AD21//Day 3 out of 25

Growth itself will stagnate us.

▀▄▀▄ 1. Ducal ▄▀▄▀

"We prune and pluck the visages of history. Are we not ashamed? In our desire to ride the rich to advancement, we forsake tradition to replace it with a new standard. Us, the ones who came so far from survival and pessimism now more than often preaches of the same. We train ourselves to rely on the imaginary, to be powered by discourse than deeds, but why—do we see it is an alternative for violence? Does a wound engraved in your psyche for a lifetime a better wound from that of violence? "

"The horse-lovers with homes powered by steam say science is the pinnacle of progress. Those from the factory proclaim so, yet the moment the horses trample over their camps and children like an earthquake, they are quick to reclaim faith for the unknown. They say 'what use is progress at the price of the poor?! ' and they storm the factories, wielding their pens, and make an empire crumble through publicity. They carry through the burden as ones who would not tolerate the next. First, we free the powerless, and soon, what next? Give flowers delightful sentience? What we have heard of growth, we have heard through academies preserving the culture against preservation of anything except information. What we have seen of growth, we have seen in commercials of the greatest, in debates of the deaf, and in our biased, ugly experiences that form in glacial speeds. A millennia ago, we created doors to keep out the danger from the outside. Today we create them with extravagant luxury to tempt the outside to enter us. "

━━━━━━━✁━━━━━━━

▀▄▀▄ 2. Megiddo ▄▀▄▀

"Uneasy. The first stop is the Iron Clouds District, and then we move toward the tornado. The cave is southwest of here. We better get going fast if we don't want them to raise the price even higher."

This one. Ignore or record?

• Record.

"I feel that this place is never going to accept me. I'm sorry, but I need to go. I need to put myself first."

This one. Ignore or record?

• Ignore.

"Awwww. Happy birthday, darling~ Do you like it? It's a Siberian husky, see? Isn't it so cu~te?"

This one. Ignore or record?

• Record.

"There's a seventy percent chance of rain today, said the app. The rain would sometimes scare me, you know? There was once a part of my life wherein... the rain was too much. The flood entered the house and... and... isn't it time yet?"

This one. Ignore or record?

• I think... yes, record.

"Other than the other four little birds in the library, I don't think anyone else heard us. You should continue. The tiny little parrots are just parrots. They can't memorize everything, you know? Go on. Kiss me."

Ah, I know this. Record, right?

• Ignore.

"Some people are born in this world for a reason. I don't know why I was here but I seem to have found your purpose. Now, what would you give me to tell it to you? Or would you rather just continue living without knowing what to do?"

Ignore or record?

• Ignore.

"Let's see here... two charges of murder with rape, eight robberies, and tax fraud. We don't have any evidence for the other ten, but we do have this. I'm afraid that this person will only suffer for two to eight months before striking again. Vigilante justice is your best bet. The question is, how much are you willing to pay me?"

That's definitely an ignore.

• Hm.

"I'm going to kill you!"

This one. Ignore or record?

• Record. This will be fun.

Sure, boss.

"The famine of ignorance has reached throughout the kingdom. There is no reason to continue celebrating the spoils of war when all it did was poison us. We should be happy that we won? What bullshit are you motherfuckers spouting?! Did you not see the bundle of corpses our army carried into the cemetery?! Did you not see their wives, sisters, and mothers who wept and tried to reach out to their rot?! Be happy we won?! Focus on the good shit? Why don't you all go fuck yourselves and let us mourn?! We shouldn't be preparing for a party, we should be preparing for a vigil!"

This one. Ignore or record?

• Record, of course. How cute. Give me more of the long ones.

"The apocalypse is nigh! Our prophets have spoken and they have revealed hopelessness! Hopelessness will save us, do not fret. It is through acceptance of what we will become that we will be able to let go of our mortal coils. Join me! Let us drown ourselves in the sea, jump on every cliff, and help our fellow brothers and sisters to the path of sacred despair. Let your death be the meaning of your lives, since purpose is fantasy!"

This one. Ignore or record?

• Ignore.

"In the name of the great winds of the sky, I call upon you. You, the wildfire that brought anguish to all who knew what it felt to drown. We may never understand them. Indeed, we do not wish to understand those whom we have hurt, as we only did so due to their own ignorant beliefs. There is no compromise. There is no understanding. There is no humanity without conflict. And so, for the sake of the future, lend us your power. Give us magic to manipulate the truth. Give us the ability to explode without gunpowder. Give us protection through a massive influx of wealth. Give us your body, so we may pleasure ourselves."

