After finishing up at Diono's with quite a few more completed surveys under her belt, Surveya had nowhere else to go except to clear out what remained of the area. It only took a brief moment of reaching out with her energy sensing to pick up the stink of a mortal that she had not yet checked off on her list for this area. This scent... A Tuffle's? No, a Saiyan's...? A mix of both? Odd. Last Surveya had checked, the Tuffles and Saiyans were engaged in a bitter, long war. That a hybrid of the two races existed had to have meant at least some of them had ceased their petty squabble enough to procreate. They would surely have quite an interesting perspective on this universe's well-being, Surveya also reasoned.
She turned on her heel and marched in the direction she could feel the unique concoction of ki coming from, and before long, she had arrived at a quaint riverside, on the bank of which stood a lone fisher. Ah, her quarry! Surveya strode up to the hybrid, produced her tablet and pen, and cleared her throat.
"Ahem!" she began, "Hello, I am Surveya, a Shinjin working in mortal affairs. Are you able to spare a few moments of your time to participate in a survey about your level of satisfaction with this universe?" Surveya stood, pen in hand, its tip just barely hovering over the screen of her tablet as she stared up at the Tuffle and Saiyan hybrid unblinkingly.
It would've been much easier with the myriad of technological devices, doodads, and advantages she had at her fingertips... but Amara liked it this way. It was her, her rod, and the water. Namekian fauna had a weakened sense of self-preservation and wariness thanks to a lack of major predators, and the Namekians preferred to dine on vegetables when water wasn't quite enough. She probably looked a little silly, still wearing her engineering jumpsuit and standing by her lonesome in the cheery sun. Amara couldn't sense the stranger, but she COULD hear the quiet, soft footsteps approaching from the side.
The hybrid hummed softly, eyes still locked to the gentle bob of her lure even as the stranger introduced herself. Amara stared at the water pensively, knowing that if this was Earth, any potential fish would've scattered thanks to the voice. "As sure as the sky's blue," She'd respond without missing a beat, purposefully glancing up to the clearly green Namekian atmosphere and affixing a mock frown to her face. "Well, on Earth anyway. I don't mind answering a few questions, on the condition that I can ask you some stuff along the way. It won't be a lot, and you don't have to answer if it'll breach your godly confidentiality."
She'd pause for a second: "For example... take a look, see over here. What do you see when you look at this river?"
Ah, good - this one was instantly quite receptive to Surveya's inquisition. That'd hopefully make things quite a bit easier. The Shinjin did frown a bit, though, as she glanced up to a decidedly green Namekian sky, though the hybrid quickly clarified they were referring to a different planet's color. Odd, but perhaps she was only briefly vacationing here on Namek. It did seem scenic and peaceful enough to reasonably function as a destination for such a thing.
However, this mortal did state that they'd only be responding to Surveya's questions if Surveya answered some questions of her ow. This... Posed a bit of a challenge for the Shinjin. Her role here was simply to act as an impartial observer, a glorified recording device of mortal wants and woes. If this mortal woman was keen on asking questions about the mysteries of the universe, Surveya would simply have to decline. However, the mortal quickly clarified Surveya would not have to answer any questions that would breach her 'godly confidentiality,' which Surveya took to mean she could refuse to respond to anything that could violate the guidelines of Shinjin/Mortal relations. That was an acceptable term, then.
"Very well," Surveya replied. "I'll just need your name before we begin." Whatever the mortal responded, Surveya would quickly jot it down atop her tablet, and as she did so, the first of the mortal's own questions was asked. At this, Surveya furrowed her brows, looked up, and frowned, slightly.
"This river?" she asked. "I see a stream of water flowing from a higher elevation to a lower elevation, carved into the dirt over hundreds of years of erosion." What a strange question. Did the mortal not understand how rivers worked? Surveya simply cleared her throat and moved onto her own question. "Now, question one: 'On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your existence in this universe?'" Surveya raised her pen and prepared to write down whatever response she received, her pale purple eyes affixed on the mortal.
"Amara," She'd reply plainly. Her question toward Surveya hadn't been fishing for anything - no pun intended - but a quick way to scope out exactly what kind of Shinjin she was dealing with. The clerk's cold, scientific description of the river, with no hesitation or error, told Amara everything. The woman hummed, disappointed.
These were the kind of 'gods' she... was 'at odds with' the most. She knew that the Shinjin were partially responsible for the universe itself and its continued upkeep, but that knowledge only opened the door to more questions.
Many mortals couldn't handle knowing that the gods above were so drearily apathetic toward them and their lives. It bred resentment. Hatred. As she'd told Ward once, with how powerful some mortals were getting, it wasn't a far stretch to assume that one of them with a chip on their shoulder would attack the Grand Kai World in Otherworld eventually.
As it turns out, people didn't like being looked down upon for their existence. Especially when their existence was the fault and flaw of the very beings that were looking down on them in the first place.
"Seven," She'd finally respond, jerking the rod to no avail. "And I'm pretty content with never being fully content." There was no such thing a perfect life in a world with free will, and having something to aspire to, to hate, to protect, to be jealous of; all these things gave purpose.
"Amara..." Surveya mumbled to herself as she quickly penned down the woman's name atop the tablet. ...Why did that name sound familiar, though? Amara... Amara... ...Wait a minute. "...Amara? Hold on," Surveya tapped her pen against her own lip, her brows furrowing as she squinted her eyes and closely studied this woman. She was... One of the other Afterlife escapees! How in the Heavens had she- Surveya's lips curled into a frown.
"You know, you caused an awful lot of trouble among some of my coworkers in the Afterlife Division. Do you have any idea how much paperwork happens whenever someone escapes? How much testing and examining of security systems has to take place? And how much of that work also trickles into the other departments? I was backed up for weeks taking care of extra busywork because of you!" These mortals desired simply being alive so much. They never considered how that might affect other people.
Surveya simply sighed, and shook her head. "And after all the effort you went through to shatter the mortal boundary and cross the realms, you only rate this universe a seven? For Kai's sake..." Still, Surveya was a true professional, and marked Amara's answer to the first question as a solid seven out of ten. What a baffling woman, this was - and they were only on the first question!
"Ugh. Well, luckily for you, your escape does not technically fall under my jurisdiction to deal with, so I won't be dragging you back or anything of the sort. Just... Answer these questions honestly." She supposed she'd already dealt with Yangcong, but two afterlife escapees on the same planet? She half expected to round a corner and find Lottus leaning against a tree. Anyway... "Now. Question two: 'Do you feel safe in a universe with powerful beings such as yourself?'"
Apr 6, 2024 1:21:15 GMT -5
Lottus: Friendly reminder for new folks to check the rules regarding art claims - AI Art is not accepted on Sparking for character sheets.
Apr 17, 2024 14:43:28 GMT -5
Lottus: Hey folks, got a new phone, but verification is preventing me from downloading Discord for now
Apr 17, 2024 14:43:57 GMT -5
Lottus: I won't be available until I get home from work!
Apr 17, 2024 14:44:58 GMT -5
Lottus: Feel free to dm me if needed!
Apr 17, 2024 21:13:47 GMT -5
Dingo: I'll post what you've said here up in the discord so it doesn't get missed!
Apr 18, 2024 19:19:20 GMT -5
Yakito: I am the #1 Tenrec hater (Striker will be struck)