azume | Test 5.

VERITY

The journey this month has been easier on you in several ways; despite your losses, your numbers have been bolstered by the addition of two more this month, and unlike the unforgiving terrain on the way to Lake Acuity the routes to Lake Verity seem downright hospitable - they're straightforward, the climate is far more temperate, and there are patches of cheer visible here and there along the paths in the form of those brightly-colored flowers, even as you make your way toward the lakefront.

But the lakefront itself is perhaps unsettlingly silent; a reminder, perhaps, of what you're here to do, of the importance of your task.

You'll reach the lake sometime in the evening. The sun isn't down yet, but it looks as though it won't be too long before it dips below the horizon; there's more than enough light for you to see what the lake itself looks like, however - the water is still and clear, to an extent where you can see straight down to the bottom regardless of how deep it gets. There's no bridge or other way to cross over the lake that you can see, but once again there's a large rock formation rising out of the center of the lake and a good-sized opening in the stone, leading to what's likely a system of caverns further inside.

Your exploration starts here, next to the crystal clear waters of Lake Verity; what happens next is up to you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[...Uh.]

You...

[You fucking have one. Good lord.]

Sure.

Oh. Okay.

[He may or may not have one, he didn't totally think that would work, but he's gonna wing it.]

Contractualism is a little complicated. It's about ethics as a mode of living with other people, not just as a set of rules. So more like humans live, a little weird for me, I guess, but it makes sense on a gut level.

See, you start with recognizing other people as equal, rational agents. I think that comes naturally to most humans, so that's fine. When you do that, of course you also have to acknowledge that human life has value. And so does Pokemon life, that's not really mentioned. Point being, the root of moral duty is the inherent value of other people, and what we owe to them as our fellow entities floating around in the vast, uncaring universe.

Valuing human life means that you should protect them from harm, and generally want the best for them. So, for example, if you see somebody drowning, you have an ethical duty to try to save them. You can argue about whether or not that applies if you yourself can't swim, but I don't think that's the situation we're in. We're just as trapped as any of you. We're also in the water, we've just managed to get onto a raft for the moment. Cyrus could come along at any moment and knock us back to where we were - but, for the moment, I believe it's our duty to try to help as many people grab onto floating bits of debris as possible.

Sure, maybe we could save ourselves. We could go hide in the woods somewhere, hope he never found us and we got to keep our minds. But what does that say about how we value others? If I abandon a bunch of unrelated humans to suffer without even trying to help them, is that a violation of the bond I hold with my particular humans? I think they'd feel like it was, and I kinda think I would too. If we're trying to be good people, if we think humanity is worth anything, then we need to do what we can to help fellow people in need.

And really, that's when we first got here. At this point, there's a few locals that I actually like. That's not an extra reason - moral duty isn't based on if someone's your buddy - but it kinda adds some fuel to the fuck-Cyrus fire.

[Michael glances around at everyone else, having been generally registering their immediate pro-battle reactions, and raises a finger.]

And also, just as a side-note, I am at least as good at battling as any of them.

[......................

he is twelve

he was educated until he was like ten

please have mercy on him, michael

no but really while a lot of that went over his head he gets the basic point, he thinks? save people because that's what good people do. got it- ]

...Are you a Zoroark?

[LUCAS.]

I mean, you talk a lot about not being human - are you a Pokémon?

[...a pause as Michael mentally reviews what the fuck he just said. Normally he's a little more deliberate in how and when he drops the non-human thing - it's just that when you're talking about human ethics, well, it comes up. Some of that was a little personal, maybe...]

Ah, no. Never even heard of a Zoroark. Is that a sort of Pokemon that can take human form...?

[neatly sidestepping the question of what he actually is]

The Zorua line can do that, yeah. They make all sorts of illusions and stuff.

Do they often just...pretend to be humans? Walk around living human lives, doing human-y things?

[yeah apparently this is, indeed, interesting enough to derail everything]

Sometimes? It's usually to protect themselves. When they're Zorua they sometimes do it for fun, though, and play tricks on people; Zoroark don't just transform themselves if they don't want to, they can make the entire terrain around them look like something else and trick hundreds of people at once into seeing stuff that isn't there.

That's so cool! I used to be able to do things like that - I actually had my own pocket of reality to change however I wanted. [.....] Let's not focus on what for. Point is, it's fun!

[...Huh.]

I guess it sounds like that might be, depending on what it's...for? Even if it doesn't matter.

[...That's not what he said, Lucas, but it's probably better for you to interpret it that way.]

Mmmm, yeah. I made this little town, the kind humans really like - with cobblestone roads, and a town square with a fountain. It was sort of radial, all the streets converged on the square like the spokes of a wheel. I think that's more aesthetically pleasing than the grid system of city planning.

[It was like Simcity! Complete with the part where you torment your inhabitants, probably]

Oh - you'd like...

[...what the hell did Rowan call it.]

Lu...miose City? It's in Kalos, I think it's laid out like that from pictures that Professor Rowan showed me.

Yeah? I do think this place would be very interesting to visit, under different circumstances.

["Interesting" is still a word you could use! But not the most applicable.]

This is by far the longest I've ever spent in...a human country. [Michael, in a stunning display of tact, has decided that "a place with living humans" would be an alarming phrase] It's been instructive.

[...Oh, uh. What do you- ]

You're doing a very good job passing as one.

[...Lucas.]

[Michael opens his mouth, then closes it. There's a very large part of him that wants to be offended, but that's just pride. The rest of him...well, he did just go off on a long speech about how he thinks humans are valuable.]

...thank you. I mean, you are very small and squishy, but...most of you are good.

A lot of us try to be? You kind of came here at a bad time to see that around here, though.

Hahaha, you oughta see where I'm from.

[No knock against his humans, they really are decent, mostly. Just. Well.]

But that only makes the efforts here more impressive, doesn't it? You, Maylene, Professor Rowan...

[did anyone hear that snorting laugh]

[no you didn't and ignis' hand is at his mouth for no reason]

[...i swear he likes you well enough, michael]

[literally no offense taken tbh]

Test 5.

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