March Mingle Madness (aka SURPRISE it's another mingle)

[bryces_pup]

Who: Crew members and visitors of the SS Blue Fish
Broadcast: nope
Action: On the Blue Fish, naturally.
When: Throughout March!

[Another month, another mingle. Once again, any visitors on the ship should bear in mind that there are locks installed all over the ship, so someone on board's gotta let you in. Or you can just stand there. And stare. And hope someone takes pity on you.]

Comments

[dancingmd]

Not exactly. That universe was too dependent on my own to remain stable - the warp bubble could not be maintained indefinitely, so everything within that universe started collapsing. Conventional parallel universes exist independently of one another. Yet they are interconnected in that every possibility exists at once. In one universe, I choose to become a doctor, in another a dancer - in the grand scheme of things, there would be very little difference between those two universes, but my life and all the lives of those I’ve ever known would change. Wesley would probably not exist, but another child might. Someone might die because I wasn’t there and someone else might learn to dance because I was.

And that’s just on an individual scale. The differences start to become a lot more pronounced the bigger the changes are. For example, somewhere along the way, your world developed magic, while mine did not, and that changes… everything.

[bryces_pup]

[Riona doesn't consider herself stupid, but this is a bit much for her to swallow. She wants to understand, but there's still so much that she doesn't know that she's not even sure where to begin. Parts of what Beverly says makes sense. She grasps the... philosophical part of it, for a lack of better term. It's the mechanics that throw her.]

I don't quite get how these different universes exist alongside of each other. But then, there's much about universes I don't know.

My world has the Fade, which is where magic is drawn from. I... take it yours does not have such a thing?

[dancingmd]

[No, not stupid at all. It's a complicated thing to understand and physics isn't Beverly's strong suit. No doubt Wesley or Geordi would be able explain things much better to Riona, if they were here.

Beverly shakes her head.]

We do not. No magic whatsoever.

[bryces_pup]

No Fade, no magic, and thus I assume no spirits or demons. Do you not dream then?

[Which might sound like an odd question to Beverly...]

[dancingmd]

[Very odd indeed. Her brow furrows and she tilts her head curiously.]

Of course we dream. It's a natural human function. If we don't dream... well, we quite literally cannot live without dreaming.

[bryces_pup]

Strange. Then you must... dream differently, somehow.

[She worries at her lip.]

In Thedas, our souls go to the Fade when we sleep, and that's how we dream. The Fade is said to be a constantly changing place, shaped by intention and thought. Or so I've been told.

[dancingmd]

It's an automatic function of the brain that occurs during the deepest part of the sleep cycle, which is why it's important. It's not the dreaming itself, but rather that deep sleep that is critical to staying healthy. [She hastens to add:] For us.

[Not that she doesn't suspect it's the case for them as well since REM sleep is important to most mammals but, really, there's no reason to argue that point.]

So do you dream here?

[bryces_pup]

I do. Which is a little strange, I'll admit. But it sounds like your way of dreaming is much safer than how one dreams back home. Though really, it's only dangerous if you're a mage. [A beat.] Must be nice for any mages here not to have to worry about possession when they dream.

[dancingmd]

Possession? You mean like... Demons?

[bryces_pup]

[Nod.]

Yes. The Fade is the realm of the spirits. It is an ever changing place, shaped by feelings, intentions and memories. When we dream, the Fade and spirits respond to our memories and emotions. For non-mages, it is safe. But for mages, it's a different story. They have magic, and that power is drawn from the Fade itself. Spirits can sense that, and the crueler ones will be drawn to that power and seek it out. If a mage is not careful, the demon can possess their body. And that's when things generally get ugly.

[dancingmd]

[Ronin wasn't a demon, only an alien but well... she believes she has some idea what that's like.]

That's awful. Is there no way to counteract it?

[bryces_pup]

If they are not too far gone, if they have not yet become an abomination, a mage can go into the Fade - provided they have enough lyrium - and can kill the demon in the Fade, freeing the host.

Otherwise... death is the only other option.

[dancingmd]

Dreams that can kill... [Beverly suppresses a shudder. Sounds like a horror holonovel.] I think I am grateful we have nothing like that.

[bryces_pup]

Only for mages, but yes. Be glad. I envy that the people where you're from can do such without such... ramifications. [Especially considering what mages are subjected to because of that inherent danger.]

[dancingmd]

[She nods and falls silent for a moment, thoughtful.]

What are your dreams like now? Are they any different from home?

[bryces_pup]

...you know, that's a good question.

[There's a moment where she considers it, trying to think back and see if she dreamt about anything out of the ordinary.]

I've dreamed about people in the fleet. Also, weird bits and pieces from what I've learned that my mind likes to mash together and concoct the strangest dream from. But nothing terribly out of the ordinary, no.

[dancingmd]

Sounds fairly normal, yes.

[She smiles sadly.]

Though I tend to dream of home more often than I dream of the fleet.