[Ashley McGowen] This statement earns her an odd look from Ashley, who has never met anyone before who could hold claim to memories not of themselves. "You'll have to explain that to me a little more once we're inside," she says.
Ashley moves quickly, in spite of her small stature. She edges close to the buildings on her left side, not leaving any space for people to get between her and the walls; Elizabeth, she keeps on her right. It's second nature, by now. "Do you like tea? The place I know is a tea shop, but there's a restaurant or two that I like, if you don't."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "I do," she says with a little smile. She makes no attempt to get on Ashley's left side, comfortable where she is. "And I will. Please, if it suits you, lead on."
[Atlas Mason] Ahhh Chinatown, unbenounced to the vast majority of the population, Chinatown was perhaps one of the best places in the city to find polished crystal, the many curio shops and a variety of other sources all contained a comprehensive supply of worthwhile specimen's and that is what brings Atlas to this neighborhood tonight.
Stepping from one such store the tall and somewhat gangly looking man looks up at the darkening sky with a hint of annoyance, before his face fell ground ward again. The man was tall, but not so tall as to drawf anyone on the street, 5'10 and barely one hundred and forty pounds, the man would never be a titan like his namesake. His eyes were a deep sea blue, and his face aquiline and almost harsh, his slicked back hair bringing that quality even more to the fore, but for all the severity there is still a casual if small smile upon his lips.
He tugs an old leather barnstormer coat around his body, as he sought to keep out the cold, and seemed to be deciding where next to go.
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley sinks into a comfortable silence while they walk. Maybe she's a woman of few words herself, or maybe her experience has been in the vein that a lot of Akashics tend to spend time in nonverbal communication, or at least that they tend not to be the chattiest of people.
The tea shop she mentioned isn't far, and when she reaches it - a small brick building, family owned by the look of it - she opens the door for Elizabeth and gestures her inside with a brief cutting motion of one hand, as though ushering. "They don't speak English here," she says, choosing not to assume that she knows Mandarin, of partial Asian heritage or not, "but if you need me to, I can order for you."
[Atlas Mason] [Per+Aware]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She smiles and slips inside the tea shop, angling her body so that her backpack doesn't bump into Ashley or the door. "Thank you...I grew up in a multicultural household and can order." She steps inside and off to the right, keeping her where Ashley had positioned her when they walked out of courtesy. A wider, easier smile hits her face at the smell of the shop, like the kind one would get upon getting a childhood memory refreshed, before she approaches the counter and greets the person behind it, ordering a simple blend of green tea.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] [[Awareness]]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 5, 5, 6, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)
[Ashley McGowen] [Ehh?]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 4, 6, 7, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Atlas Mason] He breaths in, and he pauses, a tendril of something familiar sliding across his senses, and the man turns towards the tea house. Elizabeth has already stepped within, so Atlas can only sense her, but Ashley the man knows well, both in essence and in sight.
And with a brief wave the man begins to walk towards her. "Ashely, this particular juncture within the temporal essence stream was unprojected or categorized, what particular thought process brings you to this precise temporal and physical locality at this juncture?"
He inquires casually as he closes the gap.
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley senses Atlas before he finds her still holding open the tea shop door, about to slip inside, and her gaze slides over toward the man. "Hey, Atlas. Getting tea with someone. Want to come in?"
And assuming he's amenable (she doesn't want to linger in the doorway any longer than she has to), Ashley sidles into the shop after Elizabeth, shifting the book she's holding beneath her arm. It's a heavy volume - poetry, if she were to look - and she keeps it angled under the sleeve of her coat to keep it protected. Probably bought recently; maybe it's what she was here for.
When she steps up to the counter she orders lung ching for herself, pausing so that she can allow Atlas and Elizabeth time to notice each other.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She looks over her shoulder as Atlas comes in, stepping aside so that Ashley can order. She gives him a small, polite smile, head bowing and shoulders slightly following suit. "Good evening."
[Atlas Mason] Atlas does indeed step into the shop, and he does indeed notice the source of the other resonance. He takes a moment to take her in, his ocean eyes looking critically about her face and body, the eyes of a skeptic perhaps, or simply the eyes of one who notices details. That moment pass and Atlas offers the woman a calloused hand.
