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[seaboards]

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

There have been a lot of riftfarers arriving lately. It seems like there have been more arriving than usual. So many different kinds of people from different kinds of worlds with stories to tell and experiences to give.

A little game has appeared on the shellphone network in hopes of getting to know just a little more about these otherworlders. You might find it on your shellphone as you’re scrolling through one day.

Tell the world two truths and one lie about yourself. And let others try and decipher which of the three is your lie. If they can guess right, perhaps you’ve been able to make a new acquaintance. Or in the least learn more about someone from another walk of life.

Comments

[yuezun]

[She was back to mocking him. What had he said wrong this time?]

Of course. He has to see us to strike us at the right moment.

[xiaolanhua]

[ She was "mocking" him because Daqiang is a man of his word. Plus, Orchid is going to write it down so she won't be breaking her promise because she won't say a single word about his future! ]

You... trust him to tell him the truth?

[ Daqiang doesn't even trust Shangque, who has been at his side and loyal to him for over thirty thousand years. ]

[yuezun]

[Well... after they made the switch would be preferable. But Cid would probably want an explanation before agreeing. He was the sort to ask and ask and ask before agreeing to use his power on someone that wasn't his enemy.

But also... Cid had actually seen him at what was almost his weakest moment since his arrival. And he had attempted to take them both somewhere safe. He'd failed. But he had tried. Cid's first instinct was to help, not take advantage of Daqiang's weakness. He was like Orchid in that way.

So...

Yes. Daqiang supposed he did trust Cid enough to tell him the truth about his weakness.]


He can be trusted with this.

[He finally said, broodingly, after a long and thoughtful silence.]

[xiaolanhua]

[ Out of the two of them, Daqiang is always the one who's most careful. Both of them are vulnerable at this moment, with very limited access to their usual abilities. Not that Orchid has the kind of power and strength Daqiang does... most of the time.

She supposes that despite their vulnerable state, her body is safe so long as the Bone Orchid is worn. If Daqiang trusts him, then there's absolutely no reason for Orchid not to.

So she nods. ]

How do you contact him? [ Her nose wrinkles. ] Do I have to do it?

[ Orchid can pose as him if necessary, but is it necessary this time? Can they just send a letter? ]

[yuezun]

[He shakes his head and holds up the shellphone.]

This can send personal messages to individuals. It is like writing a letter and spelling it to find the one it's to and to only be opened by them. This venerable one can send it from his shellphone in writing. It does not have to be to everyone at once like this game you have had this venerable one play today.

[xiaolanhua]

[ A sigh of relief. That sounds much better than pretending to be Daqiang again. It's very much like the first time, in which she doesn't know anyone or his relationships and history with them. She'd have to be schooled all over again. ]

Will you show me how to send personal messages?

[ Orchid crosses her arms over her chest (and it feels weird without her normal curves). ]

You looked like you were having fun.

[yuezun]

[Daqiang stilled at that comment and his eyes darted to her.

Fun?

He... supposed some of it was... positive. Was that what fun was? He knew happiness from her. But hers was always so much more intense than what he'd been feeling. It was more pleasant than unpleasant, but was that enough for it to be considered fun? Didn't fun require much more intense happiness? The kind that he could not feel on his own?

His eyes dropped and he shifted his position to hold the shellphone up for her to see what he was doing.]

This is how you find individuals to send them mail. This is where you press to send them a letter - called 'text' - or use the shellphone in the way of a tianji mirror - it is called 'video'. You can also use it like a speaking stone, but without needing a paired set. That is called 'audio'.

[Once he selected the text function, he let her watch while he typed in a few characters to start the message and show her how to use the keyboard to find everything in the menu. Then he switched to the speech-to-text function and started narrating the rest of his message to Cid. When he was finished, he showed her were to press to send it and how to check that it had actually been sent. He would explain, as well, that there was no specific need to address the message or sign it, as it appended their username to indicate who had done so.]

This venerable one finds the speech-to-text function the easiest to use when text is most appropriate, and he uses it the most regularly when responding in text while alone.

[And no one can hear him talking.]

But the video is the easiest of all of them. You can even respond to written messages without having to stop the video to do so. It simply continues showing you to the one you are responding to while showing you their text.

[xiaolanhua]

[ Everyone experiences emotions differently, and he is just regaining his - so perhaps it wasn't the same level of fun that he's felt from her. This might have only produced a low-level of fun for him, but someday, something else will be more fun, and he'll experience the same level of happiness she does.

Orchid uses her own shellphone to follow along with his instructions, glancing up to watch his example every so often. She's quiet as he dictates a message to a person named Cid to ask for his help, only speaking when it seems he's done. ]

It can do so much, and is so convenient. You can carry it around with you all the time.

