Buh?

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

Wha... huh?

I go poking around in Space Paranoids (and must wonder why, exactly, Ansem named it -that-), and find...

What exactly IS this?

Ah Light, Leon will probably blame ME for this... whatever it is... and try to have me arrested. Again. Ugh. I don't need this...


[OOC: Ienzo, post KHII, having regained his heart and returned to Radiant Garden in an effort to redeem himself, after Many Weird Adventures. Thus, rather... different than the Ienzo you're used to.]

Comments

[pursuitof-truth.livejournal.com]

It would seem that there are many incarnations of "Ienzo" in this pocket dimension, and that you are familiar with Ansem as well.

I must ask, though... who is Leon, and why would he find it necessary to arrest you?

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

UH.

I am going to blame Ansem's computer program. Clearly it exists to create hypothetical duplicates of whoever is in the database for... some... purpose... possibly experiments in quantum entanglement. Or something, quantum was NEVER my field.

So, hypothetical computer spawned me. I'll indulge you since I need to find a way OUT of here... Leon is somewhat the de-facto head of the police force of Radiant Garden, simply becuase no one else would do it. Much as Aerith is the de-facto head of the hospital. And Yuffie is de-facto intelligence specialist, and Cid is the de-facto repairman...

And it's becuase sometime in the future, computer spawned not-me, you're going to kill everyone you ever loved and destroy your world. So naturally the inhabitants are more than a bit bitter about that.

Unless you're not going to, or something.

[pursuitof-truth.livejournal.com]

*blinks slowly*

I'm afraid that I am as real as you are, and not some holographic computer program designed to be a replication of yourself. I also believe that were you to not jump to conclusions, you would find that my memories differ greatly from yours, in that the world I come from is not called the Radiant Garden, but Earth, and more specifically, Northwestern University. Also, though I don't know a great deal about computers and physics, I DO know that quantum entanglements wouldn't be the result of a computer program, but something far greater.

Regardless, this is useful information and if I ever meet these people in my version of reality, I'll be sure and take note.

And... well. That is an awful lot to take in, but I assure you I have no desire to kill my closest friends, nor do I wish to take the lives of upwards of six billion people. One can only hope that differing circumstances in different worlds would prevent such an event...

Out of curiosity, what was it in your world that caused such a thing?

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

Simulation of quantum entanglement, not the real thing.

Hm. Well.

I was an idealistic young man, a student of psychology, neurobiology, and computer science, and one of the youngest persons to ever be admitted to my school, the Radiant Institute of Technology. The OTHER youngest student was the Prince, Xehanort, who became my best friend.

Now, my best friend had a problem: he was missing a large number of his memories. I assumed they were repressed, but nothing I could do would restore them. Thus his father had an interesting idea concerning the nature of Darkness itself - that the darkness in people's hearts was not metaphorical as the Path of Iryen said, but physical and real, and could be removed.

Our goal was to find a way to destroy evil itself.

We started by studying the darkness in Xehanort, since that seemed to be part of the reason his memories were missing. He... changed, then.

The more we studied, the more we searched, the more we had to know. It wasn't just research anymore, it was knowing for the sake of knowing. We began to think that Dark was more powerful than Light, to think so many things...

Ansem tried to back out, but I convinced him to stay, to even build a larger lab. But then he finally found the secret evils we'd committed - experimenting on human subjects, making creatures which were physical darkness, darkness incarnate.

Rather than explaining, than realizing our mistake, we threw him to that self-same darkness.

And then... then... Xehanort... changed. He... he... began calling HIMSELF Ansem, declared himself the new ruler of Radiant Garden and the "Seeker of Darkness". He threw off his physical body and became... ugh.

He ripped my friend Eleaus' heart from his chest while I watched. And then he came for me...

... I... don't want to talk about it further.

The point is that we didn't think we were going to do any wrong. Indeed, we began with the very best of intentions. It's just... the road to the Realm of Darkness is paved with good intentions.

[pursuitof-truth.livejournal.com]

........

*he turns away, but the shock and fear on his face is very evident, then quietly*

Your story is familiar.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

I...
...
hoom.
Look, just... I...

[pursuitof-truth.livejournal.com]

I am positive that I am no illusion or program, but...

I myself am enrolled at a prestigious university, studying psychology and the English language, as it were. Xehanort, Eleaus, Ansem... your story, save for details of location and cultural circumstances, is disturbingly similar to my own.