"My parentalogically assigned personal identifier is Atlas Mason, it is a moment of noteworthy assignment to actualize your personage within my noospherically active reality matrix." He says with a warm, amiable smile. "I would extend appropriate socially required sentence structures to your personage in regards to your relocation within this urban centers locality, but I am of a ninety three point seven percent certainty that Ashley has already initiated such discourse with your personage."
He then looks over to Ashley and then up at the menu...which is likely all in cantonese or mandarin. "Ummm." He seems to attempt to translate, and fails after a moment. "Ashley would you please identify and actualize an appropriately mild tea leaf extract infused H20 based beverage? I will of course supply all requisite monetary notes and tokens."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] The girl speaks five different languages fluently, and from her expression she clearly has no idea what Atlas just said for the most part. She did seem to get the name though, and she covers up the blank look of befuddlement quickly by nodding. "A pleasure to meet you, Mister Mason. I am Elizabeth Zhao." She seems to be at a loss to say beyond that for the moment.
[Ashley McGowen] "Ashley has already initiated such discourse," the Hermetic says, a touch dryly. There's a glance from Atlas up to the menu before she says, "Do you like green tea? White? Black?"
There's a gesture back to Elizabeth then. "She's just arrived. Elizabeth, Atlas is affiliated with the local house."
[Atlas Mason] "Green coloration and denotation would be positively noted Ashley." He says with another smile in her direction before his eyes fall upon Elizabeth once more making note of all that was said, all that was done.
"Is your affirmation within this locality a temporary state of existence? Or have you translated to this urban center to establish a personalized habitat?"
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "I..." She pauses a second, eyes drifting upward as she tries to sort that out. Finally she nods and looks back at him with a smile. "I am hoping to remain in the city. I have been traveling a long time, and I have found the need to settle as of late."
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley orders lung ching for Atlas as well, because she thinks he'll probably like it; it's mellow and a little delicate, probably won't be too unfamiliar a taste for him since he doesn't drink tea often. There's a sidelong glance toward Elizabeth as she tries to make sense of Atlas' unique speech patterns, and a corner of the Hermetic's mouth twitches again.
At which point she takes up her tea and heads toward a table, trusting that the other two will follow. "Do you have any questions for me?" she asks Elizabeth. Apparently a little more comfortable with a more businesslike thread of conversation, at least for a first meeting. That, she knows how to handle.
[Atlas Mason] "Ahhhh a personally aligned situational result of which i am intrinsically parallel too. Only relativistically recently within the temporal stream have I come to exist with any permanence in one locality, that of course being the urban center identified as Chicago."
He says as he does indeed follow Ashley towards a table, his eyes moving between their destination and Elizabeth, when Ashley speaks up in a more business like manner, he seems willing to actually fall silent, letting the woman do her job.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She retrieves her own tea and follows along. "I do, though I admit I will probably forget to ask things. It has been nearly ten years since I have sought to settle in a city and become part of such a population. Though, of course, I am versed in the laws that bind our kind. Are there any 'out of the ordinary' laws that I should be aware of?" It would seem she's run into one or two of those before the hard way.
[Jarod Nightingale] [Hey guys! Don't wait for me to post in. I will insert myself into things at some point. ^^]
to Ashley McGowen, Atlas Mason, Ellizabeth Zhao
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley, when she sits down, settles into the chair and attempts to relax her shoulders, to sit how she's comfortable. She doesn't quite manage it, though; there's some permanent tension in the Hermetic's frame, it would seem. Readiness, maybe.
"Well, most of the laws are just concerning the local chantry house," Ashley says. "It's run by a deacon council. I handle admissions to the house, just for security purposes, since at one point the address was just...handed out at random and that grew to be problematic. Once you're allowed entry, send new people to me first or I'll ban your ass." She lifts the sifter out of the cup of tea, carefully setting it aside.
"Other than that, there aren't too many laws aside from what you'll find at the house itself. My associates in Boston called us a savage city last time I was there."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She nods, holding her tea. "Noted and acknowledged Is there much of a presence among my Tradition in the city?"
