Let's Play Umineko, Episode 3 Scene 10: The Two Truths

[prof]

<< | ^^ | >>




The Goats

They are low-level furniture that serve Beatrice.

There are many of them, but they are silent, with no more personality. They obey their Master's orders faithfully.

Their sensitivity is closer to an animal's than a human's, and they sometimes misunderstand their orders surprisingly foolishly. By nature, they have a huge build like a minotaur, and incredible superhuman strength.

They are low-level as furniture, but can be convenient, since an inexhaustible supply of them can be summoned.

---

October 5th, 1986, 6:00 AM
18 hours remain



A grim morning dawns on Rokkenjima.

The siblings argued all through the night, and are still awake.



Something is wrong in the mansion, though. It seems to be coming from the boiler room, but none of them have the key to it.

Over at the parlor, something even stranger.



Kyrie comes back from checking the boiler room, reporting that the same symbol was drawn there, too.

The parlor is also locked.



None of the siblings could be behind what was going on this time - all of them were together from evening through morning.

They split up to search the mansion. The four cousins are still asleep in the guest house. Nanjo is awake and well. However, the servants are all missing.



This is most likely Kinzo's doing, whatever it is. The occult is his hobby, after all.

Kyrie and Rosa stay to watch over the cousins, while the others go back to the mansion.



In the mansion, they've found a total of five circles. One on the boiler room, one on the parlor, two on the second floor, and one on the third floor. All five doors are locked.



The keys to those rooms are missing, as well.

Five magic circles. Five locked doors. Five missing keys. Five missing servants.



The situation is getting more and more ominous. Krauss finally OK's breaking a window.

Rudolf heads out into the garden, and uses a rock to smash open one of the windows to the parlor.



All six enter the parlor.

Everything seems to be all right, until they find her.



BGM: Golden Slaughterer

---

Purgatorio



Hmmm? Oh, there you are. What are you doing, holding your head in a place like that?



Pukukuku... I wonder if you have tormented him too much, Milady. After showing him that much and demanding a counterargument, I can understand why he wants to mope around.
Hey, Battleeer. If you can't argue back, resign, alright? It's your turn. If you don't make a move or pass, or else give up, we won't get anywhere.
......et.
Huh? What's that? I can't hear you!
I said be quiet! Aaaah, shut up shut uuuuuup! A witch? Magic?! Can't you just do what you want, I don't believe, I don't believe any of it, damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it! Don't talk to me, don't show me anything, disappear, disappear, just disappear! Don't get that annoying face near meeeeee!
E-Even if you say that... If you don't finish your turn, then my turn won't come. I'm trying to say that I don't want you to bore me, but...
Who cares, be quiet, shut uuup! Who cares about your game, I won't go along with iiit! If your turn won't come until mine is finished, then just wait for all eternity! Aaaah, I don't know how I don't know I don't get it! I won't accept witches or magic, I won't accept something that screwed up! Uuuoooooooooohh, I said don't talk to meeeeeeee!





Having abandoned the game, Battler wanders the garden aimlessly.

After he caved in the second game, Rokkenjima began to change. It's become a strange world, full of magic. Just now, there had even been an immense battle between witches before his eyes.



Battler turns around, and sees the other Beatrice behind him.



BGM: Mother

You're Beato's teacher, right? So, in other words, you're a witch, too.
Yes, that is correct.
Heh. So, in other words, witches really do exist? And I'm not the one who can defeat her. That'd be you, since you can use awesome magic, wouldn't it? I'm just useless now. There's nothing I can do anymore.
Oh, my. Have you surrendered completely?
What do you mean? How should I explain that?! Towers sprouting and falling! Huge giants holding shields and throwing spears! Aaaah, just remembering it makes me feel weird! Now even reasoning is useless! We've left the level of tricks and explanations with human culprits! Aaaah, damn it damn it damn it.
Calm yourself. I am nothing more than a piece on that child's game board. After being removed from that board, I can no longer do anything. But you are that child's opponent. As long as you do not give up by yourself, you will always have the power to strike back at her.
Shut up! Weren't you also reciting strange spells and summoning towers and spears?! What do you mean, strike back?! Are you saying you'll teach me magic, too, and make me take part in that massive magic battle?!
...If you wish, I could teach you a bit about magic.
Oh, just what I wanted! Please, give me some awesome magic to smash her chest in one blow! Hah, don't screw with me!



