It keeps happening

[forcegalactic]

[After that horror show of an execution, Mordecai is still restless from the investigation and trial. He has too much pent-up energy, and plenty of others are sure to be upset, too. Ashley was loved by nearly all of them, the trial was mentally draining, and that execution was crueler than it should have been.

Two hours after everyone has returned to their rooms, they'll find a note slipped under their doors.]

We can't go on with empty stomachs. There's food in the kitchen, and the dining room is always open if you need someone to talk to.

Please keep anything outside of eating and civilized conversation away from the dining hall. That room is meant to be a peaceful place for those of us that need it.

-Mordecai Benmont Jiminy

[Today, there's cream of tomato soup warming up on the stove with a set of bowls besides it. It's a more mindless dish to prepare than mashed potatoes, as much as Mordecai wants to vent his frustrations on the potatoes.

He decides to follow Cabanela's tradition and lights one more candle, and after some consideration, lights a sixth. Let those who cared about either girl pay their respects.]

Comments

[midnightsea]

It's as you say--philosophy.

[Refusing to answer simply didn't work with this one. He was pushy, insistent, and above all else stubborn. Better to tell half the truth instead.]

I think most of it is the kind of thing I've discussed with someone back at home before. Wondering about the nature of fate and the things which draw people together.

[forcegalactic]

No, I find this topic interestin'. See, on Mars, we focus most our daily lives on survivin' and bein' careful not to get caught up in danger, we don't have much time to sit around and philosophize. Sometimes you have the erudite drunks in the saloon, but that is nowhere near what people on Earth typically get up to.

[Not that he's visited Earth any time recently, but the general populace down their have it easier overall.]

And fate's most definitely what brought us here. That, and awful luck.

[midnightsea]

... [He twirled the pen in his right hand again, leaning his head on the other. Either he was bored or exhausted, and one was sounding more likely today.]

I seem to call it 'gravity'. 'Fate' is something larger than individual meetings--with a few special exceptions. The latter is the force which aligns entire lives to fall in just such a way that significant things happen.

[What Dio was describing, as it happened, was a concept that wasn't first written of until long after he'd become a vampire, in 1952. The idea that small events could line up so perfectly as to have massive and far-reaching consequences had a name, unknown to him:]

[The butterfly effect.]

Gravity as it's written of here seems to be defining connections more than events. Or the 'why' rather than the 'what', I think.

[forcegalactic]

See, that's not how gravity works. You got this one large body - in this philosophical model, the big event we're all headin' to - and it pulls in objects that are just passin' by. Now, if there are a bunch of these objects - say, planets or asteroids or comets or these "individual lives" - they end up gettin' closer to that same point while takin' their own paths. They most likely never meet each other.

Now whether they even reach the gravitational object or move around it for billions of years depends all on the physics and variables of the predetermined settin', but those planets never align directly because of gravity. Sure, they're governed by the same thing, but it ain't the all-powerful force.

Then you got the gravitational pull the planets are pullin' against each other and meteors and other disasters, but I'm gettin' off-topic.

But in your metaphor, I reckon "gravity" can describe how we're drawn to some people instead of ours, but it assumes that one trait - mass - is all we need to be drawn to one another.

[midnightsea]

I know what gravity is in the practical sense.

[You are getting such an 'are you kidding me' look right now.He really didn't expect anyone to comprehend the idea--that was why he'd kept Pucci around.]

The literal definition isn't what I mean. It's just a term I seem to have assigned to describe an abstract concept surrounding the idea of 'why do people meet each other?' As you said, it's a metaphor--illustrating that some people are simply drawn together for larger reasons they can't understand.

[forcegalactic]

[The science is very wrong and it makes him uncomfortable.]

I read about the string theory of fate and the game theory of fate, but gravity's a new one for me, even if all three of those have their own flaws.

[He never said he was a good writer.]

Though, I do wonder if the Galaxium ever has played with the lives of mortals. It would be a real life manifestation of the whole "gods playin' with fate" stories from long ago.

[midnightsea]

I'm familiar with mythology like that. Gods interfering with fate and toying with humans--the three Moirai, the Golden Apple of Discord, even the more recent Doctor Faustus. I would think that anything with enough power would view mortals as pawns or playthings; just look at the Conductor.

[Or in a fucking mirror, Dio.]

But I'm afraid I don't know what the Galaxium is.

[forcegalactic]

Well, while he's not directly leadin' us to murder, he's certainly affecting the circumstances to drive us there. In away, you might just be right.

[Instead of pawns and playthings, they were an "experiment". And what are experiments but fun diversions to mad scientists?]

I don't know much about the Galaxium, but they're these cosmic entities that have total omnipotence over the entire universe. From what I recall from a conversation with one, they aren't allowed to interfere with use mortals and our affairs, but if one ever got bored of watchin' us, I would not be surprised - not one bit - if they startin' toyin' with us for funsies.

[midnightsea]

Effectively gods in their own right, then. What's to stop them, apart from 'they aren't allowed'?

[forcegalactic]

That's a good question. [If V'Stalu had more time to prepare an explanation, would he have admitted to some sort of self-government?] I guess they want us to trust 'em to have the fabric of the universe in mind.

[midnightsea]

...And you just trust some force like that not to ruin your lives at their smallest whim?

[forcegalactic]

[A pause.]

I dunno. I never had 'em interfere with any of my personal life, unless you count all of the bad circumstances I've been as part of a joke on their behalf. I'm fine as long as they stay out of my business, but if they're refusin' to intervene on the universe's safety, then I got a problem.

[Judging from the frustrated tone, it very much is a problem.]

[midnightsea]

Would you not count those bad circumstances as interfering with your life?

[forcegalactic]

Who knows? We all got our bad days, and that's mostly due to others decidin' highway robbery's an acceptable way of life or bein' too callous and thinkin' to shoot before askin' questions.