[Atlas Mason] Atlas nods, perhaps in agreement to Ashley's statement. "Unorthodox societal or conglomerate statures are minimal within this urban center, it is a state which could be considered beyond nominal state given current global intrinsic structures and geo-political status."
He seems to add credence to Ashley's words before shaking his head and briefly looking at Ashley.
[Jarod Nightingale] [Awareness?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Ashley McGowen] That question makes Ashley grimace, a little, though the expression is quickly hidden as she picks up her cup and takes a careful sip. It's too hot still, so she falls back to inhaling the steam and instead just shakes her head. "The Akashic Brotherhood has never really had much of a presence here. I know one named Alex Liang. He's Shi-Ren."
There's a pause as she sets her cup down and then leans back in the seat again a little. "There've been two others in the time I've been here. One left over the summer to go...find himself or whatever he said, and the other one died."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She nods a little bit, taking the news in stride and not seeming overtly upset by the revelation. "That is not particularly surprising to me. The city has for some reason never been a particularly auspicious place for the Akashayana."
[Atlas Mason] Atlas simply sips at his tea for the moment, his apparently not so warm that he could not stand to drink it. He looked between Ashley and Elizabeth as they conversed, his eyes lingering on Ashley for a few longer moments given the particular conversation.
[Ashley McGowen] "I think they tend to concentrate more on the west coast," Ashley says. "I haven't ever met many Akashics in any places I've been in the east. Though to be fair, you'll find fewer Traditional divides here than you might in a lot of other places. There aren't very many of us, so a lot of people tend to congregate in cabals rather than by Tradition."
Atlas is watching her. She seems to be ignoring it. She brings up the cup again and takes another sip.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She nods at that, understanding evident. "That is probably for the best, anyway. Diversity brings strength where segregation along Tradition lines do not."
[Atlas Mason] Atlas pipes up at that point once again intending to add credence to Ashley's words. "Ashley's transmitted thesis on factional and conglomerative status is sound, the Son's of Ether concurrently sit at a maximum of two personages within this urban environment, my personage being one of them, despite this integration has proceeded at a nominal rate."
[Ashley McGowen] "It certainly allows for plenty of opportunity to have your philosophies challenged," Ashley says. There's a look toward Atlas when he confirms her words. She adds, "The Chorus is pretty well populated. Or...they have a lot of strong personalities and affiliates, more like. They're probably the most prominent Tradition here." Trust a Hermetic to keep Traditional politics in mind, even if she herself probably wouldn't be considered a very political person.
"I can put you in touch with Alex, though."
[Jarod Nightingale] There was fog in the air tonight. Well, more like a haze (that was the thing about cities.) The temperature had warmed up slightly from the day before, and it felt more like December than January, but thankfully it was at least still proper winter. Being a cold-blooded sort of creature, Jarod never seemed to mind much being out in this weather, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise that he was walking in it now. These were the kinds of evenings when a cup of properly made tea seemed even more welcome than usual, and though he could just as easily have gone home and made some for himself, this was Friday night - and Friday was the one night of the week when he could do whatever he wanted without having to worry about what to do with his daughter. He definitely was not going to spend it at home.
So it was that he happened to end up at the door to a small, family-owned tea shop that he happened to frequent whenever he was in the neighborhood. They knew him, here, and whoever happened to be working tonight probably smiled and called out a friendly hello when he walked in the door. They spoke to him in Mandarin. He responded in kind, his accent and pronunciation as perfect as any native-speaker.
It was a fair bet that he'd felt the presence of the others before he'd even walked in, but nonetheless he behaved as if he hadn't expected to run into them, turning to glance at the table where Ashley, Atlas and an unknown woman sat as if seeing them for the first time. There was a smile, directed primarily at Ashley, and it curled slowly at one corner of his mouth. Then he walked over to join them, unbuttoning his black wool coat and sliding it free from his shoulders. Underneath it, he was dressed a little too nicely for this part of town (plans for later, perhaps,) in a pair of black dress pants and a dark burgundy satin button-down.
"I see you're invading my secret clubhouse," he teased.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] Again, a moment as she processes and internally translates what Atlas said, before she smiles at him. "That is got to know." She then looks back to Ashley and gives an appreciative nod. "I would be most grateful for that."
