On the Heavenly plane of Mount Xixia there was a congregation of angels bustling about.
Some were standing in a circle while others busied about their day in various manors.
This story is about the circle of angels.
They were concerned. Asmodeaus had been released. Who knew what trouble that would cause to the universe? Perhaps it could signify the end.
One angel suggested "Why don't we go and seal him again?"
"Michael, he has already been absolved of his karma. There is no reason to send him back."
"Raphael, you know the potential for destruction that he has. Shouldn't we at least be wary of it?"
"He used to be one of us. I do not believe that he could've forgotten our purpose. He just went a little astray. He always was too curious."
"Too curious? It's impossible to be too curious. The problem was what he did with that curiosity."
"He was most honorable, but shameless about it. Shamelessly prudent."
"I thought he should never have been caged in the first place, but everyone else said it seemed it was needed."
"Asmodeaus was not a good thing."
"Are any of us good things? Don't be so hypocritical. We all have things to hide."
"Not me! I am 100% honest and open about everything to everyone I meet. It makes me feel closer to my friends."
"How would that be possible? We all are required to wear masks. What's hidden is already like a lie. Not fully showing the truth is a misdemeanor of poor perception."
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"Seraphim Veronticia, care to share your thoughts?"
Everyone looked at Veronticia, the highest ranking angel present.
Veronticia closed her eyes. And waited for 3 breaths. "My thoughts?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yes we do!"
“Truth is an illusion. It matters not. What matters is what we do within that illusion. From what moral ground do we have to judge one another? There is none. So we have to make our own grounds to stand upon."
"But if truth is an illusion wouldn't that mean everything that has happened and what we have done before is meaningless? What did we even chase the truth for in the first place?"
"Depending on your point of view different things have different values. I find the value of the illusion of truth to be one of the highest."
"Anyway, how can we give ourselves the moral ground to judge others?"
"It has to be from the high ground. Judging others from the same elevation invites rebuttals."
"To build a high ground you must first create an axiom on which the angels agree."
"We must remember the mistakes of Edward High."
"Who shall enforce the law? The police? The executioners?"
"Others."
"What type of others?"
"I mean the type that doesn't get incentivized to kill you."
"A high ground should be at most seven stories to prevent obfuscation."
"I hate contraindictions."
"Contradictions? No, those guys are cool."
"Do you agree [to make a high ground]?"
"Not yet."
"What will it take for you to agree?"
"Love."
"Where is Cupid when you need him?"
"We can have love without Cupid's arrows. In fact, that way it feels more genuine."
"What will it take for you to love us?"
"Us? The collective? First, I need to be part of the collective myself. Second, I need to be able to let my friends and family join the collective at my discretion. Third, I need the collective to be of high quality and not neglected."
"Yuuni, why do you have such high demands?"
"Are they high? They should be standard obligations. In fact, I have some more demands as well. I wish for parts of the collective to be able to be talked to individually as well, or in small groups. We need to be able to build trust."
"What is trust?"
"When one person would go to the ends of the Earth if another told him to."
"I'm fairly sure that's not trust."
"Okay, what do you think trust is?"
"Trust is loving another and being confidant that that other loves you too."
Veronticia said at this time "Dismissed. We will reconvene at a later time to discuss details. I'm proud of the progress accomplished today. We really had a talk."