|
Post by Shinko on Oct 4, 2017 16:55:13 GMT -5
Jon glowered up at his sister, feeling distinctly grumpy about both Harper and Alexis being very plainly amused- though he was grinning every so slightly as well. He gave a start of surprise when Fionn swam up under him. “Thanks,” he said, reaching up to take the hand Akash offered to pull him up out of the water. “I’ll have to keep in mind only to give her grief when I’m not standing in range of a large body of water.” As he was placing his knees up on the side of the pool, about to release Akash’s hand, Jon abruptly froze in place. The cold water slide in rivers down his skin, making him shiver, but that was alright. He’d always been cold, hadn’t he? He’d grown up in the cold, he was used to it. I… no I didn’t…Images painted in sound of running on four legs through a snowscape, surrounded by huge fluffy creatures he knew to be his Clan. Not Jon’s- Artin’s. Images of being rejected for drawing predators, branded as cursed. Living as a tribute-slave in another clan that was not his own. Of the Visitors from another world who he stowed away with, who accepted him and gave him a name and a family. Of worlds strange and beautiful, too many to number, parallel dimensions that followed their own strange laws, and simple afternoons spent chatting over coffee. Memories of late night parties, and of dragging those who’d indulged far too much to their beds, much like he remembered dragging sloppy patrons from the bar in Wrighton... He was Jonquil O’Rourke. Once, a long time ago, he’d been Artin. Jon groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead. It was gone. That fizzy feeling he’d noticed in the engine room, the one he’d since stopped paying attention to. It was gone, and just like that, Jon remembered. “Holy hell-” he groaned, realizing he was still grasping Akash’s hand. He yanked away, wincing and grumbling, “Ack, sorry.” “Jon, what happened?” Holly asked, though this time she clearly felt something- she had one eye closed like her head was hurting, and she was rubbing the back of her head in the spot where the skull met the base of her neck. “Something’s… something’s weird…” They looked up, and saw that the puzzle that the others had been working on was gone- and as if to confirm what they were slowly realizing, Scip appeared again. He was smiling slightly, his eyes triumphant. "I have fulfilled my orders. I have repaired the ship to the best of my abilities given the resources available, and the crew's memories have been restored." His gaze shifted downward briefly. "Please be aware that because of this, the Beast will shortly regain its memories as well. It is crucial now to use the crew's memories and knowledge to find a way to nullify its threat."He paused, seeming to hesitate before continuing. "But... I am happy to see you all again."“But…” Holly bit her lip. “You still don’t remember?” Jon asked her, tilting his head. “I… I do a lil. It’s way too much to process all at once but…” He gave a shaky grin. “It’s there. This… entire other life.” His sister met his gaze, her expression troubled. Fearful. He sighed. “You’re still worried ain’tcha? About the whole mind control thinger?” “How can I not be?” she asked, her voice very soft. “I have no reason to trust the intentions of these people, even if my own mind-host opposed their plan.” “Maybe that’s why ya can’t see the memories?” Jon offered. “Wasn’t there something in Nan’s books about suppression of past-life memories because of fear or trauma? The techno-dodad is gone, but you’re still rejecting it. Kinda.” Holly considered this. It did make sense. And according to those same books, a blockage like that could only be unclogged by confronting it head-on. And by all the gods Holly did not want to do that. She wanted to be herself, to trust her own clarity of thought and identity. But Scip was right- there was no time. They needed all of the officers, or they were going to face the Beast woefully unprepared. “Nobody talk to me,” she said finally, stretching her muscles out to loosen them. “I need to concentrate, and if you jostle me I’ll have to start all over again.” She considered what the spellbooks she was familiar with said about this kind of thing. She’d meditated before, of course, but this was a little more complex than that. Normally the ritual to view one’s past lives involved looking into a mirror of some kind, but there weren’t really any of those handy… I guess the pool might be reflective enough? As long as none of the people swimming in it disturb the water while I’m trying to do this.It was probably the best she was going to get. So, sending up a prayer to the god and goddess for luck, she sat cross legged at the water’s edge and began to breathe in a slow, regular rhythm. She fixed her gaze on her own reflection, watching it intently and focusing on emptying her mind of stray thoughts and uncertainties. Gradually her eyes glazed over and became unfocused, so that she was seeing her reflection without really seeing it. Ripples and rivulets distorted the image, but it was still recognizable as herself. Even as the face became narrower she could still recognize it… as a glimmer from the overhead lights made the eyes seem brighter it was still her face… the water lapped and seemed to muddle her wings with her skin so that her face appeared coated in white and yet she still recognized it… Deeper. Down deeper. Her breathing slowed yet more, her eyes ached from staring at the reflection in the water without really looking at it. Staring at the reflection that was no longer the face of Holly O’Roarke, but of someone- something- else entirely. A face she knew even though she was seeing it for the very first time in the lapping of the water. Heavy lids slid downwards. Shoulders slumped. In her mind’s eye, Holly plunged below the surface of the water, through the face of the stranger that was no stranger, and deep down into darkness. Going to be posting this up in segments in multiple posts as I finish it, so as not to slam people with a textwall too long all at once. Jon remembers Artin’s life, albeit only in snippets and broad strokes; poor guy can’t very well process an entire lifetime of memories all at once after all. But he does get them, and it’s simultaneously jarring and kind of neat for him. Holly however still doesn’t get any memories even though she knows she should be doing so, and realizes with some help from Jon that her own fear has likely put up a sort of mental block on the memories keeping her from seeing them. Even though she’s afraid, Holly is also curious, and she knows that these memories are important for seeing the adventure through to the end. So, being a witch, she decides to do a ritual (basically meditation/self-hypnosis) to unlock past-life memories. She has no idea what to expect, but her resolve hardened she begins the metaphorical dive into her own mind to see what exactly S’siri has to say. Nearby- Gelquie Celestial Rabbit ♠ Tiger Huntress
|
|
|
Post by Celestial on Oct 5, 2017 10:19:50 GMT -5
With Jon safely out of the pool, thanks to Akash, Fionn slid back under the water, swimming back to rejoin Alexis and Dion. However, he did not get far before he felt...different. It took him a moment to realise why: there was no more buzzing in his head. In its place, like a giant beast lurking in the depths, was a vast array of memories of a life he had been unaware of up until this point. Iki's memories. Much like the bottom of the pool, they sat there, heavy but unobtrusive, ready to be recalled at his command. If Fionn was not underwater, he would have swallowed at the sheer scope of what was now inside his head, living side by side with his own life. Where was he supposed to even start? The seal flicked his back flippers and swam in a circle, and as he did, the flow of the currents triggered a memory. The water was warm, so much warmer than the sea he was used to. Swallow channels, some barely large enough to accomodate his body, flanked on all sides by trees that looked like they were on stilts. He had been having this dream since he was very young. Only years later did he learn the names for those trees: mangroves. Except these trees did not look like any mangroves in books or films; they were enormous, with broad, fern-like leaves. His entire body felt different too. Instead of rising to the surface to breathe, he was breathing the water, and rather than using his back flippers to swim, powerful legs kicked at the water, accompanied by an equally powerful tail that moved from side to side rather than up and down. Two tentacles streamed out from beneath his arms, though they were shorter than in his previous memories, being not yet fully grown. For the longest time, Fionn did not know what to make of this dream, but now he knew: this was Iki's memory. The mangrove-like trees and the channels were on her home planet. But that meant... He continued to explore the memory, knowing what he would find at the end. The mangroves gave way to a lagoon at the mouth of the river, and in that lagoon was an entire city. He -or rather, Iki- swam closer, knowing the way like the back of her hand. The buildings of the city either floated on top of the water or stuck out, no larger than four storeys, at least above the water. Below, they stretched all the way down to the bottom of the lagoon. The city itself sprawled all across the enormous lagoon, with channels of differing width connecting its buildings. Iki followed a certain one, swimming to the outskirts until she reached a floating building and pulled herself out onto the platform. Warm, overwhelming feelings of nostalgia and comfort swept over Fionn. It was intoxicating. He could just bask in it forever. Only the need to breathe snapped him out of it, forcing him to the surface to gulp in air. What was that? He had never felt any emotions that strong except...when Iki's memories had leaked out. Those were her feelings. Staying on the surface this time, Fionn decided to try to recall some more of the memories of her home planet. In the water, they came naturally. Iki was even younger in this one, with her tentacles barely long enough to float behind her. She was swimming somewhere, finally arriving at the top floor of a building built upon a sandbar so most of it was out of the water. Other kvagulaar, just as young as she was, gathered in a room together. This was a school? He'd been in a classroom a few times, when he had snuck in to find out what it was like, and it looked like that. He remembered as she cast a glance at a corner and, seeing noone there, feeling a stab of disappointment. To Iki, no doubt, it was mild, but Fionn felt it lancing through his gut. Nevertheless, the feeling quickly passed as an older kvagulaar entered the room. The headmistress, according to Iki's memories. But the way she carried herself, and the way her tentacles twitched with discomfort and abject sadness, make Iki- and by extension, Fionn- tense up. Something was badly wrong. "Class," she croaked in the alien language that he understood perfectly. "I'm sure you have noticed that Kurrok has been missing. Well..." her tentacles spasmed in a way that signified grief that was desperately trying to be suppressed. "They found his body washed out in the deeper waters. He died due to exhaustion. We will miss him dearly, and should you need counselling..." Iki did not remember the rest of what she had said. The class broke out in a commotion of shrieks and croaks, but she heard none of that. Grief swept over her, numbing her senses and at the same time sending waves of agony rolling all over her body, and by extension, into Fionn. Her friend, her courageous, keen explorer of a friend, who they had spent so much time together looking around the lagoon and the mangroves beyond, was gone. He had been so keen to swim out into the ocean, why has she not stopped him? The seal cried out, flailing in the water as the surge of agonising emotions clawed at the insides of his head, confined in a cage that was not meant for them. For a moment, he even forgot how to swim and sank beneath the water. Struggling, Fionn somehow made it back to shore, turning back into a human before he even realised it. He sank on to his hands and knees, unable to keep himself from crying. No wonder Iki's final memory has rendered him incoherent if she felt things this strongly. And no doubt, her entire mind, now living in his, was like that. Fionn took several deep breaths, recalling incidents from his own childhood. Happy ones, simple ones, like playing in the sea with his friends, or finding an oyster with a pearl inside it, or the one time his dad had relented on one of their trips to Wrighton and bought him an ice cream. Those all felt normal, with the levels of feelings humans could handle, without the intensity of kvagulaar emotions. Gradually, Iki's memories and the emotions attached to them settled to being that lurking beast in the depths, ones that he could parse through later. "I'm okay," he finally sat up, smiling shakily to those surrounding the pool. "My ancestor's memories just got a bit...too much. She was from a species which could feel so much more than a regular human, apparently, so it's..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "A lot. Especially the more traumatic ones." And now that was all in his head, forever. Everything Iki had experienced, all the highs and lows, was all there. He shuddered. Even the highs were addictive, and the lows...he would rather not think about it. "I'm going back into the water. I need to clear my head." Fionn focused, turning back into a seal once more and slipped beneath the surface of the pool, focusing now only on what was in front of him. The depths were still to be explored. He waved to Dion and swam over to Alexis, nudging her with his snout and pointing down with his flipper, in what he hoped was an obvious hint. Once Fionn sees that Jon( Shinko) is safely out of the pool, he swims a little bit away before the mindprog is released and Iki's memories now lurk inside his head. He decides to poke around, starting with one that he had been having as a dream. He sees Iki's home city, built on and in a lagoon surrounded by mangroves. The feel she experiences for it are fairly mind but Fionn finds them really overwhelming. He decides to see what else there was on her home planet, and stumbles upon one where a little-Iki finds out about the death of her friend. Overwhelmed by her grief, he has to haul out of the water to process it. He realises there is a lot of disparity between how her species process emotions and humans: namely, the former feels everything much more strongly. Gradually, Fionn returns back to normal and apologies to anybody who might be around ( Tiger, Rabbit ♠, not sure who else but feel free to react) before realising he does need to clear his head and turns back into a seal, swimming over to Alexis and Dion( Gelquie, Thorn) and hinting that maybe they should dive down further.