There's a slight pause, as if she doesn't quite know how to word something and is trying to be delicate...and before she can answer, Jarod enters draws her attention. Her head tilts, watching him for a moment.
[Atlas Mason] Atlas seemed to be enjoying the conversation just as much as he was finding he enjoyed the tea. He knew he would have to remember the particular blend for later synthesis.
When Jarod arrives the man cant's his head slightly to the side as if the man's statement had been a curious one and he speaks. "Jarod, it is without intent that we facilitate or actualize a direct physically based acquisition and subversion of your chosen gathering point for like minded personages intent on generalized frolicking, if necessary extraction is an option, or perhaps inclusion in membership."
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley, given how attuned she's been to the Wills of others, isn't about to miss Jarod when he enters the place. A gust of chill air seems to herald his arrival. She's watching Elizabeth at the moment, though, watching her hesitate. She says, "Just say it. You don't really have to watch your words around me." God knows she doesn't seem to watch hers around anyone else. Tactfulness is not Ashley's strong suit.
When Jarod comes over to join them, Ashley acknowledges him, tipping her head back to look up at him and flashing a smile in his direction. "I don't think he's telling us to extract ourselves, Atlas," she tells the Etherite. Then, to Jarod, "They have good tea."
She nods toward the young woman sitting with them. "This is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is Jarod." Ashley seems...totally unphased by the fact that she's run into three magi together here, tonight, though such a thing is alarmingly coincidental. Convergences. They happen.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She actually takes the time to stand so she can greet Jarod properly, with the same slight bow of her head and shoulders that Ashley and Atlas got. "Good evening. It is a pleasure to meet you."
[Jarod Nightingale] Jarod gave a snort of amusement when Atlas spoke. For all that the two of them probably couldn't be any more different if they tried, at the least he seemed to find the Etherite entertaining. The odd manner of speaking didn't seem to trouble him much, but then, translation was one of the things he did for a living.
"I suppose you can have temporary guest passes, so long as you behave yourselves."
Ashley looked up at him, and he grinned more widely, pulling out a chair next to her to so that he could fold his coat over the back of it carefully. At this point, Elizabeth was introduced, and he turned to regard the Akashic with dawning interest. The bow was an echo of another culture (but one that he wasn't surprised to see in here,) and he returned it instinctively. A moment later though, he dropped the formality, offering a smile that was mostly friendly but also a little bit wry. "You are much too polite for this crowd. They'll eat you alive."
He sat down then, making himself comfortable. When he was ready, he flagged down the server and ordered a cup of bi luo chun.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She gives a little smile and seats herself. "Courtesy is a valuable commodity. But those who try to, as you say, eat me alive would find that I am not a meat that does not fight back." She looks back to Ashley, still pausing as she tries to find the appropriate words, despite what she said. Eventually though, she just comes out with it.
"How strong, if I may ask, are the Euthanatos within the city?"
[Atlas Mason] A harsh beeping interrupts the friendly casual atmosphere and Atlas quickly silences his wrist watch. He examines the time when does so and he frowns in consternation, it seemed as if it was something he didn't want to acknowledge, but had too.
He briefly gave Elizabeth a curious look before shaking his head with a chuckle. "Concurrent data and active information packets denote no active or formulative tendencies towards societal or physical cannibalism." Let it be noted that it is said with a hint of a smile...maybe the man was trying to be funny. But then he is downing his tea, with little hint of fanfare or relish, something those around him might take poorly but then he looks at Ashley specifically.
"Time frames have aligned and at this juncture I must relocate my personage as well as my vessel, I do not allow the Lafette to remain stationary for any more than four standard temporal units." He states, an apology as much as a statement. He looks to all those present, stopping briefly on Elizabeth and gives her a nod, then one to Jarod, and finally to Ashley.
"It has been positively noted that your personages have been appreciated during this unprojected societal convergence. This juncture requires my extraction however, Jarod's intent or no." He smiles once more as he starts to move away. "I will actualize your personages at a later juncture. Good evening."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "Good evening, Mr. Mason. It has been a pleasure meeting you and I look forward to seeing you again soon."
