007. [Anonymous Text / Action for Goldenrod City]

[twinsanity]

[Anonymous Text]

[The text that hits the device tonight is the sort that obviously comes from some sort of hacked ID - it's poorly done, but at the same time well-done enough that you're just going to get a lot of static and glitching if you're going to try to work out who it is. More of an obviously anon setting than a device that's pretending to belong to someone else, basically.]

Tell me about recurring dreams you've had.

Not necessarily nightmares, though I suppose those are fine. Just those dreams you've had over and over again, the ones your mind keeps coming back to.

If you're expecting psychoanalysis you won't get it, since I'm not being paid nearly well enough to do that for the lot of you and I've no interest in it besides. I'm just interested in talking and hoping you'll say something interesting.

[...okay then.]



[Action - Goldenrod City]

[Well, abrasive texts or not, Alfred can actually be found outside today; it's warm today (even if his internal clock is still yelling at him that it shouldn't be, and he is never going to get used to the damn weather in this hemisphere) and he's taking the opportunity to spend time in the park, watching his Pokémon...play? Are they playing? It looks like they might be; it's either that or it's a level one slapfight that's more ineffectual than anything, between a Sewaddle and what looks to be a male Combee.

After a bit of watching it'll become clear that this is, in fact, a slapfight, and one that the poor Sewaddle is not going to be winning; it keeps getting a shot of Gust in the face and unfortunately Tackle isn't landing too well right now, due to the abovementioned...well, Gusting to the face, and after a few rounds of this the Sewaddle is basically ending up spending more time kind of lying on the ground in a universally understood gesture of "I have run out of fucks to give" rather than actually fighting.

Alfred, unfortunately, seems to be taking no pity whatsoever on the poor damn thing - he's sitting on one of the benches nearby, leaning idly over his legs where they're crossed at the knee, chin propped in his hand while he watches; he's also got at least one bug he's not particularly interested in deathmatching, if the ever-present Joltik on his shoulder is any indication. As it is, said Joltik apparently gives no fucks about what's going on and Alfred himself just sort of rolls his eyes when the Sewaddle flops over, reaching out for the bag he's got with him and spraying it in the face with a Potion.]

Oh, no, you don't. Get back in there.

[Alfred, that thing is going to hate you before it even reaches level 5, what are you doing.]

Comments

[text - here we goooo]

[beholdmydemons]

Aren't you a pleasant one. Here or home or both?

[anon text forever]

[twinsanity]

[...okay, this is either going to be interesting, dull as shit, or blackmail material, coming from Walter. Let's see.]

Either. Both, if you feel like sharing.

[beholdmydemons]

I don't remember most dreams. When I do they're the fairly normal sort where you go about your day and strange things happen but you're surprised by none of it till you wake. Often they're about my Pokemon gaining a new power and putting it to odd use.

I did once have dreams I remember in full that I think were prophetic. At the time I thought I was mistaken but in the first of them I met someone I saw to his face on the next day.

[twinsanity]

I've never been one to believe in seeing the future, but then, before coming here I didn't believe in alternate dimensions, either.

What else did those dreams of yours predict?

[beholdmydemons]

Besides that it's just a feeling and I'm not certain. In the dreams I'd be in a city much like Goldenrod called Tokyo, and everything was aflame. I think I knew something I'd forget upon waking because I'd wait for that person to arrive and then I talked to him but I don't remember what about. I've never seen Tokyo aflame though.

[...so, maybe blackmail material, in the right situation...?]

action!

[bertall]

<sub>[One of the perks about having a dog as tall as a grown man is the ability to ride it around the city.

One of the drawbacks of having a dog that size? If they get stubborn, they can be hard to control, especially if something catches their interest. In this case, the sounds of that... slap... fight gained the attention of (1) massive, fluffy Arcanine and (1) Bertholt sitting on its back while tugging at its fur with a frown.]</sub>

Hachi, come on!

<sub>[NOPENOPE. Hachi's going to investigate! He's even voicing his intentions with a garbled 'Noooooooooo,' and just as Bert's about to protest again? He spots Alfred.

...Alfred what in the world.]</sub>

Ha--Alfred?

[twinsanity]

[...HE COULD ASK YOU THE SAME THING, GOOD SIR. Really, he's actually kind of sat up and staring at the dog, and it takes him a moment to register that there is someone on the dog, and -

What in the world indeed.]

Well, hello there, Bertholt.

[It's not displeased, but still, the "what the hell" is strong with this one.]

[bertall]

Uh... H-Hi.

