(no subject)

[grandstanding]

Who: Erik Lehnsherr & anyone
Broadcast: Fleetwide video, unintentional
Action: The Marsiva
When: 26th Feb

[When the feed begins, Erik is already awake. Awake, but not yet moving from the bed. He's holding himself in the kind of intense stillness that preludes a burst of activity. And it comes shortly after, as he rolls swiftly to his feet and surveys the deck. This isn't the mansion, that much is clear. Nor is it part of any realm he's been in that he can tell. His brow furrows as he glares daggers into a featureless wall. While there is nothing of particular interest about it - it's just a wall - he seems to be observing something he finds off-putting about it.

He shakes his head abruptly, a quick jerk of the chin.] No. [With nothing further to say than that, he turns and stalks out of frame, with only a cursory glance at the communicator left behind.

Ten minutes pass, the feed holding on a truly exciting shot of that empty bed and floor.

But soon enough he re-enters the frame, wearing an expression somewhere between frustrated and resigned. This time, he does notice the communicator. After a considering pause, he walks over, reaching out ... and turns it with a finger, pointing the camera at the wall. His voice rings out clearly a moment later.]

If someone is watching, I'd appreciate an explanation. I haven't got much patience for these kinds of games anymore.

Comments

[grandstanding]

Yes. I knew Belt there.

[He pauses then, circling back around to the comment about the castle. That was too odd.]

Is that why you said the castle?

[experiencepoints]

[She sighs, and lowers her head.]

It... was the castle. It didn't stop being the castle until the day before I was taken here.

[She's not sure how else she can put it, in a way that won't risk giving Nyssa any more power.]

[grandstanding]

[For a moment, he's baffled as he tries to work out the timelines. That was weeks ago... months. And he's seen Nightingale around since then, he's sure of it.]

Then all I can say is that it still wasn't the castle when I left.

[experiencepoints]

Damn it. I guess good news was too much to hope for.

[grandstanding]

I don't tend to have much of that, at the best of times.

[He's still reading through the document. Now, though, he pauses, his expression going rigid. And he reaches up slowly to feel behind his left ear.]

[experiencepoints]

.... Yeah. The implant sucks, too.

And, um. There's... one more thing I haven't mentioned yet.

[grandstanding]

[Taking bets on how long until he tries taking a knife to it. After a long, long pause, he lowers his hand.]

What is it?

[experiencepoints]

There's... a few people here, who were at the castle, but have no memory of it. Instead, they remember being at different interdimensional shitholes. Generally ones that don't involve amnesia or teams.

... Rosella, from my team, is one of them. And...

And Willow.

[grandstanding]

[He never really knew Rosella, and thus doesn't know the name. Nor does he recognise her later when Hermione comes to call. Willow, though. That stings, about as much as Lace did.]

Do they know? Have you mentioned it to them?

[experiencepoints]

I've... mentioned it? She had no idea what I was talking about, and I couldn't be specific, for obvious reasons. And, I mean, it's not like I was ever close to Willow. For all I know, it could just be someone who is... totally identical. In face and voice. Weirder shit's happened.

[grandstanding]

[He would know, if he got her name. He's heard it often enough in her memories that he's seen. Or, well... he could just avoid her entirely. Something to decide later.]

True enough. Thank you for letting me know.

[experiencepoints]

No problem. Figured that's not something you'd want to be surprised by.

[grandstanding]

[It isn't, no. But it's one he can deal with.]

I've learned to manage unfortunate surprises, in my time.

[experiencepoints]

Yeah, so have I.

Like waking up with amnesia in a bullshit castle.

[grandstanding]

I have to say, waking up with my memories intact is almost novel.

[Not enough to make him happy, but it's... an upside...?]

[experiencepoints]

No kidding.

... There's still another color-coded amnesia shithole out there. "Aather", it was called.

[grandstanding]

Someone just told me.

[Someone who looks eerily like Charles, which made it even more alarming to hear.]

I didn't want to think a third one could exist... two was bad enough.

[experiencepoints]

... So... No one told you about Sabra, then.

[grandstanding]

Sabra...?

[The name rings a bell, but he can't quite remember where he's heard it before.]

[experiencepoints]

The world Bluebird and Spark were from.

... It, ah... Was turned into one of those places, eventually.

[grandstanding]

[Erik did meet Bluebird a few times, and he knows Maya was fond of her. He's certain they never talked about... ah. His eyes widen as it clicks.]

Someone told me about it, once. In the library. That was over a decade ago, for me.

[experiencepoints]

... You've been doing this shit for more than ten years...?

[she involuntarily shudders at that, just imagining.]

... I guess it makes sense. There's some people here who have been... In various interdimensional shitholes themselves. For several years. I think the highest one of them said eight.

[grandstanding]

Not consecutively. Added together, it would be more like eight months, spread over time. Two in the library. Nearly six in Kyriakos.

[He's only been able to sort out the whens of the situation recently, when he finally received all his memories back. Plus, the fact that he didn't remember the library after leaving it threw a real spanner in his works.]

Eight years?

[experiencepoints]

... It's been over a year for me. About half a year at the castle, then over half a year here.

That's what I'm told. I... don't necessarily want to say any more than that. It's not my story to tell, after all.

[grandstanding]

Fair enough. But the fact that there are so many different types of experiences like this is concerning.