005. Text // my world is unaffected

[manufactured]

It's been some time since Retrospec has properly dropped some sort of identity crisis on us, though I suppose it's good to know that we're getting a bit more information out of them now than we were in the past; I'm in no way looking down on small favors and silver linings. Just the same, I wonder for the time being where that leaves us - I know I've asked a few of you about this in the past, and I'm sure that a fair amount of you have made your decisions regarding it since.

I suppose what I want to hear is your thoughts on these people you're receiving memories of, whether you consider them "you" or otherwise - do you still think of them as a separate person from yourself or do you consider them to be the same as "you", and why you've come to feel that way. I'm not going to argue for feeling one way or another on the matter, I'm just wondering how you've come to see these people that technically don't exist anymore.

Of course, if you reject this entire matter completely and just consider this to be an example of some corporate entity you hate ruining your life for no apparent reason, that's likewise fair.

I've formed my own views on this fairly recently; I tend to find it calming, having some sort of conclusion that I can accept as reasonably true for the time being. It's not always convenient, but it's calming.

Comments

[standalonehuman]

Disappointing, and that's where we'll have to hit our impasse, because I am here to argue differing viewpoints. How else can any of us figure out what this means to us?

But Carlisle insisted that Retrospec has just been facilitators. Retrospec's current incarnation isn't who started the process. They also can't stop it. Whoever does know what's going on isn't communicating it to their employees, either, there's just this implicit trust that the process will do what they expect it to.

And, again, no one can say for sure what happens at the end of the process. If this other soul is totally restored, what does that mean for the world that soul comes from? And what does it mean for the consciousness the soul is stored in for the time being, or, us.

[manufactured]

...I sincerely hope that a member of the police would understand the importance of basic clearance levels and giving information to those that are required to know it. Why would you assume Retrospec doesn't have such a system in place? It isn't half the conspiracy the lot of you make it out to be; it's an entirely rational model.

And again, you're operating under a flawed assumption - one that has been addressed multiple times by several different people, all pointing to the same conclusion. It's hardly their fault, nor is it mine, if you don't want to listen.

[standalonehuman]

So if this other man's experiences are not the ones you want in your own life, as you said earlier, what meaning are you getting out of all this? And when the day comes that you remember everything about that life, what do you expect to happen?

[manufactured]

When it comes to the eventual outcome - bluntly put, I don't know. I don't believe they're lying about the restoration process, but I acknowledge that no one who has spoken to us seems to know what that's going to look like. I believe someone does, but that information is on an infuriatingly need-to-know basis; I likewise acknowledge that it's possible that you're correct in that something...unfortunate, let's say, awaits us at the end of this. I have no problem with the rational concept of information clearance levels, but I don't know why that particular information would be gated when it's something that would likely be optimistic if it plays out exactly as portrayed.

So I admit that there are some worrying holes in all of this; that much isn't baseless. I'm personally hoping that all of this is legitimate, but if it isn't... Well, that will end poorly for people, to put it gently. I've done terrible things over being led around in that sort of way before; I would prefer to let old habits remain in the past. But that bridge will have to be crossed when we come to it.

As for what meaning I personally get out of it, it has a fair amount to do with free will and personal choice, both of which I seem to have been denied on a fundamental level in my past life.