Permavid

[governorkang]

[After a few minutes of fumbling with the device and vague memories of how to use it, he finally figures it out.

For those who haven't seen him in his human form before, he has the same distinctive accent as his normal form.]

I am Commander Kang of the First Dragonarmy Engineering Regiment. I need to speak with anyone that may know me - I'd like to figure out what in the Abyss is going on.

Comments

[driftsintobuffetline]

[Hello hot dude who looks a lot like Shang from Mulan.]

Is, like, that LITERAL dragons? Like, do you ride dragons into battle?

[governorkang]

...yes. Literal dragons. What else would I mean?

[driftsintobuffetline]

Well, some cultures symbolize royalty with dragons, or associate them with prowess on the battlefield. You could have meant that. Geez.

[governorkang]

[Yeah, he just looks confused.]

Do you not have dragons here?

[driftsintobuffetline]

Oh, I have a dragon, a small one, but I sense they're a rarity even here, and back home, no we don't have dragons. We have lizards? We recently acquired Kaiju which are sort of like dragons, but they're not even carbon-based so who knows. Maybe if you go for some kind of ancient aliens theories, the dragons the Chinese and the Europeans made legends about were small Kaiju that made brief and rare appearances. Who really knows, though.

[governorkang]

[...what.

The Kaiju reference sparks a vague memory, though, along with Newt's distinctive voice.]

...do I know you?

[driftsintobuffetline]

Nah, man. I...I don't think so?

Maybe?
Maybe.

The whole nice cheekbones thing would have stuck with me. I'm a sucker for that shit. But... It feels like I know you but something feels not right, you know? Maybe it's the clothes? Do you normally dress like that?

[governorkang]

I think I do know you. What is your name?

[Whoa, wait. Why is this human bringing up his cheekbones? This makes him very uneasy for some reason.]

Ah, no. I am normally not human.

[driftsintobuffetline]

Newton Geiszler. Call me Newt.

[PUT ON A SHIRT, DARN YOU. I mean, uh. Cheekbones, yes. You did that on purpose]

...Oh, really? [Now he's even more interested, but in an entirely different way.]

[governorkang]

Geiszler. Yes. I do know you.

I am a draconian. Unfortunately, here, I seem to be stuck in this body.

[He gestures down at himself.]

[driftsintobuffetline]

Oh, well, yeah, you know, you have my pity. [He follows the gesture down, and if the gesture comes back up, his gaze doesn't immediately follow with. What a body to be "stuck" in.

Then it sinks in.]

...Draconian. ...You're normally--yeah, not human. I think I do remember you.

[governorkang]

[The lingering look does not do anything to make the uncomfortable feeling go away, and he can't place why.]

You are a... doctor?

[driftsintobuffetline]

[Nod] Yeah. Of Biology. And about a half-dozen other more specific fields. Notably xenobiology.

Wait, I was studying--
[Nervous laugh] Ok, that's not awkward at all.

[governorkang]

[He pauses for a moment, trying to remember what biology and xenobiology are, and then nods.]

Right, nanameters. Nanometers?

[Another pause, as he looks down at his right hand.]

Something with my hand.

[driftsintobuffetline]

...Nanites! Yes, the nanomachines! We were studying those!

Your hand was...healing from them, right? I'll bet my notes are still in the lab.

[governorkang]

Yes, I'm starting to remember now.

Is there a way to look for past conversations on these devices? I think we've spoken in this manner before.

[driftsintobuffetline]

There's a couple. You could just scroll back until you find it; if you recalled the date, you could go to the month or something and look there; or maybe you archived it, so it should be in a memories or bookmarks section.

I also kinda remember something with a mental link? But I don't know if there's a search feature there.

[governorkang]

[That... sounds like gibberish and yet somehow familiar at the same time.]

I'm certain I can figure it out.

It seems several of us are having problems with our memories. I wonder if that is a common occurrence in this place.

[driftsintobuffetline]

I'm sure you can, too. You knew how to once, I assume. Like riding a bike...which is maybe not even an analogy you'll get.

And maybe? I'd think, though, if it were common, we might have left ourselves some notes. I mean, I don't know about YOU, but I take notes, there's nothing in my room, and our walls here are chalkboards, and the notes there are mostly shit like appointments and what to buy at the grocery store.

Which, you know, was helpful since I didn't remember we were out of milk, but otherwise, yeah.

[governorkang]

I would likely do the same.

[Strange.]

If you find any notes with information on me, would you share them with me?

[driftsintobuffetline]

Sure. I'll check the lab. If we were running tests, that's where I assume I'd have kept the data.

[governorkang]

And I will share any information I find on you as well.

Video;

[knifecollecting]

[The voice is familiar, but-]

Uh, what do you remember?

[governorkang]

My last clear memory is of being on my world.

About this world? [World. That's so weird to say.] I'm actually not sure, ma'am. I know that I have apparently been here for at least several months.

[knifecollecting]

Yeah, you have. We've talked a few times.

[governorkang]

I apologize, I don't seem to remember who you are. Would you tell me what you remember about me?

[knifecollecting]

It's okay. We didn't talk much, you just kinda stood out in my mind. [So when she heard the voice, she just had to check in.]

You didn't look like this though.

[governorkang]

I was myself - a draconian - when we spoke before?

[So... he can switch between forms? Then why is he currently stuck in this one?]

[knifecollecting]

Yeah. [Okay, that answers one of her questions. He doesn't usually look human. Interesting.]

[governorkang]

[Alright, figuring out how to switch is high on his priority list now.

And... she is actually kind of familiar. Something about Russians?]

Is it normal here for people to lose memories?

[knifecollecting]

I've been here the better part of a year and it keeps happening. [So yes, it does seem pretty normal at this point.]

[governorkang]

[Dryly:]

Fantastic.

Thank you, ma'am, for your help. [A pause.] I never got your name.

[knifecollecting]

Jo Harvelle. It's nice to meet you again?

[governorkang]

And you as well.

[Humans here don't seem to be all that afraid of him, and he's fairly certain this... future(?) version of him wouldn't hide his nature from them if it happened to come up in conversation. And, he's strangely comfortable talking with a female despite his only clear memories at the moment being of almost exclusively dealing with them in a not-so-pleasant war context.]

Perhaps, once this mess is taken care of, we could talk more?

[knifecollecting]

Yeah, sure. Call me or whatever.