[Ashley McGowen] Talk of eating things alive has brought an amused, wry smile to a corner of Ashley's mouth and her eyebrows, particularly when Elizabeth says she's the sort who wouldn't fight back. She's at least self-aware when it comes to her resonance, whatever else. She glances up toward Atlas once, her amusement deepening, and she says, "Please. There's societal cannibalism everywhere."
It's good-natured, though, at least as much as such a comment can get. "I'll see you later, Atlas," she says to the Etherite, giving him a short nod. She might regard the quick downing of the lung ching as a travesty, but if she does, it's at least a travesty that she expects of Atlas.
There's a sip from her own cup while she considers Elizabeth's question. It's not one that she seems surprised to hear. "There's just one, that I know of," she says. "My cabalmate is Euthanatos. But he's not a zealot. None of the Akashics I knew took issue with him."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She tries not to look too relieved. "Thank you for that information. I do not seek quarrel with them, but as you are obviously aware, there is an enmity between our Traditions and in my case, I am afraid, it was a personal matter."
[Jarod Nightingale] There was something undeniably feline about the Disciple, from the graceful, fluid way in which he moved, to the sly, seductive, I-know-all-of-your-secrets smiles he often wore. He was anything but a house-cat though - there was too much predator in him for that. Racial background aside (like Elizabeth, he had a mix of Asian and Caucasian features,) there was no suspecting him of being Akashic. His resonance didn't exactly lead one to that conclusion either.
But he was familiar with them (moreso than some other Traditions,) as well as their history with the Euthanatos. Elizabeth's question to this regard did not go unnoticed, but then Atlas's alarm went off, and the Etherite excused himself from their presence. Jarod offered a brief nod of goodbye to the man as he watched him depart.
To Ashley's comment about cannibalism, he put forth an agreement. "Oh indeed, people eat each other all the time." And really, that could have been either cultural commentary or a sexual innuendo. It was... difficult to tell.
His tea arrived, and he thanked the server with a nod. "Xie xie." Then he lifted the cup to his lips and breathed in the familiar scent before blowing gently across the surface and taking a careful sip.
[Ashley McGowen] A personal matter, says Elizabeth, and there's a sudden sharpness in the sidelong look the Hermetic gives her. Something intensely curious (hungry.) And why not? The other woman is, after all, a new person, and what they've discussed so far has mainly been in the realm of chantry politics. Polite small talk.
"Can I ask what?"
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "Not at all." She sips her tea and sets it down. "My previous incarnation who awakened to the Akashakarma had a long-standing rivalry with the Tradition and died in combat as part of a particularly personal rivalry with one of their number."
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley's eyebrows raise at this, and there's a look of dawning comprehension: this was what she had meant earlier, about being familiar with the place but not having visited it yet herself. "My dad talked about reincarnation," Ashley says, "but I haven't really spoken to someone before who claimed to remember what came before."
[Jarod Nightingale] Elizabeth was drinking tea with two people who were intensely curious by nature, so it wasn't much of a surprise that she became the focus of the conversation now, as Ashley asked her for an elaboration, and Jarod... well, he just watched them interact with aloof interest. Though that curiosity grew less immediate when the conversation shifted to past lives. It was an old story, and one he'd heard a few Akashics tell before.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] A little nod, as if confirming what she is guessing that Ashley is piecing together. "I have fragments of memories from several previous incarnation, though it is Cheng Li who I remember the strongest. I have heard him and felt his memories, in some fashion or another, for my entire life. He very much enjoyed this city when he was here."
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley considers that a moment. "I knew a Euthanatos who said that she didn't really draw a distinction between who she used to be and who she was now, in terms of previous lives," Ashley says. "I don't think I'd call it you though."
With Ashley's mixed upbringing, she certainly has opinions on the subject. She's not a person who disbelieves in reincarnation on principle, it would seem, but with an Akashic father, perhaps that isn't that strange a thing. Another wry smile then and she says, "Well, I doubt Wharil is going to challenge you to personal combat. Leave the Tradition grudges in the past life, I suppose, would be my suggestion."
[Jarod Nightingale] "That seems like it would be interesting," Jarod pondered aloud. "Having another's memories. Well... memories from other lives, anyway. I hope you get a few fun ones mixed in with all the war and politics."