BGM: Psy-chorus

Rain ceremony? That thing where you throw stuff into the fire and offere a dance? That's not magic. They say that the fire causes an updraft, and as a result, rain clouds gather. That's supposed to be an accepted scientific phenomenon.
Oh? I had believed that it was a form of eastern magic, but it isn't magic? I had believed that people offered sacred fire to the heavens, as well as a dance of respect, so that your entreaty for rain would reach the hearts of the gods.
Maybe people did that long ago, but most occult things like that have a scientific explanation.
Why do things burn? Isn't that because phlogiston is contained in the material?
No, things burn because of a chemical reaction. Lavoisier abolished the phlogiston theory.
Why does heat transfer through objects? Isn't that because caloric is contained in the material?
I'm pretty sure that was abolished by Joule. Heat is energy, not a substance.
You have studied well. Your knowledge is correct.
It's just some random facts.



The love of god instead of gravity? Well, that's probably the remnants from the period when religion rather than science was used to explain everything.
That is correct. In the past, humans called the limits of their knowledge - no, ignorance itself - magic. Just like the rain ceremony.
That probably happened a lot. Even without understanding the reason, through long experience,, they knew that they would achieve a result... Phenomena whose principles they didn't understand were probably the same as magic to them.
If you push a switch, a light turns on. Children don't know the principles behind why a lightbulb lights up, they only know the result when they push the switch. Isn't that magic to them?
Well, logically, that's true. For example, I don't have a clue why the Braun tubes in a TV show a picture, but I think it's completely normal to see things on a TV. Even if I don't understand the principles, I at least know that if I push the switch, I can watch TV. If I don't know the principles, even TV is the same as magic.
Do you know how Braun tubes are constructed? Have you ever taken one apart and looked inside?
Nope. I read about it in a book once, but it was complicated and I didn't have a clue. I think that when electrons hit a fluorescent material, it creates luminescence, or something like that...



How can you deny it if you have never looked inside a Braun tube?
I've never looked inside, but I can state that tiny people like that definitely don't exist!
Since there is no Braun tube here, that is impossible to prove.
Yeah, it's impossible to prove right now, but later I can take apart a TV somewhere and show you, and instantly win the argument!
In other words, my magic theory, that gremlins are shut up inside the Braun tubes and display the picture with magic, is impossible to prove until we can verify the contents of a Braun tube, right?
Are you trying to say it's a Devil's Proof? That's your favorite trick, you witches.
A Devil's Proof is a form of underhanded sophistry formed by claiming that it is impossible to prove a negative fact. However, it is different from what I'm talking about. That could be resolved just by taking apart a single television.
...You're right. It really isn't a Devil's Proof.
The scientific theory you propose, and the magical theory I propose. One of them is the truth, and which one it is can be ascertained as soon as you look inside the Braun tube. However, until the instant that happens, we cannot deny each other's theories. Until you look into the Braun tube, two conflicting truths exist at the same time. A different universe, where two truths can exist at once.



That is what Rokkenjima is now. This island is now a different world, where a science theory and a magic theory exist at the same time. To a resident of the world of science such as yourself, it may feel as though this island has been sucked into a world of magic.



I don't really get it... the gap between reality and magic? A perfectly impartial world? Hasn't everything been going really bad for me the whole time?
Then perhaps you could think of it this way. This is a trial. Think of it as a court, where you and Beatrice are laying out opposing claims. It's like a Braun tube trial - that child claims that there are tiny people inside the Braun tubes. She explains one thing after another, talking about the lives of the tiny people, what they look like, what type of magical power they have. And you?
Well, I study in a library, and argue back by explaining how Braun tubes are constructed.
At that moment, both your claim and that child's claim exist in the court at the same time. If you listen to her claim, you may hear it as though it were the truth.. See it as though it were the truth.