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Oct 5, 2017 10:35:17 GMT -5
In the darkness of her own thoughts, Holly felt like her body was weighted down by lead. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling- meditation awoke the subconscious and allowed it brief control, but it did not fully disconnect someone from their body. Yet this felt strange in a new way. Her limbs were heavy, but her back was unaccountably light… My wings Holly realized. In her own psyche, Holly’s mental projection of herself did not have wings. She didn’t really have time to ponder that- as Scip had pointed out, they were on borrowed time. Instead, she focused her attention on that… disturbance she had felt when the buzzing stopped. Could still feel, even now. It lingered just beyond her reach, slippery and twisting like a live thing desperate to escape. She tried to grab for it with mental hands, only for it to retreat from her grasp. “Stop fighting me!” she snapped desperately. “The Beast is coming for us! Scip says you know how to fight it, so help me!” Abruptly, Holly was seized by a memory- not one of the ancient alien officer’s but one of her own from just a few days prior. The image of Scip, reluctantly admitting that it was possible to stop the beast if the entire crew forgot everything- forever. “Oh, no,” Holly thought fiercely. “Nuh-uh. Not after all the garbage we’ve been through because of your buddies over the past several days. No way am I giving up now, not when we’re so close to ending this!” She made another grab, and this time she felt something- “Why?” S’siri demanded, her wings flaring as wide as they would go and her feathers bristling. “Why will none of you listen? How can you approve of this?”
"With immense reluctance." On a broad, round seat was piled a heap of coils, on top of which stood a torso. The creature held two arms and two tentacles crossed in front of its waist, and peered up at her with black eyes like a dolphin's. The ship's symbol that Scip wore was traced directly in the smooth grey skin of its chest. Holly would have gaped at the thing had she any control over the actions here. Somehow, she knew without ever having seen it before that this thing was the ship’s captain.
S’siri hissed, a noise that was not so much a word in her native language as an emotion. “They are going to hate us. Resent us. They will not want to be us. And can you blame them? They will be living their own lives, by their own ambitions. You know it’s true, you’re all banking on it. So that they’ll feel like the town is their home. You know we wouldn’t feel it if we just had our memories blasted for a few years and then restored.”
The snakelike creature bowed their head. "All that is true. They may simply choose to wipe us out after the remembrance is complete."
“So why pretend otherwise to the crew?” the Chif’rrr said, her voice accusatory. “Why give them the impression this is somehow a ressurection? That we’re all going to return to happy funtimes once the storm has passed and this isn’t just decades upon centuries of mind controlling our own bloody children?”
The captain closed their eyes for a moment; their ribs moved visibly under their skin with the effort it took to stay calm. "There is hope, however small. I will not give up on it. I cannot. It's all we have left." Their black gaze had grown hard; the voice came out harsher and more serpentine. "S'siri. If you have another plan to save them from the creature, something that we haven't attempted yet, you are more than welcome to suggest it. At this point, any endeavour will be supported. But I will not leave my crew and passengers to be tortured and devoured without doing a thing to save them. Even if the measure is grossly incomplete. The plan remains."
She opened her beak to retort, but after a long, tense minute, she closed it again. Her entire body was quivering. Holly could feel the bleak hopelessness and bitter anger in her mind as she met the captain’s fathomless black eyes.
“Then do it without my help,” she hissed finally, spinning around. “I can’t lie to my friends. I can’t lie to myself. I won’t.”Holly’s mind surfaced from the memory even as the officer’s mind retreated again. It didn’t feel like that memory had been an answer or a rebuttal. More like… a surface memory that S’siri had been obsessing over for a long, long time, and thus the first thing visible in her mind. In the black waters of Holly’s psyche, she could feel the officer’s memories pulling away. Gritting mental teeth, Holly dove after them. Deeper, down deeper. Eventually Holly found the place in her mind that was walled off again, and reached out to it. It shied away, but Holly moved more quickly this time, grasping at it before it could escape. “Why were you ever involved with these people?” She demanded. “What did you get out of this? They don’t seem to care about anything but their stupid adventure, I don’t under-” A spike of irritation and hurt that was not her own, and then… S'siri put a taloned hand up to the glass, her posture contemplative. "You know, they say that because light travels so far, at any given time a lot of the stars you see while looking across space are already probably dead."
She chortled, a sound that resembled the caw of a corvid. "It's almost complete bunk of course, scientifically speaking. Yes, in theory it could happen, but stars live multiple billions of years. The chances of any given star dying in one of our lifetimes is infinitesimally tiny. Ironic as that is for me to say but," she flapped a hand. "The point stands."
She hesitated, then turned to the hologram standing at her side. "Still though... it's a fascinating concept, isn't it? That something could leave an impression like that so long after it's gone. That light could so stubbornly shine on even after its source has been lost to the darkness."
Scip nodded, smiling slightly. "Most of the stars visible to the naked eye are no more than a few dozen light-years away. For example," he pointed out the window toward a bright star that shone with a barely-perceptible greenish tint. "That one is about seventeen light-years away. Most people on the ship would have been alive when the light we see now escaped its surface." His tone became thoughtful. "Which doesn't sound as romantic, I suppose. But on the other hand, imagining where you were in life when the light you're seeing now was produced...would that be considered poignant?" He paused. "I am still trying to learn the subtleties of complex emotions such as that."
S'siri chirruped approvingly. "What you're talking about is called a time capsule- something that acts as a momento from a time long ago that you come back to after you've mostly forgotten what you were going through and thinking about at the time." She flipped the primary feathers of her wings in a bird-shrug. "Usually it's a little more tangible than starlight; you put in objects that are symbolic of things that are important to you at the time. But yes, the nostalgia can bring up a lot of poignant emotions. There's a lot to be said for looking at the places you've been, remembering how far you've come, and looking forward to all the things still waiting ahead."
Scip nodded, smile widening. "I believe I understand. Thank you for explaining."Holly blinked, shaking her head as if to clear it. Other images lingered in her minds eye from the contact with the officer’s mind. A person she recognized as a kesterk like Akash and Harper, smiling in welcome as she brought a meal to them in the engine room… Something like a giant lobster, eagerly enthusing about the planet the ship was orbiting… a grey person with metal and wires grafted into her body asking to hear a song, and S’siri mock-groaning as she declared that they’d already heard it a thousand times… She stalked out of the bridge, feathers ruffled so that she appeared twice her normal size. Her beak snapped, hard, making an odd crunch-thunk noise. Somehow Holly knew it to be a gesture of frustration. She was muttering, not in the ship’s language but in a tongue that was mostly trills and chirps.
“-And excuse me for breathing, your majesty, didn’t realize the sanctity of a working plumbing system was so low on your list of priorities-”
She broke off as the doors opened behind her again, stiffening.
A shorter creature came - no, slithered out. Coil after coil poured through the opening and twisted out of the closing door surprisingly fast for something that seemed so heavy. The captain slithered slowly up to S'siri, their smooth purple-grey skin much brighter this time, their frills standing perky behind their head.
"You were not listened to. I am sorry. Please forgive us, dear friend."
“Oh, you’re fine,” S’siri said with false cheer, switching back to the ship’s communal language. She folded her arms, looking away. “It’s my fault isn’t it? Like always. Nobody likes the person who cashes the reality checks on a voyage of dreams. I set myself up for these things by not just playing along.”
"Dreams are safe," said the captain from outside her field of vision. "They'll still be there for us when we get back to them. There is a difference between clinging to dreams and avoiding reality. I appreciate your taking responsibility. I can tell that you are not fine, though."
The bird-creature made a noise akin to an owl hissing. “I wish some of them didn’t think that caution was the same thing as cynicism. That’s all. Didn’t see me as a wall between them and fun.”
"They will definitely be thankful for your caution later. They were releasing their frustration and unfortunately directing it at you. I am sorry. I did not react fast enough this time." The captain's coils flowed to and fro in an absent, almost hesitant manner. "If it happens again, I will deliver tail smacks under the table, and verbal smacks above it."
At this, S’siri managed a low cawing laugh. “Make punching bags out of the ones who use me as a punching bag- I like it. Nobody can claim you aren’t fair, Cap.” More softly she added, “Thanks.”
"Thank you for taking care of us. I truly appreciate functional plumbing." The snake body suddenly drew itself up until the torso was level with S'siri's face, and a kiss was planted on top of her head. "If you want travelling to be fun," said the captain as they drew back down, "it's important for people to love the journey. And people won't love a journey on which they don't have a working toilet."Holly jerked fully away from the contact with the officer’s mind, overwhelmed by the barrage of images. That… was definitely a stark difference from the painful memories of the dying days of the ship that everyone else had been witnessing. It wasn’t some unrealistically perfect utopia, S’siri’s grousing in the last memory was evidence enough of that, but it was… happy. Fun. It was telling that for as much as Scip had talked up the adventure and discovery as the highlight of the ship’s journey, now it was her friends and the little moments they’d shared together that the officer thought back to. There was camaraderie in these memories, yes, but something deeper than the bonds of people on a shared adventure. Love. “They hurt you, didn’t they?” Holly murmured. “When they chose this. You trusted them. They weren’t just your friends, they were your family.” Holly reached out to the officer’s mind again, and sure enough felt the raw anguish and grief, as real as if it had been her own. But there was something else there, more potent than the betrayal… guilt? Why did the officer feel guilty?S’siri’s mind shied away again, violently, and in spite of Holly’s cries of protest it once more dove into the black, murky depths of the police woman’s psyche. Whatever that thread was, S’siri didn’t want to remember it. Didn’t want Holly to remember it. For a moment, Holly was so frustrated by the chase, so overwhelmed by these emotions she was feeling as much as if she’d lived them, that she was tempted to let the memories escape. To be done with the whole thing. She hadn’t asked for this. She hadn’t wanted it. “But I’m part of it now,” she said, gritting her teeth. “And I’m going to see it through. For my friends if nothing else- Radha, Athene, Alexis, Harper, Caden, Akash, Jon… all of them. They’ve played out their part in this. You and I going to do the same, like it or not.” She forced herself to calm down, to clear her thoughts again. No matter how far the memories fled, this was Holly’s mind, and she would follow them. Deeper. Down deeper. Collabed with Liou and Fraze and featuring references to Tiger Twillie and Gelquie Holly reaches out for S’siri’s memories, but they don’t seem to want to come to her. She sees flashes of the officer’s past that slip through, but can’t quite assimilate the mind entirely. She sees S’siri’s sense of betrayal and anguish, and questions why she was even involved with the ship, at which point she sees earlier memories of happier times with the crew. Holly questions the officer further, feeling a strong disconnect between the life-loving Chif’rrr of the ship’s heyday and the despairing one of the beast’s rampage… and not entirely clear how S’siri went from “I’m done with you all” quitting her job as boatswain to the heroic sacrifice Scip detailed earlier. Almost as if it has a will of it’s own, S’siri’s memories retreat from this questioning, and Holly is forced to dive deeper into her mind to chase after them.