[yuezun]

It is very convenient. This world has many convenient things that are sometimes familiar and sometimes strange. But nothing out of place for what this venerable one supposes for a world where mortals and immortals mix so easily. The shortness of mortal lives have proven to encourage a creative effort for learning and inventing that this venerable one was not aware they could be capable of.

[but considering how little he actually knew of mortals, was that really surprising to hear?]

[xiaolanhua]

It isn't... forbidden for mortals and immortals to mix so freely here? If we were to do that in our world, there would be serious consequences. I wasn't sure when I arrived here and hid my identity with many people that I met.

[ She isn't surprised at all to hear it. Orchid also knew very little about mortals, despite handling their Destiny Books every day. ]

[yuezun]

There have been no consequences that this venerable one has noticed beyond the seal on his power. But all beings of any significant power experience that, including mortals of exceptional ability and skill.

If there are consequences in the Three Realms, perhaps there are none here because this world lies in the Ruins of Ten Thousand Heavens? Just as time means little here, perhaps whatever causes these consequences you speak of means just as little as well.

[He didn't know she meant causing changes to someone's destiny on accident and possibly damaging their primordial spirit in the process. He had yet to be taught any of that by her.]

[xiaolanhua]

[ Orchid reaches out to grip his arm, since her body doesn't have as much fabric to grip as Daqiang usually does. ]

It won't harm their primordial spirit if we alter their destiny? Shifu taught me to never intervene in the destiny of a mortal, or there would be terrible consequences.

[yuezun]

Even if that is true, this venerable one does not see how anything we do here will intervene more than the rifts bringing them to this world already has.

[He shrugged, not caring. What did destiny matter to him, anyway?]

Some of the mortals brought here are vessels of the gods of their world. They are already mixing with immortality and do not hide this from their fellow mortals. What is difference between those who have been touched by their gods mixing with mortals and those who are as gods mixing with them?

[xiaolanhua]

[ It mattered to her! She hasn't spent her whole life fixing and tending to Destiny Books just to toss it away, even if the destiny belonged to a stranger she'd never met. ]

I don't know the difference, only that we are not supposed to interfere in the affairs of mortals. Shifu never talked about mortals that live beyond the Three Realms before. What if we do destroy their primordial spirit?

What if the rift isn't enough to prevent that?

[yuezun]

Any who pass across the River of Stars and into the Ruins of Ten Thousand Heavens cannot return to the Three Realms without a guide. It stands to reason that this includes their primordial spirits when they die. Perhaps even destiny cannot find souls once they pass through the River of Stars. If that is the case, then your Shifu may not have a way to know about those that live beyond the Three Realms.

[He answered, trying to use what logic he could to reassure her that it was not her Shifu's fault for not talking about such things. Even if he could not feel her emotions at the moment, she looked sad. Talking about her Shifu often came with tears even when she was happy. And he did not wish to give her reason to shed tears. Especially in his body.]

[xiaolanhua]

[ That answer is very logical and Orchid is silent thinking about it. On one hand, it's reassuring to believe that the mortals will be fine if she does something that interferes with their destiny. On the other, it's sad to think that if something happens to her here, then her Shifu won't know about it.

Had she been here alone, that sadness might have been overwhelming, but Daqiang is here with her. Even if he can be overprotective and the cause of so many fights and heartaches, he's also the one person she would have wanted most at her side this far from home. So it's very much a mixed feeling of relief and sadness. ]

Mm, I will hope that anything we do here will not affect their destinies and destroy their primordial spirit. When I do return home, I'll have so many stories to tell Shifu.

[ Think about that, Orchid, and not how long Shifu has been away or how much longer she'll be gone. ]

[yuezun]

[The way she said that made it sound like her Shifu had returned. Another thing about the future hinted at that he didn't want to be given reason to dwell on.]

Forget it.

[He said, putting a hand on the side of Orchid's head and pushing her lightly to distract her.]

Go back to playing the game. You were having fun, were you not?

[xiaolanhua]

[ If only they both knew the truth about Shifu.

Her eyes widen when Daqiang pushes her head, just like he has often done. Both arms come out to wrap around a single one of his and cling to it, pouting with his face. ]

Only if you go back to playing! Daqiang should also have fun.

[yuezun]

Fine.

[He said after a moment and a soft sigh. If that was the only way to get her to back to a place where she was feeling happy and smiling again, distracted from her thoughts, then he would do it. Her health was linked to her happiness. And even if he couldn't feel it... he wanted to know she was happy.]

[xiaolanhua]

[ She beams at him over his agreement, which is always strange when she's wearing his face to make these expressions. It's not as if Daqiang can feel her emotions right now (he can't, can he?! she will not panic over this thought), and there's no Destiny Book for her to fix. So he's doing this just to make her happy, right? ]

[yuezun]

[With a half-hearted glare, he very pointedly holds up his shellphone and then jerks his chin at hers as if the say 'get on with it'.

He was absolutely doing it to make her happy]