Vinyl and Octavia have a chat (and do some other stuff)

by Inky Scrolls

The Sixth, in which an existential crisis is experienced

"Morning, Vinyl."

"..."

"What d'you want on your toast today? Maremalade, jam, maremite..?"

"..."

"Righto, jam it is. Y'know, I'm sure you'd learn to appreciate maremite if you'd just give it a fair shot. But it's your life you're throwing away, I suppose!"

"..!"

"What? Maremite is good stuff."

"..."

"Well, it's your choice. Or is it?"

"..?"

"Well, what if, for some reason, you actually really wanted maremite today? But an inner voice kept telling you that no, that's a bad idea, have jam instead? You might not notice it, and think that you were deciding for yourself, whereas really you weren't."

"..."

"Of course it seems unlikely! That just shows how good they are."

"..."

"No, no, think about it. What if free will is really an illusion, and we're actually all being manipulated by outside beings to suit their own ends? It's possible, you must admit."

"..."

"But that's the point! You could never know..."

"..?"

"Exactly. We could just be characters on a television programme, viewable fodder for the masses. This whole world could be nothing more than a giant set, a con, a fake, and the real world is always just over the horizon... how could you tell?"

"..!"

"You couldn't, that's how. You'd never know. We could be going about our lives as usual, thinking nothing of it, when really it's all being planned out from Above. That time you almost got run over by a taxi, but tripped away from the kerb at the last instant? All a set up. It wasn't good luck, you were meant to survive. But why...?"

"..."

"Yes! What if the only reason Nightmare Moon was defeated was because she was meant to be? What if something happens that they haven't planned for? We're still real, and real things sometimes go wrong, so what if they made a mistake in the programming?"

"..?"

"Oh no, you're right! How do we know we're real? What if this isn't even a TV show, but instead just the random ramblings of somebody's mind? We could be just flickers of electricity, informationless nothings being passed from neuron to neuron until the Being's train of thought shifts. We could be forgotten! Is that what death is? Being forgotten by the Being whose head we're inside?"

"..!"

"No, no, listen to me! How do we know that the Being's head is even real? How can we ever be certain that we exist at all! We can never know! Touch me, Vinyl. Touch my hoof."

"..."

"You felt that, didn't you? So did I. But what if you're not real, and the Programmers just made you do that? Or what if I'm not real, and you are, and the Programmers made me do that? How could you know!?"

"!!!"

"No! I won't calm down! It's a valid point! How can I ever be certain that I'm real? This could all be a dream, passing in a split second in the real world, but seemingly lasting for eternity in ours."

"..?"

"But what if this world is real? What if it's real, but only just came into being? Describe the view outside the window to me, Vi, without looking."

".., ..."

"And now look and see if you were right."

"..."

"Why were you right, d'you think? Is it because you've seen that view every day for the past five years, or is it because it's brand new, but it's been programmed inside your brain? You can never tell! The view could've been completely different yesterday, but you remember it like this because that's what They want you to think."

"..."

"Ha! Far-fetched is may seem, but that only proves how clever They are. They've already taken your mind, Vinyl. You won't believe me now, when I try to enlighten you, to make you see the light! But I'll not give in! They won't take my brain! Don't let them take me, Vi!!"

"..!"

"Aah! So you're in on it too! You're trying to take my brain away from me! Stop it, you Heathen! You meddler with other people's brains! But - but what if you're right? What if my brain isn't really mine? What if I'm simply a brain in a jar, sitting on a shelf in some science lab somewhere... do I have a right to my own brain? I think I'm sentient..."

"..."

"Does it matter? Does it matter? Does it matter... if I can't tell if I'm real or not, does it really matter? If I'm happy enough with my semblance of free will, does it matter if it's fake? If my mind is nothing more than some electrons in a laboratory, but I don't mind, does it matter? What if, should I ever find out, I would mind? Is it immoral if I might mind? What if it is, and what if I find out the truth? Is that wrong? But if I don't find out, and don't mind, and live out my fictional life as any fictional character would, does it matter?"

"..?"

"'Matter to who'? I think you'll find the correct phraseology is 'matter to whom'. But you're right... if I'm not real, then my thoughts don't count. Who decides whose thoughts count and whose don't? In this brain-in-jar scenario, who sets the morals that one must live by? Is it the scientist? Did he set our rules? Did we set out own rules, we connected brain-jars? Or did the scientist just use the rules that were already there in his own world?"

"..."

"It's an important question, Vi. Is murder always wrong? What if we only think it's wrong because that's what we're trained to think? What if, in the scientist's realm, murder is alright? Does that we're being conned in our brain-jar world?"

"..!"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill anyone! But is that because I think it's wrong, or because I've been trained to think that? Who sets the morals, ultimately? There must be someone out there, because we can't have evolved. If we evolved, then why do we care so much about murder? Surely, if the fittest survive and the weakest must die, then murder is a good thing? But we know it isn't, so that can't be the case... but if someone told us it was wrong, programmed our minds, and our parents' minds, and their parents' minds, ad infinitum, then that would make murder wrong by definition, because They created the morals to start with..."

"..."

"Yeah... deep. But don't worry, I know I exist."

"..?"

"Because of René Haycartes. He said cogito, ergo sum, or 'I think, therefore I am'. If I can think, there must exist something capable of thinking, which can only think if it exists. So even if we are just a couple of brain-jars, those brain-jars must exist."

"..!"

"Crazy but comforting? Yes, I think that sums it up. Sorry to go all existential on you there for a minute, but I needed to get that off my chest. I've been doing waaay too much thinking lately."

"..!"

"I know! Doesn't sound like me, does it? But you're always so much more chilled than I am, Vi. I need to be more like you."

"..."

"Aw, that's sweet! Thanks, Vi. Now, we should probably have some breakfast."

"..?"

"Yes! Of course you may! But make sure the spread it thinly, maremite can be rather intense if spread too thick."

"..."

"Yes, sorry about that. I was rather intense too for a bit. But there we go! I'm all better now."

"..."

"But what if... what if it's true?"

"!!!"

Author's Note:

Wahey! Two chapters in a week! Almost too good to be true. Or is it? What if that's what you were trained to think? What if I actually uploaded Chapter 5 months ago, but fooled the Universe into thinking it was brand new? Weird...

Comments

[Seraphimus]

Oh my god how did i miss this story updating. so stoked for this .

[Seraphimus]

^_^ I still friggin absolutely love this storyIt's silly, it's sweet and it's just... interesting to see how communication works. How even without words So much can be said or understood. How we never hear a thing vinyl says and yet we understand all of it.

[Inky Scrolls]

7699057 Cheers! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'll try and get another chapter written at some point, but uni's being rather demanding at the minute. So I shall have to see. Thanks!

[errant]

In this chapter: Octavia is off her meds

[Inky Scrolls]

7914494 Why thank you! I so glad you enjoyed reading it. And I'm glad that I was able to convey the characters' emotions, despite Vinyl's severely limited vocabulary. I intend to write more chapters at some point, when I've more ideas. Thank you for your encouragement!