|
|
|
Post by Huntress on Oct 5, 2017 12:28:54 GMT -5
Kathleen leaned forward to look into the pool-office where the supernatural shapes of her fellow tunnel-explorers were now cavorting. Well, everyone needed a break now and again. The grey alien asked just how wide the newspaper is distributed and the reporter, grateful for the brief distraction, shot a glance at him, still holding the phone to her ear. "Well, we print maybe two thousand issues per week,” she said glumly. “Most of them end up with the town’s old ladies who recycle them all sorts of ways – compost, pet litter, that sort of stuff. It’s a big day if any of them end up in the big city. The coverage of the fair might’ve garnered wider interest, but.” She waved a hand in the general direction of the command center around them. “This whole thing happened. And I don’t expect any of this alien business to attract wider interest, people outside of town will think we’re just some backwater hole with a sensationalist rag inventing news because if we didn’t, there’d be nothing to put in the paper. Honestly I don’t know why I bother." "You write for the townspeople, not for fame, to my knowledge," the Boss’ wry voice pointed out in her ear. "Oh, lemme have my slump," Kathleen grunted, idly stroking the cat who’d come over to inspect her. The cat lost interest and wandered off, as cats do, and Kathleen sat down on the edge of the water. "I’ll get back to it, I always do, s’just that right now we don’t even actually know if there’ll be a town after this is over… or what’ll happen after this is over… or if the newspaper will continue or anything. Say, Boss, if we do end up flying into the stars like, tomorrow, do you plan on coming along? Asking for job security purposes." "Hm," the Boss said idly with a sharp twinge of surprise. "What?" Kathleen asked just as sharply. "No, that wasn’t to you – I was going through the images you sent me. To answer your question, there’s something I’ll want to check out from the ship’s library. Gotta go, take care, don’t blow anything up or let the fearbeast eat anything." He hung up. "Oh, right, I’d all but forgotten about the fearbeast," Kathleen groaned. "Wonder if that means it’s also forgotten about us? That’d be a nice twist." She glanced at the dais to see if any progress had been made there, just in time to see someone input something and the sphere flash green. …oh, hey… This time, it wasn’t sharp or dizzying. It was a feeling of pleasant surprise, like remembering a character from a childhood cartoon that makes you remember a whole lot of Saturday morning cartoons in turn. It was like the memories had always been there, neatly and seamlessly fitting into her past, offering up knowledge she felt she’d always had. Except that couldn’t be right, because how was she remembering her other parents, loving if slightly disappointed in her odd choices in life? And the curiosity that drove her as a reporter also drove her to seek contact with the ship that had landed and been trapped by her people, who were preparing an attack as she snuck out of town to take a closer look. She’d found a crew of many shapes and forms, but of equal curiosity and so many wonders to show her, so she’d helped them escape her people and tagged along. And the hours she’d spent running around town poking at people to tell her their stories were nothing compared to the hours she’d spent running around the ship poking at people to tell her their stories. And the pain of breaking up with Jeff… well, here Kathleen was slightly disgruntled to rediscover and realize that Jeff had in fact been her one proper serious relationship, because the woman she’d once been was of a warrior race called the Morrigan, a proud people with strength and stamina that far exceeds that of most other species even without training. The time she hadn’t spent poking around the library and archives she’d usually spent at the gym, meaning she attracted a lot of self-assured jocks who thought that challenging her to a fight was a neat pick-up method. Then they usually asked her to punch them as hard as she could. The first time that happened, the medical team had reattached the guy’s head and told her to start all her fights with a disclaimer or something. Really, Jeff had no business complaining, all things considered. Kathleen ran her hand through her hair, dimly remembering how she used to rake her fingers through her mane when she was thinking. What was my name? …Loorea. My name was Loorea. And it meant something like ‘cliff’s edge’, not that it really indicated anything, my parents just liked the sound.
…Hm, and I had a storage sphere, she suddenly thought, recalling the metallic sphere with buttons and knobs that’d felt so comfortably familiar in her last memory. Wonder what happened to it?Kathleen replies to Akash ( Tiger ) about the distributing range of the newspaper (tldr: sucky), pets the kitty ( Rabbit ♠ ) and eyeballs the pool party a bit before suddenly remembering her past life. She was named Loorea, a girl of a warrior race who wasn't particularly interested in warrioring, so she bailed out on the ship to discover the wonders of the universe.
|
|
|
Post by Rabbit ♠ on Oct 5, 2017 15:57:45 GMT -5
The first thing they remembered were their ancestor's names. Kiuna for Ani, Stenin for Claire. Then they remembered each others’ names. Then other memories started trickling in. A planet named Edibun. The names of other crew members. Important dates on the ship. And it became clear that what Ani and Claire saw earlier were memories as well. Ani expected to get a headache like the other times she got alien flashbacks. She was sitting on the floor and leaning on the wall with her eyes closed in anticipation. However, a headache never came. In fact, Ani felt like a weight was taken off of her shoulders. Her head was becoming clear. It was strange, Ani had no idea what was going on, but it was almost relaxing. She had memories to process, but she wasn’t worried about them. She wasn’t worried about anything. She hadn’t felt like this in a long time. Come to think of it, had she ever felt like this? Meanwhile, Claire wasn’t as relaxed. She didn’t know what to think, she didn’t know what to feel, she didn’t know what to do. Memories kept popping up and she couldn’t figure out what was happening. Claire tried to focus on one memory, but more kept coming in. It was stressful for Claire. She hadn’t felt like this in a long time. Come to think of it, had she ever felt like this? Then Claire and Ani both remembered a fight that had happened between Kiuna and Stenin. Kiuna had stopped talking to anybody because of the big debate with the beast. Stenin had been trying to get Kiuna to at least talk to her, which had gotten intense. Since then, Kiuna had started acting cold towards Stenin. Ani immediately thought about what she saw earlier. Kiuna flying around to find Stenin to apologize. She realized that was her last memory before they were locked away. Kiuna never had the chance to apologize to Stenin. Ani’s heart broke a little at the thought of it. Claire didn’t know about what Kiuna wanted to do. Stenin didn’t know what Kiuna wanted to do. Claire kept asking questions about Kiuna. Some were answered with the memories that were pouring in, some were not. The seal flapping around and crying startled Claire, snapping her back to reality. She watched everyone around her, watching how everyone reacted. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what. Possible things to say were caught in her throat and it hurt to try and get them out. Oh God. Oh dear God, this is actually happening, Claire thought to herself. She looked down at the floor. Where’s Ani? Is she okay? Does she have another headache? Oh, I hope she’s okay.Claire looked back up for a second. Just in time to see the seal that was in the pool turn into a man. Claire’s eyes widened at the sight. Just… how? How was this happening? How was all of this happening? Claire rubbed her eyes and pinched her arm. When she opened her eyes again, everything was exactly the same. She wasn’t in her room or in Ani’s. No, this wasn’t a dream. This was happening, this was actually happening. "I'm okay," he finally sat up, smiling shakily to those surrounding the pool. "My ancestor's memories just got a bit...too much. She was from a species which could feel so much more than a regular human, apparently, so it's..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "A lot. Especially the more traumatic ones."“O-oh, sorry you had to go through that,” Claire said shakily. “It sounds like a-a lot to go through.” She rocked nervously. “Just… wow. Like… I don’t even know… All of this…” Claire was at a loss for words. She couldn’t explain what was going on. Instead, she said something she could get out clearly. “Oh, where’s Ani?” Squip hopped out of the pool and walked over to Claire. He stood on his hind legs and batted at her leg with his front paws. Claire watched the black cat. Just what was he doing? “And what do you want?” Claire asked. Squip kept batting at her leg. “Really, what could you possibly want? I don’t have anything!” She stepped away from Squip, but he followed her. “Ugh, seriously, I don’t have anything you would like!” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “Really, this is all I have, this-” Then Claire realized that Squip was trying to get her to grab her phone. “-is what you wanted me to grab. You want me to call Ani. I’m an idiot.” Squip nodded. Claire scowled. “Well, you don’t have to agree with me.” Claire dialed Ani’s number and put her phone next to her ear. She kept hoping that Ani would pick up. It felt like the phone had been ringing for ages. Claire could hardly keep still. Then Ani finally picked up. Before Ani could say a word, Claire said, “Ani, are you okay? Where are you?” “Huh? I’m fine, Claire, don’t worry,” Ani answered. She sounded okay, albeit a little worried. “Are you? You sound like you’re about to burst into tears.” “Oh, I feel that way.” Claire took a deep breath in. “Ani, where are you? I need to see you right now.” “Claire, don’t bother. I’ll come to you. Where are you?” “By the pool.” “And where is that?” Before Claire could say anything, Ani quickly said, “You know what, it’s fine, I’ll find you. I’ll be there soon.” Ani hung up. Claire was tempted to call her again just to hear Ani talk to her. She wanted to hear that everything would be okay and she wanted to hear Ani say that. Stenin was the same all those years ago. Stenin always went to Kiuna whenever she wanted comfort. Ani almost ran around the room in search of Claire. She was regretting hanging up on Claire. She could use some directions. Why Ani said she would just find her, she did not fully understand. Maybe it was to keep Claire from stressing out too much. That seemed about right. When Ani finally spotted Claire, she began to run to her. Claire heard her approach. She turned to Ani. The two made eye contact. In that moment, they both realized who their alien ancestors were. Neither of them knew how they found out. It was a gut feeling. Kiuna and Stenin. Best friends from long ago. Ani hugged Claire when she was close enough. Claire hugged back and buried her face in her best friend’s shoulder. She began to cry. She was so glad to see Ani was okay. She needed someone to talk to about these memories and Ani was the only person she could see talking to about this. First, Claire needed to calm down. Ani rubbed her back to try and help that. “I’m sorry,” Ani said. “I’m so sorry for not talking to you, for not voicing my opinion, for acting so cold towards you-” “Ani, what are you talking about?” Claire asked. She looked up at Ani. “You have nothing to apologize for, especially none of that.” “I know I don’t, but Kiuna did. She wanted to apologize to Stenin a long time ago, but she never had the chance.” Ani tried to crack a smile to comfort Claire. “I just thought I should finally pass the message. I know I'm not Kiuna and you're not Stenin, but it needed to be said.” Claire's eyes widened. Ani wanted to pass along Kiuna's message. Even though what happened was a long time ago, Ani still thought it was important to apologize to Kiuna's best friend, Stenin - even if it was through her descendant, Claire. It was sweet. Claire was at a loss for words. She tried to form sentences, but they came out as sobs. Ani didn’t need her to say anything. She just wanted Claire to calm down. Both began to remember another memory together. It was of Kiuna trying to comfort Stenin. When and how this happened was still foggy, but the image itself was clear. Kiuna was doing her best to get Stenin to cheer up. Both knew it was usually the other way around, but Kiuna was more than willing to return the favor. Stenin had gotten her through many rough days. It was the least Kiuna could do. Shortly after came images of Stenin and Kiuna having fun together. Flying around the ship, reading up on alien history and stories, chatting about whatever happened on the ship. The two were near inseparable. Both were fun loving enjoyed each other’s company to no end. Even after all of these years, Kiuna’s and Stenin’s friendship still hadn’t changed. Ani and Claire were comforted by that. Clani both begin to remember alien memories. Ani, strangely, is relaxed by them. It feels like a weight off her shoulders to her. Claire... yeah, she's freaking out. She doesn't know what to think. They both remember a fight that had happened between Kiuna and Stenin. Ani's really upset to learn about this and Claire... still doesn't know what to do. The seal ( Celestial ) splashing around startles Claire back to her senses. He turns into a human. That's surprising. And it looks like he's having alien memories, too. Claire responds to him, but is at a loss for words. Then it occurs to her that Claire could just call Ani and ask where she was and if she was okay. (Thank you, Squip, for that one.) (Claire is also very distracted at this point, so she doesn't see Fionn turn back into a seal and go back in the poo;.) Ani sounds like she's fine, but she can tell Claire isn't. So she sets off to find her. Ani spots Claire and when they see each other, they realized their alien ancestors were Kiuna and Stenin respectively (neither really know how, but both assume it's a gut feeling). The two of them hug and Claire cries from being overwhelmed with memories and worrying about Ani. Ani apologizes to Claire for what Kiuna did, like what should have been done a long time ago. Claire's touched that Ani wanted to pass the message. Both start remembering again. One was of Kiuna comforting Stenin, then of the two of them having fun together, like Ani and Claire. A friendship so strong, even time couldn't break it apart. Also nearby: Shinko Tiger Thorn Gelquie
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Oct 5, 2017 20:14:30 GMT -5
Holly didn’t know how a biological data file could flee from her, but this one was doing a good job of it. Every time she drew close, tried to grab at S’siri’s mind, the memory packet slipped away. “You know, stalling like this is only going to make us sitting ducks when the beast shows up,” Holly said waspishly. Not that she really knew if she was talking to the boatswain or to herself. How much of this “chase” was just the manifestation of her own reluctance to accept the officer’s memories? She sighed with frustration, pausing in her headlong pursuit. Maybe trying to access the memories all at once was the wrong way to go about this. Maybe she needed to focus on one recollection- one question. Something she wasn’t as afraid of as losing her autonomy. “Why did you feel so guilty?” she called into her mind. “What was it about the others that made you feel bad? You didn’t want this- why does it feel so heavy on your conscience?” At first there was nothing. Only silence. Then, the memory from before surfaced again- "Even if the measure is grossly incomplete. The plan remains."
