Literature Club (Part 1)

The room was filled with silence. It was after school hours. The only sounds that came were the sounds of injured students returning home, some groaning, some moaning. A lot of people were just sitting there, reading. Someone was sitting there while drinking coffee which he made in that place, evident from the machine and the aroma which filled the whole room. He finally started talking.

??- This day must have been hectic for the new students...

Ken was reading a book and didn't even bother to lift his face up to answer. 

Ken- Yeah… But… On the more pleasant side of things, they did get the opportunity to witness how strong someone could become, even if they have a weak ability…

??- Well... Your ability isn't that weak... It can be used in different ways... Which makes it better than most abilities...

Ken- My ability didn't start out like this... It was merely a weak storage ability… I turned it into what it is now...

??- Well... Even without your input... Storage ability is pretty useful too… *takes a sip of the coffee* You could become a member of some well-known party in the dungeons...

Haisha*relaxing on the floor*- I wanna go hit the dungeons someday...

Ken- Yeah… I wanna go to the dungeons too… It has been a while since I ventured into one... The closest dungeon to us is in India, right?

??- Yeah... It's somewhere in Bengal...

Haisha- Ah... It would be convenient if there was one near us... Imagine living near a dungeon...

??- Yeah... I would like to have a go at it too…

*Sap slides in through the door*

Sap- Ah... Seems like you guys are talking about dungeons... I used to live near one...

Ken- What brings you here?

Sap- Can I complete my story before I answer your question?

Ken- No...

Sap- Fine... I came here because I wanna join the literature club...

Ken- It's merely the first day... Are you sure you want to join it?

??- Uhm... I am the teacher... I am supposed to be the one asking questions...

Sap*ignoring the teacher*- Yeah I am... You see... I want to become a writer... So... This is the best club for me...

Ken- I see...

Sap- Well... I'm not alone... I brought someone else here as well...

Ken- Oh well... Are you both going to join?

*Tornado walks in, struggling*

Tornado- He is too good... Too good...

Ken- What transpired?

Tornado- He is too dangerous… He explained to me why the other clubs were absolutely shit and completely changed my mind and my view toward literature… And... Who knew the reason my parents gave birth to me was for joining the literature club...

Sap- Hey! You're exaggerating... I just ranted about the other clubs for an hour... And a half... Or maybe it was two hours... I can't keep track of time here... It's always dark...

Ken- That seems brutal... I would hate to have someone rant in my ears for an hour or two... No wonder she seems to have lost her mind...

Sap- And because of you she lost her strength... That's why she couldn't blow me away with a gust while I was ranting in her ear... Hey! How about we become a team? I'll break people mentally and you'll break them physically...

Ken- Heh... Like that would ever come about... Anyways... Teacher... Can I get a cup of coffee?

Sap- Hey! Don't be like that... I once brainwashed a professional brainwasher who had the ability to brainwash people, before they could brainwash me... Also... I would like a cup of coffee as well... It has been a long time since I've had one...

Ken*finally lifting his face*- Makes me wonder what the significance of having the ability to brainwash people was...

Sap- Well... He is a professional and I am not... That's the difference between a person having an ability and a person not having an ability...

Ken- That's just how society is... There is more certainty in his brainwashing than yours... To them at least... 

Sap- Yeah... That says a lot about the society we live in... By the way... What are you reading?

Ken- Ah... Merely an autobiography... Mein Kampf...

Sap- The autobiography of the dude who took people's abilities and gave them to people of his race...

Ken- It started off with him seizing the abilities of the people who hated having abilities and bestowing them to people who wanted to have them... The people who got abilities or got rid of their abilities because of him became his followers... After accumulating his followers... He took control of his country and tried to take control of the world through his power... Crazy how he was able to make the people of his race feel like they were superior... I wonder how he did that...

Sap- Weren't we just talking about that? Maybe he had an ability that would let him brainwash people...

Ken- Well... Reading these ancient texts is a bliss and a curse... He wrote about his abilities... Each and every one... And how he got those and who he got those from... But... I didn't find any ability which controlled minds... Or any people in his army who had that kind of ability... 

Sap- Maybe he tried to hide that...

Ken- What good would hiding that do? He wrote this book when he was in prison... He wrote it just before being executed... Why would someone who is dying, hide something as insignificant as this...?

Sap- To maintain his dignity even after death in hopes that someone in the future would look back on him and think of him as their role model?

Ken- That's too random...

Sap- Well... That's why we're humans... Sometimes what we imperfect beings do is unpredictable... Whether he lied or wrote the truth is now lost in history... It happened like 450 years ago... We have no way to go back and see the truth for ourselves... It's just interpreted in different ways by different people...

??- The history we read isn't certainly what happened... People wrote it how they saw fit...... Also... I'm finished with the coffee...

Ken- Someone once said that history is what characterizes the world... But if the history we know is just a misinterpretation, does that mean the world is not what we believe it to be?*gives Sap a cup of coffee*

Sap- We are humans... I believe no one is a hundred percent right... History might define how the world became what it is now... But... Can it really define the world as it is now? Isn't it too backdated for that? Can anything in human understanding define the world? We don't know all about the world... Don't you think that's what makes us humans? 

Ken- That certainly does make us humans… Possessing little power but thinking that we rule the world...

Sap- Someone once said that if humans knew all about the world, they would become gods... What do you say about that?

Ken- Humans can never become gods... Well... Collectively we might be able to become something like that, but one can't become a god by simply knowing all...

Sap- Like... If we developed something of a hive mind? A shared library of knowledge and information and feelings of sorts that we were connected to?

Ken- Well... Not like that... By knowing all, one might be able to determine what's going to happen in the near future... But... Becoming a Laplace's Demon would do you no good in the long run...

Sap- Can't someone change the future if they can determine what's going to happen in the future?

Ken- That depends... That depends on how much you know and how much you can do... Say... You are a prisoner who is sentenced to be killed... You are gonna get beheaded... What good would knowing that ahead of time do? You don't have the power to stop that... And... If all humans are able to determine the future, won't they all, trying to change it, change the future someone else envisioned? What good would knowing a future which is not gonna take place do?

Sap- Ah... So... All people knowing the future would make knowing the future impossible because it'll keep changing every moment… Or maybe there would be some kind of prophecy war...

Ken- Yeah… Though some people are known to have the ability to determine some future events… There is a clan here that specializes in dealing with information, they boast about having someone who can see the future… Oh well... Go, take the form from Kaori and fill it up... I'd like to have you around...

Sap- Seems like the feeling is mutual... I look forward to having another discussion like this… There aren't many occasions where I find people like you...

Ken- Well... Why is everyone silent?

Sap- Seems like they passed out... Our little philosophical session was far too complicated for them... Their brains probably exploded... I don't mean that in a literal sense...

Ken- Ah... People passing out because of their brains exploding... So... That does happen in real life...

Sap- Yeah... Seems like it...