Subject: What is the Answer and Why?
Author:
Posted on: 2014-09-06 01:55:00 UTC
“Aye,” said Des, lifting his cup of tea. “A toast to the PPC, where meeting masked aliens is perfectly normal.” He grinned widely and sipped. Blinking, he looked around. “Say, you guy were from which Department again...?”
Des scratched his goatee. “A sphinx? No, don't tell me, I think I know something...” he muttered. For a few moments he mumbled to himself. “Giza? I think I've heard something from a friend of a friend in Medical about a sphinx... something something Giza, wasn't it? Didn't know she got transferred to Floaters, though.”
He put his elbows on the table and leaned his chin on his entwined fingers. “You know, my last partner was this close to going flamethrower-crazy, and he was just an Elf with a magic sword. I shudder at the thought of a Sphinx going batshit insane.”
Des pretty much ignored the Guardsman and his argument with Naya, paying attention to Terabyte instead.
“I'm using a Border Axe,” he answered. “Basically, an axe from the Torchlight II continuum that has an electrified blade as well as some sort of space-time anomaly around its head. I also have a cupboard full of E.ψ.Ǝ: Divine Cybermancy guns – I raided a Jian Shang Di armoury with Anebrin, once – but I didn't have a chance to use them. The reason is, mostly, that I come from this weird alternate universe where guns don't exist.”
“No, not really,” Des replied. “Anebrin was pretty cautious, right up until the end when he snapped.”
He made a face, his mouth forming a diagonal line. “Anyway, the Librarian is not a fighter. I was once partnered with a... urm, what's the word, Drider? I think? And, well, being a giant-spider-cum-Drow hybrid, she was suitably... disgusting. Ate human meat and stuff.” He rubbed his goatee. “You know, Terabyte, I'm surprised you don't have self-preservation routines or something similar. Your partners might not be able to transfer your code to another body if the current one goes to the birds.”
“Oh, she was a nice enough person,” Des said. “But, again, eating human flesh. Ew. Thankfully, she was a Drowtales Drider; I don't want to know how that mission would have ended if she was a Forgotten Realms one – those are about as Always Chaotic Evil as a race can get aside from Demons. Brr.”
He took another sip from his tea. “That's an interesting idea, replaceable bodies like that,” he said. “Sounds kinda similar to what the Culture does. There are, of course, differences.”
Des looked from Naya to the Guardsman before focusing on Terabyte again. “There is that, yes,” he said. “Chew on this, though: suppose a guy gets his mind-state saved in the Hub of the Orbital where he lives, then proceeds to go and do something stupid enough to get him killed – pretty hard in a Culture Orbital, BTW, with the Hub's constant monitoring. They resurrect his back-up in an identical body. Is that the same person? I'm not so sure... first of all, it's a copy, there is no continuity between it and the original; and second, its memories are different.”
“Let me ask you something more complicated, then,” Des said. “Imagine that the mind-state of someone is read, and then sent as a holographic message of sorts – no body involved – while the original continues with their life. The mind-state changes as a result of its mission. Is it still the same person?”
"The computerized mind-state is still the same person-- it will act like the original in any given situation. If something happens to the Virtual person that does not happen to the Organic, then the Virtual person can be said to be some sort of 'AU' of the other; same in every respect save for one thing."
Terabyte, satisfied with its answer, watched Des for his reaction.
It seems like this is it for this thread. SeaTurtle, please send me a mail (my address is up there in this post) so I'll be able to send you the GDerp once I finish transcribing what we have here into it.
And thanks for RPing with me!