by Will Stanton » Tue Mar 26, 2024 8:50 pm
"Interactivity," was the immediate response from the ponytail. "Passive, effortless interactivity."
"Just getting to sit there and watch. You and Miriam and anyone else who would enter the room, going about your day. Playing the role of the reflection, experiencing the world as you saw it and felt it. And even when the room was empty, there was something there to be and reflect. A book...sits on a shelf, slowly collecting dust when it's not in use. That's no good."
"Space," undercut added after a moment. "Limitless, endless space. To be, to grow, to experience. It was connected to something outside of just physical space -- I wasn't just bulging out of the back of the mirror and collapsing on the floor of the dorm in a mushy heap. A book is bound, and limited, and exists in a defined space. Now, some of us around here might well be into that, but that's not exactly conducive for personal growth."
"Homogeneity", the disturbing flesh ball added. "The idea was that I would go out, and experience something. Do things, learn things, be things. And then I'd come back, and remerge with the rest of me, and then that knowledge and those sensations would become part of the whole. Like, before? If I wanted to experience something that took six months, that's six months out of my life; six months where I'm doing that and nothing else. With the mirror, I've been able to...the sheer amount of experiences I've been able to have, Sam, I can't even begin to describe to you. And some of the original ones haven't even returned yet, can you imagine? What I must be doing and feeling in a longterm role somewhere? To be able to do that, without abandoning my friends and my responsibilities is...well, it's as close to the divine as I'll ever reach. And the point is that it all gets merged back into one thing at the end. A book isn't one thing; it's a collection of things. And while it's probably useful to be able to look up all this information whenever you need to, it's not the same as feeling it as if it happened to you. Just like explaining the mirror to you isn't the same as you knowing what it was like to be the mirror."
There were nods and murmurs from the assembled group -- different levels of agreement, but a general idea, for sure.
"Purpose," another called out. "Easy for people to use and understand."
"Convenience. Could slip in and out without having to wake anyone up or getting help."
"Shininess," a third called out. "...What?" she asked, as several of the Wills around her groaned.