiades]

[Kazumi's expression is worried; not surprising after how the last few weeks have been. She wasn't really affected much, but she saw people who were...]

Is everyone alright now? Back to normal...?

[She sighs, looking a bit forlorn.]

Things making people act unlike themselves... what's "like yourself" though, other than how you acted before? I mean... what makes up a person? Our bodies? Our actions? Our memories?

[Memories...]

...hey, what do memories mean to you? How important are your memories? If you had something painful in your past... do you think it'd be better not to remember it?

[She's taking the video just outside the apartment complex, so anyone is free to run into her there or respond over the vine]

Comments

[cobbledtogether]

You were...? How did you remember them?

[The second part is said somewhat stiltedly. That question makes her pause, though. It's a loaded one.]

...I don't know. My behavior as seen in the memories I have recovered deviates significantly from my current behavioral patterns.

[starofpleiades]

Well, over time, I found some things out, and put things together... and then one of my friends used her magic to help fix a lot of it!

Oh... so that's what you mean about memories changing you? But... don't you want to know why you acted that way?

[cobbledtogether]

Based on my available memories, I am already aware of the likely cause of the discrepancies in my behavior. [So, that's not really the issue.] I...am unsure if I want to know more.

[starofpleiades]

Hmm... I think, I'd want to know the truth. At least so you know where you came from and what you did.

[cobbledtogether]

I...am aware of my origins. [More or less, anyway. If Lambda was meant to take that phrase as anything other than perfectly literal, well. She didn't. After a second or two, she admits:] The memories were... Painful.

[starofpleiades]

I'm sorry... do you think it would be better not to know them?

[cobbledtogether]

I...don't know. [Despite her tendency to speak robotically, she sounds faintly frustrated. She isn't used to feeling ambivalent about things.] Recovery of those memories is unlikely to enhance my ability to perform my primary functions. This should classify them as irrelevant. However, I...still want to know what is missing.

[Even if they're painful, and even if she's afraid of becoming someone else, those memories are hers. She isn't sure what the correct choice is.]

[starofpleiades]

Mm, I know that feeling. Well, I mean, my memories aren't irrelevant, but I was told they might be painful... but I still wanted to know. I want to know who I am. What I did. All of that.

[cobbledtogether]

[There's a few seconds of silence on her end before she speaks next.]

I am unsure if there is a way to recover the rest of my memories.

[So as conflicted as she is on the topic, she still isn't sure if it's something that will even ultimately be relevant.]

[starofpleiades]

Well, you can always try! Maybe they'll come back on their own...? How did you lose your memories, anyway?

[cobbledtogether]

It is likely they were removed from my databanks before my date of activation.

[starofpleiades]

Wait, like... a computer?!

[cobbledtogether]

Yes. I am a mechanically-enhanced biological construct.

[starofpleiades]

Woah! I never would have guessed... I guess that's why you can have such different memories and personalities?

[cobbledtogether]

It is probable. Without individual memories or experiences, I can only behave according to my base logical algorithms.

[starofpleiades]

I wonder if that's because of what you are or if people aren't that different... I mean, if someone else was given different memories, would they act differently?

[cobbledtogether]

Memories inform opinions and decision-making abilities. Alteration would likely result in differing behavior.

[starofpleiades]

Hmm... yeah, I guess so. I guess memories really are important to who we are...