"Can't tell the difference between the individual and the whole? What is that? Alex looked confused. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"It's a little abstract, isn't it easy to understand?" Susya saw her confusion and nodded sympathetically and said, "For the sake of illustration, let's give an example." ”

Closing her eyes slightly and thinking for a while, Susia slowly raised her head.

"For example, do you have any pets?"

"Nope." Alex shook her head in reply.

"I raised it."

Hill held up a hand.

"Really?" Susia smiled: "By the way, what does Mr. Hill raise?" Dogs? Or birds? As far as I can tell, reptiles seem to be popular among certain populations as well...... Ah, could it be a meow - ahem, is it a cat? ”

I don't know if it's an illusion, but in the end, there seemed to be a slight blush of excitement on her face, which always had a serious expression.

Hill looked up at the captain with inorganic eyes, shook his head slightly, and spoke.

"It's a bear."

“…… What's that? ”

"So! The one you raised is 100% not a bear, right!? Not paying attention to Susia, who reconfirmed with a stunned expression after hearing the answer, Alex couldn't bear to complain loudly from the side.

"No matter who looks at it, 'Torotaro' is an ordinary bear, even Torotaro himself says so."

"Ordinary bears don't go out of their way to declare their identity to others!"

Alex complained loudly at his words with common sense.

In other words, what kind of way does the giant bear represent it? Alex couldn't help but think of it making complex gestures to explain, and then shook her head violently to dispel the strange imagination.

“…… It's not clear what to do - anyway, Mr. Hill has a bear, right? Susia tried her best to smile, but the corners of her mouth were slightly distorted: "Let's get back to the point, because we have a bear, so when we see other bears, we will unconsciously project our feelings on it - Mr. Hill must be able to understand such feelings, right?" ”

"I can't."

"Huh?"

"I can't understand it." Hill blinked expressionlessly: "Because, 'Torotaro' is 'Torotaro'." ”

"...... really? There are such things. Susia slowly showed a warm and warm expression, and nodded understandingly: "If the affection for a pet reaches a certain level, it will sometimes become unique in the eyes of its owner - but at least the one that sees its other kind will think of itself, this mood is still there, right?" ”

"Nope."

"Huh!?"

After a series of setbacks, Susia looked confused.

"It's weird, even if there is a big difference between the color and appearance of the coat, there is generally some degree of association, right? What are the differences that affect this aspect of associative ability? ”

"If I have to say it, it's probably the difference in size and intelligence." Alex complained calmly on the side: "Although this guy insists that it is a bear, it seems that he doesn't actually think of them as the same creature at all." ”

Although the examples given were met with unexplained Waterloo, Susia tried to continue to illustrate.

"Anyway, what I'm talking about is something like that emotional transfer."

"Emotional transfer...... that is, after the death of a lover, I happen to meet someone who looks exactly like her, so I can't help but overlap their figures - such a feeling? It's a fairly common plot in literary and artistic works. ”

"Well, if I had to say it, it would be similar to that feeling - but with a difference."

Susia said, raising her index finger.

"This kind of emotional migration is a common phenomenon in many races, but in the Ampoti it has gone to an extreme......"

"As you said before, can't they tell the difference between the individual and the whole?"

"No, I'm just saying that to describe the results in a certain way. It doesn't represent the essence, and there is a slight fallacy-" Susya looked seriously at the two opposites: "Theoretically, it's not that they 'can't distinguish between the individual and the whole', but they fundamentally think that it is 'unnecessary' to distinguish between the individual and the whole. ”

"That's, what do you mean?"

"Let's start with the previous question - Miss Alex just gave the example of lovers, right? Such stories are indeed very popular on the mainland, but there are two differences here: first, in this kind of story, although the heroine looks exactly like her past lover, the male protagonist can still distinguish it deep down, and the final ending is usually a contradiction between the two to trigger a change between the old and the new love - but in the eyes of the Amperti, there is not even the slightest difference; Second, the Ampotian race doesn't need this physical resemblance to evoke associations—"

"Do you mean they look the same at everyone?"

"No, they can objectively judge the differences between individuals - such as the breed, habits, and health status of the two dogs, but they will not make emotional distinctions - even if one of them has been raised for more than ten years, and the other is only seeing it for the first time, there is no difference in their feelings for them."

“…… That's weird, isn't it? ”

"Of course, from our standpoint, they're a strange race. Both the spiritual structure and the ethical outlook are far from the races on the mainland...... But from the other side's point of view, maybe it's us who is strange. ”

"Spiritual Constructs and ...... Ethics? Alex tilted her head and repeated.

