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[winscenario]

Who: Jim Kirk 2.0 & you?
Broadcast: no
Action: Marsiva
When: latter part of the calibrations; during the glitching issues


[ Jim notices something is off right on the first day it happens.

It doesn't take much, granted. Having a pilot augment, and having taken to exploring this ship for the past few weeks, he quickly notices when previously plain and inconspicuous glass squares now reveal themselves to be actual computers. He doesn't touch them right away, though, first making sure that he's completely alone in the hallway, and< then he starts poking around.

He doesn't dredge up all the information in one go, unfortunately. But he also is perfectly convinced that he can just go back the next day and pick up where he left off.

But the next day he wakes up, and he remembers none of it.

The second time he's not as stupid, though. This time there's something nagging at the back of his mind, like when he knows he's forgotten something, he just can't quite put his finger on what. Something clicks when he passes by one of those screens again, though. He looks far more worried now as he digs up all the information he did the last time, and then some. He lingers for longer this time too, tries to find out even more from the computer, even attempts to find some way to save the data or send it somewhere.

When all that fails, he makes a beeline to his room, and grabs his personal journal so he can start jotting down everything he saw, everything he remembers. The names of any of the files and research reports that wouldn't open; the names of planets and whatever basic information was there on them, including all the comments on this "Evronias" planet; all the coordinates provided; all the ships' names and information, present and past; even the basic information on every passenger on the Fleet. He has an excellent memory, nearly flawless, but he still goes back to the computer another time, making sure he has all the information he manages to get his hands on.

Then, at the end of it all, he adds a single line: "You've forgotten once."

And from then on, each day that he wakes up and goes through the same glitch again, he adds another line to his journal, explaining what happened this time, and saying how many times it's now been that he's forgotten. He'll probably look more and more concerned and frustrated as the days go by, and more and more attached to his personal journal too. If he sees someone he trusts, he might approach to ask if they've noticed anything weird going on, but if not, he might still be easy to spot near one of those squares made of black glass, or sitting somewhere, jotting something down almost frantically into his journal.

Whatever's going on, he'll find a way to keep remember it. And he can only hope that whatever's making him forget about this one thing, won't make him forget about everything else, too. ]

Comments

[stillgotmyleftarm]

[Bucky's been here a few days by now - more than long enough to get acquainted with what little there is to do in the common areas, and definitely more than long enough to want to start poking around.

He's still getting used to having the pilot augment, himself - it's weird, knowing things when he knows he didn't learn them. Weird, and unnerving... but also not entirely useless. So there is that, even if he's not sure he trusts the information to be complete and accurate. If someone put it there, they could obviously control how much and how true it was.

Either way, he's exploring, himself, when he comes across someone hunched over, looking at a square of black glass - wait. Did it just flicker into a computer screen?

Now he definitely stops and squints at it.] Did you do that?

[winscenario]

[ Usually the pilot augment doesn't change things much. Jim's always known how to pilot a myriad of spacecrafts, though it does come in handy that he understands the technology on the Fleet well enough that he just takes to any shuttle or ship he pilots without a second thought.

Right now, though, having this augment is starting to make him feel paranoid. No one so far has noticed the odd things happening, which is making him think that he might be going crazy.

So when this stranger approaches and stares at the screen, he steps back, looking at him with a certain measure of relief. ]

No. No, I... it's just showing something for me. [ Pointing to the screen, ] You can see that too?

[stillgotmyleftarm]

Yeah, [Bucky confirms, leaning in a little closer.] Is it not supposed to do that?

[He's new enough that he really has no idea.]

[winscenario]

I don't know what it's supposed to do. What I can tell you is that it wasn't doing this a few days ago. Just... looked like a piece of nondescript black glass.

[ Which is to say, there might not be anything wrong with the ship itself. But there might be something wrong with him. ]

[stillgotmyleftarm]

Same, [Bucky has to admit.] But I've only been here a couple of days, so...

[His mouth curls into a half-smile, a little helpless and self effacing.] At least if I'm going crazy, I'm not the only one? I think that makes me feel better.

[Although the fact that neither of them knows what's going on maybe doesn't.]

It doesn't look like it's saying anything useful.

[winscenario]

Right. Then everything must look weird to you, right?

[ After all, it looked weird even to Jim, to whom space travel has always been so commonplace. He can only imagine how odd this is to anyone else. ]

Most files seem to be corrupted or inaccessible in some way. What I can access seems... incomplete, or confusing. I'm still gathering it all, though. You never know when it might make sense in the right context.

[stillgotmyleftarm]

Yeah, kinda.

I mean. I'm also kinda used to everything looking weird? So it's not as weird as it could be.

But it's still weird.

[Super-helpful explanation, definitely.]

I've got a pretty good memory, even if I don't know what the thing I'm looking at means at the time.

If that helps.

[tempredmental]

[Keith had taken notes on these exact screens last time, too. In fact, he could be found doing the same things as Jim... poking at them, taking notes, drawing sketches of what they look like... He had managed to be lucky enough to have one of his notebooks with him to do just that in.]

[winscenario]

[ It wasn't hard to spot his own behavior on someone else. Recognizing Keith encouraged him to approach with little reticence, his own journal tucked underneath his arm as he leaned over to see what Keith was writing. ]

You saw something too, did you?

[tempredmental]

Yeah.

[Keith looked back at Jim for a moment.]

