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[hopefanatic]

There's something I've been thinking about for a while so I hope all of you will be patient enough to indulge me.

A good deal of fantastic and seemingly-impossible things happen in this place, ranging from all of us raising dragons to encountering killer plants like ones out of an old horror movie. I know that I don't just speak for myself when I say that a lot of the things we encounter here simply don't happen where I'm from... In fact one could even call all of it downright impossible and against the laws of nature and physics! I mean, the moons changing us into animals? Some mysterious space society that we've "mysteriously" encountered right when they need our help? It almost sounds like a video game!

Which brings me to the question I'd like to pose to all of you...

How do you know that any of this is reality?

Comments

[hopefanatic]

Oh? You wouldn't be worried about how it happened or where your body might be?

[codecmoment]

When I arrived on the moon, I saw... a vision in a lake, there. Of my comatose body and my daughter crying over me.

So whatever's happening, I don't entirely believe it's real, exactly.

[hopefanatic]

But you'll accept whatever it is that's happening, even after seeing that? Wow, you're pretty carefree!

[codecmoment]

I spend every day being afraid of leaving my daughter alone in the world. Don't put words in my mouth.

While I'm here, I've been given... a chance at something I never got back home. There was no chance, no hope of it. So I'm not going to turn my nose up at it.

[hopefanatic]

So you're looking for that hope here? How nice, I hope you pursue it with all your might while you have the chance!

[codecmoment]

I am. From day one, I had that chance, and I go to sleep and wake up every day next to him. And that... that's something I don't get to have back home. Not anymore.

That aside, you do bring up a good theory. If this is fake, it would explain how... curated everything feels here. Like, there doesn't seem to be visible crime, or homeless folks, or... anything. Like a part of a city only tourists see. Unless you go to level 3 or lower, I guess.

[hopefanatic]

How wonderful. Even hearing such a touching sentiment makes me shiver...

[Sorry he's Like This.]

Exactly, it's all very tidy and convenient. The fact that there's no discernible faction of the locals who even seems concerned with our presence is suspicious enough. Why would every level of a society be so quick to simply accept outsiders from not only other worlds but dimensions without considering the ripple effect? We could be introducing unknown diseases or violent criminals into their midst, after all!

[codecmoment]

Nuclear energy is dangerous, but we still use it because it gives us, well, energy.

Maybe, to them, the Moonblessed are the same.

[hopefanatic]

We're worth the possible repercussions as long as we give them what they need, essentially?

Of course there's also a chance they they brought us here on purpose and are just playing innocent to keep us more complacent. After all, we'd be more likely to sympathize if they act welcoming than if they just came out and admitted that we were here as a fuel source.

[codecmoment]

I'm keeping my options open. I've dealt with shadowy organizations and complicated behind-the-scenes plots before. Kinda my specialty.

[hopefanatic]

Really? Wow, what a coincidence!

Although I wouldn't say it's my specialty necessarily. I'm not skilled enough to have anything like that.