016 // video

[bifroster]

[It has been some time since Jane has been on the network. Keeping off of it except for when needed was not accidental; she wanted to see more people in person, physically see them to assure herself that they were okay. Let them know that she was there if they needed her. But, things have been turning around in her head and she needs to crowd source.]

Hey, everyone. I have some questions, but given their nature, feel free to not answer them.

First, how clear are your memories from that world? Feel free to be as detailed or objective as you want. You don’t need to tell me anything personal if you don’t want to.

Second, if you remember anything clearly from that world, was it different or similar to this one? If it was similar, how so?

Third, did any of you manage to get anywhere near their Porters or see how they worked?

I have a ton of theories—the instability of this world happening again because of our actions last November, the possibility that other universe just crossed into ours for a time, the Porters in this world malfunctioning or connecting to those Porters somehow. I’m not above wondering if all of this is some sort of simulation, as has been mentioned by others. But if we want to figure anything out, we need more data, and at the moment, it’s just whatever personal accounts we might have. I really wish I could have kept the data I had from that other world, but …

[She gives a shrug with a sigh.]

That is Murphy’s law or something for you.

Comments

video; un: superhiro

[microbrobotics]

Tooootally missed it. Spent the whole time in Jeopardy. Not sure if I regret that or not, honestly.

video; un: superhiro

[bifroster]

Hiro!

Do not regret it. At all. I wish I had that luck.

[microbrobotics]

Was it that bad? What kinda stuff did you end up doing?

[bifroster]

Yeah. It was ... a really complicated situation, but that world was coming apart at the seams.

I tried to stay out of the mess, but I wish I hadn't. I should have tried to do more while I was there, even if I did help in the end. I think. We came back before we knew what happened.

text: un; catpurrcino

[chainlinks]

What if we're the simulation?

[Look he's been thinking about this a lot too.]

I remember us talking. It was strange, being in the body of someone who was me but still not me. Another self, I guess?

text: un; catpurrcino

[bifroster]

Yeah. I remember that conversation.

But that we're a simulation isn't too far out there either. Technically, all anything in the universe is information.

[chainlinks]

That's true. I always wondered what life would be like as a manga or a video game character but now I have to wonder if that's actually happened somewhere else, you know?

It's a lot to think about.

Video

[moonlitpath]

I don't think I went to... wherever we when during the missing month. Or, if I did, I don't remember it.

I hope it's not an instability. I like this world. It's a nice break from home.

[She can just be a kid here, after all.]

Video

[bifroster]

You're not the first person to say that.

It probably is because of the instability, but I like this world too.

[It's not home, but the people she has met here ... they're dear to her.]

Re: Video

[moonlitpath]

Do you think there's a way to stop it? The instability that is.

[kraythero]

I don't really remember anything?

[He does have some strange dream images but he's not sharing anything without Padmé's consent. ]

It just seems like an entire month is gone.

[bifroster]

Yeah, I've had some other people say the same thing, if they noticed anything gone at all.

[She gets the consent thing; there were likely people who found each other again in that world. So, she'll try to be as non-specific as she can.]

Was life normal for you, or did it feel like you were living some other life?

[kraythero]

The images I have things were normal. But they weren't?

[ He doesn't feel abnormal in these visions. But they aren't what life here is. ]

[Video]

[anthropophagite]

I wrote down a description of how that world was, if you wish to read it, miss Jane. But I never approached the Porter or their Gates.

[Video]

[bifroster]

I would love that, Kaneki. Thank you!

I didn't get much of a chance to approach their Porter or Gates either. I wish I had.

[Video]

[anthropophagite]

[ he will send her a link to what he told someone else ]

There it is. There is some more information on that post, if you want to read through the replies.

Video;

[biochemastery]

Very clear, too similar, and I tried, the locals weren't fans.

[He huffs, bent low to busy himself with something off-screen.]

Most important difference: More imPort-centric distortion. Lots of paranoia about power use, too many imPorts getting together under uncontrolled circumstances, a city that rearranges itself and hides the good coffee shops, surrounded by a bubble of reality-flensing chaos.

[He looks up at the communicator, gesturing with a micropipette.] I'd almost say it looked like a stable Void fissure, but I'm not counting on anything in this place to make sense by Grineer physics. Besides--Void stuff's not my field. Almost wishing it was now.

Video;

[bifroster]

Yeah, that was something I noticed as well. I was apparently high up in that hierarchy, but ... I wasn't myself. At least before we traveled there. I keep saying 'my other self', but I really need a better term. This is something like Quantum Leap, if that reference means anything to you.

