Chapter Text
Petal, you seem quite hung up on this old Terran dilemma. The Ship of Sirius I think you called it? Shhh, don’t worry, I can handle the talking for now. The crux of this dilemma is whether once every part of a ship was replaced, whether it would be the same ship or not. This being a concern for your kind is very cute; your innate pack bonding instincts lead you to care for the identity of your ships even when you are held back from caring as much for each other as you all seem to want at heart. Astrantia Actual appreciates your concern, and told me to let you know not to worry for her, she isn’t planning on reblooming for more than your very long life as my pet.
But I do know you are concerned more with the metaphor; whether you will be the same person after all the changes I am making to you. Personally I don’t see the application directly, you’re a sophont, not an object. Of course that could be changed if it brings you closer to your best self. Shhhh, hey, just relax for me, you didn’t read as such to me. I will still help you work through these thoughts. First, consider the situation in which the entirety of an existence is replaced.
Your society was very eager to reach out to outside your world, to neighboring stars. Possibly not as eager as the Rinan’s but not a far cry away, neither of your ships were able to keep you as safe as you deserve to be. The material sciences would build durable if not comfortable ships to be able to travel that 9 light year distance. But it still had its limits. The hull would wear down from the cold of space, the cooling system would burn away the filaments, and eventually if left alone it would have disappeared into nothing. But of course, it didn’t happen all at once, fortunately with this ship there were enough warning signs engineered where if a component became an issue, it was repaired.
I don’t want to imagine what may have happened to those poor cuties had each and every one of those repairs not been made. Every sophont that made it to that binary star was grateful in some capacity for them. Of course now that We are here, we will not leave anything to chance. Getting Terrans from Sol to Sirius safe and sound is nigh effortless for us. Even from where we are now, we could view it next week if you like.
But now, consider how this applies to you. The Terran Accord may have run risk assessment calculations and determined that some loss was worth the profit. But you, my sweet petal, are carrying a spark of life, cargo that the affini value more than the works of your entire civilization. I took your original voice and language and gave you my own as your old one was suffocating you like the faulty CO2 filters were. I took many of your intrusive thoughts and replaced them with my love as they were leaving holes in your soul and allowing your happiness to spill away from you like the coolant that ship needed to stay in this dimension between jumps. I took your teeth, your jaw, your eyes, your sex, and replaced them with the outer plating your hull needed to brave the unknown uninhibited by the parts of you incongruous with your happiest self. And I will continue to take and give as many times as you need even if you do not ask. You are mine and will always be mine. You will not be the same or even recognizable to how you once were. But you will always be you as I will preserve and cherish you for as long as you share this world with me.
Does that put some things into perspective, petal? I’m very glad to see. Hmm? What would We do if there was a sophont made of the parts that I’ve taken from you? Ah, I thought that would have been clear, little one. The same thing I promised you. They would be cared for for the rest of their life, whether they liked it or not.