maskormenace

[When video turns on, Jaime doesn't exactly greet the network with a smile, but he doesn't look distinctly unhappy either -- just a little contemplative, in his own way. He still gives the screen a little wave, though, seated comfortably at his desk. It's where he winds up posting most of the time.]

Hey, guys. I was thinking about something the other day, and I figure some people here might have answers. See, back home, me and my family? We went to Church every Sunday, but once I got here...

[He just shrugs with a tiny grimace that says every excuse anyone ever has, but really boils down to: he got lazy.]

Nnnnnnot so much. But I figure that other people here must've gone to something back home, like a Mosque, or Synagogue, or whatever five thousand other religions there's gotta be. Has anyone actually bothered trying to keep it up once you got here? It's probably harder if your religion isn't an Earth religion, but I'm sure you guys have ways of keeping it up. I feel like it'd be kinda hard to just pop into a Church somewhere too, like they'll make as big a deal out of the whole imPort thing as everyone else here.

[He pauses for a second, looking as if he's going to say something, but he seems to change his mind halfway through.]

Oh! And I know there are some people around here who are technically Gods, like we've got at home? But they're still kind of... well, not human, but, I guess, available? Like the New Gods? [He flaps one hand at the camera.] Thaaaat's not really the sort of religious thing I'm talking about, but maybe you guys have your own rituals too.

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Happy almost-anniversary, then. I've been here for a few months over a year, now.

[He has some good things waiting for him back home, some bad, but overall he doesn't sound too upset about being here.]

You're right, though. I wish we could control the Porter, that the people who'd like to stay here forever actually could.

And allow those who need to return to keep their memories. The way things are seem too dreadfully unfair to be allowed to remain.

[the bonds that he's forged here are just as precious to Jonathan as the people waiting for him to play his part at home. he knows that there may never be a way to change this, but the inherent injustice keeps him from writing it off as ever not worth the attempt.]

Yeah, exactly! I don't think that any of us are the same people we came here as. It seems so pointless just to hit the reset button.

Our hearts will remember our time here even if our minds don't, but...it's selfish, but I still want to have all of this. It deserves that much, at the very least.

If that's selfish, then we're all selfish. Besides, it's not just for you. I think that we want others to remember us just as much as we want to remember them.

At least I do. I don't wanna just be forgotten.

No one deserves that, no. But I think that even if we don't manage to change things here, it doesn't mean we'll be lost forever.

Our actions have changed the world, even if we never live to see the effects. Who's to say that we haven't influenced the futures of those we've come into contact with, even if they can never recall our names again?

Well, yeah, if you look at it in a big picture kinda way. And you're right! But the everyday stuff's just as important as the big stuff, like... just going out with the friends you've made here. Y'know?

I think those little moments are what impacts us the most, so you certainly won't hear any arguments from me. It's amazing what small gestures can do.

Well, yeah, but that's sorta what I'm getting at. Most people here are closest with other imPorts. If everyone gets ported out eventually, then at some point, everyone forgets.

In some ways, yes. But it's difficult for me not to believe that we hold onto those memories somewhere, even if we can't access them any longer.

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