Quote Originally Posted by ClayyLmao View Post
I didn't say it wasn't a philosophical debate. It is. It's just such a simple one that there is no wrestling with it. They aren't alive. They are computer programs running the dead's memories over and over again ad infinitum. They aren't the souls of the people who died. The souls of the dead are sold to the citizens to be used to revive themselves when they die. They are purely the memories of the dead being forced to play out a happy life because the AI that contains Sphene's memories was programed to put the continuation of the simulation above all else. My WoL would happily shut down the simulation rather than go and start harvesting the souls of the billions of innocent lives in every reflection for the benefit of the tens of thousands in the simulation. It's not a debate. You either shut down the machine, or start throwing babies into the soul extracting wood chipper for Sphene.
Except the game doesn't present people that are any less than human. They show us people who have families, friends, jobs, dreams, critical thought, self-awareness, and emotions. They may be devoid of a physical body, but that doesn't make them less alive. Great care has been taken across the rest of the game to humanize things that aren't real. Look at Ultima Thule - the Omicron quests literally go over how being conscious and experiencing joy is enough to make you alive. The Endless aren't made of pure Dynamis like the Ultima Thule shades are, but isn't that a close enough parallel to make people stop and think for a second?

Automatically thinking of them of lesser and not worthy of trying for a second to save them is why it feels evil even if it was necessary. That's why the writing is lazy.