synnet | @kijyo(?)

Judging by your words, you are another consciousness residing in the same body as Lucy?

[ Dissociative Identity Disorder? Or another entity entirely? Perhaps something akin to possession?? ]

[ She doesn't answer. She doesn't answer for a long time. Seconds, minutes. She stares at the message intently. She reads every word on its own, together, splitting it into chunks then whole again.

Nyuu's glad he chose text. The shallowness of her breath would be mortifying for anyone but herself to hear. ]

Yes.

[ There's a surprisingly long stretch of silence between his question and her answer. Perhaps she got distracted, or the question impacted her far more than he thought. Was she not aware?

Hm. ]

Very well. I am not close to Lucy, but I may be able to provide some answers to help further your understanding of her. What is it you wish to know?

I would just like to know what kind of person she is, in your perspective. Please.

[ If this is some elaborate ploy by Lucy to learn how other people think about her, well, he doubts she'd be so civil to him, at least. Or perhaps she's actually a decent actor.

But it's easier to accept that Nyuu is truly another identity. Occam's Razor: the simplest hypothesis is the most likely one. It wouldn't change his response, either way. If Lucy wanted honesty, she need only ask. ]

I would describe her as someone who has been greatly affected by her past. It has left her unwilling to trust others, especially humans, whom she views as a self-serving species. The missions we have gone on as Outsiders has only further exacerbated her distrust and hatred, and she dislikes me in particular, due to my altercations with Godzilla.

[ His words paint an image she's not sure how to view. Someone unwilling to trust is the antithesis of Nyuu herself; it's hard to imagine someone with so closed off a mindset. Is that why Nana said she was a killer? Was she able to hurt others because she refused to connect with them? ]

I see. I'm sorry to hear that. Though I don't suppose my apology will take back anything harsh she may have said to you.

There is no need for you to apologize, as you are not her. If she wishes to apologize, she will come to me of her own volition. I, too, must speak to her at some point in an attempt to put our ill-will behind us.

I do not hold it against her, regardless. Many people dislike me; that is a natural consequence of my abrasive personality. In addition, I believe her distrust to be quite logical, given what she has divulged of her past. She has informed me that she was kept captive and abused, perhaps by scientists who were fascinated by her biology. There are quite a number of researchers who lack the ethics to reject experimentation on sapient species, so I am not surprised to hear of this, though I am of course disappointed.

[ Another pause, but this time, it's considerably shorter. She's taking care to read each line. ]

Then, she doesn't strike you as a bad person?

To begin with, good and bad are subjective labels, informed by a culture's social mores and an individual's own experiences. What is acceptable in one community may not be in another; thus, I consider such terms to be a rather juvenile way of describing another person.

There is a reason behind every individual's emotions. Some are within their control; some are not. Some are ones we can sympathize with, yet still, the results cannot be accepted regardless. Lucy has a background that explains her distrust and hatred for humanity. That is something I can understand and sympathize with. Yet her desire to kill humans is something I cannot accept, for every life is precious and full of potential.

Whether I judge her to be a danger to others depends on her actions. If she were to attempt to act on her desire to kill consistently and frequently without understanding why that is unacceptable, I would deem her someone who cannot be integrated with society. If she does not, and accepts others' attempts to connect with her, then it would be evidence that she can learn to coexist with others.

I do not believe at heart that she desires to carry these emotions, however. She appears to me to be quite lonely, and seeks connections, just like any other social creature in the universe. The world has been cruel to her and denied her the chance to grow up in a safe, loving environment; that is all.

[ Subconsciously, she waits for the translator to condense his words into something more digestible, but that wait is fruitless. Again she has to break it down sentence by sentence, but she's pleased that her fears are unfounded. She's not used to reading long sentences or many of them at once, but it's not like he's speaking another language.

Perhaps she should read more challenging books...

Nyuu's initial reaction is to be frustrated by his lack of a concrete answer. Those shades of grey settle in more and more, blurring what she'd wanted to see as stark monochrome. Yet, the longer she reads, the more she can see sense to what he's saying. From what she can tell, Kaede hasn't killed another person as far as he is aware. She's angry and hateful and reactionary, but he wouldn't be speaking of her using "if"s if she'd already committed such a thing here.

Did something...change? Has she never sinned against another like that here? ]

Do you mean she hasn't killed anyone here that you know of?

Not among our numbers, no. I'm unsure if she took any townspeople's lives in Brașov, but quite a few of our colleagues did, so it would be unfair to single her out for doing the same. Regardless, they were the aggressors—their deaths are but the consequence of their own actions.

[ Despite professing that he considers all life precious, Ratio doesn't seem to be too broken up by Outsiders killing the townspeople. ]

[ Brașov... that town. The castle. She remembers clearly. Kaga-san, Bakugou-san, Raidou-san, and...Elan. And so many others. They were-

She holds a hand over her mouth as she tries not to breath faster again. The sudden bout of dizziness makes her whine, but a nearby wall proves the best crutch to let her refocus her weight.

She remembers...oh, she remembers so well. Too well. ]

Kaede-san didn't hurt anyone in the castle. That I know for certain.

[ When things were going haywire in that castle, she was awake. She remembers...

Everything. ]

[ If she knows that for certain, yet does not know Lucy herself, then it can only mean she was the active consciousness in the castle. ]

...I see. It is a shame that you had to experience that, but perhaps you spared her from further pain.

Perhaps so.

[ She'd rather forget. The sooner those awful memories are behind her, the better. ]

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, sir.

If you need anything else, even if it is unrelated to Lucy, you are always welcome to contact me.

Of course!

Before I forget, what was your name?

Veritas Ratio. You may call me Dr. Ratio.

[ Whoa, a whole doctor?!? ]

Gotcha. Thank you, Doctor!

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