That truth is contracted by observation, and countless truths are weeded out to become one truth. It is like when, in court, the judge makes his judgement. The two truths from the prosecutor's and the defense's claims are contracted by judgement and become one.
So, this island right now is the world right before looking into the Braun tube, right? The science theory and the magic theory can't be denied. And since they can't be denied...
...Both can exist as truth. Therefore, witches and magic can exist, but at the same time, your opinion which denies that also exists as truth. Do you understand?
In other words... no matter how much awesome magic Beato shows me, that's just a claim from the magic theory, and it doesn't disprove mine. So, no matter what kind of magic Beato shows me in this world, that can't become proof that magic exists.
That's right. She will probably even try to explain an apple falling from a tree with magic. That child might shake her staff and pluck the apple with magic, and claim that she dropped it to the earth. However, that would be nothing more than another one of her claims. None of her claims can block your opportunity to make a claim. In that sense, this world is impartial to both sides.
Still, by that argument, if I show a sound argument with my science theory, and it collides head-on with her magic theory, I can't win against her. The final judgement won't come until we peek into the Braun tube. There's no reason for us to argue. Wouldn't it be fine if we just got along and peeked into the Braun tube?
Maybe, instead of a court, I should have used chess as an example. Victory and loss is not determined by a judge. You who are fighting will decide it yourselves.
Can you win an argument with an opponent in a screwed-up world where multiple truths can exist at the same time?
Didn't you lose the argument, and surrender?
Heh.



Beatrice used to be my name, but now that I have surrendered it, I do not have a name. So, I shall take a temporary name. Virgilius. No, what about Virgilia?
Virgilia. Valkyria? Wasn't that the name of a legendary goddess?
No. It means the one who is a guide to Beatrice. I will guide you to that child who waits at the summit of Mount Purgatory. It should be a fitting name for that kind of guide.
To think that I'd accept help from a witch when I'm trying to deny witches. If this is a contradictory world where different claims can exist at the same time, that also works. It's almost funny.
I am borrowing that child's words, but you are truly like a phoenix. Your will to fight has already been revived. Come, if your heart is prepared, return to her. Return to the chessboard she is sitting at. I look forward to seeing how far you can fight my disciple.
Yeah, watch it. I won't listen to her babbling any more. I'll coolly fight to the end. I definitely won't get provoked by her again.
Then let us return to the seat of the battle.



Sorry to keep you waiting. I've cooled my head a little.
And? Did you think of a response to that pleasant, thrilling, refreshing, highly-acclaimed, wonderful fantasy battle between teacher and meeee? Isn't that impossible to explain without fantasy? Hihyahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa!
Milady, didn't you just promise to be kind and act refined?
Ahyahahahahaha, oh no, oh no. I just got in such a good mood when I saw Battler's face, you see? Look look look, so Battler, that battle just now, how will you respond to it, hmmm?



...What?
Where in this rose garden did those spears and towers that you grew fall to? Nowhere, right? In other words, it's just like the insides of a Braun tube.
...The insides of a Braun tube, you say? What in the world are you talking about?
In this very moment, there is nothing at all in the rose garden. Towers may have sprouted with magic until a short while ago. However, that's just because we don't know what's inside the Braun tube. It's your interpretation that it was a magical battle, and that's nothing more than a claim. Right here, right now, there is nothing at all to prove that. This is how I argue back about that witch's battle just now. Right now, there isn't anything there, which proves that nothing happened!
...Hahahahahaha! You know, obviously I can't make a huge mess when it's only the second twilight, and I do like that rose garden, you see? To prevent any damage, I fought inside a barrier, so it's only natural that it wouldn't have any influence on reality.
That's your claim? Well, I guess that works.



Wait, wait, can you deny my magic with that mess?! It is impossible to prove that magic doesn't exist! It's a Devil's Proof!
At this point in time, this garden is the truth! The instant you look inside, the tiny people inside the Braun tube will vanish, and there are no traces of magic at all! So, that battle between you witches didn't take place!
Wh... What the... that counter...? That power, could it be...?!
Have you forgotten, Milady? It is the Multi-layered Worlds Contraction Technique. The power of a finite witch in contrast with the power of an Endless Witch. Only an Endless Witch would be able to understand it, and it causes the strongest effect as such.
S-Schrödinger's cat box?! That old hag of a witch... what an uncalled-for hint!
We've lost time. With the five servants and grandfather, there are six corpses! Let me check the scene. I've been trudging along wasting time. From now on, I'll speed things up, okay?




<< | ^^ | >>