20 A Talk with Dad 1/2

https://discord.gg/H7urCqynMe

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"Report: And that's what happened. I'm so confused, dad. I'm so calm with everything that's been going on lately, it scares me. I came to another world and I went from human to now an Automata who speaks strangely, and I'm in this new world with the characters I created in the game I played," lying with her head in her 'father's' lap, Eve vented.

"What scares me the most is that as much as I still think of myself as a human, I feel like I'm...slowly changing." Eve continued, "A good example of this is that I considered blowing up an entire city without really thinking about the lives that would be lost there. I don't even know exactly if I can destroy a city, as I've never tested my abilities after transmigrating, but my 'Automaton' instincts, so to speak, tell me I can easily destroy it. Maybe my new Automaton side is taking over my human self?"

The old man listened intently to Eve's vent as he stroked her head. His eyes gazed at her fondly.

The man, whom Eve called her father, is an NPC she created shortly after she created her Guild in YGGDRASIL. At the time, her father couldn't be present very much because of his work, so, in order not to feel lonely, she created a unique sub-space, along with a single NPC that couldn't leave that room, and that no one but her could enter it. The NPC was created in the exact image of her father as well as his personality.

She also programmed him for him to see her as his daughter, something she did without much thought as the NPCs weren't alive at the time.

Anyway, Eve was very happy and thrilled to see that the NPC she created mirrored her father, and looked like him in every way.

The gentle way he looked at her, the careful way he caressed her, as well as his calm temper.

"I see. You've been through a lot, puddin'."

"Complaint: Dad, please don't call me that. I'm already over twenty, you know," Eve responded with a pout.

The NPC laughs out loud and looks her in the eye. "Honey, you could be a million years old, and you'd still be my little pudding!"

Eve smiled. It had been a while since she saw her father smiling and laughing like that, after all, in her world where she was Suzuki, her father had died a year before YGGDRASIL shut down the servers. You could tell she was still a little grieving before transmigrating.

After all that had happened, however, she wasn't grieving anymore, but still, she missed him so much that it felt like there was a hole in her heart.

Her father was her safe haven, the only person she could trust, and the only person she loved more than anything. The loss of her father, as well as the closures of YGGDRASIL's servers, shook her deeply at the time, for they were the only things she prized most in the world.

She often thought about suicide, because she had fallen into a deep depression.

But now it's different. After transmigrating, the thought of taking her own life did not occur to her.

'Maybe that's why I'm changing? My father's death, my deep depression, the closings of YGGDRASIL's servers, my transmigration...Is there anything in this all that is connected?' Eve pondered inwardly.

"Talking about your problem, aren't you overthinking it, puddin'?" The NPC said.

Eve raised an eyebrow. "Request: Please elaborate."

"I didn't understand much about this transmigration thing, but wasn't that a good thing? You were so lonely, you always came here from time to time to complain about how lonely you were. But now you have a new family, don't you?"

Eve shifted a little in his lap. He wasn't wrong. Even though she only transmigrated recently, she saw all NPCs as a family now.

"Worry: Still, it worries me that this happened. What if some higher entity, like God or something, did this to me with some kind of intention that I don't know of? What if I end up becoming an emotionless machine? Or at the very least, a machine without emotions towards other creatures?"

The NPC caresses her lightly to calm her down. "As I said, my dear, you are thinking too much. Did a higher entity do this to you? It's an assumption. But what if all this isn't just a coincidence or an accident? Things are never related to the divine, but cause and effect, that's what you told me a long time ago, remember?"

"Reply: Yes, I remember..."

Eve never believed in the divine. She believed in the causality principle.

For her, religions were made to keep humanity on the right path and to have something to believe in. They are perfect in theory, but humans themselves rot them.

She did believe in superior existences, but nothing like God.

"And I don't think you'll become anything like an emotionless machine. You have emotions to spare!" He continued.

Eve sighs. "Agreement: Yes, you're right. It is idiocy and presumptuousness to think that a higher entity, or a God, did this. But if this happened because of the causality principle, what caused it?"

"Now, isn't that what you need to find out? The answer isn't going to fall into your lap just because you want to know. The daughter that I know is not that lazy. Remember when you came here and told me how you figured out how make World Items? You were so happy at the time jumping around like a bunny rabbit. And only you discovered how to do that. You made me so proud!" the NPC said with a big smile.

Eve's face contorted slightly in embarrassment. "Request: Urgh. Please, father, don't remind me of shameful things."

"Hahaha! Sorry! But as a father, it is my duty to remind my daughter of shameful memories!" He said proudly.

"Reply: All right, it's fair. And you are right. I was thinking too much. Sometimes the answer is simpler than we think."

"Hm! That's my girl! The world is too complicated, but not everything is. Just look from a different perspective. You were just seeing it all with negativity. Start seeing with positivity, and maybe you'll discover things that went unnoticed."

"Comprehension: Yeah, you're right. I think with age comes wisdom, isn't it, old man?" Eve said in a slightly playful tone.

"Now, what is this old man talk? I'm younger than you! You created me, remember?" He said with a laugh.

Eve's eyes widened, and her expression turned sad. She was seeing him as her real father, but he wasn't her father. No matter how similar they are. Her father was dead, and she knew it very well.

'It doesn't matter. Whether he is my father or not, he sees me as his daughter and treats me as such. In memory of my real father, I will think of him as my father too. At least for a while.' Eve thought.

"Question: Can I ask for more advice? There are a few more things bothering me."

He smiled affectionately. "Of course dear. That's what I'm here for."