“Then do it without my help.”Holly frowned. She remembered when she’d first seen this memory, feeling like it was a moment S’siri’s mind had been fixated on. Obsessing over. Tentatively she brooked, “You feel guilty for quitting your position? But I can see why you were angry. They weren’t listening to you. They were doing something selfish.” The memories seemed to quail, anguish driving into Holly’s head like a drowning flood. She could feel them starting to flee again, and something in her snapped. “No! Answer me!” She reached out for the memories again- and her hand caught something soft and fuzzy. A wrist covered in feathers. Holly’s eyes flew wide, as she found herself looking into the same face that she’d seen briefly in place of her own reflection in the pool. S’siri looked back at her, eyes full of pain and frustration. “ What do you want from me?” She asked, speaking in her own tongue of trills and chirps. Holly hesitated, then hardened her resolve. “I want the truth. I’ve been afraid of what would happen when we unlocked the memories. What we’d become. What sort of people would chose to do something like this just so they could live forever. I know you felt the same way at first, but then something changed your mind. And it wasn’t just duty.” Holly took a deep breath, then asked, “Why did you die for them? I thought you were doing it to stop them from using the memory plan and to save them from the beast. And you were, but that wasn’t it, was it? It’s what you told the others, but there was more going on in your head.” S’siri closed her bright, hawklike yellow eyes, and memories washed over Holly’s mind once more. A creature with smooth skin, slimey, with webbed hands and tentacles, stood in front of the chif’rrr. A name surfaced in Holly’s mind- Iki. Hadn’t Fionn mentioned that name? She didn’t have time to dwell on it, because the stranger was speaking.
“S’siri, I know you don’t like this. Nobody likes this plan,” Iki said. The tips of her tentacles were curled in a gesture of pleading. “But we have no choice. If we don’t wipe our memories, we will be destroyed by the beast. And if we don’t pass on our memories, this voyage cannot continue. We will all also…” her tentacles spasmed with grief. “We will die. Completely, before our time.”
Her eyes locked on to the Chif’rrrr’s and her tentacles returned to the curled pleading gesture. “You don’t have to be happy about this. But please, for all our sakes, can’t you just go along with this? We all love you; we don’t want to fight you over this, and I know you don’t want to keep fighting us,” a wobble passed through Iki’s tentacles, growing more intense before she forced herself to stop it. “Please?”In the memory, S’siri had been feeling anger, frustration, betrayal… but the only emotion that Holly could feel towards the memory in retrospect was regret. Another memory washed over her mind before she could fully process the first- The kesterk from the earlier memory was pressed against the wall, sitting but with their knees tucked to their chest. Yellow and red spasmed at the tips of their five intact frills; the colors destroyed any illusion of the alien’s heavy breathing and sweaty skin being from some exertion fixing a machine. She could feel feathers bristling across her body with her alarm and recognition of what was happening.
“I - I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” they gasped in a strangled voice. “It just - it’s like it just happens again, every time - it feels like they’re right there and…” They tried to take a breath through their mouth; it sounded shallow and shaky. Holly lurched out of that memory, feeling all but drowned by the oppressive distress and helplessness it had contained. More images flashed in her mind, of the same people she’d previously seen laughing and happy. Now haunted, exhausted, jumping at shadows, trying plan after plan to stop the beast and despairing as nothing they tried worked. “They were scared,” S’siri said, her voice etched with pain and self-accusation. “All of them, they were just scared. I was so concerned with lashing out, with being angry that they were doing this, that I didn’t even stop to process that until it was too late.” She snapped her beak in frustration, a keening sound emerging from her throat. “They weren’t being greedy. They weren’t being selfish. They were desperate, and scared. They had tried everything else and nothing worked. None of them wanted this, but they saw no other way out. But I refused to see it, and I was awful to them, and I left my responsibility as an officer instead of trying to understand.” Holly let go of the chif’rrr’s wrist, swallowing hard. Just scared- that’s what she’d found herself thinking earlier, when her own resentment towards the situation was simmering again. All this time she’d been thinking of the aliens as evil, as immortal gods looking to steal the bodies of their human descendants. But she could see it in S’siri’s memories- they were just people. People like the Wrightonians, who had been backed into a corner and taken the only escape they could find. “You wanted to save them because you felt like you failed them,” Holly said. Not a question. Not an accusation. A statement. S’siri nodded. “The captain asked me if I had any better ideas for how to save everyone from the beast. At the time I was so angry that I just took it as a sarcastic challenge. But that was stupid- I should have known better. I should have know them better. It wasn’t a challenge- they were legitimately asking me for an out. Any out. Because they agreed with me, but they saw no alternatives.” She shook her head. “The Beast was born from the dissension within the crew. By lashing out, isolating, refusing to try to come to an understanding, I realized I’d just been feeding it. Making the situation worse.” Holly bit her lip, guilt now pricking at her own conscience. “Why didn’t you talk to them? Apologize?” “Because they’d have forgiven me, and I didn’t deserve that,” S’siri retorted. “They were good to me- too good to me. And even if I understood why they were acting the way they were, I couldn’t condone it. I couldn’t watch these people I loved do this to themselves. So… so I decided to make sure they wouldn’t have to. To take the choice out of their hands. Scip was the only one who saw me leaving- I left a letter for the others, but he was the only one I actually talked to before I went. He didn’t like it, but he let me go. Let me try. I don’t know what happened after that, my memories cut off, but…” The Chif’rrr looked towards Holly and laughed bitterly. “Well. This conversation is living proof I failed. I guess they put my memories in the program anyway after I was gone. Like I said, they’re too good to me. They should’ve been angry that I left like that. Instead they tried to bring me back from the dead.” “But they didn’t,” Holly finished, softly. Sadly. “None of this is really real. Meditation brings the subconscious imagination to the fore, but as soon as I wake up you’ll just be data again. A memory file living in someone else’s head.” S’siri nodded. “And that’s why you need to wake up now. Forget about remembering me. I’m just data- all I’ll do is clutter up your mind and make you into a clone of me.” Holly folded her arms. “Not necessarily- my brother’s memories came back, and he seemed fine. Mostly…” “See? You’re not sure,” the boatswain pressed. “You already question what parts of you are because of your nature and what’s my memories leeching through. Didn’t Scip compare you to me?” “Scip also said I’d keep my own autonomy,” Holly returned. “I love Scip- he’s a very dear friend,” S’siri murmured. “But he’s not very spiritually minded. Sees things as facts and data points. I’m not sure if his definition and yours are the same.” Holly looked down. “You want to die that badly?” “Die? I’m already dead. A pointless, fruitless death that left my friends even more desperate and distraught.” S’siri choked. “And I was too cowardly to even tell them in person I was sorry for how stupid I’d been.” “I can tell them for you, you know,” Holly offered. “I’m not You, but if I know what you wanted I can still pass on a message.” “You’ll be giving that message to your friends- not mine,” The chif’rrr hissed. “And you’re not getting my memories. I never should’ve been part of this. I was the idiot who decided to die alone. I deserve to have died alone.” She blinked sharply, her yellow eyes glistening. Holly took a startled step towards her. “Are… are you crying?” “I-” S’siri reached up a hand to her face, touching the damp feathers under her eyes. “That’s… that’s impossible, chif’rrr don’t even have tear ducts, how can I be-” Her feathers bristled and she rounded on Holly. “You! You’re doing this!” “Me?” Holly demanded. The chif’rrr hissed. “My kind don’t cry- yours do. Your memories are leeching into me, muddying the line between us.” She screeched, a high sound like an angry hawk. “Stop it! Stop doing this! Stop trying to become me!” Holly shook her head. “I’m not-” “ Yes you are!” S’siri snarled. “My memories have no place here! I’m dead! I died a long time ago, I never even saw the planet that was supposed to be our new home! I tried to save them, and I failed, and you can go back and tell them all to let me die already!” The air around the chif’rrr warped and distorted, thick thorny vines shooting up from the ground to form a cocoon around the boatswain. Holly cried out in protest, trying to walk towards S’siri, but the briars only spread further outwards to block her progress. “Please, just leave,” S’siri’s voice sobbed. “Just leave. I chose to be alone, and I’ll live by that choice. I don’t want to be a parasite in your mind.” “I need your help!” Holly shot back. “We all do! I’m not leaving without you!” She started forwards, focusing on slowing her breathing. If there was one advantage Holly had over the alien in this mindscape, it was experience with self-hypnosis and meditation. The wiccan woman did it all the time, at least once or twice a week to clear her head. S’siri had never learned how during her lifetime. Holly had the advantage when it came to controlling her own imagination. Holly reached out her left hand- was it glowing?- and slowly peeled back the brambles separating her from S’siri. The chif’rrr screeched in anger, and the thorns tried to drive themselves into Holly’s flesh as she moved forwards through the bramble wall. When it became clear the physical pain alone was not going to stop her, S’siri tried a different tack, reaching back into Holly’s mind as Holly had been reaching into hers- “Are you really sure you won’t come with me? Holly, we’re perfect together. I love you. We can make it work, I’m sure of it-”Holly gasped, Lei’s agonized face flashing before her eyes. It swam away, Athene taking its place. “Especially since we have a police officer here; I trust your training-”Always just a cop, she was always just a cop to people... “I’m… I’m pregnant, Nana… it’s Lei’s. I’m pregnant with his child, and he’ll never even know-”Her daughter would never know a father, just as Holly had never known hers... “I herby find Jonquil O’Rourke guilty, of the crimes of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter-”“No!” Holly snapped, staggering under the barrage of her most painful memories. She could feel tears pricking at her eyes, her resolve wavering, but she stubbornly clenched her fists, and continued moving forwards, focusing on happier memories. “Mommy, mommy, look! Mister Caden got me a fairy wand for my birthday!”
“I’ve shorted on sleep before and you know it. And if it’ll give you peace of mind, yes, I’m sure. I know you wanna do this. So do it.”
“You got pretty scarfs!” - “Thank you Miss Esther; I hope they’re half as pretty as your dress is sparkly!”
