Who... are you?

I woke up in the middle of a forest. I looked in front of me, there was nothing but trees. All different kinds of trees. Birch, elm, chestnut, pine, willow, maple, oak, and even palm trees. Upon turning around, I saw two paths. One path had a long road leading to a nearby town. Looking down the road, I saw a crying little boy. The other path was far more chaotic, with burning trees, neighboring trees that were frozen still, mushrooms growing on the belly of a bear, eagles flying upside down, dead cats roaming around, licking anything they came by and crows pecking at dead flowers. [[Ignoring the first path, I took the second one.->Take the second path]]

I went along the second path. Before I could even pass a single tree, the bear that I had seen approached me. "What brought you here? Was it curiosity? Was it selfishness? Or do you simply not know?" [["It was curiosity."]] [["It was selfishness."]] [["I don't know."]]

The bear laughed, "Interesting. They do say curiosity killed the cat." The bear turned and pointed to one of the crows, which was now pecking a cat's eye out. The cat was licking a relaxed chicken, seemingly unaware of the crow, "But is that really so bad?" [["Maybe not..."]] [["Of course it is, dying is horrible!"]] [["What's going on here?"]]

The bear laughed, "Interesting. I would be inclined to agree with you. You saw the crying boy and you didn't help him," The bear scratched his chin and walked closer, "But is it such a bad thing to be selfish?" [["Yes"]] [["No"]] [[Leave and take the first path]]

The bear laughed, "Interesting. Truly, do any of us know why we're here? I personally think I know why you're here, but it's merely a theory. At the end of the day, the only one who can truly know is you." [["So why do you think I'm here?"]]

The bear raised an eyebrow, "You're the only human I've ever met who has replied like that. But why is it not so bad? I don't want to die, nor do you. Is death not the end of curiosity? You can no longer pursue your desires. You can no longer help others. You can no longer love. Though, I suppose you can still be loved." The bear walked up to me and tapped my stomach with a single claw. My stomach began to growl uncontrollably. I was so hungry that I could barely stand. [["What did you just do?"]]

The bear smiled, "You are correct. I don't want to die. I assume you don't either. But why is dying horrible? Is death not the end of curiosity? You can no longer pursue your desires. You can no longer help others. You can no longer love. Though, I suppose you can still be loved." The bear walked up to me and tapped my stomach with a single claw. My stomach began to growl uncontrollably. I was so hungry that I could barely stand. [["What did you just do?"]]

The bear laughed hysterically, rolling around until he eventually hit a burning tree, "Oh yes, what is going on here? Nothing? Everything? It all makes sense and doesn't. You do seem to be quite curious, but I simply can't answer that question." The bear walked up to me and tapped my stomach with a single claw. My stomach began to growl uncontrollably. I was so hungry that I could barely stand. "You ask what's going on here, but," the bear points to your head, "I wonder what's going on in there." [["What did you just do?"]]

"Hmmm, and what makes you think that? Certainly selfishness isn't exclusively good or bad. But where does one draw the line? Is it good as long as it doesn't hurt anyone? Is it only bad when it hurts others more than it helps you? Is it good or bad depending on how necessary it is at the moment?" The bear walked up to me and tapped my stomach with a single claw. My stomach began to growl uncontrollably. I was so hungry that I could barely stand. [["What did you just do to me?"]]

"Hmmm, and what makes you think that? Is selfishness always bad? Is it always good? Is it one's duty to help others or help themselves? I wouldn't say it's that simple, but maybe it is. Who knows?" The bear walked up to me and tapped my stomach with a single claw. My stomach began to growl uncontrollably. I was so hungry that I could barely stand. [["What did you just do to me?"]]

I turned around, "Okay, I get it. You're trying to guilt me into helping the little boy. I'll go, just leave me alone." The bear stopped me before I could even take a second step, "But is that not still selfishness? You're doing it to make yourself feel better, to make yourself look better. You don't actually want to help that boy." "Then what do you suggest I do?" The bear walked up to me and tapped my stomach with a single claw. My stomach began to growl uncontrollably. I was so hungry that I could barely stand. "Engage in a little bit of controlled selfishness." [["What did you just do to me?"->"What did you just do to me?" 2]] (set: $leave to 1)

"Selfishness." That single word angered me, "You think I'm here because I'm selfish?" "You ask me a question you don't know the answer to, yet get upset when I give you one. How human of you." The bear tapped my stomach and suddenly I felt hungry, "If you're not selfish, prove it." The bear formed a spoon out of thin air and pointed at three animals. There was a crow who was pecking a tree, a dead cat who was licking the tree, and a chicken who was sitting in the tree's shade. The bear then handed me the spoon. [[Eat the chicken->Chicken]] [[Eat the cat->Cat]] [[Eat the crow->Crow]] [[Do nothing]]

