Chapter 97: A Controlled Map of Reality

"...I’m going to teach you another lesson about women. This one will answer a lot of things about the choices you’re making now that may have affected your decisions." Typhon speaks as she sits down in the chair with Nio on her lap. Nioh sits in the other chair, not looking at either of them.

"Considering your former male mind, you must have been quite confused by certain choices you made that seemed very... emotional." Typhon says to Nio, who involuntarily nods in agreement.

Even the memory of her decision to kill everyone in that little monster "village" after she had killed the Headless Hunter comes to mind.

"Women, regardless of race, have certain cognitive biases. Let’s say we’re more emotional — not that it’s so different from men, but we do place a lot of our emotions on top of a choice."

"It doesn’t mean we choose less rationally, but between two similar options, our emotions heavily affect the choice, especially depending on the state our body is in."

"..." Nio tries to understand, but it seems complicated, and her expression makes Typhon smile.

"Imagine the following scenario, Nio. I offer you two options. One solves an immediate problem and leaves you satisfied in the moment. The other solves the immediate problem but doesn’t satisfy you — yet it’s still more useful than the first for the future."

"You would, with high probability, choose the one that satisfies you, ignoring the one that’s beneficial long-term. Do you know why that is? Because primitive minds were shaped by nature to seek certain specific things."

"For example, in a partner. In a bad environment, the criteria for a relationship drop. You become less demanding and accept bad things for the sake of benefits. In a modern, safe, healthy environment, your standards rise. You become picky, and the rate of choice drops sharply."

"But isn’t that the same for anyone? I don’t see what gender changes about that. I think even a bacterium or a virus chooses based on that." Nio questions, confused.

"Not exactly. A man can easily be satisfied with the bare minimum even in the second scenario. The male mind is more... adaptive to what he desires. You came from a safe society, so you can’t understand this, but I’ve observed countless worlds." Nioh wants to say something but stays quiet because she knows Typhon would take advantage of anything she says.

"Countless couples, countless races, and these are the data I drew from that. Nio, if you were living a bad life — full of abuse, hunger, and misery — and you had the chance to improve it even a little, wouldn’t you end up choosing that?" Typhon sums up literal desperation.

Not as real data, but as a cold psychological analysis that Nio intuitively understands but doesn’t fully grasp, because Typhon is referring to Nio’s current state.

"Isn’t that a bit generalized?"

"...Hmm... let me simplify it a little more. We have a man and a woman, both in the same negative situation. The man would work alone to get out of it or ally himself with other men. The woman in that context would be passive and try to get someone to carry her."

’I don’t know... but Typhon’s simplification seems... biased?’ Nio doesn’t voice what she feels in the moment.

"It’s not generalized. It’s the average. It’s biology and the most basic instincts of a human... and... a dragon like you doesn’t escape that rule. There are things you’ll do on impulse just because it seemed like the best option at the time."

"That doesn’t seem right—"

"Tell me, Nio. Didn’t you use your body to manipulate someone?" Typhon gently takes Nio’s hair and brings it to her face, smelling the strands.

"...I..."

"Would you do that if you were a man?"

"...Well... no, right... it’s different... I mean, it’s not like that... if I were a cute guy, would I?... though no... not with other men..." Nio realizes she does exactly that precisely because she’s a woman — and does it with other women, while she wouldn’t do it with men if the scenario were reversed and she were a man.

"It seems in the end I’m right, aren’t I? There are things you only do because you’re a woman now, even if you don’t realize it. Tell me, have you ever met a dragon? A male, that you found handsome?" When Typhon says that, Nio shivers.

"...I’m not like that..."

"You are, because now you’re a girl. But don’t worry — does gender really matter when we’re goddesses? I can easily add a male genitalia to my body, or I can have both, or I can have none."

"I can shape the form of my brain, its chemical processes. I can even get rid of it and still live on as astral consciousness alone... But you can’t do the same, Nio."

"You’re still bound to biological molds. You bleed down there, and it alters your mental state. You need to sleep, or you’ll enter hibernation. If you become exhausted, you’ll need to eat."

"And even though you don’t need to perform physiological functions like other beings because your stomach acid literally corrodes every bit of what you eat, leaving nothing behind, your body still has those functions for you to use — and when you overdo it by drinking too many liquids, you’ll still need to urinate like any mortal."

’And what if some of the things I did really were influenced by my new body?’ Nio wonders as she begins to fall into Typhon’s conversation.

"And there’s nothing shameful about that. Your body is something cute — a small wet project of flesh and bones. But unfortunately, Nio... you seem delayed."

"???"

"Nio, I love your scent when you lay eggs. It’s strong. It makes my heart race. Did you know I have this body just for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I didn’t have a body before, until Nioh was born. I was... fascinated by that little ball of flesh. I’m older than you could ever imagine, Nio, but I felt nothing for anyone or for existence itself."

"Until Nioh was born, and my world gained so many colors. You would never understand what it’s like to feel emotions without even having a body or a brain. I knew from the moment she was born that she should be mine. I watched her grow. I wanted so badly to get close to her during her childhood, but I didn’t want to scare her, so I let her grow."

"But she rejected me... I tried to be polite, did you know that? I bet she never told you how we really met." Nio looks at Nioh, who tries to hide her face.

"I tried to propose to her the normal way, at a banquet I held and invited her to. I made the proposal before thousands of important people. I tried to be gentle with her. She scorned me. She was... arrogant. She said she would never marry a cold, ugly reptile like me, in front of everyone."

"She stepped on my face when I knelt before her, offering a ring made from my heart. And when I tried to talk to her... she spat in my face and gave me a look of pure disgust that honestly wounded me deeply." Nio stares at Nioh, waiting for her to deny it, but she says nothing — because she did it.

"Nio, I’m not someone who gives up. Never. The day I saw Nioh born, I knew she would be mine, even if it had to be by force. Tell me, Nio — wouldn’t you like my gentleness? Do you really need to fight me? Will you try to be like her? Look at the pitiful state she’s in. I always win, Nio, and that will never change." Typhon lifts Nio’s head so she faces Nioh.

"See how she hides her face. She knows she wronged me first. I ask you — can you see the future where Nioh had accepted me gently? How happy it would have been? I never planned to hurt her in the beginning."

"But I also never saw a problem in doing it if I got what I wanted." Nio gets off Typhon’s lap, pushing her away slightly.

"..."

"Okay, okay, that sounds sad... but you just said you chased a baby, then a child, until she became an adult?"

"...I won’t deny my past. Yes, I did."

"...And you expect me to just accept how insane you are?"

"I don’t expect you to accept it. I’m not telling you this so you’ll feel sorry or pity for me, or so you’ll accept me. I’m just... showing my side of the story — one you couldn’t see in mere game ’lore.’"

"Isn’t it good to know both sides? I’m... giving you a map of our history, and showing that my love is real. It just isn’t love by mortal standards... it’s a love as sweet as it is sharp."

"Nio, whether you were a girl or a man or even an insect crawling beneath leaves, I wouldn’t care. I love everything about you. I love your soul, your mind, your intelligence, your power, your scent, your eggs, your organs, every inch of your body, every fragment of your existence, every mark you’ve left on the universe."

"I adore you deeply, and I would love you even if you were a mere molecule drifting through space." Typhon moves closer to Nio, taking her hand and kissing it while keeping her eyes fixed on Nio.

"But I also know that both you and Nioh are beings born in the mold of mortal beings, while I and Yggdrasil are beings born in the mold of existential concepts. We are existences very far apart."

"That’s why, Nio... I want you to see my side and think about it a little."