“But the important thing is… it’s up to you.” - “And we’ll be here to help. Not to judge.”Holly shoved through the last of the brambles, to where the projection of S’siri crouched, sobbing and broken. “Just leave me,” she hissed. “Please. Live your life. Be happy. Be free.” “Doesn’t freedom mean coming to my own decisions about how I want to live?” Holly asked, panting slightly as she kneeled beside the chif’rrr. “For somebody who wants me to make my own choices, you sure are adamant about me choosing the one you think is best for me.” “You identify with me because of the mindprog,” S’siri shot back. “It molds you so that your personality is a reflection of mine. You can’t help but see yourself in me, and-” “I’m going to stop you right there, because no,” Holly cut in. “Did you need mind control to identify with your friends in the crew? Qoeln and Iki and Scip and all the rest?” “That’s different-” the chif’rr started, but again Holly cut her off. “No. It’s not. Compassion isn’t something you can force people to feel. Love, and understanding, and self-sacrifice are qualities we chose to have. Other people can encourage them inside of us, but in the end it’s on each person to make their own decisions about how they act on what they’ve learned.” Holly looked away. “Maybe I made a lot of my decisions in life based on what other people wanted. What they thought was best for me. But I didn’t have to do it, I didn’t have to make myself into some sort of paragon to please them. I chose that, because I loved them and I wanted them to be happy. Just like you wanted your friends to be happy.” S’siri gave a low, keening cry in her own language. “ I failed.” “Because you were alone,” Holly returned. “You tried to take the consequences of everyone else’s dissension on yourself- no single person is equal to that much weight.” The police woman gave a wobbly smile. “Trust me, I know.” S’siri seemed to have no reply to offer to that. She only looked down, no longer trying to swipe away the tears pooling down her beak. Holly reached out to do it for her. “It’s not fair to blame yourself for something that was so much bigger than you. It’s not fair to isolate yourself because you think your pain is less valid.” Holly stood up, looking down at her counterpart. “You’re not me; I’m not you. You’ve helped to shape who I am, but so have my grandmother, and my brother, and my daughter, and everyone else in my life. With or without you, I’ll always be exactly who I chose to be.” “So why not just leave me behind?” S’siri murmured. “Because nobody deserves to be left behind,” Holly shot back. “It’s not fair for you to be alone after what you’ve been through. Maybe you aren’t real, and you’re just a projection my mind has made out of your memories. Maybe you’re just a reflection of my own doubts. I don’t really know. But I do know that if I can ease your pain and regrets, that’s enough reason not to erase you.” Holly held out a hand to S’siri. “Walk with me. As long as we walk together, we don’t ever have to be alone again.” For a long moment, S’siri stared up into Holly’s face, indecision making her waver. Then, with a soft, bittersweet coo, the chif’rrr reached a taloned hand to Holly’s outstretched palm. Holly hefted S’siri up onto her feet, and as the chif’rrr rose so too did a wave of memories. Not violent or overwhelming, like many of the ones Holly had witnessed earlier. This was a gentle sensation, like waking up from a pleasant dream. Holly closed her mental eyes as the boatswain’s memories took their place in her mind, and then opened her physical eyes to the real world. “Holly?” Jon brooked, his voice soft. She glanced up at her brother with a reassuring smile, and reached over to where Dunking was lying down beside her to scratch the dog’s ears. Then, slowly, she rose to her feet. For a moment Holly closed her eyes again, letting her wings fan out behind her. Then, snapping her gaze up towards the propellers high above, Holly jumped into the air. Her wings pumped behind her, a bit clumsy from lack of practice, but the motion was smooth and familiar. For at least half a minute she hovered in the air, enjoying the sensation of flight for the first time in over to thousand years, the first time in her life. When she came back down to land, Holly immediately collapsed to her knees, shoulders trembling as tears seared down her cheeks. “So much love. So much pain. I see now why they wanted her back.” I know it’s painfully long, and I’m sorry for that. But it’s the climax of Holly’s character arc. I poured my heart out into it. Please just read the whole thing? Please? Tagging Celestial Tiger Gelquie Kyn Liou for collabs and references
|
|
|
Post by ♥ Azzie on Oct 6, 2017 18:14:29 GMT -5
Atif was glad when Hannah and Velia noticed a pattern in the puzzle. Once they all understood the symbols meant numbers, it was easier to contribute. It was even fun. They traded quips and threw out ideas, and by the time they had figured out the solution it had stopped feeling so frustrating, though no less difficult. The sphere gave a green glow, and then… ...nothing… ? Atif was wondering if perhaps they hadn’t gotten the right answer. Aside from the glowing, nothing had happened, although he had somehow gotten a song in his head. He moved around the edge of the dais a bit, hoping to see things from a new angle, but all he succeeded in doing was realizing that earworms are really annoying. Hoping it would help him to focus, as it was known to do, Atif began to hum the tune. And again, as music is known to do, it took him back. There were no sudden images, no tremendous rushes of emotion- in a way, it wasn’t much different from how he had felt standing in the hospital. Except this time he just knew. Knew his name- no, their name, it wasn’t quite him- was Tarso, and that the first time he had heard this song it had been his Asti playing it, in a building surrounded by thin, wiry plants that looked like copper and brass. And he knew the child Tarso had loved it, had taken in the precise shape of the pipes Asti played and the bright red of Asti’s hands- Once he had begun remembering it was difficult to stop, like a trickle that turned into a waterfall. But he still remembered how sharp that first memory had been, and he shook his head to clear it. He could still feel those old memories pouring in, but he was outside of the flood now, and able to process it properly. Even the song in his head had grown quieter. But there hadn’t been a whole lot to process. So his name had been Tarso, and there had been an Asti (who felt like parent) and some strange familiarity about the place… Atif looked around. Nothing especially urgent seemed to be happening yet. So he allowed himself to remember a little more. Now he was on the ship, and there was a warm feeling- Tarso was resting, and there were friends nearby. Their words were hard to make out but there was a strong sense of don’t-you-ever-do-that-again and please-be-safe and a little curl of nervous laughter And then there was fear, and concern, and desperation as Tarso talked with many other people- the whole atmosphere felt jittery and sad and Tarso was pouring his trust onto these people. Scip said something, and a great feathery person was angry, and Tarso just kept repeating numbers in his head… That memory seemed to keep going on, although it shifted around and Atif knew it had to have been many times, and it made his heart hurt. He was brought back to reality by Scip appearing, this time right in front of them, and explaining what had happened. The pain from the memory lingered, but so did the warmth, and it pierced through to Atif that these were my friends and we did this to save the people we loved.
There wasn’t time to remember but Atif felt all his years of caution and mistrust and allowing himself to believe that it’s all right to help but never let them in too far. How it had taken ten years for Mina to win his confidence, and how many times she had tried to help him, to no avail. He wondered how many times he had lived this way. Something both hardened and loosened within Atif, and he broke into tears. For Tarso and the friends lost, and for himself and the friends he had let been convinced were impossible. But he still thought he owed it to them- all of them, past and present. He looked around and said in a slightly wobbly voice “We did it. We made it.” And to Scip he managed, “Thanks for waiting.” Atif remembers some things. He remembers some friends. He has a little cry. And he says thank you. I swear I'll get Mina and Jamilposts out soonNot going to tag the entire group but I will tag Puzzle Buddies June Scarlet Lizica and Killix
|
|
|
Post by Tiger on Oct 6, 2017 21:16:06 GMT -5
Harper caught sight of a green flicker, and then an overwhelming sense of deja vu swamped their attention. They’d been here before - they knew this room, they knew these chairs, they knew the pool. Something was different - Harper felt like they’d just been reminded there was something important they were supposed to do, but for the life of them, couldn’t remember what, exactly. The panel, shaking, the noise of blasters and crushed metal and a sour taste of fear on their tongue - No. Before that. Play the tape.They press the button on the small gray oval again. It’s been a week now, and they’re definitely remembering the words fairly easy now. But this is too important to leave to chance. The faint crackle, the soft sigh, the long pause - all rote and familiar. They remember sitting and making this recording, they remember staring at the little device because how do I even talk about this. They looked up into the mirror - they usually did this when listening to the recording, too, if they could. Every time,, their face looks more haggard. The beast has been taking its toll. Everything has been taking its toll. “First,” they hear the recording say, and simultaneously remember saying, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t...I don’t like this plan, either. This...memory transferral. Believe me - if anyone here knows what it’s like to have memories you didn’t ask for, it’s me. But...here we are. ...And I’m sorry for something else. There’s a monster here. You’ve...probably already spotted signs. It feeds off fear, if you haven’t figured that out already. The monster’s why we’re here...and why I’m with you now. We haven’t been able to destroy it. “We don’t know how to destroy it.” Harper’s stomach clenched with despair - they’d - they’d thought...they’d thought the memories would have some sort of answer - “All we know is what doesn’t work, that we can’t run forever, ...and that we can’t let this thing run free on someone’s planet.” Another long, familiar pause. “My name is Qoeln. I’m a Kesterk Koeyhan, though I hope by the time you’re hearing this, Kesterk doesn’t mean anything, at least not anything different than Koeyhan.” They laughed dryly, a somehow-sour peach color rippling onto their frills. “I should be careful how I phrase that. The kytreg would sure love for ‘Kesterk’ to mean nothing. “...I don’t know how this is going to work. I don’t know what memories you’re going to get first, or if they’ll all come at once...if you got the ones with - the fight.” Their voice goes tight; they usually try not to think about this or discuss it - it leads to the flashbacks. Something dark and foreboding is lurking just out of Harper’s immediate attention, but doesn’t quite surface. “The ones shooting at us are kytreg. I think that tells you all you need to know. Ask Scip for the rest if you need it.” Qoeln has winced at the words as they listen to them many times - but they’re afraid to re-record and muddle the memories they’re leaving behind. “Be careful of those memories, if you can be. Avoid them, I’d say. I’d almost rather forget them - they don’t need to ruin another person’s life, especially when you don’t have to remember the people who...the ones you lost that day.” Memories blaze through their mind, turning to flickers as Qoeln suppresses them - they’re people, other gray aliens, that much is clear, but Qoeln’s thoughts won’t settle on them long enough for Harper to identify - remember? - exactly who they are to the ancient alien.“I’m one of the sixteen Officers on this ship,” they remember the recording saying. “Specifically, Head of Engineering. That means I’m responsible, at least in part, for every mechanical feature on this ship.” Repairs, dozens, hundreds of repairs and installations, a fire in the shopping district because of improper wiring and two weeks required to fix it, a day spent disassembling a device for creating music to see how it worked, stepping into a room week after week after week to talk to their staff of engineers - “That means, if Scip can’t get something open or running, you’re probably the one who’s going to need to handle it. If you can.” They can’t quite hear the sound of their hand running over their face, but they remember seeing themselves do so in the mirror when they recorded it. “I don’t know if learned skills come with the memories. There’s a lot we don’t know.” Harper recognized the room - the same one they were in now. But full of very, very different creatures - even stranger than the ones currently in the room, who at least lined up with earth mythology. Everyone looked incredibly grim - or at least, Harper got that sense from the memory. How they - Qoeln - could tell with some of them was a mystery.“We’ve tried everything,” the recording says next. Qoeln tries not to think too hard about it, but of course, trying not to think about something is only so doable. They’d been expressly forbidden from the coordinated blaster attack, but that didn’t mean they had avoided all the unplanned ones. And even so, they’d felt guilty for having to be kept out of the fighting, and had insisted on helping rig the crushing trap. Which had also not worked. There had been the mazes and the puzzles and… Well. That wasn’t important at the exact moment. “I hope you have better luck than we did. And after it’s all over, if you want me deleted....go for it. I understand.” The shaky laugh, terse and humorless. “I’m a downloaded instruction manual. Almost wish I could be more; it would’ve been nice to meet you. Probably. Hopefully. And I could actually guide you, tell you how to put things together, help you get around this place… “I guess we’re just...going to have to hope the memory of me is enough.” Another long pause. “I believe in you.” That wasn’t entirely true. They didn’t entirely even believe in Qoeln .“I believe in the crew.” Much more confident. Where one struggled, another excelled. Their one failing had been the beast - and they’d just run out of time and ideas. Please let that have been it. Please don’t let us have done this for nothing, and please don’t let us have unleashed some hellcreature on an unsuspecting planet.Will write more interact-y bits later, right now I just need to get this out because I can't decide how I feel about it and I think that's throwing me off X'D
Qoeln made and memorized a speech for their memory-descendant! Oooh aaah. It's sentimental. Ish. tl;dr: "I'm sorry, we suck for doing this, we just gotta get rid of this beast. Here's my info. You can delete me later if you want, I get it. Watch out for the memories that gave me PTSD, they bite. Hope you're a cool dude, wish we could've met, good luck!"