He turned his focus to Ashley for a moment. "You know, sometimes I forget you even have a cabal. Where is Wharil, anyway?"
[Ellizabeth Zhao] A little nod goes to Ashley, the advisement obviously taken seriously. "I will endeavor to do so."
She looks at Jarod and smiles a bit. "There are good memories. Many of war, and not always among our kind. I cannot claim that I like all the people have lived as. But there is at least something to like in most of them."
[Ashley McGowen] Where is Wharil. There's a rueful sort of look toward Jarod then, and she says, "I don't even know. He kind of does this now and again...just sort of disappears. I think he's off holding people's hands at a hospice or whatever he does." She gives a dismissive wave. "Gregor's kind of around, though. He was with me last night when I met a cabal passing through the city, and I thought he was going to start a fight."
When it's Ashley people are looking to in order to break up fights - or for diplomacy - it's dark times indeed. She listens to what Elizabeth says about her past lives. "Were you Awake in all of them?"
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She shakes her head. "To the best of my knowledge, I have only previously Awakened as Cheng Li. The others that I remember were not awakened, though there was a member of the Chocktaw tribe who was quite knowledgeable in the ways of spirits."
[Jarod Nightingale] "Most people can't always claim to like the person that they are currently," he added, in response to Elizabeth's statement.
Ashley got a wry smirk, but whatever it was he might have been thinking, he kept it to himself. (Perhaps he was on good behavior with a stranger in their midst. Perhaps he was just being deliberately enigmatic.) He took another sip of his tea, drinking it slowly. The light from the ceiling made ripples on his shirt when he shifted to lean back. It looked a little like dark blood. (He was probably going out after this, with a shirt like that, and... knowing Jarod.)
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley meets Jarod's eyes when he smirks, perhaps wonders for a second, and then lets it go. His other comment, too, she lets slide - which isn't the same as not noticing that it was made, let it be noted.
"I'm not sure why you'd choose to define that as you, though," Ashley says. "I mean, the experiences were completely different. I could take the memories of anyone here and that doesn't make me them."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] She smiles a little bit. "I suppose that is true. One advantage to being a tulku is that you have multiple opportunities for happy personality traits to like."
She looks at Ashley, head tilting a bit to the side. "No, but you may be able to see their point of view more clearly." A little shrug. "Regardless, it is not an equivalent situation. You could take those memories, but they would not be yours. Your...soul would not lay ownership to them. It is our memories and our souls that make us unique from each other, is it not?" She leans back on her chair. "This lives...they are etched into the Akashic Record and tied directly to me. They are imprinted on my soul. And when I remember, it is not as if I am viewing a movie. I am living those memories, because I previously did."
[Jarod Nightingale] "It's really just a matter of how you choose to define your sense of self. Is it in your mind, or... " he looked up and gestured around, at the air, at everything, at nothing in particular. "What she said - soul. But that's not an Akashic term. Bodhicitta, right? Karma. A collection of all that you are and all that you have been before. And round and round we go. If you believe in that sort of thing, anyway."
Apparently, while he'd been in China, he'd been paying attention. (He usually did, even if he behaved as if he wasn't interested.)
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "Bodhicitta, yes." She smiles, impressed. "Very good. I was trying to use a more...accessible term."
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley looks sidelong at Jarod. She knew the term herself - she'd initially been trained by an Akashic - but that Jarod knows it, that surprises her. Though perhaps it shouldn't. There's a lot the man keeps to himself.
"Do you not?" she asks Jarod, perhaps momentarily curious. She seems to be thinking Elizabeth's words over; she'd raised the point to challenge her and see how she responded, but it's evidently brought up something interesting for her to gnaw at. "I understand," she says. "But I'd point out that when you look at someone's memories, that isn't exactly like viewing a movie, either. Something you'd have to experience, I guess."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "I would be interested to see the difference between what viewing another's memories and viewing my own from another life. Perhaps there is some..." A pause, as she tries to identify the correct word. "Distance? Between you and the memory, even if you are living it. At least, more so than one of your own. The difference in whether it is part of your Bodhicitta or not."