"Yes, the Ampotians, though emotionally equal to all individuals of the same category, are not incapable of developing normal feelings. It is only because of their own characteristics that each of their own kind is the aggregate of all their affections—for them every kindred is both father and mother, lover and neighbor, son and daughter, and close friend...... All for one, one for all - because of this, the interior of Floating Island 303 is completely harmonious, and everyone loves each other and gets along harmoniously. ”

“…… The ideal is too much, but it makes people feel uncomfortable. ”

Alex tried to imagine the scene, but it felt unacceptable in every sense.

Seeing her reaction, Susia nodded as if she understood her feelings.

"Those of us who live on the continent may think that it is a chaotic picture, but for the Ampoti people, that is where their happiness lies, and the whole floating island is a huge and warm courtyard for them that encompasses all the family members."

"yes...... that's why you said it was 'one of the least likely to escape on all the floating islands.'"

Alex suddenly realized.

"Exactly." Susia nodded and continued, "It can be said that the Ampoti are the most supportive of all races regarding the apartheid policy of the Floating Island. After staying on Floating Island 303, their happiness index and happiness level increased several times, and they were at the top of all races in the world. Without the interference of other races, they have succeeded in building a paradise where everyone can feel the true love of all others, free from hatred, without strife, without corruption and selfish desires. And because they are quite satisfied with the status quo, even the racial transformation plan for Zones 2 and 3 that has been implemented by our research institute within the 'Racial Harmony Management Committee' has been stopped by them, making it clear that they never plan to return to the mainland. ”

For such a race, it is inevitable that the staff guarding the teleportation array will be lax. Thinking so secretly, Alex suddenly thought of another question.

"If that's the case, why did 'Anderson' flee to the mainland?"

Hearing the girl's reasonable question, Susia was silent for a moment.

"...... this is just a conjecture - it seems that when the target was ten years old, he accidentally awakened to a 'special awareness of an individual.'"

"Huh!?" Alex's eyes widened.

"Miss Alex can probably imagine what it would be like if an Ampotian suddenly developed a special sense of the individual."

Hearing her words, Alex and Ciel glanced at each other. They are all very quick people with their minds, and they can imagine what is going to happen in an instant.

Without waiting for them to reply, Susia whispered a conclusion.

"What was once a carefree paradise can be twisted into hell in a moment."

"But...... Why is this happening? You just said that it was speculation, that is, there is evidence to support it? ”

"That's right." Susia nodded: "From the time the target was found to have left home to the time he was judged to have escaped to the mainland through the teleportation array, it took nearly a month. After that......"

"Wait a minute! One month!? It's taken too long! Alex cut off Susia's words: "Didn't you say that it was a 'paradise for love'?" Even in an ordinary city with cold hearts, it will definitely not take a month to confirm that a child is missing! ”

"It is precisely because they love each other that the disappearance was found so late." Susia said with a wry smile: "On Floating Island 303, the position of the adults is relatively stable, and the children are completely like flowing water. Today is still the child of this family, and tomorrow it is not strange that no matter where he goes. What's more, because of some 'unusual things' that happened at that time, the subject's mood became very unstable as a result, so his guardian at the time thought that he was just running somewhere else to change his mood.

"Something unusual?"

Hill keenly grasped the key words in Susya's words.

"That, is that the reason for the escape?"

"No one can be 100 percent sure, but based on speculation, it's very likely that this is the case."

"Is it unusual......?" Alex muttered, a curious expression on her face, "What do you mean?" ”

"In order of time from the target's escape, the first is that he kicked out all the other people who came to the funeral of the neighbor's girl."

"Funeral?" Hill blinked.

"That...... Isn't it just the willfulness of a child when he is sad? ”

I couldn't tell anything out of the ordinary, Alex had the look on her face.

"Miss Alex, that's your judgment by the standards of race in general. For the Ampotians, the other people who attended the funeral were equally important beings as the deceased, how could they be driven out of the door? ”

"It's the same when you're alive, but because the girl is dead, there's a special emotional bonus—isn't that an explanation?"

"......." Susya was stunned for a moment when she heard this.

When their own kind dies, will the Ampoti perceive that individual change? Will it deepen emotionally? Or will it remain the same as it was? The latter is unreasonably inexplicable, but if the former is the case, does it mean that the matter of "death" can make the deceased individual and other individuals different in their emotions? Obviously having the same feelings for the sick and the healthy, why is "death" so special?

This is a question that has been bothered and interesting to some scholars within the Species Management Commission.

Extending from this question, we can not only deepen the study of the spiritual structure of the Amboti people, but also perhaps confirm some important philosophical questions through thought experiments.

But these are all digressions now, so let's not mention them for now.