*a nervous laugh* But worlds are different, aren't they? I still have time to prevent such events...

[radiantprodigy.livejournal.com]

Another one? My, there certainly are a lot of duplicates as of late.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

Light preserve me, how many duplicates is this program going to generate?

[radiantprodigy.livejournal.com]

It isn't the result of a program, or I don't believe so. More so, it seems to be a crossroads of sorts from various realities.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

Light help me.

[radiantprodigy.livejournal.com]

Ah...is there something wrong?

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

Come now. I was trying to do a routine bug-check for Cid and I wander into... into... what's apparently some sort of mad quantum anomaly or dimensional crossroads.

If it wasn't that I've been through weirder, I'd doubt my sanity.

This is just somewhat of a damper on my day.

[xdarkillusionx.livejournal.com]

This must be the third duplicate of my former self. Fortunately, you, too, seem to have some form of intellect.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

Hah. Former self?

I'm you as you could be, Zexion. Ever wonder what's going to happen once you do get that heart of yours back and remember things like, oh, morality, and ethics?

Ah Light, I'm talking to my Nobody. Inside a computer program which I stumbled into by accident which is APPARENTLY not a computer program but a trans-dimensional anomaly.

this day can only get worse.

[xdarkillusionx.livejournal.com]

Former Nobody, actually. Through means I'd rather not discuss, I managed to regain my heart, and I admit that I have made an attempt to change. With that in mind, it seems rather obvious that you, too, managed to become whole.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

... interesting.

Why did you keep your Nobody name, I must ask? I wanted to rid myself of that as soon as possible.

But yes. I... well. Managed isn't the word, I think. It's more as if the universe itself woke up one morning and decided, arbitrarily, that Nobodies should have their hearts back.

I since extrapolated that it was a (rather ironic) result of Sora killing our Heartless and then opening the Door to Light, but... the point is, that I still am not sure I deserve this heart.

[xdarkillusionx.livejournal.com]

The prime reason why I kept this name is simply because myself, as well as others, seemed more accustomed to it. After ten years, it would be strange to simply call myself "Ienzo", especially considering the fact that I have changed over the course of time, especially over the past year. As of now, Ienzo is but a memory, a naive, yet intelligent student who wanted nothing more than to work for Ansem the Wise and study the heart...only to lose his own heart due to ignorance.

How ironic, for that is similar to how I became whole, in a sense. As for whether or not you deserve it, I suppose that all depends on whether or not you have changed or made an attempt to atone for your acts as a Nobody.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

*nods* Yes. I... was for a time going by the name Iryen, from the name of a poet, a prophet and a scholar from the distant past of my... hm. of my particular iteration of Radiant Garden, I suppose. Ienzo is simply becuase once everyone figured out who I really was, that's what they chose to call me. *shrugs* it's not precisely my choice.

... we're quite similar, you and I. I returned to Radiant Garden against the urgings of my fellow ex-Nobodies becuase I felt I owed them a debt. I work every day to try in some way to undo the damage I did, to restore some part of the former glory of my home. Perhaps it's misguided and perhaps, as Leon says, I can never be forgiven for what I did but...

If I spend the rest of my life trying to do some good in the world... well, maybe I can't be forgiven, but at least some light will be brought into the lives of others.

[hollowillusions.livejournal.com]

Another duplicate... I'm not sure whether to be intrigued or wary of this.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

You know, I could say the same about you.

So you are my Nobody then. But something smells different about you anyway.

[hollowillusions.livejournal.com]

You could say that I'm different from the others; unlike a majority of the Zexions here, I did not choose to side with the Organization. In fact, I eventually chose to aid Master Ansem, or "DiZ" as he had called himself.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

... wow, I'm not so sure I know how I feel about that. I mean, on the one hand I'm all for not betraying Ansem, he didn't really deserve it. But on the other hand he turned out to be a vindictive son of a shadow afterwards. Indeed, in some ways I think he was almost as bad as we were. I heard what he did to Riku.

Wow. Hah. How odd. Ugh, and talking to my Nobody.

[hollowillusions.livejournal.com]

Am I truly that despicable? I admit that Master Ansem's antics weren't favorable, but can one honestly blame him? He was betrayed, and while blinded by thoughts of revenge, at heart his goal was fair enough.

[book-of-dawn.livejournal.com]

No, I can't. And you don't seem as bad as I used to be.

It's just disconcerting, speaking to a mirror of a remnant of a past I'm trying to forget.