Heart and soul

[jianai]

[1]
[In order to get better as a pilot and not wreck a mobile suit each time they're piloting, Ren is doing some good old fashioned physical exercise.]

And one, and two...

[Running laps around Alhambra Base - with a lack of haste that'd cause any drill sergeant worth their salt to pop a vein or a dozen. But what's this - 15, 20, 30 laps around the base done, and Ren isn't even sweaty yet.

Comment? Or maybe join in, if you dare?]

[2]
[Some time after the exercise, but directed at whomever seems willing to listen.]

Do you believe in the afterlife?

Comments

[tillallareone]

A wise statement. Life can come in many shapes and forms and from many different origins. It simply... is.

[jianai]

Today, I have learnt that having a soul is not limited to organic beings. I should be grateful for helping expand my horizons.

[tillallareone]

I believe that the capacity for a soul isn't restricted simply by how or what a being is... but something more simple. The ability to feel, to acknowledge the existence of others, to be able to form bonds for better or worse.

[jianai]

That's a very noble definition. But I can't agree with it.

While it's true for almost every sentient being that they have a soul, and can form bonds with other beings, there are some that were born - no, they were made to be explicitly soulless, on purpose.

I know that because me and my kin are as such.

[tillallareone]

... Perhaps...

[Optimus shakes his head though.]

While that may seem to be the case, and what you believe...

Perhaps when you and your fellows were created you could be judged as such. However when I speak to you now, I know that there is a kind soul who would do everything in their power to defend those who cannot defend themselves and open their heart to those even I would be unsure of.

[jianai]

Thank you. I really mean it - I'm so happy to hear this, especially coming from you, Optimus.

But it's the fact. I know that my psychic powers could never be compatible with a soul. This is a reason why I was made soulless, it was not out of my creators' sense of malice. It's not something that saddens me.

I was simply born this way. I came to accept it a long, long time ago.