_{[Hachi no don't get up in that poor Sewaddle's face can't you see it's having a bad time already? --Nooooo, that doesn't mean 'get in the Combee's face'! Arcanine pls.]}

Hachi! Behave--Um... How've you been?

[twinsanity]

[...Oh, now that's interesting. Alfred will just be glancing over and...promptly deciding to ignore the squeaks of terror from that poor Sewaddle. The Combee is a little less scared shitless but at the same time GIANT FIREDOG WHY, that is a little unnerving please don't good sir.]

Fine, just a bit sleepless lately, and if I didn't get out of my room I was going to go absolutely mad. So here I am.

You seem...

[Pointed look at that dog.]

...Busy.

[bertall]

You and me both. I didn't really go out for about a week, uh... I was waiting for Walter to wake up. I wanted to make sure he'd be okay.

_{[It takes a couple more tugs to get Hachi to leave the poor little things alone and focus his attention on Alfred instead. It's not the best alternative, but hey! This is a new person!]}

I-I, um... I-I'm not really busy though--S-Sorry about him, he's... curious.

[Text]

[francia]

Why do you want to know our dreams?

[Well, it can't hurt...]

[There's a longer text that follows after the first, knee-jerk one.]

I sometimes dream of the past. I suppose those dreams could be classified as recurring, since they're memories of events that have already been.

[anon text forever]

[twinsanity]

Morbid curiosity, really.

And I suppose that counts. What sort of dreams are they?

[Text]

[francia]

They're a great variety. Some of them are happy, such as when I dream of good harvests and beautiful people. Others were once happy but have become bittersweet with age and the knowledge of what followed. And still others are unpleasant and unhappy, no matter what context they came from.

Do you have any such dreams?

[twinsanity]

Most of my recurring ones are abstract. If I think about them long enough, I can usually make out what they mean, but I don't like thinking about them for any period of time.

[francia]

Ah, yes, the abstract. It's fascinating but often deeply disconcerting; it takes a certain fortitude to sit down and work out what it really means, and sometimes you're left knowing even less than when you started. I enjoy it in art and philosophy, but it's hard when it's so close to home.

[ANONYMOUS TEXT]

[glaciates]

What brought this on? This is a strangely specific topic for someone to ask just because they're bored.

The dreams I keep having are variations on memories. For the most part the dream is the same as what actually happened, but sometimes there's something completely off about it - like a person being in the dream when they weren't there while it was happening, or an event playing out in a different way.

[anonymous text forever]

[twinsanity]

Morbid curiosity, for one. Maybe I just like hearing stories for another. Why does it matter to you? It isn't as though I can use your dreams against you in any sort of meaningful way.

That's strange, though, that your dreams should be literal ones like that. I've never had any like that, anyway, they're always strange in some way.

[glaciates]

I see. Like I said, it seems like an oddly specific question.

From what I've heard, most people seem to have very abstract dreams; I don't remember hearing about anyone else dreaming of past events so literally. Some of the things I've done were horrible though, so I'm not really surprised I'm reliving those things in dreams.

[twinsanity]

Are we referring to "front lines of war" sorts of horrible, or "mass murderer who suddenly grew a conscience for some reason" sorts, or "I accidentally hit a family of five while driving on Hypnogen" or what?

[glaciates]

"Front lines of war" though the "mass murderer" title isn't too far off. I did what I felt was necessary at the time, but since coming here I've realized that my actions were not the only ones I could have taken; I could have saved more lives had I acted in a different way.

text

[heartofmetal]

My nightmares take me back to the day I took a step into god's domain and tried to do something forbidden for humans. It's a reminder of how foolish a human being can be when they get obsessed about something and how big the prize for doing something like that is.

Even now, when all of that is in the past and I managed to correct some of the mistakes I made, I can still see the nightmare. Not as often as before, but enough to still keep me on my toes.

[anonymous text forever]

[twinsanity]

What do you mean, "a step into god's domain"? I've heard similar terms applied to a lot of things my family does - I work in science, so a lot of what that comes down to is "doing things religious people don't like." So I haven't any idea what it means for you, it's a broad term.

[heartofmetal]

I'm something like a scientist as well. In our world, creation of anything inanimate is pretty much acceptable.

What I tried to create was something quite the opposite of that.

[twinsanity]

Really...? We create life all the time, though not in the sort of way that science-fiction movies like to depict it; human cloning is still looked down upon and heavily banned, however.

[heartofmetal]

I guess it's a little different for different worlds, then. In our case it's just impossible to create life with the techniques we have, even if people have tried to come up with a solution, so even attempting it is forbidden.