|
|
|
Post by Twillie on Oct 6, 2017 23:40:12 GMT -5
Mary didn’t hold Man for too long. The longer she hugged him, the more her head seemed to swim. So, when it felt like he could stand on his own again, she took her arms away from him and turned away. She heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and softly growled until they stopped. “Don’t follow,” she rumbled. Nothing followed after that, just like she said. All the peoples’ voices faded from Mary’s ears as she walked out of their room. Mary whined as the confusing thoughts rose back up, drowning out their splashing altogether. The thoughts returned during her hug with Man, and when she had only wanted to help. They made the aching in her head worsen, plus all the different voices-- Shaking her head, Mary tried to beg to Keeper to let her rest. But Keeper refused. Mary let out another groan. What was happening, why did her head hurt so much? Mary tried to reach out to Keeper again, to ask her what was wrong, maybe Mary could help… No. This was not for Mary to solve, this was Keeper’s-- no, this was Liz’s problem-- Suddenly, Liz found the floor rapidly approaching, and she outstretched her arms as a brace while she plummeted. With a sharp oof!, her body met the hard ground, and she brushed the hair from her face. Rapidly, she looked around, finding to her shock that she could actually see the room. “Mary?” She faintly called out. What had happened? Did… something go wrong? The mirror sat beside her. Liz snatched it up and examined it with frantic eyes, both front and back, looking for any irregularities. But there was nothing different. What had just….? Never mind. Shutting her eyes, Liz held it close and started to murmur softly. “ Bloody Mary…. Bloody Mary…. Bloody Mary…” Nothing. Liz’s eyes snapped open. Once again she checked the mirror, making sure for any hidden cracks or fractures she might have missed before. Coming up empty again, she called the chant one last time. This came with the same lack of results. “Mary!” She hissed. The mirror felt hot between her fingers, making her flinch. “A-are you serious?” She growled, “Come on, just do what I told you! I need you--” Her fingers almost burned where the skin met glass. “Ack-!” Liz snatched her hands away, glaring at the object. “Well, you don’t need to be rude about it,” she grumbled, sucking on her smarting fingers. The mirror only stared stubbornly back at her on the floor. Liz practically growled as she demanded, “What d’you even care about any of this? Once I’m you, you don’t have anything to worry about! Just let me-- hrrk!" Her hands suddenly shot to her head as what felt like a sharp stake drove through the back of it, icy pain paralyzing her as it interrupted all her thoughts. “Ughhh….” Liz crouched on the ground in a fetal position, hands still clenched to her pounding head. Eyelids fluttering, she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer as images started flashing before them. So many, what felt likes dozens of hundreds of thousands that never ceased. As they flashed, they all pulled against her brain, dragging it out of her body and across the ground towards... Her hand reached out, desperate for some invisible life preserver to save her from drowning in the ocean suddenly crashing through her head. It was only when something filled her fingers’ grasp that Liz realized she had sought something specific. The mirror-- she needed it close, to be able to touch and hold it like an extension of herself. As the spike drove deeper through her brain, she leaned her forehead against the glass, wanting to dive in and escape. “If we will be humans...” She said. Her voice had lowered even more, and it had a gravelly texture to it as it rumbled from her throat, the words escaping through a thick set of teeth. “We need the right technology.” She rubbed against her arm, which was suddenly bulky and felt like the casing of her phone, as she said, “I know where we may find more about how to do it.” “Wh-what’s going on…” She-- Liz, o-or Keeper, or no, Mary, no-- groaned, pressing the mirror even closer as the tug on her brain increased. “Who…” Subconsciously fiddling with a wire on her arm, she mused on the amazing speed in which bioengineering had progressed since she was created. So many bits and pieces practically stuck together with tape turned now into an object just the size of her palm, still able to store as much as all her body tech combined. This new tech in one hand, she traced the pass code onto her hairband, letting her arm and leg braces unlock to fill the new storage chamber. Once the transfer finished and she snapped back on all her accessories (and rubbed an arm a little awkwardly, feeling strangely empty now), she turned over the tiny storage unit and grabbed a marker. On the back, she wrote, “For emergencies.” And just below that, the passcode to activate her combat form, if ever needed. Not that she would remember what any of that meant. Once a human, it would just be a meaningless mirror with some random scribbles on the back. But she hoped at least that there’d be some familiarity. Perhaps a reminder…? Or, at the very least, it could bring some comfort. Because, while it might be better once she was a naturally one-formed species, right now, Theo felt… incomplete. Only part of a whole. She shuddered. Perhaps it’d even end up that they wouldn’t have to worry about becoming humans at all? All she’d have to do if she wanted to reunite her combat form was-- Liz gasped herself back awake, panting heavily and staring at the ceiling. Her head turned to the side, and she saw the hand holding the mirror was now outstretched and tightly clenched. White knuckles pressed against the mirror until its corners dug marks into her skin, and only one word was in her mind: shatter. As she snapped back into her own mind, though, she seized all the muscles in her arm to stop, frozen and shaking with the mirror trembling beneath her fingers. It clattered to the ground a moment later. After gathering her nerves, Liz hesitantly picked the mirror back up and once more checked for any cracks, dents, fragments. “Mary?...” She whispered. No sign of damage showed. All she saw was her own image through the glass, slightly fuzzy and warped from age, but still there. “I’m sorry….” She whispered, pressing the mirror close again, this time with great tenderness. Its surface felt cool and comforting on her skin. The tidal waves in her head finally settled to some degree, and as she sorted through them, Liz realized-- they were memories. Spanning across years and years in so many different places, and all of them had come back. Just like Scip said. What did they do in the few minutes I’ve been gone? Liz begrudgingly wondered. But she realized, this mystery alien person Liz was descended from, she had already known. Mary… was her ancestor. T-to a degree, at least. Her ancestor--Theo, Liz remembered-- didn’t think or act like Mary, but she could change into her, except… her mind didn’t change. The personality and thoughts were the same in the memories of total darkness as they were with those with vision. This form was just another outfit to her, and she had stored it away like Liz does her coat during the summer. A-and just like before, Theo wanted to be reunited with it, she wanted Liz to give her winter coat back. She wanted Liz to get rid of…. In those memories, Theo had never even considered Liz. It was always just her, just Theo’s needs, wants and desires, as though she weren’t wiping her memories, but rather just falling asleep for a short time. Swallowing hard, Liz blinked and turned her attention back to the mirror. Nevermind. Theo was gone. What did it matter to her? It was just her and Mary right now. “Fine…” Liz whispered, nodding a little. “Fine, I’ll… I’ll talk to him.” She gave in to Mary’s original spat with her. This whole memory mess had suddenly gotten a lot bigger, and she figured that if she were to start somewhere, might as well start easy. Mary lets go of Man, walking away from him and the others and asking not to be followed ( Birdy ). She's not feeling too well, and she escapes the others into the hall right outside the command center. When she tries to retreat back to the mirror for rest, though, Keeper won't let her. She wonders what's so wrong with Keeper right now, and while at first wanting to help, Mary soon gets fed up and decides that Liz needs to deal with it on her own. Liz unexpectedly comes back to reality, and when she tries to summon Mary again, Mary stubbornly refuses to come out. The two argue as best they can, considering one of them is a mirror. This spat is rudely interrupted by memory recovery, though. What is it like when the same memories are shared across two brains? Very painful, it seems. The memories come in one huge wave to Liz, and she can only catch snippets. She sees Theo offering her own knowledge in bioengineering human forms for the crew, and then later as she stores away her combat form. Theo hopes that soon she can be whole again and reunite with her combat form, as it is still possible to become two-formed again. Liz forces herself back to reality, catching herself just before she shatters the mirror. Her frustration subsiding alongside the memories, Liz apologizes to Mary, and the two make up. Then, thinking back, Liz can't help but see Theo as thinking only for herself. Theo never tried to send a message to her, she always treated the plan as though she'd always somehow desire what she wanted as Theo. Pushing this aside, though, Liz agrees to Mary that she'll talk to Audo about her earlier memory. Things suddenly got a lot more complicated, and her issues with Audo feel a lot smaller now.
|
|
|
Post by Huntress on Oct 7, 2017 13:47:20 GMT -5
((Post by June Scarlet )) Just as the final pieces of the puzzle were entered, when everyone’s attention was on interface of the dias, Beatrice left. She felt no need to stick around and celebrate the return of the crew’s memories. From her first impression of the First Mate, her memories would not be a treat to have. Besides, they were forgetting what else this event signified. The return of the beast at full power. They had plans and ideas for stopping the beast, of course. But she did too, and it never hurt to try out as many solutions as you could. Together, one way or another, they’d stop the beast. Beatrice isn’t around for the reminiscing party? Probably just went to the bathroom or something, don’t worry about it. Enjoy your memories!
|
|
|
Post by Fraze on Oct 7, 2017 13:47:33 GMT -5
The Beast uncurled its formless form and looked up from its nest in the small room near the port aft corner of the ship. It had returned there after looking around and inspecting the People who were wandering the ship. They were still there, but it didn't want to...
They were still there. It got up and began slithering, flickering, roiling in the direction of the People. They were there, and it was there. And they weren't just on the ship either. They were...somewhere else, somewhere close. They were up as well. It would get to them later. Right, it had tried to get to them a few days ago, when those doors opened up. But then they closed again before it could get out.
But why would doors keep it in? In enough time, it could get anywhere. It could do anything, as long as it was doing its job.
Its job. It hadn't thought about its job for a long time. It might have wondered why that was, but it wasn't able to wonder about anything.
The dance. It was like a dance. It didn't know what a dance was, but it was like that. The endless cycle of pursuit and near-capture and escape and more pursuit. Except once it had actually caught them, but they still escaped. It didn't matter now, and it didn't matter how it happened. But that did mean it had to catch up.
It stretched itself like a cat (no, like anything other than a cat), and as it did, finally, after so long, it remembered everything. A complicated inner need of a thousand lifeforms born of so many inner conflicts, dormant for over two thousand years, awoke again. It was a mixture of a longing to see new places and a desire to belong, the bittersweet feeling of looking towards the horizon and willing to see past it. It was complex, but it boiled down to a very simple primal urge.
Run.
It shook itself out, and as it did, a rolling tumbling wave of fear swept through the ship in all directions like an invisible cloud of acrid smoke that seizes throats and blocks sensible thought.
Run.
Something was different now, something was new, the People seemed different... but the urge was the same.
Run.
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Oct 7, 2017 17:11:57 GMT -5
By the time Dion felt the disturbance in the water and made her way to the surface, Fionn was already on the side of the big-pond. He seemed...well, not quite alright- he was crying, which was usually bad, unless he was crying with happiness but everything else pointed to him being unhappy...the drooping posture, the way he'd almost failed to swim. Was he unwell? She shifted her form, the black smog trailing away to reveal her more familiar human guise, and surfaced in time to hear him speak: A species which could feel so much more than a regular human...Her breath caught in her throat. The thought was actually quite frightening. Humans were probably the most emotional creatures Dion had experienced. In her human form, Dion felt incredibly bad about some things which happened in the past, but all she had to do was shift and she would feel a bit better. If the memories in Fionn's head were from something more emotional than that...she couldn't fathom it. She could try and imagine, but it just felt so big and overwhelming- no wonder he'd been so stricken! "I hope the water helps you feel so much better," she said, and pushed away from the edge, returning Fionn's wave as he dove. Floating on her back, hair trailing in the water, Dion closed her eyes and focussed on her breathing. It had been startling, but Fionn was okay! Just emotions, so many emotions. The fish-tailed girl seemed okay too, and the people surrounding the pool...well, they obviously cared about their friends. It was so lovely, so very unselfishly sweet...just really nice, really. Dion wished for a moment that the others were as emotional as humans, or almost-humans. It would be nice to have people care about her so much! But then again, that comes with other things too, like deep terror and misery. She was probably better off in the end. Dion investigates Celestial ! And stops being a fish for a little bit. That's about it really. Celes' comments on Iki got me thinking about the way different creatures might experience emotion, which was a really fun exercise. Thanks Celes!
|
|
|
Post by Killix on Oct 7, 2017 22:33:56 GMT -5
The result of solving the sphere puzzle was immediately noticeable as the buzzing noise that had always hummed merrily in the back of her skull had finally ceased. Confetti did not burst out of the console, nor did panels slide away to reveal a shimmering golden treasure - Nope, the reward was something far more valuable than coins or shiny stones. Ghosts of ancient memories, digitized and vaulted away for decades were now recovered. The first thing that floated into Velia's memory was a single name. Renori. That was her name, wasn't it? The ancient alien officer who Velia was somehow profoundly connected to. It was a strange experience, as the new-but-actually-centuries-old memories flitted in and out. Thoughts, feelings, experiences of a life that was not her own - they began to settle perfectly as if they had always been there. There were books, trinkets and artifacts lined along shelves - her personal collection of "treasures". Mementos of the journey.More thoughts passed by, including the most peculiar memories of enjoying a variety of alien foods. The second-hand experience was quite a surprise; Renori sure had a very acute sense of taste. It was very different from her own experiences of attempting to eat plants with her mouth. It was much easier to draw out the life essence with her fangs, but then she always ended up with a mouthful of ashes in the end. Never a pleasant taste. Tesarian. That's the name of Renori's species. Velia suddenly 'remembered'. Key features were long quills running down their back, long striped tails, and an area of hardened skin at the end of their muzzle that looked somewhat like a beak, but their mouths weren't anything like a beak. They looked pretty neat, and kinda huggable. "These flowers have some very interesting properties! They smell nice, too. Always a worthy combination."Velia popped out of her memory-induced daze. The greenhouse was Renori's project. It belonged to her, but I've inherited her memories... Does that mean...? Is it now mine? Does alien-memory inheritance work that way??All of those moments spent wondering, being super jealous, and dreaming of getting permission to take a few seeds from those miracle plants... and she - er, her alien ancestor, was the actual owner all along? Velia gaped. Renori, in her pursuit of science (and to a lesser extent, pretty alien treasures), had unknowingly left behind a stash of miracle food for her vampire descendant. Slowly, the initial burst of memories subsided. Well, that was it. The final puzzle had been solved and after three days of chaos, they'd finally found what they were supposed to find. "I have fulfilled my orders," Scip announced. "I have repaired the ship to the best of my abilities given the resources available, and the crew's memories have been restored." His gaze shifted downward briefly. "Please be aware that because of this, the Beast will shortly regain its memories as well. It is crucial now to use the crew's memories and knowledge to find a way to nullify its threat."Oh. Right. Velia slumped. The beast.It wasn't over yet. Not until The Chosen Ones had defeated the Final Boss. Velia has some less vague memories about her alien ancestor, a Tesarian named Renori.
