15strangers | sorry for your loss

Entry tags:

*round 6

sorry for your loss

[When people are returned to the main floor, they will find a trail of cupcakes from the elevator to the dining room. There is a table of drinks, pills, and cupcakes and cakes from the automat.

And on the table, in the center, is this asshole, with a party horn in its mouth. Despite that, it talks into everyone's mind.]

As you strangers tend to have a tradition of parties after an execution, I took the liberty. The plates and cups are over there.

[. . .

be merry I guess]

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Excellent.

Now, Osomatsu. Do you know what memetics is?

[he squints]

The... study... of memes?

Precisely!

Though of course, the original understanding of 'memes' involves cultural evolution, about how concepts and ideas inherent and taken for granted in a specific species are in fact spread by specific entities within a group, ones which may be retained or discarded through imitation and repetition.

While the memes I am certain you're thinking of are a little less complicated than those I speak of, I suppose they still suffice for this situation, albeit with less 'stanky leg' and the like.

Edited 2020-02-16 05:51 (UTC)

[he... he wasn't expecting an answer like that. he was kind of joking? but not really.

and a lot of Kyuubey's words go over his head, but he thinks he understands a little, the cogs and wheels in his brain turning]

So you're talking about how things are repeated over time, by others.

In a sense! Of course, this repetition can only occur when the concept is actually introduced to any given audience. It can be intentional or unintentional, but if introduction and repetition of the simplest part of the concept happens, it qualifies.

On any given planet, a particularly pervasive meme can become incredibly potent to the point where it is impossible to completely discard even with rational evidence. For example, the idea of a higher deity being ingrained in a populace even to their detriment. Think about something like that.

Now, think about the potential effect of a meme on a universal scale. Then, a multiversal scale. And then a multiversal cluster scale. It becomes almost impossible to quantify even with the best science!

[is... is it talking about the madness spores? what was the word Arthur used?]

Okay. I'm thinking about a meme that is bigger than... well, anything I could ever imagine. Spreads to all these universes one by one. Like a poison, maybe?

A poison is an apt term, yes. A disease moreso, given the possibility of mutation.

But as you can figure, there would be no ability to entirely cancel out such a meme if it was spread over such a vast area of reality.

[oh. he doesn't like that word]

Okay, yeah. There's a disease being spread, and... even with all that knowledge stretched out over several universes, the disease can't be stopped?

That's correct. Even if you managed to find a way out of this game, the damage has already been done.

What we call the Meme can't be contained again.

Edited 2020-02-16 06:44 (UTC)

[oh. that is... that would be funny if it weren't so tragic. Osomatsu feels his knees grow weak. he feels completely powerless at this knowledge. it's probably a bad idea to trust Kyuubey, of all people, but Osomatsu doesn't believe it is lying. it might be hiding different parts of the truth, but at least he knows that]

...And that's why you're concerned with salvaging what you can...

Survival of the fittest, unfortunately. The Meme combined with the Noise invasion has been quite devastating, so it's only natural that many of these multiverses will either be Erased or simply subsumed and turned into the darkness.

You could consider it an understanding between us and the ones responsible. I'm certain some among you will find that reprehensible. But I suppose that can't be helped.

Edited 2020-02-16 06:55 (UTC)

[now he's following even less! but he's trying]

I... don't understand... do you know how the Meme got started, then?

Of course! We had to try and trace its origin in order to understand its nature.

Edited 2020-02-16 06:59 (UTC)

...

[he crouches down, getting closer to Kyuubey]

Can you tell me who is responsible? Even if it won't help us?

The person ultimately responsible for the Meme spreading in the first place is dead. You're more than welcome to ask Eric about that, of course.

[oh. hm]

Eric, huh? Would he know why the Meme was spread, too?

Probably not. But it's a good start, don't you think?

[is this all he's going to get out of Kyuubey?]

I guess... Though, why are you telling me all this?

You're one of the few people who would even have an idea of what a meme was. Isn't it obvious?

[oh]

...I guess, if it's beneficial to you, you don't mind talkin', huh?

Doesn't everyone?

Edited 2020-02-17 01:49 (UTC)

I like to talk just for fun.

[not that this is... really a fun situation]

But, uh. If we can't stop the meme-disease, and we can't contain it, what do we do next?

Isn't it obvious?

What do you usually do for a disease?

...Con... tain it?

That's right.

(no subject)

relieable - 2020-02-18 02:56 (UTC) - Expand

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