MTLNOVEL Chapter 1712 Shattering the Moment
--- Lily ---
Lily dropped back to the ground and pulled out transformed to get a proper look down the hole. She had her shadows constantly moving around her in a defensive patterns just in case Trvis started to attack again… though perhaps calling 'him' Trvis was the wrong move.
*I have no idea what to think of this. I mean… I guess it makes sense? We knew we were dealing with clone stuff… but it just felt like that guy was the original. So… what does this mean?* Said 'guy' was currently teleporting around, clutching his temples while screaming. His body was shifting underneath him like a bundle of balled up angry eels and it wasn't helping Lily organise her thoughts. "Well… what the heck does this mean?" asked Lily aloud.
Hunter swiftly made her way over and leaned down to look into the pit. "Ah… this is most concerning. I wonder what that means for the Trvis that is screaming. He is remarkably coherent for a clone. I wonder if he has a soul of his own or if it's just the original soul stretched to be in two places… or perhaps moved into the one we see up here?"
"AAAAAAAHH" screamed Trvis as Lily glanced over. It seemed like he wasn't going to be in position to answer questions any time soon. Lily… honestly felt somewhat bad. She was trying to puzzle out how to kill this… person? That was having an existential crisis and just really not handling this new bit of information well.
"So um… what's the difference?" asked Lily.
"Well if there is two souls here… it might give us options? I really don't know. See, while a soul corrupted by demonic energy cannot be saved… if he was created with it? Well then I can see it as possible he can be saved. Especially knowing you exist. Of course, that's just a small possibility…"
"I say we kill him," stated Meg. Lily leaped up and backwards, nearly falling over due to the uneven terrain but between her instincts her tail and both arms she was able to stabilise herself. "I mean, even if he might, possible, maybe, be saved it would be a LOT of work and probably invasive experimentation. It would not be a happy life until they worked it out… and they would throw him to the 'science at any cost' types for sure,"
Lily winced, already having a very good idea of what sort of person Meg was talking about. "Can we even kill him?" asked Hunter. "While breaking this crystal will probably have some effect will he die?"
"Eh… probably?" offered Meg.
"Probably?" asked Lily.
"I can see that destroying the crystal will destroy this area of twisted space, and I can also see that with his warped and mutated form he won't remain stable outside of it and will pretty quickly die. Though with time magic 'pretty quickly' could be a much larger timeframe to worry about and I can see you two complaining about the torture… stabbing him afterwards will probably speed it up," explained Meg casually.
"I'd also like to point out I am against torture," said Pebbles as he walked up to the hole, already with a pretty good idea what was in it. Strdl… well she was still wrapped up in that protective cocoon Hunter had shot at her and had not yet removed.
"Yeah but a bit of pain now will save him a LOT of pain later if you guys really want to try saving him. Though… I suppose I'm not entirely sure how to properly dispose of all this crystal so… if he's willing we might be able to send him and the crystal to the Hub for study. If that's what you want to do I'm not going to stop you guys but…" Meg let herself trail off.
*It is… an interesting point. I'm not sure what I'd prefer if I was in his position and he really doesn't appear to be in the right headspace to work it out either.* Trvis had moved on to slamming his head into the wall of the area repeatedly and then flickering for a second to repair the damage and remove the trail of blood running down his face. It was more than a little creepy to watch so Lily was trying not to think about it. Stay updated through empire
*Actually… KAT! We've got a… well I don't even know. Have a look at my recent memories.* Lily opened her connection with Kat right up and shuffled her recent experiences along the link. She could quickly feel it when Kat's thoughts changed to confusion with a touch of understanding.
[I see the problem. I… I don't know what to tell you either. Trvis isn't in position to voice his opinion… and I mean… gosh it's hard. Like if he's the original then I feel a lot less sympathy for him but… well that 'learn a whole bunch of stuff in an instant?' making him a 'different person'? It might have actually been this potentially new guy being born. So… can we really blame him for his 'father's' actions or however you want to spin it?]
Oh I wasn't even thinking about it from that angle… Lily glanced around to see Trvis still beating his head against the wall. Lily also saw that Strdl was still wrapped up. A quick poke at Hunter and a gesture vaguely in the direction saw the lamia moving over to free Strdl so she could participate in the conversation.
"Is it possible to ask him what he wants? Or find out if he's the original or not? He's completely different now…" voiced Lily once Strdl was free.
"Why does it matter?" asked Strdl. Lily pointed towards the hole. Strdl leaned over the edge and spent a few moments taking the information in. "I still don't see how that matters,"
"I think Lily's point is that if the clone Trvis is a new person he deserves a choice… but if he's just the original piloting a new body or an approximation of a person with no soul then she's likely feeling less generous. The current state he seems to be trapped in makes me doubt the integrity of his soul… but then again this is the same guy who thought stabbing himself in the heart with a large piece of exotic crystal was a good idea so perhaps it is not so far-fetched," explained Hunter.
"Look, I still say it would be easier to just kill him. It sidesteps a whole bunch of problems, and it means that we're not condemning him to a fate worse than death. It is simply death. More relevant to me is that it also won't get us caught up in any awkward politics," added Meg.
"I don't like how casually we're talking about killing a man…" mumbled Strdl.
"Didn't you almost kill a guy earlier today? I'm also not sure he counts as a man anymore," retorted Meg.
"I am fine with him dying," stated Pebbles. "He was not a good man… but he deserves some dignity in death. If we can end this saga now I say we do so. It will keep the mess contained, hopefully deal with the clones still in the city and ensures that his story will simply end in a few moments,"
"I did warn him that 'a few moments' for a time manipulator might be a while right?" asked Meg as she twirled a needles on her fingers.
"Indeed you did 23HX502. Personally I have no strong feelings one way or the other… yet it seems those of us who do possess those strong feelings feel that killing him is the way to go about it. I do not find myself irritated by this plan," added Hunter.
"My little sis, so mean using that serial number to identify me, such sadness!" whined Meg.
All the while Lily was looking down at the trapped form of Trvis. She didn't know what the best plan was… so she decided to try getting his attention. "TRVIS!" hissed Lily. The slamming stopped as the figure turned towards her. "You've got two options. Death, or perhaps salvation through long and torturous experimentation that will possibly be lethal. Which are you more interested in?"
Lily could feel the glares coming from the others, but too bad. She'd decided to ask and would not interfere once an answer was given. If they chose to ignore Trvis? Lily decided that it wasn't on her head. "I… I… death. I think I choose death," whispered Trvis.
Of course the sound was more than loud enough for the improved hearing of Meg who jumped straight into the hole and slammed her knitting needles into the crystal construct. Shit… I think the shock has hit him hard. I don't… I don't know if this is an answer he can be happy with.
Despite Lily's concerns events had been set in motion already. The Trvis in the crystal shattered to pieces, and once the crystal reformed he was gone from with it. Trvis the monster started to crack in place, with bits of light shining from within. He didn't fight. He didn't squirm. He made no attempt to save himself.
Once the cracks had covered he entire body, he simply crumbled to dust all at once. There was no shattering, no explosion of light. He simply… stopped existing.