Lucas and Cass walked on, this time to the rightward path. As both had been expecting, the place seemed more uniform with each step. As far as their perception would process it, this was the path of order. Their personalities being what they were, it made neither comfortable.
"Lucas, tell me something. I'm not offended or anything, my favorite uncle was, literally, a sailor, but... Did you curse this much before your change?" - Said Cass.
Lucas blushed.
"Uhm... You know? No. Now that you mention, I didn't. I only realized it now... I mean, I wasn't a saint, I did curse a fair bit, but..."
"Overcompensating for your change, are we?" - Cass giggled.
"I'll watch it a bit..." - Lucas frowned. - "Sorry."
Cass shrugged. "As I said, it doesn't bother me. But the effect was a bit like a forty-something guy buying a porsche."
"That bad, huh?" - Smiled Lucas - "Okay. I won't say I'll stop it altogether, but I'll try and watch it a bit better."
"All right." - said Cass.
"Aaaaand... there are the archetypes. Looking at one of them, I'm beginning to wish we had had this conversation a bit later than this... So I'll replace the word I was thinking of with 'Crikey'. What do you see?"
"A paladin type, with glowing armor. Inspector Javert from Les Miserables. And... Darth Vader. They are debating, it seems. Lucas, mind what you say."
Lucas nodded.
"Me, well... I see a paladin type too, a judge type, and..." - Lucas's voice shook a bit - "Big Brother, from Nineteen Eighty-Four. Also debating."
"Figures that you'd fear Big Brother more than a huge ninja raining blows at you." - Said Cass - "What do we do?"
"You come forth, Mademoiselle Cassandra." - The inspector said to her - "For you do not belong here, and we must decide what to do with you. Your friend is being judged as well."
Cass looked at Lucas. And found out Lucas wasn't there.
Lucas suddenly felt the return to her normal texture.
"What the hell? Cass? CASS!" - She looked around.
"You two will be allowed to meet after your judgment." - Said the Judge.
"Whether or not it will continue to matter if you two meet." - Said a voice behind Lucas. She looked back, already identifying the speaker by the discourse.
"First of all, shouldn't there be a telescreen between you and me, Big Brother? Lest that universe destruction thing slips off my mind and I lop your head off? Second of all: You will not break me. I am outside your jurisdiction anyways. What is going on?"
"You are not outside our jurisdiction." - Said a third voice, as the paladin figure appeared. - "Although I do understand why you would assume so and would remind my two companions that there are reasonability principles to be applied, as well as the higher law of compassion."
"She almost destroyed everything in one blow." - Said B.B. evenly. - "Most people would kill her for far less. And we have the means to see to it that her actual punishment fits such a crime."
"You mean the one I DIDN'T commit, you moron?" - Said Lucas. - "Look around! Look down! That we still exist sorta means I DIDN'T do harm, now doesn't it?"
"You came here recklessly, dealing with things you did not understand. It is in your nature, as a human. That is order. It is also a subversion of the natural order. One that risked our universe."
"Yeah, well, then I should be judging you!" - Said Lucas.
The paladin looked at Lucas, as did Big Brother.
"Proceed." - Said the Judge.
"You build an universe that's so flimsy that you can destroy it by walking less than an hour to the right path, then killing a random guy. Mind you, there are no clear signs that - by defending yourself against Kotaro Friggin' Fuuma - you are RISKING THE ENTIRE COSMOS! That's at least seventeen kinds of stupid!" - Said Lucas.
"We did not build the universe." - Said the Paladin - "But your concern regarding this is duly noted. As is your decision to try and learn more so as to prevent others from making this mistake."
"It does nothing to change the fact that she nearly made said mistake." - Said B.B.
"One that could not be helped, given the circumstances she found herself in." - Said The Judge - "Yet, she found herself in these circumstances due to her own actions and by her own volition. However, that is also in keeping with the order of humans, such as it is. I believe we should disabuse her of certain notions, however. We will pass judgment when she knows."
The Paladin nodded.
"We are not beings or archetypes. This is but the manner your mind translates things. We are not conscious in any more meaningful a way than a computer is conscious. Nor are we alive. By 'killing' any one of us you do not kill chaos or order, evil or good. You sever the connection between these forces and your universe, destroying it. Furthermore, we are all present in each and every single thing - even in perception. Consider that the 'tyrannical dictators' you despise would see you as a dangerous, evil anarchist, not as a 'free spirit', while seeing themselves as 'bastions of morals and order'. One other thing: We cannot tell you what lies beyond these connections in the same way a computer cannot tell you where the metal that makes up its case was mined."
Lucas nodded.
"If you are not beings, how would I be judged by you in any meaningful way?"
Big Brother smiled. Lucas by now almost as scared as she was determined not to show it.
"Therein lies the beauty of it. We provide power, order and structure to a judgment, yes. Your judgment of yourself. You are the judge and the jury. We are the executioner and the court. Oh, sure, you were helped by Cassandra before, so your guilt does not have lasting psychological effects. Yet your guilt is still there. You nearly destroyed the lives of trillions and trillions of beings. There is no escaping that. Let alone here, let alone by our power."
"More good will be done by letting her go!" - Said the Paladin - "Guilt cannot overcome redemption, neither can it consume someone. This is what's at stake here. Plus, how would she protect the universe from others like her if she is consumed with guilt?"
"In case you two forgot, I am in charge of judgment here." - Said The Judge - "My sentence is as follows..."
Javert looked at Cassandra evenly. None of the archetypes had spoken after giving her some information about their true natures.
Javert finally sighed and nodded. "Your sentence, Cassandra Wilkins, is Life With It."
"What? What do you mean?"
Cassandra found herself sitting by the wall of the ledge. Lucas rested her head on her legs. She was muttering something.
Cassandra turned Lucas over, and began to cry at what she saw and heard.
Lucas's expression was glassy and distant. She was looking through Cassandra. Cassandra would have to live with it. That's what Javert had meant. She would have to live with the visage of her lover going insane and muttering the same sentence over and over. A sentence she knew all too well, and one that betrayed the utter nightmare her lover was now going through.
They'll shoot me in the back of the neck I don't care down with Big Brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck I don't care down with Big Brother...