Yay, it's all over, we can go home! Or not, because there's still a beast to KO.
|
|
|
Post by Lizica on Oct 7, 2017 23:30:36 GMT -5
Both Velia and the doctor had grinned at each other with a relieved, excited vigor. Hannah had tried wobblingly to mirror it, but she’d been unable to shake her confusion, in spite of it. She wasn’t sure if this really qualified as one of the best sci-fi fantasy movies ever? (Fewer clanging, slithering, hungry beast death threats might be nice?) And non-humans? Velia had mentioned non-humans, specifically many non-humans. More than the tall toothy creature that had been across the room and the doctor here? Hannah squinted toward the pool party again. Was she implying those animals were non-human humans? She squinted harder. ...Was that Alexis? ...That was Alexis with the shark tail. What. What what what. Well, that explains why no one is screaming for lifeguards and evacuation, right----Had Velia implied herself to be non-human? What? What what what? But she had a fuzzy sweater and everything? Hannah smushed her own face, as if questioning if she was human herself. She thought about having listened to the local radio station rerun just this morning: I don’t really know what normal means in Wrighton.She might have asked something aloud of the pair, but someone made a new suggestion for the sphere puzzle, and their attention turned back to the circles and lines of symbols. Beatrice remembering bits of the symbols with the mouse toy was extremely helpful, and occasionally Hannah would toss an uncertain suggestion into the ring because this was their most current team-building exercise with possible Answers, but still. It was all still rather confusing. Were they getting better at these puzzles? It was impossible to tell. But she was glad she didn’t have to try to solve them alone. Still somewhat in a confused daze, Hannah had stood as, finally, with a group effort, they slowly cracked the meaning piece by piece and someone at last entered the puzzle’s answer. The world felt quiet, for that moment. The volume of Hannah’s world felt like it was turned down on a dial, as some distant, yet ubiquitous white noise in that moment tapered away. That almost tangible whispering quiet rippled throughout the room. And after a moment, Hannah realized the doctor was crying; she wasn’t sure if she should comfort him, even if she could. And then--maybe it was just the sphere giving a read on the weather and wind speed--but Hannah instinctively looked upwards, closer to the ceiling, below the fans and clear domes, at the towering wall of offices. There’s my office, she thought. A pause. A refocus. Hannah squinted up at the one office in particular. That’s Bek’s office.Hannah continued to squint as she studied it, even though she knew exactly what it looked like, even at this distance. Maps and charts were filed and shoved into every spare corner, some even pressed up to the windows. Buried beneath them, locked in safes, and scattered atop stacks of maps were scale models, digital storage of more star charts, gifted custom-built telescope lenses of tremendous size and strength, holographic projectors for three-dimensional maps, enormous translucent sheets that could be unrolled and stacked and pieced across the entire width of the command center so that one could walk alongside them to see how alternate dimensions of the same place differed. Even the space that had been Bek’s own was filled to bursting with maps of other places besides this one, with many sections incomplete, only partially whole before the ship had moved on. There was a careful order to it, but that did not negate its mess. It had been more of a storage space than an office, really. Bek preferred working in wider, more open spaces, anyway. Being stuck, especially in a single small space, was just stifling. At this thought, suddenly, yet belatedly, a quick zip! seemed to rocket straight up from Hannah’s hiking boots to the very top of her hat, and Hannah jumped. Nothing hurt, nothing felt electrified--it just suddenly felt appropriate to jump. “HAHH!” she exclaimed, almost accusatory. It was you.She had been the navigator, Hannah thought. The ancestor-person, Bek--she had been the navigator, the second mate, she had been the one who helped guide the ship where it had traveled, tried to find safe paths and interesting possible destinations to suggest, she had helped navigate to so many new worlds in hopes that they would be better than the last, though inwardly never even entirely sure what exactly she wanted to see that was better; she had not planned or accounted for the disaster or the crash, but she had charted the eventual course toward Earth, and she had brought them to this place, to this spot, to this Wrighton. A part of Hannah wanted to continue exploring this inbound train of thought, but instead, her mind swerved backward onto a wild detour, and she suddenly recalled the many spools of red thread that she had bought way back on the first day of the Wrighton spring festival. She had attempted to use them in an effort to avoid circling, so as to finally escape Wrighton, but she had, in fact--almost like the labyrinth myth she’d chuckled to herself about at the time--only led herself back to the beginning, instead of pushing a different way through. “One can only know the way forward if one also knows the way back.” In a mental overlay, Hannah thought of the red thread, with its rough frayed ends, rolled along the Wrighton countryside like a layered, translucent map unfurled along the command center’s floor. And she was seized by a sharp pang of clarity, and annoyance, and horror, and exasperation. For so long--for so long! Days! Weeks! Months!--...okay, it hadn’t been months, but sometimes it had sure felt like it--For so long, Hannah had been hunting for someone else to blame or to bludgeon for being stuck here. But it was not a mysterious final boss she’d blamed all along--not a “madman” and not even a hot pink bumper sticker (Hannah still sort of blamed the hot pink bumper sticker)-- It had been she--her!--Bek, Hannah, whatever! Did it make a difference?--who helped plan this entire course of action and didn’t completely know what she was doing, explorations of the unknown be danged, had agreed to the last resort mindprog out of terrified desperation, had hated being trapped, but had wanted to go in circles in spite of wanting to do better just before her memories were forgotten. Hannah wondered if an ownership of full responsibility was another thing both she and Bek had been running away from. “It’s kind of hard to do it myself--Can somebody punch me?” Hannah asked, speaking to no one in particular. “Just, like, right in the face--” (Aaaahhhh, I hope I’m not messing anything up! xD) “The Joy of Run-On Sentences: A Post by Lizica”More in-depth memories and such will probably come, but Bek the ancestor (and Hannah) are the sort of mild scatterbrain whose memories would come in random spurts. Hannah’s first impression is just “AW DANGIT, I WAS THE ONE WHO NAVIGATED US HERE.” ...Also, that is a totally serious offer, and if your character would like to vent anger on their own issues, react impulsively to Beast fear (which can happen just after this for Hannah’s timeline), or just stare at Hannah and be all “*shrug* Alright, if you say so,” your character can definitely actually punch Hannah. She’d be much obliged, actually. (Just not Loorea, please. xP) If no one does, Hannah talking to herself is very in-character, too, so no sweat. xD Anyway, summary: Hannah belatedly inwardly responds to Velia and Atif’s ( Killix, ♥ Azzie) excitement about non-human reveals by just being very “bwuh?” I mean, it explains a lot, but still, when did that happen? I know you’ve got alien memories to process, Hannah, but you still live in your head too much. s(o_o)zShe’s distracted by the puzzle, however, and eventually, they all figure it out. Hannah notes the sphere’s weather reading, and instinctively looks up near the ceiling, where her ancestor’s office is. It’s full of maps ‘n navigational stuff. Then Hannah realizes what Bek’s job was on the ship, and realizes that she is in no small part responsible for getting to Wrighton in the very first place, and Hannah’s eventual getting stuck there is probably both their faults. She kindly requests a punch in the face, because it’s hard to satisfactorily punch yourself.
|
|
|
Post by Birdy on Oct 8, 2017 11:56:41 GMT -5
The Central Park group soon reached their door, and Ayo approached, phone in hand, ready to crack the lock that barred their entry. After much searching through their phone, they finally found the four squiggles required. They seemed suddenly subdued. "I'm sorry for all this," they said, their throat tight. "It's almost over. I promise."“You don’t have to apologize,” Audo said. “It’s not like all this is your fault, or anything.” Ayo simply turned and announced over the intercom that they were about to enter the code to unlock the door. When that was completed, the door wooshed open and the group stepped forward and into the room... It was enormous - the biggest room Audo had ever seen in his life. There were offices, and desks, and- was that a pool?? And in the center of it all… sat the chair. Audo could only assume it was the Captain’s chair. He glanced surreptitiously around at the others gathered. Which of them - the Sixteen - was it? It could be any of them. And, with a jolt, Audo realized that included himself. An uneasy feeling began to creep into his stomach as the groups descended the stairs, and he dearly hoped he had not been the Captain way back when. He didn’t think he could handle that much responsibility. He was still getting used to the idea of even being a part of all this. Around the chair sat desks - for some of the officers, he assumed. (For himself? What had he done, back then? What position had he held?) As he pondered this, someone from one of the groups came over, and… somehow recognized Mary as Liz?? Before Audo could try and explain, however, Ayo moved in front of Mary and began to explain everything. ...Oh. Uh. O-okay, uh. That- that was okay. He’d… he’d been going to - was even standing next to Mary first - but… okay. (He wondered briefly if Liz would want as much information shared as was being shared, but it was a bit late for that now.) Mary began to wander, taking in the smells, and before Audo could follow her, Ayo rushed after Mary and began explaining her to everyone - and it wasn’t long before Doctor Atif joined in. Audo slunk backwards, arms across his chest in a sort of lazy self-hug. ...That… That was okay. They had it covered. It was obvious they didn’t need him. He wasn’t necessary. They could handle it on their own. He’d just… he’d just go over here and… examine this… squiggle. On the wall. (It could be important, after all.) Yes. That was a good plan. He’d do that. Slinking away from the rest of the group, he went over to the wall, glanced at the squiggle, then began to wander the large room, taking in more of the sights. The pool, he noted, seem to have cubicles inside, and appeared to be very deep. (How deep, he wasn’t sure. Nor did he care to find out, at the moment. His hand tightened on his guitar strap and he backed away from the pool.) There was so much more to take in, and a glance at the group showed nothing much had changed. Everyone was still mingling, and Mary was being introduced to everyone by her new best friend. Audo turned away sharply, shoving the strange, uncomfortable feelings that were bubbling up away. He didn’t want to deal with that now. Instead, he let the pang of loneliness remain as he kept his distance. Loneliness, he could deal with. Loneliness was familiar. Sighing, he examined one of the work stations, while noting the squiggles on the floor. They seemed to be everywhere, leading in different directions like a trail of breadcrumbs, or a yellow brick (or would that be squiggle?) road. He wondered, briefly, where all they led - there about three-fourths of the ship he hadn’t seen yet, after all. He hoped there would be time to explore that later. (He was tempted, briefly, to see if he could sneak off and explore now, but the memory of the Beast’s passing still lingered. He had no desire to meet that while all alone.) He could hear the chatter from the group drifting over. Everyone was getting along fine - and that was fine. That was good. It was good they were getting along. Yes. This was their spaceship, buried underneath their town, after all. They didn’t need some… some outsider poking his nose in where it didn’t belong anymore. No. No, he was fine here, on his own, examining this very fascinating workstation where very fascinating paperwork was done, he was sure. Or other Very Fascinating things. Like. Um. ...Space-work. The sound of someone approaching distracted him from these “very fascinating” thoughts, and as they neared, began to whine. Mary, then. Something about too many people (a feeling which Audo could understand), and too many questions, and loud voices. Before he could reply to her, however, the room suddenly faded away, seemingly transporting him to another time and place… *** Running. He was running. Feet pounding the floor as he clutched the comm device in his hand, glancing over the latest messages once again. He’d gotten caught up in something on the other side of the ship - some last-minute preparation, and he’d gotten too involved and– He wanted to know she was safe too. The knot of fear twisted his stomach tighter. He was worried too. About what would happen next, and... Not quite. Just a bit more…! I’m trying, he thought desperately, his grip on the device tightening as he tried to increase his speed. With a hasty apology he dodged another crew member, and ran on. He could only hope he'd get there in time. His mind raced - how had things gotten so bad so quick? He wished he knew. Wished he knew how to stop the Beast that pursued them all. Wished that things weren't so grim. Finally, he saw it - the door to the command center. He nearly fell on the button to open the door, and barely crossed the threshold, hearing the door shut behind him, when all hell broke loose. He fell - that much he knew. He sprawled onto the floor and everything broke loose around him - literally. He wasn't sure entirely what all happened - it happened too fast - but he knew the sound of breaking glass and crunching metal. Of wood splintering. Of it crashing and hitting the floor below, falling from the offices above. And then he knew nothing. For a time, that is. His senses slowly returned - how long had passed he wasn't sure, but it couldn't be that long. He groaned softly and slowly stirred - and immediately regretted it as seemingly every nerve in his body simultaneously screamed in pain. Stifling a cry of his