Farspeech stones

[forwearemany]

(It's an abrupt decision to voice the question that has been plaguing their thoughts over the stones.)

How is synthetic life treated in your universe of origin?

Comments

[journalname]

[That's some broad topics, but okay.]

My kingdom is called the Kingdom of Monsters. We live in a system of caves beneath Mount Ebbott, where we were imprisoned by human-kind many centuries past. I imagine our technology lags behind theirs as a result...we rely on their refuse, washed underground by the river, to gain resources and materials. That is part of why it is taking Alphys so long to finish Mettaton's new body. New computer parts are difficult to come by.

[There might have been a time when he'd feel something about telling people how his people have been forced to scrounge through humanity's trash, but...that's just what it is. He hasn't got the bandwidth to have feelings about it anymore.]

I do not know if they have robots as well. I have seen books and movies from the Surface that included them, but they all seemed to be fictional.

[forwearemany]

Your people have also been poorly treated.

(They chatter, but there isn't any surprise in it.)

[journalname]

...yes. We are better at magic, but humans have always been stronger than us in a number of ways.

[Even Asgore tends to keep that part quiet, when surrounded by random humans, but he feels comfortable enough to allude to it with Legion.]

[forwearemany]

(They'd be touched, if they realized.)

They took advantage of this disparity.

(They'd ask why, but they know there's no real reason for that sort of hate. Just poor attempts at justification.)

[journalname]

[Asgore sort of shrugs ruefully, and then remembers Legion can't see it.]

They feared...some of our abilities. But we had never used those against them. We...I had known my whole life that there were tensions between our kingdoms, but no one expected the war when it came.

[Not Toriel, not any of his advisors or his parents'. So it isn't his fault. Right?]

[forwearemany]

(Focusing on blame is likely to obstruct efforts toward peace. Nevertheless, they are certain that the fault is not Asgore's.)

We are also feared.

[journalname]

...I see. I suppose there are...quite a few similarities, are there not?

[Souls were also a pretty big point of contention in their war.]

[forwearemany]

Yes.

(They don't know the full truth of the war between Humans and Monsters, or just how similar it is. But it is clear that both of them have suffered, and watched their people suffer.

It is clear that this is not justice.)

[journalname]

That's a shame.

[He would not wish anyone to share his people's general history.]

But I have found most of the humans here kind. There was only one I met, since I left my world, who took issue with me.

[forwearemany]

We have also noticed this. However, we have also learned that in many worlds synthetics are badly mistreated.

(They chatter.)

You have experienced discrimination?

[journalname]

Oh...well, there was one man in the world I visited before this one. George. He was...

[His hesitation is palpable, even over the stones. Asgore's generally loathe to speak ill of anyone, and in this particular case...well, George was right about him, in the end.]

He had fought some sort of aliens in his own world, and he believed I was one as well. I am not sure we ever really became friends, but there is no quarrel between us anymore. There was very little room for in-fighting there.

[forwearemany]

...Acknowledged.

Such racism is common in our universe of origin.

(Hostility towards creatures that are "alien", that is.)

[journalname]

I'm sorry to hear that. Since our banishment, we had little contact with humans at all...I suppose there was not much opportunity for such conflict anymore.

[except the racism he went and stirred up]

[forwearemany]

Acknowledged.

(Perhaps this, along with other evidence, should suggest that isolation is the best. But their "personal" experiences contradict this.

Their people isolated themselves and are dead. The residents of Enso and surrounding islets are kind to them.)

[journalname]

Many monsters these days have never seen a human at all. But we get some of their media, from the garbage they throw into the river. At least a few monsters think they are neat.

[He sounds contemplative. He's glad, in a way, that there's some positive representation of humans floating around the Underground. The atmosphere he created is far too dark.]

[forwearemany]

Acknowledged. Human entertainment media is also popular among alien species in our universe.

[journalname]

I wonder why that is?

[They do have monster books and shows.]

[forwearemany]

Our understanding of entertainment media is not sufficient to judge.