004 | scherzo no. 1 in B minor

[pianola]

[ VIDEO ]

[ Dorothy is normally pretty expressionless, but by her current face - eyes slightly narrowed, lips thinner - anyone who's spoken to her before might be able to tell she is Not Amused.

Coolly: ]

I am curious.

What holiday do you celebrate, where everyone loses their minds?

Please inform me.

Comments

[koishi_komeiji]

And there was a voice from just behind the robot. A sort of familiar one...?

"There isn't any holiday like that."

And there was Koishi. On the ground for once and all smiles. The look on her face; the sunken eyes, pale skin, literal claws. Whatever this was it was affecting her too.

"Why are you invisible? So quiet it's like you're not even there."

[pianola]

Dorothy turned, and. Looked at her friend. Observing all of the changes she could see.

Worry crawled up inside of her, but fortunately, her she could keep her face calm, without expression. Didn't have to reveal anything.

Quietly, she asked, "Do you have no Memories of me, Koishi?"

[koishi_komeiji]

Koishi tilted her head again, blinking and frowning a little. Her face absolutely lit up after a moment, baring her sharp little teeth in a huge grin.

"Not really! Invisible but tall and red. Maybe you're here, maybe you're in my head!"

She rocked back on her heels a little bit. "But I know you're not though. Everyone in my head smiles. So I know you have to be real."

[pianola]

Well. Tall compared to Koishi, perhaps. But while the little things Koishi said normally amused her, right now, she was far more concerned. In her head? That sounded ... more ... unbalanced, than Koishi normally was.

"I am real," she affirmed, because that seemed harmless enough.

And, to try to determine what was happening, she asked, "Do you remember others, who are real? Who live here, perhaps?"

Would they be able to rely on her sister to help find out what was wrong?

[Video - Private]

[mouth_breather]

I've been wondering that myself. Whatever's going on, it affected my first officer. Problem is, is this something that needs our intervention, or is it just 'one of those things' we have to wait out before things revert to normal?

[Video - Private]

[pianola]

I haven't experienced many holidays here, yet.

[ Because, so far, that's the only explanation Dorothy has for people acting differently. ]

However. Over "Halloween", it lasted for a little over two weeks.

Others I've spoken with say that duration is normal.

[ Perhaps her cool, flat, expressionless tone - not a monotone, not quite - will at least be reassuringly familiar to the Captain. ]

[Video - Private]

[mouth_breather]

[He presses a thumb to the bridge of his nose.]

"Normal." For this place, I guess you could call it that. The ones who got affected don't seem to realize it. I might be affected too for all I know, but if I am, my students haven't mentioned anything to my face.

[He looks at the screen again, and realizes he doesn't really know this person. He's seen her, sure, she stands out, but they haven't spoken.]

Jim Kirk, by the way.

[Video - Private]

[pianola]

[ Her eyes went slightly wider. She hadn't thought of that - but she should have.

What if she, also, had different Memories?

... But then she relaxed, and her expression returned to how it had been. That was a normal concern in Paradigm. And, what it came down to -

- Despite her past, her current decisions and choices in the present were what mattered. ]

My name is R. Dorothy Wayneright.

It is nice to meet you, Mr. Kirk.

... What had happened to your First Officer?

Video

[rando_dork]

Well Christmas is right around the corner.

...But usually people only really lose their minds in shopping malls. It can be a scary sight sometimes.

Video

[pianola]

Everyone here refers to Christmas. Instead of Heaven's Day. But they seem to be celebrated on the same calendar day.

[ A pause. ]

Do people buy gifts for their friends, in thanks, on Christmas as well?

Video

[rando_dork]

Heaven's Day? Never heard of it.

What's it about?

They do! Do people put them under a tree on Heaven's day?

Video

[pianola]

It celebrates the foundation of the Paradigm company, and people celebrate and give thanks for it bringing stability and safety after the Event.

[ She pauses, and remembers the giant, mutated tree the insane scientist had grown in the middle of the central dome within Paradigm. ]

Not usually.

However, superficially, a lot of things seem similar, between Christmas and Heaven's day, from what I've read.

Video

[liveandforgive]

Whatever this one is, I think I'll skip it.

[Angela healed him up nicely enough, but he's still cautious about this world right now ever since he got mugged.]

Video

[pianola]

I don't blame you.

[ She looks at the screen very closely, her eyes narrowing slightly. ]

Are you all right?

Video

[liveandforgive]

[he blinks back at Dorothy when she seems to be looking into the screen up close. his eyes look away, as if to inspect himself. he didn't look roughed up at all, did he? he was certain to have been completely covered thanks to Mercy... while he wasn't about to broadcast what happened to him to the world, she did ask though.]

Yeah... I'm fine. I'll need to keep my guard up when stuff like this happens though.

[a blink.]

How about you?

Video

[pianola]

[ She's otherwise expressionless, and after a moment, draws away from the screen, satisfied. ]

Yes. I think many people are more ... violent, than they normally are.

[ A pause. Then, honestly, though it certainly didn't look that way: ]

I'm worried.

[video]

[vicious_slice]

In my world, it was usually on the day immediately after Thanksgiving.

All this seems pretty different.

[video]

[pianola]

... Why immediately after the "Thanksgiving" holiday?

[ She hasn't heard of that one, before. ]

[video]

[vicious_slice]

Because all the major retail chains mark down their prices. It creates this huge drive to spend less on things they want.

Video

[rulerofme]

I've been here a long time and this is the very first time I've seen anything this weird. There definitely isn't a type of celebration associated with it.

Video

[pianola]

Why, then, have all of these people had their Memories changed?

Video

[rulerofme]

That's a good question. Some things that happened in the past have had a cause behind them. But some things haven't. What sort of thing can be conveyed to a person or people in general by having them become someone different?

[video]

[black_black_heart]

This one, apparently.

[video]

[pianola]

And which one is that?

[ Not-quite deadpan. ]

[black_black_heart]

The one after the last one and before the next one?