Scene #4817: Untangling Poetic Verse

Owner	Pose
Taro	Taro does have a private apartment, which has been used previously for hosting a movie night and creating a movie worthy of that sort of movie night. Tonight, though, it's hosting much less boisterous company. There are two tea sets on the low table in the living area, one that matches their respective proportions, along with a cushion on the floor for him and a smaller cushion on the table for her. Although he has a few hardcovers with yellowed pages and sagging spines on the shelf, printed books are a rare thing here, and so he has datatablets for them instead. Truth be told, he's more familiar with hymns than with poetry proper, but he's willing to indulge Harriet if that's what interests her.
Kari Wolf	"And I will show you something different from either" "Your shadow at morning striding behind you" "Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;" "I will show you fear in a handful of dust." Harriet reads the words aloud and then stops to ponder them.
Taro	Taro listens in silence while she reads the words of TS Eliot aloud, not so much drinking from the teacup in his hands as enjoying its warmth and aroma. He then lets the silence linger a little while longer, while Harriet turns the words in her mind. Deep concepts for someone so young, though being a machine-person, her experience and maturity are less pinned to her actual age. He finally takes a sip, then lowers his cup again. "What do the words say to you?"
Kari Wolf	Harriet hmms. "Well, I think it's a human contemplating their own death and fearing it." She finally says, sipping the tea quietly. "They fear the passing of days but forget they'll turn to dust."
Taro	"Mm." A sound of assent. "Death was likely not far from their minds...From what I understand, the poem was written not long after one of their wars. Their war to end all wars, so they believed." A hint of derision creeps into his voice. "Rather hyperbolic of them."
Kari Wolf	Harriet nods. "Er, they see the passing of days but not their final destination. The fistful of dust demonstrating what they become as time goes on. It's the same idea as Shelley's Ozymandias. 'Behold my works and tremble' after time has reduced everything Ramses II did to rubble."
Taro	Taro's brow furrows pensively. "Or perhaps it is that they know that death will one day happen to them, and they wish to forget this. Or perhaps hope to defy death in one way or another?"
Kari Wolf	Harriet nods. "Maybe. But The Waste Land seems like... I'm not sure. Like the last moments of somebody dying? Fragmented bits and pieces of a life?"
Taro	Taro shifts his cup to his right hand so that he can pick up his datatablet in his left, and his gaze shifts to his own copy of the poem. "It is rather disjointed, isn't it...a jumbled collection of fragmented memories...." His brow furrows more deeply, but it doesn't seem to be be directed at either her or at the words on the screen.
Kari Wolf	It seems Harriet likes mental challenges compared to Kari's more playful pursuits. "What are your thoughts on it, Taro?" She says quietly, curious about the reploid's feelings on the matter. In the space between, she refills the tea cups, if Taro's needs refilling anyway.
Taro	Taro's cup could be topped off, yes. He doesn't notice her doing so at first - it's not until she asks him that he pulls away from whatever thoughts had caught him. "Hm? Ah." He blinks once, then looks back at the words instead of through them. "I admit it's hard for me to understand what the writer was thinking when he wrote this. Being neither a human nor created by one, I find myself somewhat removed from the way that they think." He draws a finger across the tablet's surface to advance the page. "I agree that it feels like a jumbled reflection of a life lived, memories remembered out of order but linked together by the fear of death."
Kari Wolf	Harriet nods quietly. "Master says it reminds her of somebody dreaming." Shinki don't dream... unless they have a virus. "Do reploids dream, Taro?" Harriet sips at her tea and thinks Taro may want a different thing to contemplate soon.
Taro	"Hm. It could be that, then." He lifts up his cup again, and finds it's been refilled. "Ah. thank you, Harriet." Sip. "Reploids can dream, yes. Doctor Light designed X's neural matrix to closely mimic that of a human brain. The reploid neural matrix was based on X's, and while not an exact match of his, it's close enough to have most of his traits. Just how many of them do dream is hard to say, but the ones who have told me that they dream tells me they find the dreams to be beneficial." A pause. "I was not designed to dream, and so I do not."
Kari Wolf	Harriet nods quietly, as is her manner. "Shinki don't dream either... unless we have a computer virus." The holographic display lights up in front of her, showing the next bit of literature she wants to discuss. "Is music a kind of poetry?" She finally says, finding nothing that isn't bleak or dark in her personal library. The holodisplay shuts off.
Taro	Taro gives a nod. "So I'd read. The shinki neural matrix stores memories differently then a reploid's," he explains, his tone not implying that this is either a good or bad thing, simply a difference between the two. "I imagine that a virus would interfere with memory storage, which could cause dreams during the recharge cycle." He sips more tea while she peruses, his expression slipping back to his more usual faintly dour-thoughtful frown. "Music can be a form of poetry, yes. Some of it could be considered poetry accompanied by instruments. But even music played solely by intruments, without words, has its own rules and rhythms to be followed...and both music and poetry can stir up feelings in those capable of emotions."
Kari Wolf	Harriet isn't sure how to respond to that. "... I guess I never thought of music like that. What kind of music do you listen to, Taro?"
Taro	Taro hints at a smile, mostly at the corners of his eyes. "Hymns, mostly. A hazard of spending so much time in the temple." His tone makes it not an entirely serious answer, even if it is completely true. "I've even penned a few, but I've found that task is much better left to those with a better sense of poetic phrasing." He gives a slight shrug. "Otherwise, a bit of this and that. Klingon Opera. Sir Hellsing has introduced me to her world's version of classical music, and Nine to his world's version of rock music. A little of Neo Arcadian contemporary music, though I find it not quite to my tastes. And you?"
Kari Wolf	Harriet listens to the answers, waiting and thinking for a few moments with a puzzled look on her tiny face. Finally she glances at Taro and asks... "What's Klingon opera?"
Taro	"Are you familiar with Klingons?" Taro asks in turn. "If not, there's an entry on them in the Confederate reference database." Which of course she would have access to. A dry entry, but it sums up the hardy species and their warrior-centered culture well enough. He glances over to the entertainment console over to the side. "I could queue up an example, if you're curious."