47th Transformation [ANONYMOUS text | action for Mahogany]

[exeggutorhead]

[There's an anonymous message popping up on the network this afternoon. And I do mean anonymous; Envy has made as sure as he possibly can that nobody would be able to trace this question back to his Gear ID.]

What does it mean for someone to have a soul? In your world or in your religion or whatever you think. What does having one give you, or not having one keep you from doing?

how can you even tell if you have one?

[It'll be a little while before Envy actually responds to any answers, because two seconds after he hits 'send' and realizes what he's done, he chucks the 'Gear clear across his hotel room. Miraculously, it doesn't break the machine entirely, even if the screen gets cracked all to hell. He can't believe he even thought to ask something like that, much less actually went through with it. Since when did he start turning into Lust and asking ridiculous philosophical questions about the nature of existence? That's something he's always just rolled his eyes at and halfway tolerated, why does he feel the need to ask things like this now?]

[But this is a question that's bothered him for more than a year now, ever since he took that brief trip back to Amestris. Does he have a soul after all? And what the hell is he supposed to do with the thing if he does? Mostly he ignores it, leaves it alone as a doubt in the very back of his mind. But then during the last crazy weekend, Heather had been sure he had one, had brought that question back to the forefront. It's been months since then, and he still can't shake it off. And if he has to ask stupid questions to the network in his weakness, then...maybe the answers will let him push this back down into something he can manage.]

Comments

[text | permanon]

[exeggutorhead]

If I was sure of my definition, I wouldn't have had to ask everyone, would I?

The essence of who you are...that sound closest, though. What do you mean by acting without reason? That sounds more to do with the mind than the soul.

[text | unanon forever]

[islandshore]

Heh, fair enough.

I guess I should've phrased that better. When I say acting without reason I mean more like... irrationally, without being held back by morals or ethics. Or, if you look at the soul as a sense of self, you could end up with something that's just... blank. Like I said, though, I'm no expert, and I'm sure that kind of thing varies from world to world.

And as for how you'd know if you have one... I almost feel like if you're asking that question, then you might already have your answer. What brought this up, anyway?

[exeggutorhead]

From the kind of answers I've been getting, I'd say that there must be some differences between worlds. Unless some people are just wrong, which could easily be true.

In my world, people think of souls as something only a human can have. There are creatures that are supposed to be soulless, but still have personalities and drives; they're incomplete beings and lacking that final piece of humanity.

It's just something I've been thinking about for a while. I wasn't getting anywhere with answers on my own, so I thought I'd ask.

[islandshore]

[Something only humans can have, huh? Before he types up his next response, Riku reads over the anon's words a few more times.]

So what is that final piece of humanity? You say these soulless beings have personalities and drives, so what sets them apart from humans? Looks, something internal?

[exeggutorhead]

If I had the answer to that, I wouldn't be asking the network stupid questions.

There are some differences in looks, and they have special powers, but that's not the fundamental difference. They're missing something, which people have always assumed was a soul. It's hard to describe.

They're things that shouldn't exist, but they do.