subsystem | video/voice.

[ This is a video that features no people: instead, what's filling the screen is artfully-arranged sweets. Lots and lots of sweets. The dragon boat races were a grand success for the restaurant Kitty works for, and so they were contracted to cater a party in exchange for work from a construction firm for an expansion of their floor space. What you're seeing is the catering before it goes out. And Kitty, whose voice is cheerful and bright and rather thickly London-accented, narrates: ]

Some of you stopped by our booth at the race the other day, so you already know, but this is what we've got to offer at Restaurant Modak. And believe me - all of this looks pretty, but that doesn't even compare to how it tastes. Forget going into a simulation or a Matrix to get the absolute height of a dining experience. This food surpasses anything you'll find out there - and it's got the added advantage of being really, absolutely real.

[ Another pass over the food. She continues. ]

Some of you might be thinking that you haven't got what you need to trade for food of this quality. How could you possibly? Well - you'll be really glad of this next bit. Our going rates are beyond reasonable. We'll even give a good meal for nothing more than a vase of flowers, a bit of sugar - or even just you helping with the washing up. Right here, on the network, you can tell me what you've got for barter and I'll tell you just what sort of meal that'll get you.

[ And then the video switches off, like a cruel tease. ]

Remember: Restaurant Modak. Reasonable prices, food so good you won't even believe it's real. All on layer forty-four.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Redistribution on the ZDG level. Don't worry, I won't charge. And I can namedrop your restaurant if you want.

[ Oh. That makes a lot of sense. And seems like...an opportunity, honestly. But...Would Lizzie allow it? And Kitty definitely doesn't want to lose this job. It's really useful. ]

I don't know. That sounds like a proper business deal. I don't know that I wouldn't want to get the restaurant owners involved.

Maybe I'll ask her, then. But she wouldn't want the restaurant namedropped, for subpar goods, if she's prideful like you said. So I'll keep that in mind when I swing by.

No. You ought to flatter her - that's the way to go. Talk about how generous it'll be for her to share, and how you're baffled that she's throwing out even the older stuff because it's so good. Actually, wait a day or two to speak with her - I'll put the notion of charity in the back of her head.

Thank you.

I'm Widow.

I'm Lizzie. Widow's your code-name, right? Not your real name.

We're in the real world, so it's my real name.

[ ...huh. That actually gives Kitty pause a moment. ]

You've picked it for yourself, so it's real? Is that it?

That's what people do here.

Does that make it real, though? More real than what we're given in there?

Is your food more real than what we're given in there?

My boss thinks so! But...It's not altogether the same thing, is it? After all, names aren't physical objects. They're mental constructions, aren't they? So - it's sort of like how when you stub your toe in there, the rock is fake, and the pain is fake, but the sympathy your friend gives you is as real as it would be on the outside. What comes from other people is genuine. God, is that making any sense at all?

It is. Our sense of self is retained once we unplug, even if we lose everything else that made it up: our world, our history, our culture, our appearance, sometimes even our species. But if we want to free ourselves from the ties to those things that weren't real, we need to create a new self.

Must we, though? Leave it behind? Freeing ourselves, after all, also means leaving behind what WAS real.

Nobody has to do anything. But if you want to hold on to who you were, don't get too loud about it.

A lot of people get unplugged when they were kids, so they don't have much to hold onto. Others were born here in the real, I think sometimes to them we must be like people who can't stop talking about the dream we had last night.

But the people in there weren't dreams. The people who are still trapped. Is it right to just try to forget all of them? Just to not seem irritating?

Is there someone you want to unplug?

[ Right. Lizzie is empty-headed and isn't about to spend a lot of time fretting about her people. Rein it in, Kitty. ]

I suppose my parents. And I miss my boyfriend, too, don't I.

The Zion Defense Grid is going to do their best to get as many people out safely as they can. If they could free everyone I'm sure they would. But it would be better to find meaningful connections with people alive and here than to hold onto hope for someone you might never see again.

[ Advice Natasha hasn't herself yet managed. But she tries to come off as having been unplugged for longer than she is, and this attitude of transience is a part of it. ]

[ Ah - a good segue. ]

Why can't they free everyone, anyway?

And start a war?

Are we that badly-equipped? There's no possibility of winning?

Not without a lot of people dying.

I've heard some people saying that it's not like they're not all dying in there regardless.

Okay, so firstly, I don't think humanity is ready to take on the machines again. Zion and the sattelite settlements have what, twenty war-ready ships between them? So when I say people will die, I mean us. Wiped out. Go listen to some of the stories the historians tell about the time before the One. Not a lot of cakes in those.

Secondly, even if we managed to unplug everyone and deprive the machines of their power source without them wiping us out first, how many do you think are ready to fight alongside us? Do we even have the resources to take care of that many people? I mean, I remember what it was like when I was unplugged, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even breathe on my own. So unless you want to condemn millions of naked baldies to asphyxiating, we're better off unplugging people one or two at a time.

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rathercommon - 2015-07-13 19:10 (UTC) - Expand

ex_spins462 - 2015-07-15 08:04 (UTC) - Expand

rathercommon - 2015-07-15 08:19 (UTC) - Expand