Story Reader / Affection / Selena: Tempest / Story
Dear [player name],
You don't know how elated I was to receive a reply from you.
It's been no more than two days since I first sent the letter. Babylonia really is small, isn't it?
But just the wait itself made me realize why people in the olden days used to be so fond of communicating through letters.
The act of waiting heightens emotions, akin to watching fruit ripen. It fills one with anxiety and expectations.
Perhaps it's not highly efficient, but it's worth the wait.
I'd like to once again formally introduce myself. My pen name is "Iris".
And I'm emphasizing my name for the second time because I'd like to share with you the meaning behind this name,
something I didn't do in my first letter.
I chanced upon this beautiful name while reading The Tempest. You may have heard of this opera, but in any case,
please let me provide you with an excerpt.
Then there was a series of beautiful transcriptions. The person who wrote this letter even changed the color of ink to write this poetic text.
Ceres, the goddess of fertility, I am the rainbow in the sky, and I am the envoy of the Queen of Heaven;
The Queen of Heaven, in the clouds, sent a message to ask you to leave your supple field where wheat, barley, rye, oats, wild beans and peas flourish;
Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep, and flat meads thatch'd with stover, them to keep;
Thy banks with pioned and twilled brims, which spongy April at thy hest betrims;
To make cold nymphs chaste crowns; and thy broom-groves;
Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves;
Being lass-lorn: thy pole-clipt vineyard; And thy sea-marge, sterile and rocky-hard, where thou thyself dost air;
—the queen o' the sky, whose watery arch and messenger am I;
Bids thee leave these, and with her sovereign grace, here on this grass-plot, in this very place;
To come and sport: her peacocks fly amain: Approach, rich Ceres, her to entertain.
Writing here now, even the pen tip and pressure have become more "soft".
These are lines from The Tempest. Iris is the goddess of the rainbow and the emissary of the gods.
The rainbow bridges Heaven and Earth. It conveys people's joys and sorrows to the gods and spreads their gospel to the world.
I'm fascinated both by the things that Iris symbolizes, as well as by the stanza itself.
I've never seen the things it mentions, so I keep fantasizing about them and imagining what they're like.
If their names are already so perfect, imagine how beautiful they would be in real life.
Suddenly, with a turn of the pen—
My apologies, I'm rambling on and on about my interests again.
This has always been a bad habit of mine, or at least, that's what my parents often say.
I just want to share what I lost most with you.
I love operas. I love the stuff that exists only in stories and in imagination.
And what about you? What is it that you love?
Iris:
...
Iris:
Hello.
I heard this name before.
It also symbolizes something else
—the flower iris.
Have you ever seen one?
As for what I love...
You have been writing with a pen pal named Iris for some time.
Relying on the fragmentary information between the lines, you slowly piecs together the overall image of her.
She likes art, music, literature, opera, instrumental performance, and singing.
In a time like this, when the Punishing Virus has taken away everything, the act of loving these things is an extravagance in and of itself.
She is an innocent little girl who has never experienced any setbacks in life. She does not have to worry about anything other than herself. Only a greenhouse free of any contaminants would be able to produce such innocence.
A flower of Eden that knows nothing of the real world.
She lives in a perfect world, so even if you do not see things her way, you would not want to destroy the perfection she lives in.
And you cannot avoid slowly opening up about your life as you send letters back and forth.
You have started asking and answering each other's questions in those letters.
In your last letter, you mentioned the words like F.O.S. Later, I went back to learn more about it.
With all due respect, [player name], were you a student at F.O.S. Military Command College? Are you a soldier?
Your writing is very special, sharp, beautiful and full of power, that's why I have this speculation.
As your writing suggests, you certainly have a strong will.
I hope to become just like you, so resolute and determined.
Let's talk about me then. I don't have my life planned out.
But it's said that on turning 18, every resident of Eden will be allocated a suitable job by Gestalt.
I've been thinking about what kind of person I want to become.
If I do nothing and go along with Gestalt's affinity and suitability matching data, letting it determine my future, my life would probably be very dull.
As mentioned previously, I love operas.
Using the libretto and music to convey your inner world to others... I feel that it's an especially meaningful endeavor.
What do you think?