The bear poked my stomach again, "Instinct. We all have it. One of the most basic instincts is our desire for sustenance. In this case, food." The bear turned around and pointed to the crow, the cat, and the chicken. He then formed a knife out of thin air and handed it to me, "There's all the food you need. Pick one." [[Stab the cat]] [[Stab the chicken]] [[Refuse to eat]]

As if completely controlled by my hunger, I stabbed the cat. It didn't react at all. I stabbed it again and again, but it didn't react. The bear chuckled, "The cat is already dead. Or is it? It still moves, driven only by curiosity. But is that living? Does that make it okay for you to eat it?" [["It don't care, I'm hungry!"]]

I stabbed the chicken and began to eat. The crow and the cat moved along, as if the chicken's death had not impacted them at all. The bear placed a mushroom next to the chicken's corpse, "I can see why you wouldn't choose to eat the cat, as it was already decaying and you don't normally eat felines, but why not the crow?" "I didn't choose the crow because I wanted to see what the cat would do if the chicken was gone." "So this was nothing but an experiment to you?" "I do view most of my dreams that way." Soon after that statement, I awoke once again in the middle of a forest. I looked in front of me, there was nothing but trees. All different kinds of trees. Birch, elm, chestnut, pine, willow, maple, oak, and even palm trees...

"I gave you a little bit of selfishness. You're hungry. Eat." The bear formed a fork out of thin air and handed it to me. He then pointed at a crow eating a cat's eye out, while the cat licked a chicken. Both the cat and the chicken were unbothered by the presence of the being that was interacting with them. [[Eat the crow]] [[Eat the cat]] [[Eat the chicken]]

"You see that crow, cat, and chicken?" The bear pointed to a crow eating a cat's eye out as the cat licks a chicken, "The crow is focused only on their goal of eating the cat's eye, the cat is unbothered by the crow's presence and is focused only on their goal of licking the chicken, and the chicken is unbothered by either of them, focused on no goal." He formed a knife out of thin air and handed it to me, "Eat one of them." [[Eat the crow]] [[Eat the cat]] [[Eat the chicken]]

As if completely controlled by my hunger, I grabbed the crow and stabbed it with the fork. It didn't fight back, it merely curled up in my hand. The bear took a mushroom off of his stomach and planted it in the ground next to the crow as I ate it, "Well, what a selfish act. That crow was hungry, just like you. Why do you think it's okay for you to eat it?" [["Because I'm hungry of course!"]] [["It wasn't."]]

As if completely controlled by my hunger, I started eating the cat, tearing off bits of decaying skin with the fork. It didn't react at all. I bit it again and again, but it didn't react. The bear chuckled, "The cat is already dead. Or is it? It still moves, driven only by instinct. But is that living? Does that make it okay for you to eat it?" [["It doesn't matter, I'm hungry!"]]

As if completely controlled by my hunger, I started eating the chicken. The bear began to dig a hole with a spoon as I ate it, "A predictable decision. The chicken was probably the tastiest after all. But you see, that chicken was simply minding its own business. Had you eaten the crow, it would no longer eat the cat's eye, and though the chicken didn't seem bothered by the cat's licking, it certainly would've preferred to be left alone." [["Why do you assume that?"]] [["Why should I care?"]]

"Hungry? So was he. Quite selfish indeed. But you followed your instinct, as the cat did. Would it have rather died doing anything else? I imagine not. It's neither right nor wrong, it just is." As the bear finished, I noticed the cat was still licking the unbothered chicken "The cat and the chicken continued their day. The crow wasn't essential to their lives. You weren't essential to their lives. Maybe nothing is essential to our lives, but pursuing our instincts and being selfish is what defines our lives." I left while pondering the bear's words. I returned to the part of the forest where I woke up and went back to sleep.

"Hungry enough to eat a cat? I've never seen a human do-" I continued eating before he even finished his sentence, "Ehem, I've never seen a human do that. Do you think that cat wanted to be eaten?" After almost eating the entire cat in seconds, I replied, "No, but I wanted to eat it." "Just as I suspected, quite selfish indeed. But you followed your instinct, as the cat did. Would it have rather died doing anything else? I imagine not. It's neither right nor wrong, it just is." As the bear finished, I noticed the crow and chicken were gone. The bear pointed to his left, where the crow was eating a plant, and then his right where the chicken was asleep under a frozen tree, "The crow and the chicken continued their day. The cat wasn't essential to their lives. You weren't essential to their lives. Maybe nothing is essential to our lives, but pursuing our instincts and being selfish is what defines our lives."(if: $Conspiracy is 1)[ "And what about the crying boy?" "Who knows? Maybe somebody else helped him. Maybe what he was crying over was trivial. Maybe you weren't essential to his life either."] I left while pondering the bear's words. I returned to the part of the forest where I woke up and went back to sleep.

