The Author sits in contemplation on a comfortable chair with a laptop on his lap.
Daki appears up in front of the Author out of nowhere, floating in the air with a cheesecake, "Hello, what are you up to?"
"Oh, hi. Yeah, I was just writing something and reading something else. How is the experience so far?" asks the Author.
"It is the most bizarre thing ever to me, very confusing,"
"Indeed, it is all of me is having difficulty writing it, as well as conveying the experience to the reader as best as I can,"
"Will you tell them what we mean or are talking about?"
"Um, I don't think so, not yet. I don't think I am ready yet, nor is the story at that point yet,"
"Can I get any idea when? Oh! Also, what some cheesecake?" asks Daki, waving the cheesecake around.
"Yeah, for sure," the Author snaps his fingers, and a plate appears with a small spoon.
"I don't know honestly. I don't even know which me is going to write it down," he continues as Daki slices into the cheesecake and gives a slice to the Author.
"Thanks!" says the Author, taking a bite of the cheesecake. He hums, "This is really good! Which me did you get this from?"
"When you were in Germany, you visited this sweet place once while traveling around and fell in love with their cheesecake. Good thing you didn't stay long otherwise you would have put on a lot more weight!"
"Indeed, seems so. Me would have probably had an unhealthy addiction to this,"
"Anyways, what are you reading and thinking about?"
"One of the letters of my one and only Master,"
Daki raises an eyebrow, "Thought you would be listening in to some drama or some people talk about politics,"
"Maybe later for a short time for fun, can't let distractions take over again,"
"What's the letter about?"
"Hm, well, it's written in a different language which I currently find difficult to articulate to you so I'll leave it for another me to state them and what they mean," says the Author as he takes another bite of his cheesecake, "I can tell you what it got me to think about though,"
"That would be?"
"Lying,"
"Oof, that's a rough one. When I was there, I had a lot of difficulties dealing with it. In fact, I would say that it reached a point where there was so much of it that people basically started giving up," remarks Daki, flipping in the air.
"Well, I relate. A me is who wrote you after all," jokes the Author, sticking out his tongue playfully.
"And there are me's out there that I grief over that are compulsive liars. So, lying is a problem on a personal level to me as well," he continues as a small piece of the arm of the chair he is sitting on falls through, leaving behind a white light.
"What do you think about the intentions and the results of the lie?" asks Daki.
"Well, about that, there is a me that watched a video of someone covering a manga which had one of its main concepts or themes revolve around lying," the Author starts floating, his laptop and chair following suit.
"And I think I see it in a new light right now," he snaps his fingers, and a small black kitten appears, floating around in the air. He grabs her and starts to pet her.
"Oh? Do share,"
"Well, it's in layers actually. And I think the very first layer ought to be that we recognize what a lie is. You see it is that one would state something that is not from what the fact of the matter is. But there is something missing in his definition,"
"Whether the person told a lie or simply something not true," says Daki.
"Yup, and the thing is, I think that for you to even be able to tell a lie, you should know the truth," says the Author.
"But what if the person has something that he considers truth in mind and truly believes it to be the case, yet it does not match what the case actually is, and he tells a lie about the truth he knows? Would that still be considered lying?"
"Hmm, I would say yes, and I think this is where we get to the second layer of the ordeal: Intentions, actions, and outcomes," says the Author, standing on the roof. He grabs the small, adorable paws of the kitten and makes her stand on the roof as well.
"Break a dance!"
Meow, meow, meow!
The kitten wiggles around fabulously, and he helps her stand and gently moves her around, making her dance.
"For example, let's say that there is a person that lies all the time, and the intention behind why they lie all the time is that they want to bring ruin and chaos around them. Yet, each time they do, instead of things going the way they intended, they always keep resulting in only constructive betterment and order in the world around them and no one knows that he is lying nor that his intentions are otherwise," the Author picks up the kitten and places her on his shoulder making her purr loudly, "Is that person doing something bad by lying?"
Daki hums, rubbing his chin in contemplation, "I am conflicted,"
Standing on the ceiling, the Author starts walking upside down with the kitten on his shoulder. With each step, that spot falls upwards, revealing a white light from the holes his steps cause.
"And you see I think I have an understanding of why that conflict exists. You see as humans, we are very result oriented. Let me give an example to clarify,"
Daki listens attentively.
"If you are given a week to complete a project, and you spend the entire week doing everything in your power to complete it, tried as hard as you could and didn't waste a second, yet you didn't complete it on time,"
Meow!
The kitten nuzzles the Author's neck, interrupting him.
"Your boss will probably fire you for not completing the task, and let's say that you show him a recording and tell him how hard you worked, that means nothing to him. All he cares about is that the project was not completed on time. He cares about the result, not about your most effort and sincere commitment with every aspect of your being,"
Daki hums.
"But that's for humans," continues the Author, "My Master is not a human, of course. Now the conflict happens because my Master states that he cares about effort, striving, and commitment. As you see, we can never actually do something to benefit him like your boss would benefit from you completing the project. He is perfect, self-sufficient, and is far above everything to an extent we cannot fathom," he stops walking and stands, thinking for a second.
"In his letters, he informs me that I will be held accountable for what I intended to head towards and strived for. So, while positive outcomes seemed to happen each time I lied, I will still carry the sorrows of the intentions of my lies later," says the Author as he jumps from the roof.
"I think our conflict is cleared up, so it all comes down to whether we care about the consequences that come forth after this life. And if we don't, and just care about the results observe in this world, then that lying person's intentions seem to hold no significant meaning here, as it always leads to positive outcomes," says Daki.
"Yeah, but that's in the example. In this life, it almost holds no significance . . . almost,"
"I don't even think we can ever identify them. Maybe attempt to guess them and delude ourselves that our guess or assumption is 90 percent correct, but even that, we don't know what it's like and feels like. We are saying words based on what we want the case to be like, and might be emotionally charged sometimes . . . I'll think about it more,"
"Not like guessing and assuming is a bad thing to do by default. We can do it to be more careful about our safety and in some other areas, just know how to use it. This is what I have about that aspect of lying for now. We will think about it more," says the Author.
. . .
"And if you tell a lie with a protective or a constructive intention, but it ended otherwise?" asks Daki.
After the Author jumps from the roof, the entire roof falls up and white light glows through.
"Well, seems like my time is up, for now, maybe we can talk about it later," his body starts to crack all over, light emitting from within.
"Good luck with me," he says, exploding and the white light shines all over.