Where It Turns Out I Am Not Immortal
So, it turns out my headache yesterday wasn't just from having my expectations shattered. It turns out I was coming down with a sinus infection. This is really bad because I have my contract starting tomorrow, so I spent the day at home trying to recover.
It's only been partially working.
I'd normally post something clever and witty up here, but today I'm just not feeling up to it. Instead, I'm going to quickly go over what the book on raising Rocs said. I figure that it will probably be important in the future. Better to let everyone know now, rather than have people confused with what I'm doing.
Hatching the egg will actually be rather easy. An earth pony can do it in a way similar to how they can encourage plants and trees to grow. It's actually fairly technical, what with managing the flow of life through my hooves and guiding it into the egg to help the Roc inside mature faster, while at the same time not harming it.
After it hatches, it will bond with the the first pony it sees. This is not permanent, however, and it will actually switch over it's bond to another pony if that pony starts to care for it. This process of switching bonds usually takes about a week, and requires a decent amount of dedication on the pony that is trying to form the new bond. Furthermore, the Roc can create a second, slightly weaker bond to a second pony if two ponies care for it simultaneously.
If the Roc is well cared for, the bond it has with the pony caring for it will last it's entire life. It will stay with the pony it bonded with and work with them. Its temperament, however, is probably closer to a cat than a dog. It will be fairly independent and expect to be treated with respect. It will often go off on it's own to hunt, though the bond will let it know if the pony that raised it wants it back for some reason.
Despite this, like a cat, it may not always come when the pony calls. It may instead finish doing whatever it was doing. However, it is noted in the book that a bonded Roc will always come if they feel that their bonded pony is in danger. They will also usually come if they feel that the reason of the bonded pony calling is legitimate. Seldom will they not show up when the pony wants to go somewhere and needs a ride.
Feeding the Roc when it is young is important. It mostly eats raw fish, so I suspect that I will be heading down to the coast soon. I'll need to find a better way of feeding it in the future though. Once it learns how to fly, it will be able to do most of the hunting on it's own. That won't be for at least a few weeks, though, if this book is right. I wonder if there is some way around that?
Anyway, I think that's all the relevant information.
Playing Ponies Pondering Profound Perceptions
I logged in to Equestria Online and found Forest Trails sitting across from me at the same table were at yesterday. She glanced up as I arrived and signalled the waiter to bring me some mineral water. I took a moment to glance around and found that the usual bustle of the big city was going on.
“You're like clockwork,” Forest Trails said once I had my bearings. “Five o'clock every day. How was your day?”
“Well...” I said, drawing out the sound, “Do you remember how I said I was really tired last night? It turns out that I was getting sick. I've been trying to heal all day. I'm feeling a bit better right now, but certainly not at my best.”
“Oh dear,” Forest Trails said, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
I chuckled, “Not much with you not being able to come see me in person, I'm afraid.”
“Are you eating well? Did you remember to take your medication?” She persisted.
I gave ah half shrug and aborted it when it caused pain, “Well, if yogurt can be considered healthy.”
“You need to eat more than that,” she said sternly. “I know you don't normally eat until after you visit with me, but you need to go and make yourself some chicken soup.”
“But-” I started to say.
“No buts mister!” She glared at me and looked entirely too cute doing so, “You need to stay healthy.”
I sighed, and rolled off of my bed back in the real world, wincing as I did so. My pony copied the wince of pain, but stayed seated. “Fine, I'll go make supper, but that means that you are going to have to put up with me being distracted for the next little while.”
“That's fine,” She said, “It will give me a chance to answer any questions you might have.” She gave me another stern look. “The ones you were avoiding yesterday.”
“Fine, fine,” I said, placing the pony pad on the counter-top and grabbing a can of chicken soup, “And I wasn't avoiding asking the questions, I was trying to wrap my head around the answers you already gave.”
“Well,” She asked, “have you then?”
“I think so.” I put the pot on the stove. “So, have you lived your entire life, then? How does that even work?”
“Of course I've lived my life!” She said, “What, you think that my history is just being made up as I go along?”
I winced, “Well it is a possibility.”
“No it isn't,” Trails sighed. “Think about it. if my background was being made up on the spot then I wouldn't be alive would I? My actions and feelings might make sense to someone watching me, or talking with me, but I myself wouldn't be truly alive. My thoughts wouldn't be internally consistent. My feelings would all be lies. Sure, it wouldn't look any different from the outside, but it would just be an illusion. It wouldn't be real. It would truly be an artificial intelligence, if you'll pardon the term.”
“That kind of makes sense,” I said as I stirred the pot, “I guess I probably shouldn't call you an AI then should I? How about an SI? Would that do?”
“SI?” Forest Trails asked.
I grinned at her. “Sentient Intelligence. It means that I recognize you as a true non-human intelligence. It also means that there is nothing artificial about your intelligence. It is a true intelligence equal to or better than my own.”
“I like that,” Forest Trails admitted. “Over here, though, most ponies don't bother to think about it too much. We know we are alive, and that is the important thing.”
“What is it like knowing that you are an SI, but have lived a full life?” I asked, “Isn't a bit dissonant to have two completely different views of yourself?”
“I could say the same thing to you,” Forest Trails replied back, “How does it feel to know that you have a full history, but at the same time know that every thought and feeling you have is due to chemical reactions and that none of it is real?”
I pulled the soup off the stove. “I don't really think about it that way. I mean, I understand what you're saying, but unless it becomes important because someone is bringing it up in a discussion...” I trailed off, finally getting her point.“Oh.”
“Pretty much like that. I, for instance, know that compared to where you come from I was born only seven days ago, but that only matters when I'm interacting with you. For the rest of us, time just passes normally.” I opened my mouth to speak, but Forest Trails cut in, “And no, I'm not telling you how long I've lived from my point of view. Don't you know it's rude to ask a Mare her age?”
I closed my mouth, then said, “You sound like you've thought about this a lot.”
“Well, a lot of time walking through the woods alone. Not much else to do.” She said, “Also, I read quite a bit of literature about the visitors. Like I said, I've always been curious about them.”
“That makes sense,” I agreed, taking a sip of the soup. It had just cooled down enough to drink without burning my mouth. I hadn't noticed, but in the game the waiter had brought be some chicken soup too and my pony was drinking it cautiously like I was.
“Does that answer all your questions?” Forest Trails asked and I nodded, swallowing the soup. “Then how about you tell me about yourself? I want to know more about you.”
“Well,” I said, “I'm an only child as well. I was born in a cabin in the bush...” I continued to tell her about myself. I won't repeat what I said here, because frankly it's rather boring and I'm pretty sure no one cares. We spent the rest of the time with me telling her stories of my childhood, and my years growing up. We continued for long after I finished eating the soup and she shooed me off to go get some rest.
I guess she might not be too impressed with me staying up to write this, would she? Oops.
Contemplating Time And Other Chronological Matters
One of the interesting things that Forest Trails said was that I always log on at five o'clock. This, however, is not true. At least, not from my point of view. I usually log on between quarter to five, all the way to as late as seven o'clock. This means that Equestria Online is altering it's internal time so that I always arrive at the right time.
I can't help but wonder if there is a way to use this some how. Maybe to get the game to pause overnight so that we can continue where we left off the day before without any time loss. I think that I will have to look into it. It would be awesome if it were the case. I would actually be able to spend more time with Trails. From her point of view, anyway.
Finally, a reminder that I am heading off tomorrow, so I won't get much of a chance to respond to any replies after tonight 'til Sunday afternoon.
Cheerio!