"Oh, but did you not need sustenance? It's only natural to eat the nearest food when you're starving." "But he was hungry too, wasn't he? He was eating the cat." "But would it have rather died doing anything else? I imagine not. Crows live to scavenge after all. It's neither right nor wrong, it just is." As the bear finished, I noticed the cat was still licking the unbothered chicken "The cat and the chicken continued their day. The crow wasn't essential to their lives. You weren't essential to their lives. Maybe nothing is essential to our lives, but pursuing our instincts and being selfish is what defines our lives." I left while pondering the bear's words. I returned to the part of the forest where I woke up and went back to sleep.

I ate the chicken without a second thought. The bear crept up behind me and put a mushroom on the ground near the chicken's carcass, "So, why did you choose the chicken?" [["Because the I'd never eat a crow or a cat."]] [["Because it wasn't doing anything."]]

I killed and ate the cat quickly as the bear watched. "The cat? Really? Maybe I made you a little too hungry." "You implied I could eat the cat though..." "Not every option is a good option. You should know that well." The crow and the chicken observed the cat's corpse, before beginning to eat it as well. "The cat was already dead, but it was still moving and doing what it wanted. Now it can't. Perhaps some options are better left unexplored." I left while pondering the bear's words. I returned to the part of the forest where I woke up and went back to sleep.

I killed and ate the crow quickly as the bear watched. After I finished, I looked up at the bear, "So are you trying to tell me I came here because I was hungry?" The bear ripped a mushroom out of his stomach and placed it next to the crow, "I'm not in the position to tell you why you're here, but I can tell you this: The cat and the chicken don't care about the crow. It had nothing to do with them, or at least they didn't think it did. Maybe that boy was the same for you." I left while pondering the bear's words. I returned to the part of the forest where I woke up and went back to sleep.

I threw the knife down, much to the bear's surprise. "I really did expect you to eat one of those animals. It would seem I was wrong." My hunger quickly faded. "So then is that it? I don't know why I'm here and neither do you?" At this point I was rather annoyed and ready to leave, "What a waste of time." "Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't. If you don't give value to this experience, then it has none. The crow, cat, and chicken never asked themselves why they did what they did, they simply lived as they pleased. Maybe you should do the same." I returned to the place in the forest where I had woken up, pondering the bear's words on the way. Was he correct? Is it unnecessary to understand why I do things, and just do as I please? I went back to sleep without an answer.

"Do you want to know how that cat died?" With a mouthful of cat I looked up and replied, "Sure." "Well, she was a normal cat. She had an owner who loved her and she got to eat and sleep as much as she wanted. Her owner was a young boy who spent all of his time with her. But one day, she left him." "Why is that?" "Because she was curious about what was in the forest of course. Tragically, as she entered, her body began to decay and her heart stopped beating." [["What's your point?"]]

"I don't have one. But I think you should ask yourself this: If curiosity was the cause of the cat's death, why is she still trying to satisfy her curiosity? Is the desire to explore so powerful that it's worth dying for? And if so, is it then so powerful that it can transcend death?" I left while pondering the bear's words. I returned to the part of the forest where I woke up and went back to sleep.

The bear chuckled, "And why not?" "Well, I've never had them before. They're probably gross." "You weren't even the slightest bit curious?" "No, and now that I think about it, this forest isn't all that interesting." "Is that so? And what do you plan on doing now?" "Taking the other path."

"And why does that make it okay to eat?" I thought for a minute then replied, "Because I wasn't interrupting anything." "You were interrupting their rest." I looked down at the almost completely eaten chicken, "Is it not resting now?" "Would it have kept resting if you hadn't done anything?" I dug a small hole and put the chicken inside of it, "Maybe not. Maybe not."

"It's just a guess. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I just say that so I can feel superior." The bear begins to bury the chicken, "I guess we're all a little bit selfish, huh?"

"You acted without thinking of how your actions would change anything." "I acted in my own self interest. None of this matters if I starve, now does it?" "Maybe not to you," The bear buried the chicken in the hole he dug, "but it mattered to them." After deciding to ponder the bear's words no longer, I returned to the part of the forest where I woke up and went back to sleep.

"Why won't you eat? Aren't you hungry?" I nodded, "Of course I am, but I came here because I was curious, not because I was hungry. I can eat something else." "And what if you starve before you find something else you can eat?" "Then I'll die knowing that I satisfied my curiosity to the end." I left and returned to the part of the forest I came from. I was unable to find anything to eat and it felt like my stomach was eating itself, but eventually, I was finally able to sleep.