[at least, he doesn't think it is a one-to-one comparison]
But think about how our senses have been betrayed since coming here. When we lost them last last week. When we couldn't see the evidence of Haruka-san's death, or the rats sleeping in the same room as us.
And when I asked Peach-san about the story she and her sisters told before Haruka-san died, she asked me a strange question.
"Akira, have you always believed everything you've seen and heard?"
[The dopplegangers, the invisible barriers, the numerous oddities they've observed during their time here... Akechi listens carefully, his expression darkening as Akira goes on.]
We already knew we couldn't trust our senses. And now, our very bodies are betraying us.
[He lifts his hand up, clenching and unclenching his fist while staring at the leech bites. Or, uh, the doggy bandaids in any case.]
Do you think any of this is real? Once you start questioning what you see and hear, it's easy enough to wonder if your entire perception of events is incorrect.
[And boy, isn't that one hell of a slippery slope? It doesn't sound like he believes one thing or the other, though. Maybe he's just thinking out loud.]
He lifts his left hand hand to his chin, supporting the arm it at the elbow with his other hand.]
... I don't know if that's quite right. If this place is being affected by our own cognition, then that would mean we have some sort of knowledge or understanding about it. But because our senses have been tampered with, and because we're unfamiliar with it, our perception of it is distorted. Wouldn't that imply we're trapped in a feedback loop?
[they don't think there are rats so they don't see the rats but then they find fur nobody can touch so they suddenly see the rats but maybe they wouldn't have seen the rats if they didn't know there were rats but they didn't know there were rats so they didn't see the rats and nobody could touch the fur at first so was it really there at all so etc etc etc]
I don't think that's exactly right. In fact, I think it's our lack of understanding that makes things appear as they are appearing right now.
[does that even make sense??? Akira pauses and tries to think of a different way to phrase it]
Right now, we all understand the mansion to be a creepy, possibly haunted prison where we're being held against our will. [. . .] We understand that there supposedly will be a death every single week, with mysterious forces pushing us to commit these crimes whether we actively want to or not.
And because that's what we believe, that's what is.
[DOES. . . THAT MAKE SENSE. a hum and Akira opens his eyes, brows still furrowed]
Because we are still operating under those assumptions, we don't know what's really happening, here. We're unable to see the truth, because we have already created a truth for ourselves.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[. . .]
There might be another reason we can't access the Metaverse here.
And I think it has something to do with the nature of this mansion.
no subject
Raising an eyebrow at him.]
Were you able to learn something new?
no subject
[his eyes slip shut as he tries to think of a way to phrase this]
Palaces appear the way that they do due to the distorted desires of their rulers, right?
no subject
[It's Metaverse 101. The fact that he's bringing this up now sure is... something. And he furrows his eyebrows, frowning.]
You're not saying this mansion is a palace of sorts, are you?
no subject
[at least, he doesn't think it is a one-to-one comparison]
But think about how our senses have been betrayed since coming here. When we lost them last last week. When we couldn't see the evidence of Haruka-san's death, or the rats sleeping in the same room as us.
And when I asked Peach-san about the story she and her sisters told before Haruka-san died, she asked me a strange question.
"Akira, have you always believed everything you've seen and heard?"
no subject
We already knew we couldn't trust our senses. And now, our very bodies are betraying us.
[He lifts his hand up, clenching and unclenching his fist while staring at the leech bites. Or, uh, the doggy bandaids in any case.]
Do you think any of this is real? Once you start questioning what you see and hear, it's easy enough to wonder if your entire perception of events is incorrect.
[And boy, isn't that one hell of a slippery slope? It doesn't sound like he believes one thing or the other, though. Maybe he's just thinking out loud.]
no subject
It feels real. It seems real. I don't yet know if I'd say it isn't real.
[. . . but?]
But maybe something about this place is affected by our own perceptions. Our own cognitions, so to speak.
no subject
He lifts his left hand hand to his chin, supporting the arm it at the elbow with his other hand.]
... I don't know if that's quite right. If this place is being affected by our own cognition, then that would mean we have some sort of knowledge or understanding about it. But because our senses have been tampered with, and because we're unfamiliar with it, our perception of it is distorted. Wouldn't that imply we're trapped in a feedback loop?
[they don't think there are rats so they don't see the rats but then they find fur nobody can touch so they suddenly see the rats but maybe they wouldn't have seen the rats if they didn't know there were rats but they didn't know there were rats so they didn't see the rats and nobody could touch the fur at first so was it really there at all so etc etc etc]
no subject
I don't think that's exactly right. In fact, I think it's our lack of understanding that makes things appear as they are appearing right now.
[does that even make sense??? Akira pauses and tries to think of a different way to phrase it]
Right now, we all understand the mansion to be a creepy, possibly haunted prison where we're being held against our will. [. . .] We understand that there supposedly will be a death every single week, with mysterious forces pushing us to commit these crimes whether we actively want to or not.
And because that's what we believe, that's what is.
[DOES. . . THAT MAKE SENSE. a hum and Akira opens his eyes, brows still furrowed]
Because we are still operating under those assumptions, we don't know what's really happening, here. We're unable to see the truth, because we have already created a truth for ourselves.
[without love it cannot be seen etc etc]