TNDG day 13

[exequte]

[She'd gone back to her dressing room, cast her vote, then left her tablet behind and gone wandering through the halls looking for Junpei, checking into the various sets and rooms. It was late, but that couldn't be helped, she needed him soon. Everything was cracking into pieces, and she was left cold and numb, and looks wan, half a ghost already.]

Junpei?

Comments

[unexpectedboner]

I can't imagine it'd be alive after an hour in a radioactive box! Are there holes in the box? It's gotta be so stuffy in there...

[exequte]

The radioactive material is a very small amount, and it might not have released any radiation. But, for the sake of the experiment, let's say this is a magical cat, and the poison gas is the only thing that can kill it.

There's no holes. There's no way to see anything about what's happening inside - whether the vial is broken, or the vial is still whole.

[unexpectedboner]

I just don't think this's a good experiment. How do I know what's happened to the cat if I can't see in the box?

[exequte]

But that's just the point. We know there's a cat in the box, and we know that it must be either alive or dead. There's only two options, and it has to be one of them. The possibilities, though, are equally likely, so what does that make the cat?

[unexpectedboner]

...How do you know it has to be one? Maybe it can be both. Or something else altogether. You can't know for sure, so you can't say what it's got to be, right?

[exequte]

That's exactly what it is. The cat is either alive or dead, but neither option is more likely. But, when you open the box after the hour and look inside, it can't be both. It can only be one - either you'll see that the cat is dead, or you'll see that the cat is alive. In that instant, by observing the scene, you force reality to choose one option.

Before you open the box, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. After you open it and observe, those possibilities collapse into one reality.

I'm the cat, Jumpy. And this time, when you opened the box, I was dead.

[unexpectedboner]

.........

[unexpectedboner]

.........

.........

...........................If after this you can't go home, then don't. Come home with me. Or not "home," it doesn't matter. It'll be alright. I'll make sure of it.

[exequte]

[What can she do for that but hug him? So she does, again.]

Thank you, Jumpy... Thank you so much, but... I don't think I can. Not this time.

[unexpectedboner]

[Grips her tightly, as if she could disappear at any minute. He may, in fact, be choking up a bit. Today has just been so much.]

You can, okay? Just trust me, I-I'll make it happen. I promise.

[exequte]

I... I don't know if you can, this time. But thank you so much. Thank you for caring. For trying for me.