[She leans forward, interested in some key terms he just said. Like Void.]

Grineer physics ... I'm not sure who that is. Is a branch of physics specific to your world?

[biochemastery]

Didn't have that other-me thing, not this time. Minding my own business, then suddenly I was there, then dumped back here like a pile of slag. [As for the reference? That deserved a shift into his human body just so he could give her a Look, with eyebrows and everything.] Not unless that's some new event at the Rathuum, a reference which definitely doesn't mean anything to you. [See? He can make cultural assumptions too!]

[And then in another blink, he's back to normal. Towering, synthetic, booming-voiced normal.] Y'know one of the worst things about this place? Being on Earth and having to explain what Grineer are. [It was an affront to his ego!]

Laying this out flat and simple: if this Earth's real, it's thousands of years away from the one I know. Empires rising, infesting the whole system with immortal lords, making clone slaves, getting mashed to bits by the slaves, slaves take over, eventually produce me. [There! All of Origin System history, distilled into one run-on sentence. Exposition at its finest!]

I only work on physics where it crosses over with the squishy sciences. Gene-coding, neurophysiology, eximus theory, making sure teleportation implants don't scatter you over a five kilometer radius, that sort of thing. Seen more than enough Void nonsense, but 'm having to make up the math as I go along.

Private Voice

[by_candlelight]

I. [ There's a pause. ] I remember more than I'd like to. I remember my time there pretty clearly, I guess. I mean, at least as clearly as I remember events from when I was basically starving to death slowly in my world. So I guess not clearly, but clearly enough.

I only remember shreds of what my older self was like. Hell, I'd say it was like a dream, but I remember my dreams a lot more than I do some parts of my actually lived life. But it's like what people say dreams are like. Where you mostly get the gist of what happened, with few to none of the details.

I don't think my other self ever really got close to the porters. She was a spy in the Sanctum Aurore, but I don't really remember what all she did. I remember that the duties I carried out while there were basic things, like scouting out areas for - funny enough, spies - and maintenance. Got to chill with some cool animals - pun absolutely intended since it was on one of the poles.

I want my data anonymized as much as possible if you share it with someone else. Aside from for a few people, I'm just going to pretend I lost that time. It's easier. Also less embarrassing. I guess it's easier to spy the first time than the second... [ As she trails off, her tone suggests that something happened that she's not mentioning. ]

Private Voice

[bifroster]

It seems like those of us who do remember are in the minority.

A lot of my experiences were like that too. I had memories of who I was in that world, but it wasn't me who did those things.

[The things her other self did in the name of science ... No wonder Isanne edged away from her and no wonder Mjolnir refused to lift for her. That should have been a big clue to her other self that something was wrong. That she had done wrong.]

I will. I plan down to par everything down to only the most basic of facts. With something like this, there's no need to reveal personal information.

[She pauses, picking up on that.]

But if you want to talk, I'd be happy to turn off the science brain and just listen.

Re: Private Voice

[by_candlelight]

How much of a minority? There are some people who if they remember anything, I'd like to thank them for attempting to get my dumb ass out of trouble, but if they won't know what I mean... [ She sighs. ]

I have some time I remember pretty clear enough, of me being in my other self's body. She was a spy in that place in the arctic and her notes gave me only enough information to not look completely out of place and to call her handlers. Problem is I got found out before the end of it all.

[ There's a long pause, then a sigh. ]

I've had worse deaths, which is a really depressing thing to say. At least now I have a dog.

[ She didn't know how disjointed those sentences might sound to someone who she hadn't mentioned the comforting power of dogs to. ]

video;

[cantgetanyworse]

I wish that I could remember it... it's terribly frustrating to know there's an entire part of my life that I can't recall.

[If whatever happened there could be said to be part of her life... but what had happened the other time something like this had occurred certainly felt like it was. There had been valuable lessons to be learned from that.]

Have you learned anything interesting?

video;

[bifroster]

You're not the only one who is frustrated about that. I'm kind of tired of having my mind or life messed with, even though I haven't lost any memories.

That I know of.

[Jane isn't sure if there was anything to learn from this last month. It was just a mass of confusion and misery in her book.]

So far, I've learned that there were three main categories: people like me, who remember everything; people who have only fuzzy memories; and people who didn't notice anything happened.

[cantgetanyworse]

Oh, so am I!

[It's the most insulting part of all of it, in fact! She sighs.]

I've been having strange dreams. I don't believe I'm the only one. But I can't seem to grasp the memories when I'm awake.