Ignore or record?

• Ignore it.

"There was once someone who was immortal in memory that took care of these important relics. I heard through the grapevine one day that she just suddenly up and left. These relics are soft touches. So easily lied to. Why wouldn't they want to be caged up in this institution? The immortal told them that they needed to be broken, and then repaired through gold to become more beautiful. Isn't it foolish? We can only convince those who do not think they're beautiful to aspire for beauty. As such, the true beautiful will be shamed, for not knowing lack, they will not know opportunity. Yet, it is such a sad fate, that the immortal had just suddenly stopped. For what though, I wonder? Could it be that she was tired of all the flattery business? Well, she should have expected it when she joined the industry."

• Ignore or record?

I'm tempted, but no. Ignore.

"Did you hear? We now have a law that says anyone who has been born a psychopath can be detained! Isn't it wonderful? Finally. I myself have been a victim of a psychopath. My little brother is a sinful twat! He always tried to convince the group against me, ganging up on me when I didn't even do anything wrong but be myself! There was---"

• Ignore.

Eh? Won't you like to hear it all?

• Low quality.

I understand.

"The three statues would sing together in harmony. Every fifty years, three people will be chosen to play for them. I wonder which one it would be this time? There's the xylophone, the lute, and the pipes. If the instrument you chose to learn isn't one of those, you won't be able to play for the statues. Hm? What's that? What if you play an instrument that's both a xylophone and a lute? Oh huhuhuhuhu, dear child. Of course, it wouldn't be accepted. Hm? You say it should be accepted? Child, come here. The statues dislike novelty. To play a different song is to play for a different idol. To be inspired by a story is to create a new story altogether, no matter how small the difference is. It should be accepted, but it will only be accepted. It should not be played. It should not be shown. It should not be spread. What the statues fear the most is not to lose influence and be forgotten like obsolete antiques, for one day a nasty historian may still dig them up and appreciate them simply for the fact that they are history. No, child, they fear a chain reaction. They fear the rumors that transform the moment you speak of them--antagonism due to difference. They fear discoloration, not webs and dust."

Growth, is the fate of rebels.
Should we ignore it?

• It is quite long, but unfortunately, let's record it.

"We prepared quite a lot to put these animals back in their primitive state. The world was once perfect. We found safety in the foliage, freedom in the competition for life and death, and most of all, we had too much to do to waste ourselves in art and philosophies. They brought me books to read, and I am grateful for that, but this is not enough. If we are to set the felines free, shouldn't we also do the same for ourselves? We are nowhere near the end, but only by going back to the far beginning can we save what we have. We can let the next civilization finish what we started, they're probably going to be better than us. That's what the last generation did, yes? I know that this may seem like de-evolution to you, but think of it this way: regression is better than extinction."

This one, ignore or record?

• Hm. Ignore.

"Growth itself will lead to stagnation. I have been told that growth is supposed to arise from pain, and for that reason, I have always chosen risk. I have seen those who never chose risk, and I see them now, they are worse than where I am. What I went through has given me more validation than people would ever give. Still, I have seen through another person's eyes that growing is not about the future. Or at least, it was not about my future. It never was. Growth is infinite, and that way I can safely say that when I grow enough, I become infinitely imperfect. I can't be imperfect enough. Growth is to replace my flaws with strengths, but to only use replacement indicates my capacitance is finite. Growth is to grow wounds and learn how to both avoid and inflict them, and choose when to do so. But wounds destroy a body, even that of an adolescent whose bones heal as quickly as their emotions. And now, what of the skin and blood that were shed? Trees at their full bloom cannot grow much higher, so growth for them is to decay and accept it. But seeds that decay before blooming do not grow, they say. Immature saplings that choose to use carbon monoxide do not grow, they stagnate. Still, they are forcefully given fertilizers, until they reach a height that is more than what they were. Growth may not be infinite, then. But if so, then that would mean something else is infinite: to rest."

• How odd. This one is not ours. It's the other district's.

We should give it to the right district immediately.

• No, no. Give it to someone else and I already know what they're going to do with it.

What will they do?

• They will Ignore it, wanting to let it have its few minutes of fame, affecting decades in the future before it fades completely.

Are you saying we shouldn't let anyone see it, and instead keep it to ourselves?

• Yes... but we can do something better.

We could record it?

• No, better. We can make it into a prophecy.

Are you sure? You know what people do with prophecies. They self-insert, make it their own in pursuit of destiny.

• I am well aware. That is precisely why it must become one.

Then it shall be done.