The Inspection

[acciomod]

On the whole, the weather had been temperamental lately. One minute, it was absolutely bucketing it down, and the next, it was bright sunshine. The amount of rain had turned the ground into a muddy mess, but at least the tents provided perfectly adequate shelter, and a gazebo had been erected over the community dining table to protect everyone from the elements.

Despite the temperamental weather, however, it had been fairly warm throughout the past two weeks, so the chill in the air during dinner that evening was particularly noticeable, even before the dark, hooded figure by the Ministry's representative's desk had been seen.

Nervously, the Ministry representative approached the table.

"I'm afraid we have a visitor," he said, addressing everyone at the table and hoping that anyone not there could hear him. "This is a Dementor, one of the Guards at Azkaban. It's a high security prison. He's just here to, well, ensure that a certain escaped criminal isn't hiding amongst you.

"I don't expect he'll be here for more than an half an hour, so do try not to worry too much. They can make people rather, well... uncomfortable."

Bowing his head slightly, he left the Outsiders to their meal.

[And so, a Dementor is lurking around the camp, just in case one of the Outsiders is secretly Sirius Black. They're known to sap the happiness out of the environment, and - in cases where there are true horrors in someone's past - cause traumatic memories to resurface.

The chilly, depressed feeling can be lifted by the deliciousness of chocolate, though the Outsiders will need to discover this on their own. Good thing there's dessert.]

Comments

[a_real_soul]

[Quite honestly it wasn't too hard to tip off, considering the antennae-like projections on either side of her head, or the fact that her fingers were still ball-jointed from being in a spare v2 body. But most likely Lenneth would be able to feel that she had a soul, something warm and light.

Looking up, Chachamaru inclined her head towards her.] Hello.

[nibelungvalesti]

[She can, and that is the most confusing thing of all.]

You are an artificial life form.

[Imperious and even, but nevertheless querulous. She wants to understand. Purely for professional purposes, of course.]

[a_real_soul]

I am. My name is Chachamaru.

[She's used to imperious considering who her mistress was.]

[nibelungvalesti]

[It isn't intentional discourtesy that leads Lenneth to fail to introduce herself. She isn't used to Midgard, or mortals.]

How does a created being gain an identity?

[a_real_soul]

[Probably need to work on that later on.]

Ah... I was granted a soul, by the person I love.

[At this, she blushed just a little.]

[nibelungvalesti]

[Lenneth assumes that her creator is the person in question -- for one, who else would give her a soul? For another, well. Making ones creation love one solves the problem of consent and willingless quite readily.]

[Mortals.]

From where did he obtain this soul?

[There is something of an edge to her voice. Dabbling in the transmission of souls is necromancy at best. The realm of the gods is not for mortals to tread.]

[a_real_soul]

He awoke mine. So it is not to say he granted it, but rather breathed life into my soul. It is mine, my very own.

[Chachamaru hears that edge. She surmises that whoever this nameless woman is, she disapproves.]

[nibelungvalesti]

[That makes no sense. Lenneth considers this in a moment of silence,.]

I see no reason to doubt you, but how are you so certain? It is not normally given to know the nature and condition of one's soul.

[a_real_soul]

My creators have often said, 'if you believe you have a soul, then you have one. simple as that.' It took me a while, but I truly believe I have one.

I have become my own person, through the help of people whom I care for.

[nibelungvalesti]

Through sheer will you have claimed a soul from the cycle of reincarnation?

[That earns an open look of surprise, if brief. Such a thing is, if perhaps not impossible, certainly shocking.]

[a_real_soul]

If you can call it that. In my world we do not have a known cycle such as that.

[At least it wasn't a subject touched on.]

[nibelungvalesti]

You do not need to know it for it to exist. Souls unsuited for Asgard or Hel's embrace do not simply vanish.

[The arrogance that assumes all worlds are as her world is entirely unconscious and instinctual, and so her pronouncement is quite matter-of-factual.]

[a_real_soul]

But who is to say our world is governed by your laws then? We do not acknowledge the presence of Asgard or Hel. Our world even is in the process of colonizing our own solar system.

[nibelungvalesti]

The gods have little care for mortals in turn, but that does not stop them from existing. Besides, do you not take comfort in knowing that the soul you have gained will continue on after your death?

[a_real_soul]

Mmm. You have a point. But I do not intend to expire for a long time. There is a young man I must provide aid to until it is his time to pass on, and help whatever children come after that.

[nibelungvalesti]

Intent is no guarantee. A mortal being is never given to know their hour of death. Far less in this land, where the ruler supposedly intending to protect us has sent a monster to guard us.

[a_real_soul]

Monster? [Chachamaru cocked her head to the side. She had barely felt the sensation of the demenetor.]

[nibelungvalesti]

The dementor does not feed off you?

Strange. You have a soul. [That is not in doubt. Though on the mortal plane, in a mortal guise, she has a much-diminished sense of such things, she suspects even that the girl would be worthy of being Chosen.]

[a_real_soul]

It seemed to be a minor discomfort at best. Perhaps I am more resistant to it being that my body is mechanical in nature.

[She was worried that the cold sensation wouldn't stop though.]

[nibelungvalesti]

That which they feed on is not of the body. But perhaps they do not recognize you as prey, though you would surely feed them if they chose to try.

[a_real_soul]

Mmm I see. Perhaps it is because my mind is composed of a shielded computer in tandem with magical force, that it keeps them from selecting me as a target.

[nibelungvalesti]

I could not say. I do not wish to study them. Whatever dark power is allied with the ruler here is nothing that should be tolerated.

[a_real_soul]

They are not approachable at all, no.

[nibelungvalesti]

Do not risk it. You clearly value your soul; it is not worth endangering. All the more so since you have claimed it in defiance of that normal cycle.

[She still does not sound judgmental... or rather anything but casually imperious.]

[a_real_soul]

I see. Well then I will keep my distance no matter what.