[Jarod Nightingale] Ashley asked him if he believed in karma and reincarnation. It was a valid question, all things considered. For all the time they'd known each other, the Hermetic had never gotten a very thorough history from him. She knew that at one point he'd lived in China, and had studied with some Akashics in Beijing (this was how he'd met Daiyu)... but whether or not any of that had really left an impression on him, he hadn't said. Still, he'd been an Orphan for longer than most, and it stood to reason that he'd probably assimilated some things into his paradigm that were not strictly Verbena.
"No," he said simply. "I do not. People seldom get the lives that they deserve. I don't believe that there is any retribution or reward beyond that which we give ourselves. As for reincarnation..." he pondered. "I prefer to believe that we only get one chance to do things."
[Ashley McGowen] "I don't believe there's distance," Ashley says, "but if I have past lives I haven't seen those either. But if you do get a chance to do it, I would suggest it sometime." She doesn't offer to show Elizabeth or promise some day; it's a rather personal thing, all told. Not so personal that she never does it, but...
Then Jarod offers up beliefs of his, and Ashley looks at him, interested. Surprised, perhaps. "That sounds like you," she says, a touch amused. But she doesn't argue.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "Karma is less about receiving the life that you deserve than it is about continuing through cycles until you learn what you need to for Samadhi. Or, if you prefer, Nirvana, or Ascension." Her hands are folded in her lap...the tone in her voice not assaulting Jarod's belief, simply providing a counterpoint.
"Someone may need to learn something in a joyful life, and then their next lesson requires something less blissful. It is all toward the same eventual goal; the order in which the cycles are experienced need not have any pattern."
[Jarod Nightingale] Ashley said this sounded like him, and he smiled a bit before turning his attention to his tea again. Elizabeth continued the conversation, elaborating on the finer points of Karma. To his credit, Jarod listened to this without judgment, despite the fact that the two of them had different points of view on the matter. It was easier with the Akashics than it was with some. He may not have agreed with them, but on the whole he found the Tradition more palatable than many. Well... so long as they weren't discussing the perceived benefits of self-denial.
"Nobody learns anything from pain, except how to avoid it. But I suppose a lot of people would disagree with me on that one."
(Wouldn't change his opinion, though.)
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "I would imagine so." She smiles, giving a slight nod and leaving the subject there.
[Ashley McGowen] "You learn how to deal with it. That's an important lesson," Ashley says, with a glance toward Jarod. "But I suppose that's a choice as much as anything."
Ashley probably wouldn't have made a bad Akashic, all told. Still, there was a reason she didn't go that route. "That definition of karma seems very passive to me though. Like...just wander along, I'll get what I need."
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "Not at all. After all, do you learn simply by attending a college course and sleeping through it?" She shakes her head. "You must be an active participant in your learning."
[Jarod Nightingale] What he'd just said had been stated in a manner that was... not untrue, but slightly misleading. After all, learning how to avoid pain was not only useful but necessary. It was one of the most basic survival skills, and certainly he of all people could champion anything that helped him survive. In fact, he did. But he didn't think that it made him a better human being - at least, not in the way that an Akashic might believe. Especially not when survival often meant behaving in a manner that was selfish and (as many would see it) amoral.
But then of course, Ashley pointed out that it also taught one how to endure pain. This was true, and he'd concede that much with a small incline of his head. But then he added, "And what do we leave behind while learning that, I wonder?"
He may have been debating for its own sake at that point. It was difficult to tell. Either way, he'd finished his tea, and when he set the cup down on the table, he pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm afraid I'll have to leave the two of you for the evening. I have a date with a club named Berlin. Elizabeth, it was lovely meeting you. Ashley... until next time."
He smiled as he slipped back into his coat, then dropped some money on the table and turned to go.
[Ellizabeth Zhao] "It was a pleasure to meet you." She nods to Jarod. "And I look forward to seeing you again."
[Ashley McGowen] Jarod gets up to leave, announces where he's going, and Ashley glances up at him for a moment or two. The look lingers, though not too long, before she looks back at Elizabeth. "I'll see you around," she says.
And then glances back at her own cup, taking a long swallow; it's going to get too cold otherwise.