own, he instinctively tried to curl up, only to send a fresh wave of pain shooting through his body. Choking on a gasp, it turned into almost a gurgle as he clamped his eyes shut and took a few shuddering breaths to try and steady himself, as he realised what had happened. He was pinned underneath debris. Something - lots of somethings (bits of the ship? Furniture from the offices upstairs?) - pressed down from above, driving bits of glass and shards of metal that had fallen and scattered across the floor into his body. One arm - the left arm - was pinned beneath him, likely broken considering the amount of pain, but the other was spared - free to move around as much as the pain would allow. He could barely move, trapped laying on his stomach, and any attempts to move only served to further agitate matters. For a brief moment he feared he’d lost all feeling in his legs, but after an agonizing moment he found he was able to wiggle his toes - just barely. Not that that would matter, if things were as bad as they seemed… With a cringe, he tried to turn towards the dais, to raise himself up, to push against what weighed him down, to at least catch a glimpse of who was there, but soon collapsed in exhaustion. It was too much work, there was too much debris… Pulling his free arm close, he bent it and buried his face inside. Everything hurt, and the only thing he could think of was the pain. After a moment, he looked up, eyes dully scanning what he could see of the room. His eyes eventually came to rest on his dropped comm device - how it had managed not to get completely crushed by debris he didn’t know. He could just barely see the screen, and in addition to the earlier messages, there was a new one - it must have just come in. He extended his free arm, trying to get it, but it was just out of reach, and he dropped his arm with a whimper of pain after only a short period of time. He paused, and took a few deep breaths to steady himself before trying again, stretching as far as he could, trying to push past the overwhelming pain that shot through his entire body, but the comm device stayed stubbornly, tantalizingly, just out of reach - his claws just barely scratched at the edges of it, unable to grasp it. Dropping his arm, he curled it close and once again buried his face in it, squeezing his eyes shut against the tears of pain and frustration that threatened to fall, whimpering again with the effort and all-around feelings of helplessness. He thought he heard the Captain and officers and Scip discussing something, but he was too exhausted to try and listen. He could guess what it was, anyway. "Listen up, everyone," the Captain’s voice cut into this thoughts like a knife, echoing over the ship-wide comm. "We all know what this means and if we’re to survive it – in the broadest sense of the word – there’s no time to waste. I’m enacting the emergency backup protocol effective immediately."A feeling of fear and desperation filled him, and he again struggled to free himself from all the debris before giving up and just laying there on his stomach, face buried in his arm as he tried to muffle his sobs. He thought he heard, just barely, the Captain and Scip talking - he could guess what it was, but he still didn’t want it to be true. To actually be happening. But that didn't really matter, did it? What was done was done, and there was no way to change the past, as much as he wished there were. They'd tried so many things, tried so hard to stop the beast that kept them constantly on the run, but now… One way or another, they were going to stop running. In the quiet, he became aware of distant clangings, coming ever closer. The Beast was free. The Beast was coming. And nothing could stop it. Still, though, the Captain talked. He couldn't hear all the words, but from what he could catch, they were explaining to Scip - in detail - what was to be done if this crazy last-ditch effort were to fail. He had already been briefed on that - they all had. It was not a result he cared to think about. They would all die - for good. (Though really, with this plan… they were all about to die in a way anyway. Everything they knew, everything they were, would end. They would be “reborn” as something else, and everything they were now - all the wonderful amazing diverse species - would be gone. Erased, wiped away as they had never even existed. There would be nothing left but memories to hopefully be regained someday by complete strangers, and whatever archives would be left on the ship. He could only hope that one day, someone would see it all again, even though he never would.) There was silence for a short time. Then, a loud thunk - right outside the door. He instinctively jerked away, trying to run; the scream of fear and pain stuck in his throat and he trembled. The sheer and utter terror that being this close to the Beast produced overrode logic, kicking in a sense of self-preservation, causing him to again struggle beneath the rubble in a last-ditch effort to escape, despite the shooting pain it sent all over his body. Despite the fact that his legs were pinned under the rubble, likely broken. Despite the fact that he couldn't even hold himself up long enough to grab a blasted comm device that lay only an arm’s length away. Despite everything, he was still trying to run. "Cutting it very close, Cap!" barked the Head of Engineering’s voice over the overhead comm. The Captain’s last words carried clearly across the room. "Execute emergency backup protocol now!"The cry of despair lodged in his throat, and he shut his eyes tightly, still trembling in terror from the Beast he could feel just outside the door, as one last thought rippled through his mind. I don't want to die...*** What— What the hell was that.As reality - his reality, the reality of the here-and-now, rather than… then - resumed, Audo found himself kneeling on the floor of the command center, one hand pressed to his mouth, muffling his sobs as tears ran down his face, and the other held his stomach, as if attempting to hold himself together against whatever it was he'd just experienced. His head was whirling - what had just happened? Was it another mind-message, like the buzzing? He glanced around the room - it appeared that others were having similar reactions, so this wasn't isolated to just him, at least. It seemed, in fact, to have affected everyone in the room - not just the Sixteen, like the buzzy messages had. That… that was a bit of a relief, at least. ...Not that everyone had suddenly been slammed with some… memory-thing, that is, but. That he wasn’t the only one affected. ...Wait… Everyone in the room. But that would include– His head snapped to the side, where he had last heard Mary. Was she okay? How had she been affected by this? It was not Mary he saw, kneeling on the floor beside him, but Liz. The look in her eyes chilled him to the core. Anger. Hurt. Disgust. She hated him. He wracked his mind as she snatched up the mirror again, and seemed to trace something on its surface. What had he done? Or what hadn’t he done? He tried to think through the muddle in his mind to find out what might have caused such… such scorn, but drew a blank. He turned away, unable to face Liz with the sudden feelings of guilt that threatened to overwhelm him. Was it because he’d let the others take the lead and explain about Mary? That so much information had been shared, instead of keeping it vague? Maybe it was - he couldn’t think of anything else. Shakily, he got to his feet, and found himself blinking back tears again. But no matter how he swiped at them, they persisted in falling. Finally, he gave up and just let them, too tired to fight. He thought he heard Mary give a whine behind him, though he wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to turn around to check - not right now. But then, he felt something begin to reach around him from behind - just like yesterday, in that breakroom when… Before he even fully realized what he was doing, he turned and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face against her as the tears began to fall again. Mary returned the gesture (minus the tears), and for a moment, Audo felt himself beginning to relax. The confused jumble of thoughts seemed to quiet, the tears slowed, and everything seemed at peace. He gave himself a few moments to try and steady himself, and it wasn’t long before Mary released him and began to shuffle away. Audo hesitated a moment - was it okay to let her wander off by herself, considering everything that was going on? She seemed to be headed for one of the doors. He took a few steps after her - thinking of following her, just in case, when she turned and growled softly at him. He froze in his tracks. She’d… she’d growled at him… “Don’t follow,” she rumbled.Audo stayed put, hardly daring to move. He swallowed hard as Mary left, blinking back another set of tears as she left him standing alone. Now what had he done? Had she simply been trying to get his attention, and he’d misunderstood, and–? Suddenly feeling very weary, he sank down into the nearest chair at one of the workstations, propped his elbows on the desk, and rested his head in his hands, eyes closed. He began to take slow, deep breaths to try and keep himself calm. It helped, a little. He tried to sort through his thoughts - about everything that had happened the past few days, what all had happened just today, whatever that… that memory-leak? had been… He barely registered what everyone else was doing - some were talking while others it sounded like were making use of the pool - but none of that really caught or kept his attention. He was too distracted by other things. At some point, he lifted his head briefly to take another look around the room in case things had changed (they hadn’t), and came to rest instead on one of the doors, leading out to the ship. ...Perhaps being away from all this was just what he needed. He wouldn’t have to go far, just outside would be fine. ...Or outside outside - out of the ship, into the fresh air… Fearbeast roaming the ship or no, he didn’t feel comfortable here. Didn’t feel as if he belonged - and not in the childish way someone might whine, gripe, and complain about “not being included” or “being left out” in everything, but a profound feeling deep inside of unbelonging - of not being needed. Loneliness may be familiar, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. He’d just gotten to his feet when a sudden wave of dizziness spread over him, and he bent over the desk, using it for support. What was that? Had he gotten up too fast? Or was it another flashback? He clamped his eyes shut and leaned harder as the dizziness increased. It almost seemed as if something were flickering right at the edges of his vision - his memory - but he couldn’t quite grasp it. He continued to hold on to the table, hoping dearly he wouldn’t pass out. And then, just as suddenly as it had come, the feeling stopped. Audo blinked, disoriented, and looked around the room, rubbing at the back of his head, where his skull met his neck. Again, it seemed others had also had this happen (and a brief wave of worry passed as Audo wondered if Mary had felt whatever that had been too), and then, in the midst of the others, Scip appeared. "I have fulfilled my orders," he said with an expression that might have been pride. "I have repaired the ship to the best of my abilities given the resources available, and the crew's memories have been restored." His gaze shifted downward briefly. "Please be aware that because of this, the Beast will shortly regain its memories as well. It is crucial now to use the crew's memories and knowledge to find a way to nullify its threat."
He paused, seeming to hesitate before continuing. "But... I am happy to see you all again."Some said a few things to Scip, while others seemed to be sorting through their newfound memories. Audo, still leaning on the workstation, decided to see about these new memories. He wasn’t sure what to think of first - after what he’d experienced earlier, wasn’t sure what to expect - but he closed his eyes and simply let his mind drift. What came into focus first, in his mind’s eye, was a door. When opened, it led to a small room with more doors. And those doors led to more doors which led to more, and sometimes there would be a flickering of a memory behind it, but when spotted, seemed to disappear in a flash like a flock of startled birds. The thought of trying to map all those doors seemed overwhelming at the moment, and blinking his eyes open, Audo began to think that perhaps he should save that or another time. After all, it wasn’t as if those memories would be going anywhere anytime soon, right? There would be time for remembering later, when— A wave of fear crashed over him, rooting him to the ground and causing an image - a memory - of his ancestor, trapped beneath debris and trembling in fear to flash before his eyes. This time something seemed different. The fear seemed different. There was a sense of urgency as well, and hadn’t Scip just said something about the Beast regaining its memories too? ...Which meant the Beast must be back at full power, Audo realized, paling. The same way it was over two thousand years ago, at the crash. And now it was coming for them all. The Central Park Group arrives at the Command Center, where they meet the other groups. Someone questions about Mary, and Ayo answers and pretty much tells everything before Audo has a chance to explain. They then follow Mary around, explaining as they go, and Atif also helps explain things.
Audo slinks backwards, suddenly feeling unnecessary (which I'm sure has nothing to do with him getting fired earlier that morning), and decides to examine squiggles instead. Then he pretty much just wanders the room, looking at stuff, finally ending up by one of the workstations.
Mary comes over about then, whining about all the *shudder* people, but before Audo can really respond to that, Flashback happens! \ o /
In said flashback, Audo’s ancestor - Nemo - is trying to get to the Commander Center, prompted by messages. He gets there in time, but alas - it’s just as they crash. He falls inside, the door closes behind him, and then he gets buried and trapped beneath debris. He can’t really hear the others well - he hears them talking, but can’t always make out the words clearly. Then, beast attack! Right outside the door he’s beside. Then, nothing.
Audo comes back to reality in tears, and has many more Feels as Liz is suddenly mad at him, then Mary gives him a hug but then walk away and growls at him, and then he gets all fuzzy-headed as everyone regains all their memories, and THEN he feels a wave of fear from the reawakened fearbeast and realizes it's coming for them all.
All in all he’s had a pretty cruddy day so far.
|
|