These seem to be based on augment... what we see. My friend is an Engineer, and she saw something different than I did last time. She didn't see these panels like I did, or the information on them.

[He decided not to bring up the weird energy that was starting to creep in again like last time. That seemed to be something only certain types of people could pick up on... namely, psychics and the like.]

[winscenario]

Really?

[ Jim's interest piqued visibly. He stopped trying to look at what Keith was writing in favor of looking him in the eye. ]

What did she see, then? Did she get any specific information, like we did?

[tempredmental]

Well, it was more like she saw the inner workings of the ship itself. There were glowing blue tubes and strange arms that came out of the walls.

[He frowned.]

I have a different book this time than I had last time, so I don't have my notes with me, but...

[Quickly, he wrote in the corner...

show Jim notes from first calibrations]

I don't know if I'll remember this conversation tomorrow... or even after we get back to the ships, but these notes don't disappear. So, I'll at least see this and be able to show you what I have there after this is over.

[winscenario]

Really? That's... interesting.

[ The prospect of gaining insight on the ship's inner workings was incredibly appealing, and he just as quickly jotted down on his journal to get in touch with Keith later. He added enough information to know he'd get his own attention, without giving away too much, just in case. ]

Likewise. I'll remember to get in touch. And I figure that even if we can't remember these conversations and what we're seeing right now, once all this passes we should at least be able to memorize whatever it is we've written down on our journals, right?

[jolting]

[To put it simply, Victor is getting worried.

He knows this behavior. This obsessive note-taking and the increasingly frustrating attitude. He doesn't say anything at first. After all, this is exactly the sort of behavior he was known for. But the more frustrated James gets, the more he goes over the journal, the more Victor worries]

Only one of us is supposed to be mad, you know.

[winscenario]

[ The rooms they have here are smaller than the one on the Heron, the beds narrower too, but that hasn't stopped Jim from sharing one with his fiance anyway. It's where he is right now, sitting with his legs folded and his journal propped against his own knees, glasses on as he scribbles down onto the pages. He looks up when Victor speaks up, pausing for a moment. ]

I'm seriously starting to wonder. [ Still, he sighs and sets the journal aside for a moment. ] Haven't you noticed anything... I don't know, weird? Seen something that most other people don't?

[jolting]

[He thinks about this for a moment. His definition of "weird" doesn't always match up with other people's, but that may be exactly why James is asking]

Not since we were all bouncing around each other's heads. I'm guessing that's what the notebook is for.

[winscenario]

[ Yeah, if Victor says he's seen something weird then Jim knows for sure he's not going crazy. ]

No, not that. I remember every detail of those dreams. This is... I've been seeing these weird things around the Marsiva, noticing things I never saw before. And when I go to sleep, I just... forget all about them.

[jolting]

Well... if you forgot about them, it's possible I saw those same weird things and forgot, too. Maybe if we walk around the ship, we'll see the weird things again.

[winscenario]

I can take you to one of those places, just to check if you can see what I see.

[ He gets to his feet promptly, holding his journal close. He'll take it with him, just in case anything happens and he needs to jot anything down. ]

[universal_charm]

_{[ It's hard not to notice yourself looking stressed, looking worried. Kirk felt it too, a nudge at the back of his brain, knowing that Atroma was doing something, hating that it was. Hating he could do nothing to stop it, that, as of now, there was no cure - mostly because of whatever Atroma had slipped into their brains, quite literally, he was sure. He had his coffee in hand, the bridge of the Enterprise left behind for the day when he caught sight of his other self, so clearly out of sorts. ]}

Please tell me you've just had to much coffee today.

[winscenario]

Who, me? I wish.

[ He sighed as Kirk approached him with his own coffee. Jim lowered his journal, a bunch of notes and sketches drawn across the pages, and if Kirk was watching before, he'd have realized he was apparently copying something he was seeing on the black glass embedded in the wall of the corridor, though it should look completely blank to his twin.

Still, he pointed towards it, figuring there was no harm in asking. ]

I'm guessing you can't see anything, there?

[universal_charm]

_{[ Jim looked towards the black screen, completely blank to his eyes, being an Engineer and not a pilot. ]}

Yeah, totally blank.

_{[ He reached out and tapped the pages of the journal. ]}

But you can, right?

_{[ His tone isnt worried so much as curious, intrigued even. He glanced at the wall again and back at his twin, expectant. ]}

[winscenario]

Yes. It's a computer.

[ He didn't hesitate to explain, because he knew Kirk would accept it as the truth, and wouldn't think him to be crazy. He handed his journal to Kirk too, a good chunk of information already written down on it, though it seemed like he was still sorting through the files. ]

This is the third time I've had this happen to me. I see these, then I go to sleep, and... I forget everything. Writing down the information has been the best way I've found to remember it later.

[universal_charm]

_{[ Kirk nodded, taking the journal and flipping through it slowl as he listened. He seemed unsurprised by the idea that Jim was forgetting it come morning, or even that he could see it. His brow crinckled, biting his lip for a half second. ]}

I should show you something. We need to compare notes.

_{[ He snapped the journal shut and offered it back. ]}

Good thinking on the note taking. I’m sure Atroma is hoping most people won’t be so attentive.

[winscenario]

[ He took the journal and nodded promptly, gesturing for Kirk to lead the way. ]

Yeah, well-- being paranoid comes in handy, sometimes.

[ And having a physical journal was proving to be incredibly useful now. ]

Have you noticed anything different, too?