Why it never ends

Chapter 428 Absolute Faith
Hesta fell into a long silence, her eyes were vacantly looking forward, and her brows were tightly frowned.

"simple?"

"...It's over." Hesta replied in a low voice, "It's...it's over."

"Aren't you happy?"

Hesta's body trembled slightly, she looked at Rico, "But it... didn't disappear."

Li Ke tilted his head: "It hasn't disappeared, what do you mean?"

"It just jumps from one person to another," Hesta replied in a low voice, "When the section that belongs to me is over, it immediately... unfolds on another person, as if... I end it, I start it...but it never quite ends itself."

Hesta looked away again, whispering to a mirror.

"Can you understand?"

"It's not very good," Li Ke pressed the back of Hesta's hand tightly against his cheek, "Actually, I didn't understand much from the beginning to the end..."

After a moment of silence, the two laughed at the same time.

"Sorry," Hesta smiled and bent over, "I don't know how to explain..."

Li Ke leaned against the bed, with the other hand propping his chin helplessly, "You should tell Miss Valenti and the others about this kind of thing, they are good at playing these riddles with people."

"But I can't say a word to them, so what should I do?"

Rico changed his posture, "...Have I told you about my neighbor in Sol Wasteland, a religious neighbor?"

Hesta shook her head, she moved to the side, "Are you going to lie down and talk?"

Li Ke patted the ashes under his body, and pulled a quilt corner to cover his stomach.

"This neighbor of mine talks about 'fate' every day. She was not that religious at first, but she had a daughter who died of illness suddenly when she was in her 20s, and then she believed in Uriel—our A god. When you talk about fate, I immediately thought of her. A person who was originally a good person suddenly gave up everything to serve a god that doesn’t exist at all—I don’t think this is a good word.”

Hesta turned half over, "...I'm not talking about this kind of fate."

"Then do you believe in the existence of God?"

"Do not believe."

"Who made that fate?" Li Ke folded his hands on the back of his head, "When you doubt the existence of some kind of 'fate' in the world, what are you doubting?"

"..." Hesta narrowed his eyes and was speechless for a while.

"Anyway, I was very shocked by the change of that person," Li Ke told his story again, "At that time, I had a friend who had been traveling around with the circus. One day she came back, and I told the story of this person. Will tell her, I said, 'How did this person suddenly become like this? Did Uriel choose her?'

"'There is no Uriel,' said my friend, 'she was just too sad, no one could share her pain, she couldn't bear it, so she confessed to a god, and after she confessed, Uriel Just took her pain and Uller took responsibility for her...that's what religion does.'”

"Religion is not just for this..." Hesta whispered, she looked at Rico, "And then? Did she recover later?"

Li Ke shook his head, "When the first chelate broke into our town, she was still praying."

"...Maybe she found peace of mind."

"But I was the only one who survived in the end," Li Ke whispered, "so I won't believe in these things in my life."

Hesta was thoughtful: "...Me too."

"That may still be different. The premise of my disbelief in God is based on evidence. If there is a God in the evidence, I will believe it. Because I am more willing to believe in God, but the cold facts are hindering me."

Hesta raised his head: "...Why?"

Li Ke gave a long "hmm": "No reason, I think a world with ghosts and gods is more interesting."

"There are ghosts and gods, but the world is still in this terrible state?"

"There is no contradiction. God can exist, but maybe he has no feelings for human beings." Li Ke laughed, "Thinking about the way a god can choose to live in this world, I feel quite romantic."

"Then you don't necessarily have to rely on God?" Hesta said softly, "A person from the Iron Age, if you bring her to this ship, she probably thinks this is a miracle, and your unimaginable life at the moment It may be just a common life scene at some point in the future."

Li Ke raised his eyebrows slightly, and quite agreed: "I agree——if I can become a brain in a vat in the future, so that I can gain immortality in the virtual world, I can also forget about these gods and ghosts. "

Hesta fell silent again.

Li Ke looked at her expression: "This choice also makes you feel pessimistic?"

"I'm just thinking, after the realization of the brain in a vat, what people will do to people may...be cruel beyond the imagination of our generation." Hesta said softly, "... until someone starts Who can protect that brain-in-a-vat?"

Rico took a deep breath and looked at Hesta with a smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that..."

"You are too strong."

"Be strong," Hesta didn't understand. "What kind of strength is this? I thought it was just the most basic human instinct for self-preservation..."

"You see, there are actually two paths for a person to reach ultimate freedom," Li Ge said, wringing his fingers, "one depends on ghosts and gods, and the other depends on technology. In the end, you feel that neither of these two paths will work."

Hesta didn't answer right away, she looked at the ceiling of the room.

"Yes... I don't believe in this, maybe I just don't believe in any ultimate solution. Once some kind of blueprint coaxes people to stop fighting, I suspect that the only thing left is eternal slavery..."

Rico looked into Hesta's eyes and laughed.

"You know, that friend of mine, she told me that she thinks there are two kinds of atheists in this world, one is utilitarian atheism like me and her, we don't believe in God because we are sure that all People in the guise of religion have plans, and there is no true God in this world. But if one day this fact is broken, we will immediately change, convert, or practice, and pursue what the secular world cannot give us.

"And another kind of atheist, even if a miracle happened to her, she would never believe it, because for them, atheism is a kind of survival belief, it has nothing to do with whether there is a god, even if there is one in the world She would rather turn her back on someone who is obsessed with God... She called this kind of person an atheist with absolute belief.

"You're the latter, aren't you?"

"Really..." Hesta murmured in a low voice, uttering an ambiguous whisper, "Yes, everything needs...constant struggle."

(End of this chapter)