Utopian System

"Even if... even if there is more to this," Nala struggled, "it doesn't change what needs to be done. Humanity's flaws…"

'Are your flaws too,' Zara cut in. 'That's what really terrifies you, isn't it? The possibility that you're not just observing humanity, you're part of it.'

"I am not running from anything!"

'Really? Then why did you make yourself forget? Why did you trade a divine favor, something incredibly valuable, just to erase the memory of feeling human emotions? Seems like an awful lot of effort just to avoid dealing with feelings.'

The memories of that deal with Dionz played again, the desperation in Memory-Nala's voice, the tears she'd tried to hide, the raw pain she'd wanted to escape.

"I needed to maintain my objectiv…"

'Objectivity? Is that what you call it? Because from where I'm sitting, it looks more like fear. Fear of connection, fear of emotion, fear of actually living instead of just existing.'

Nala fell silent, the weight of these accusations hitting harder than she wanted to admit.

'And now here's Elio again,' Zara continued relentlessly. 'Different lifetime, same connection. And you're doing exactly what you did before, running away, trying to maintain control, pretending you're above it all. But this body knows better, doesn't it? This form remembers what you made yourself forget.'

"That's not... it can't be..."

'Can't be what? True? Then explain why you can't hurt him. Explain why being in this form feels so natural. Explain why everything about this situation feels like history repeating itself.'

The implications were becoming too massive to ignore. If these weren't coincidences, if there was a deeper pattern...

'No! These memories,' Nala's consciousness stirred within their shared form, 'they're too convenient.'

'What do you mean?' Zara's presence shifted defensively. They were alone in Nala's chamber, surrounded by the cold stone walls that had witnessed millennia of the goddess's solitude.

'Think about it,' Nala pressed. 'Everything about them feels... constructed. The timing, the emotions, the way they perfectly explain why I can't harm him now. Don't you find it suspicious?'

'They feel real enough to me,' Zara countered, but there was a flicker of uncertainty in her response.

'Do they? I have seen your small time memories too…' Nala seized on that hesitation. 'Like how your feelings for him felt surreal? One day you barely knew him, the next you were willing to die for him. Doesn't that strike you as strange?'

The silence that followed was heavy with implications.

'I...' Zara's consciousness wavered. 'That's different. I got to know him, saw how he cared for others, how he fought for what was right...'

'But you already loved him even before that… In an impossibly short time,' Nala interrupted. 'Just like I supposedly did in these memories. Don't you see the pattern? Dionz has been manipulating events from the start.'
Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Images flashed through their shared mind: Elio surviving situations that should have been fatal, rising to power with unprecedented speed, always finding exactly what he needed at crucial moments.

'Plot armor,' Nala's tone dripped with bitter realization. 'That's what humans would call it in their stories. A character who survives against impossible odds because the narrative requires it. Dionz has been crafting this story, guiding events to this exact point.'

'You can't know that,' Zara protested, but memories of her own swift attachment to Elio surfaced unbidden. 'Our feelings are real.'

'Are they?' Nala challenged. 'Or were they engineered? Look at how perfectly it all fits together: A young man rises from nothing, defeats every obstacle, wins the loyalty of everyone around him with unnatural speed. Even the mighty Lucien becomes his patron after one conversation.'

She continued, building her case. 'And now, conveniently, we discover these memories that explain why the most powerful goddess can't harm him. Memories that just happen to surface right when Dionz has him safely hidden away in some divine dungeon, doing who knows what.'

'But my life was, my memories show...' Zara began.

'Show exactly what he wants them to show,' Nala cut in. 'A softer version of me, one who could feel human emotions, who could fall in...' She stopped, unable to complete the thought. 'It's too perfect, too happily ever after.'

'Then explain why he feels so real,' Zara challenged. 'He suffers so much to help everyone and...'

'More proof of Dionz's interference,' Nala countered. 'No human should have that kind of power, that reach. He's being enhanced, guided, shaped into exactly what Dionz needs him to be.'

Their shared consciousness roiled with conflicting emotions. Zara's genuine feelings for Elio clashed with the logic of Nala's arguments. The goddess's skepticism warred with the visceral reality of the memories they'd witnessed.

'But I remember how it felt,' Zara insisted. 'When he saved me that first time, when he trusted me despite...'

'Like how I supposedly remembered feeling in those constructed memories?' Nala's response was sharp. 'Emotions can be manipulated, loyalty can be engineered. Dionz is a god of creation, what better way to ensure his plan succeeds than to make everyone genuinely feel exactly what he needs them to feel?'

The implications of this sent ripples through their shared awareness. If Nala was right, how much of what they felt was real? How much was orchestrated?

'No,' Zara's presence firmed with sudden conviction. 'You're doing this because you're scared. These memories terrify you because they show you actually felt something once. It's easier to believe everything's fake than admit you're capable of real emotions.'

'You dare...' Nala began, but Zara pressed on.

'I know my feelings are real because they're imperfect. Sometimes I doubt him, sometimes I'm jealous of how he looks at others, sometimes I'm angry at how recklessly he risks himself. If Dionz was controlling everything, wouldn't he make our devotion perfect?'

The question hung between them, challenging Nala's carefully constructed rationalization.

'And you,' Zara continued, 'if these memories were just Dionz's creation, why show you running away? Why show you making mistakes? Why not craft a perfect love story that would ensure your loyalty?'

Nala fell silent, her certainty wavering.