Sixth Imprint ⚡ Video

[pitied]

[Claire's holding her imprint wedge in her left hand, staring at it for a moment before her other hand brushes over some brown curls.]

This place has got me thinking. I know there was someone offering to erase memories-- [And she has her own feelings on that.] But if everything you knew could be erased and you could simply hit 'restart' on your life, would you? If you could start again, forget what you know about this place, about the future you may or may not return to, would you?

[Not that she necessarily has the ability to. The imprint wedge is only a piece of the technology needed. But at least if anything happens to her, if she's damaged, she has this as a back up.]

But starting over could simply lead to the same conclusion. Or you would not be the person you are now, for better or for worse.

[Her face steels again, fingers edging over the wedge before she brings the hand into her lap. Would she want to forget? Truly? No. At least what has happened is real. She's experienced it. It has made her who she is in this moment, no matter her name or her programming.]

Then again, with the erasure of everything I know, it could also be a devolution. [Certainly Alpha would think so.]

This is simply me thinking out loud. With the abilities and things offered here, it simply got me thinking again on what truly makes us who we are.

Comments

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[walksonrooftops]

I...

[It's a question that really gets him thinking, but after a moment of silence and pensive ear-twitching, he looks up again.]

I wouldn't do it. Too much has happened here. Good things and bad things. But I wouldn't give up the good just to get rid of the bad.

[The thought of a world that isn't as he knows it now still frightens him, in part because of how he was raised, his worldview so narrow that exile meant death, and in part because of what's he's now learned to the contrary.]

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[pitied]

I do not see much good here. [Not from her viewpoint. Being trapped here, finding out her future is not all that bright.]

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[walksonrooftops]

Maybe every person is different. But there's food here, and a nice bed to sleep in. And people who like to talk to you. That's all good.

Even the bad things make a person who they are, don't they?

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[pitied]

They do. [She knows she has a scars for a reason, to remember. To not be a doll. But here she is with an imprint wedge.]

I wonder if it ever becomes bad enough to not want to remember though.

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[walksonrooftops]

It's--hard, sometimes. [And he's got scars of his own to attest to that. This isn't something he would've thought of saying back when he still lived on his home world, but things change, and he speaks slowly as he tries to figure out how he even feels about this.]

But you get stronger too. And the stronger you get, the less hard it becomes. Until you can see the good. Or sometimes the good just happens. I'm thankful for all the times the good things just happened. I wouldn't want to erase those things.

[ video ]

[hostage]

I thought I wanted to forget. But I'm glad I didn't, when I had the chance.

[ video ]

[pitied]

[Her eyes look back at the imprint wedge.] I suppose I wouldn't. Perhaps it isn't bad enough to forget.

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[redhotsummers]

I think it's the cowards way out.

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[pitied]

Sometimes it isn't your choice.

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[redhotsummers]

...then I'm sorry for you.

I don't think what we are is inherent--without my past? I wouldn't be at all like I am now.

I'd just be another dumb kid.

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[pitied]

So you believe our actions make us who we are. Actions made from a choice.

What about instinct or personality defects?

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[redhotsummers]

...honestly? Personally, I don't think those things matter as much.

Life makes us what we are. A man might be a monster, but he wasn't destined to become that, even if it was within him the whole time.

[andblockbuster]

We are what we believe we are. [He might sound a little exasperated, but it's not at her- he kinda had a fight with Edgeworth about this same thing.]

[pitied]

There is a difference between belief and knowing. [It was why she never looked at her file.]

[andblockbuster]

It's all nuance, Claire. You said it yourself- you know who you are.

[pitied]

I know who I am, but my actions are still predicated on your programming. Do you know how hard it is to determine what you want from what your brain is telling you you want?

[andblockbuster]

Is that really so different from most people? I'm the last person who oughta be that guy, but maybe you should try listening to your heart and not your head.

[ripstides]

Not for a second. [ he'd never forgotten Annabeth (at least not her name or her face) but everyone and everything else had been wiped out. forgetting your mom? not a great feeling. having your memories stolen or erased, it doesn't change how you feel. Percy thinks it gets felt for a different reason and there's no figuring out why. ] But that's my choice, and that's what makes me who I am.

What's yours?

[pitied]

[Perhaps that makes her different than a doll. Even in this place, she wouldn't want to lose what she has learned here. Regardless if this place is good or bad.]

I never had a choice.

[ripstides]

Neither did I.

If I did- if it happened again and I did- that would be mine.

[pitied]

I probably will have no choice if it happens again, the way I'm made. I'm simply lucky nothing happened when they rounded us up when we docked.

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[tact]

And forget the people I've met? All those really embarrassing things I've done? [ as someone who will never be able to do those things again or spend time with those people in the near future, cordelia holds those memories close to her. she did during her jasmine takeover; those things kept giving her hope when there was none. ] I wouldn't give that up for the world.

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[pitied]

[Claire raises an eyebrow. That is an interesting take on it.]

You like your mistakes?

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[tact]

Honestly? Not really. Most of them are not my finest moments - even the ones that aren't really mine ... [ thanks jasmine. but it's because of that thing that she says: ] But they're my mistakes. They make you who you are, whether you like it or not.

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[pitied]

[The imprint wedge was truly a backup. Made to be there in case she was somehow erased.]

Then you have no regrets?