Not a dumb question! It's a good one. Weareangels gave a good response, but there are also a few other things that can happen:
1. Mario is missing. Ergo, he is not around to confirm or deny. (Which makes, "because he's here instead!" all the easier to pull.)
2. Some systems have folks wandering in and out all the time, so the idea that they'd go to someone else's system is more plausible. Using ourself as an example, it'd be nigh-impossible for someone to pull, "Mori's here" because I'm always here and can go, "lolno." But Falcon's NEVER here; if someone pulled a "Falcon's here," we still wouldn't believe it, but it'd be a lot harder to disprove, and a lot more in character for him.
3. The same etiquette social fallacy of "believe everyone's identity" means that it can be a really awkward situation to have to tell someone, "No, you aren't our headmate." Because that's disbelieving someone's identity and that's BAD! (Even though, again, a relationship is not an identity... and that includes the relationship TO YOURSELF.)
4. When someone tried to pull the traveling headmate on us, they weren't a friend, and thus just pissed me off. But imagine it came from someone you love and trust and know would never, ever lie to you. Your mom, your spouse, your best friend, whatever. Imagine wanting to believe it, and already having a mental frame of reference that thinks traveling headmates are possible. (We ourself do not. But we know others who do!) Imagine that you TRIED to make it happen, and sure you don't have memory of it, but headmate memories can be scattered anyway, etc.
I think #4 is the biggie. There's a lot of trust and investment, and that overrides the caution.
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Date: 2019-07-21 03:40 pm (UTC)1. Mario is missing. Ergo, he is not around to confirm or deny. (Which makes, "because he's here instead!" all the easier to pull.)
2. Some systems have folks wandering in and out all the time, so the idea that they'd go to someone else's system is more plausible. Using ourself as an example, it'd be nigh-impossible for someone to pull, "Mori's here" because I'm always here and can go, "lolno." But Falcon's NEVER here; if someone pulled a "Falcon's here," we still wouldn't believe it, but it'd be a lot harder to disprove, and a lot more in character for him.
3. The same etiquette social fallacy of "believe everyone's identity" means that it can be a really awkward situation to have to tell someone, "No, you aren't our headmate." Because that's disbelieving someone's identity and that's BAD! (Even though, again, a relationship is not an identity... and that includes the relationship TO YOURSELF.)
4. When someone tried to pull the traveling headmate on us, they weren't a friend, and thus just pissed me off. But imagine it came from someone you love and trust and know would never, ever lie to you. Your mom, your spouse, your best friend, whatever. Imagine wanting to believe it, and already having a mental frame of reference that thinks traveling headmates are possible. (We ourself do not. But we know others who do!) Imagine that you TRIED to make it happen, and sure you don't have memory of it, but headmate memories can be scattered anyway, etc.
I think #4 is the biggie. There's a lot of trust and investment, and that overrides the caution.
--Mori