text; un: starbuck

[faithfulskeptic]

Let's say I accept the premise that I've been brought through unknown means to a space station at an indeterminate, extrasolar location.

[ She doesn't, but she's already got the sense that the argument isn't going anywhere. Also that no one cares that this is like, eighty different kinds of illegal. ]

Has anyone successfully met the conditions specified to change what they regret? How is that even possible? Is there any evidence that your actions here can actually alter the past?

If you believe it, what convinced you?

If you don't, but you're still playing along with all this, why?

Comments

text | un: miller

[fungicidal]

I've seen the orbs in action. Don't know if I'd say I'm fully convinced, but there's real power there.

[faithfulskeptic]

What kind of 'power'? What exactly have you seen?

text: Lockwood

[recklessenough]

Can't answer any of those questions directly as I've only just arrived.

I can say that my regret is powerful enough that when I was offered the opportunity to undo my greatest regret, the potential of success outweighed my reservations.

[faithfulskeptic]

I don't think I expected a conversation in a dream to be so binding.

text, un: strange

[rehandle]

I have the benefit of leading a thoroughly improbable life. In perspective, this doesn't sit outside of the realm of possibility.

[faithfulskeptic]

I wouldn't say I'm a stranger to considering extreme possibilities. But there's extreme and then there's-- this.

text; un: qinghe

[eschewings]

No one is forcing you to stay. If you want to leave, you can think about wanting to go back and you will.

[ today on: huaisang, who reads every single network conversation, is a little sensitive about people thinking about being here against their will — he's lost lan xichen, and gwen more recently, to them wanting to return home. ]

[faithfulskeptic]

Do I have to click my heels three times?

text; un: romanoff

[deaddrop]

I can't blame you for some skepticism, especially since as far as I know no one here has actually undone their regret.

However at least where I'm from, this kind of thing isn't unprecedented. I've done things with lower likelihood of success for worse reasons.

[faithfulskeptic]

What part of this is precedented, where you're from?

[ okay, that probably sounds sarcastic, she knows. But it's not like Scully doesn't know her way around an alien abduction... ]

anonymous text, for now...

[gawstruck]

Whether or not I believe in this offer is inconsequential to my situation.

Unless I undo my regret, my life is already over. In the literal sense, that is. Between accepting my own demise and working towards an uncertain possibility of survival, I don't think I can be blamed for choosing the latter.

I wonder how many others are secretly in this situation...

[faithfulskeptic]

You believe your regret is going to lead to your death?

text; anon

[swordandshield]

At least two that I know of. I doubt you're one so that makes three now.

text | un: candor

[evasives]

I have not yet seen a regret undone, though my tenure here is not as long as some of the others. I believe it is meant to happen once the orbs have all been re-found and collected. But I have seen the orbs wield power I would not have imagined possible back home.

There are mission files of the previous orb retrievals, if you want more sense of how these things have gone.

[faithfulskeptic]

It's a lot to undertake without proof, though, isn't it?

I'd be interested in seeing those records, yes. How long have you been here?

text (un: major.yzak.jule)

[coordination]

The contracts we have with the Orb are set for after we've made it whole again. That was the deal - our regret gets undone once we do that for them. It. Whatever.

We've seen other contracts in action to know that they're real and they stick to the agreement made. Although in some cases, wording and specificity was important.

[ A small pause before his next message. ]

I've also made a second agreement with an orb, so I can confirm it personally as well.

[faithfulskeptic]

You weren't concerned that you're putting a lot of faith in an unproven premise?

What other contracts have you seen? Or, if you're willing to talk about-- what agreement did you make?

text | un: naruhodo

[locumstudentesquire]

I'm not sure if I believe in their ability to undo the past or not, but. Personally, my interest lies more in keeping people safe from the orbs... I've only been here for a few short months, but I've seen enough to be convinced that they're quite dangerous.

[faithfulskeptic]

Dangerous how?

voice; un: inspector.lestrade

[youre_nicked]

Well, the way I see it, if they can put us 'ere in the first place, they might as well be able to do all that other stuff too, innit?

[faithfulskeptic]

I suppose that's a fair point. Although I'm not convinced we're actually where they'd like us to believe we are.

text; un: A2

[a2brutus]

I don't know if I believe it, but I'm playing along because why not? I don't have anything better to be doing, and it beats being dead.

[faithfulskeptic]

What makes you think that's your only alternative?

text - un; nightmoves

[ruinously]

Been here over a year and people have come and go

[faithfulskeptic]

That's a long time to be working towards a goal with no guarantees.

Some people seem to believe staying is voluntary.

text ↪ un: うちは

[blackfire]

It is not simply 'extrasolar'. The Ximilia exists beyond space-time. The station was built to contain the Orb. Its provenance is unknown to us beyond what can reasonably be assumed.

If you wish to speak to anyone on the resolution of regrets, you might ask Viveca. There was a prior crew, of which she and Degar were part. It seems that many members of the previous crew were able to amend their regrets as they had wished. However, it is important to note that our actions here do not alter the past, so much as create a divergent timeline from the point of our regrets onward.

People generally do not 'play along' here. When one's resolve fails, or by their own choice they return to their world.

[faithfulskeptic]

You seem very well-informed about the state of things.

How long have you been here?

text. un: Aleksander

[cruelyethuman]

Itahi already explained it, but there is no changing the past. Not for any of us. There is only creating a different branch of reality, and live out a life there, removed from all that we've known.

That is what awaits us once we are done. The world you left behind, the people you left there, will go on without you.

As for belief, I have seen what the orbs are capable of. I have seen the power that they hold, and how they stick to the deals made. But you will see, in time.

[faithfulskeptic]

That at least seems slightly less scientifically implausible than changing the past. Though I'm not sure creating an alternate timeline should count as undoing something you regret.

To be honest that sounds more ominous than reassuring.

private text; un: y.mikotoba

[softshoes]

[He locks this on the off-chance Kazuma is reading the network today. If the young man ever caught wind that Yujin was staying here, even in part, for his foster son's sake, he would never hear the end of it.]

Like many others upon the Ximilia, I've seen the orbs' power to grant wishes with my own eyes. I've also seen how volatile and unpredictable they can be.

Frankly, I don't know what to believe, but I do know the orbs cannot be left alone. I don't wish for those aboard whom I care about to deal with them alone, either.

[Left unspoken: the part of him that hopes against hope that he really can change the past.]

private text;

[faithfulskeptic]

I see.

Almost everyone else I've spoken to cites their personal... issue, as their primary reason for not trying to leave.