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

[pianola]

It's the planet Earth.

But it isn't like the others.

[ Actually. ]

For all of the differences, the 'normal' Earth seems like the foreign world.

[black_black_heart]

Yeah? Well.

[ Tannusen's weird no matter what world you toss him onto, even 'his' Earth. Being an Arcadian Faerie as he is, and an exotic predator pooka to boot... ]

I guess nothing copies the same twice. I think of 'em likes panes of glass stacked on each other, some are closer to each other than others are.

[ After all, that's how the Dreaming works. ]

[pianola]

[ Dorothy considers that - and can't help but think of the Memories - false or not - of Paradigm repeating itself, different and the same, again and again. ]

... Or an image in the water, rather than an image in a looking glass.

[black_black_heart]

I suppose. A reflection of a reflection of a reflection would look a lot different than what it started out as.

[ Congratulations, Dorothy, only Amalu had gotten Tannusen's more philosophical side to peek out, before this. ]

[pianola]

[ It's something about Paradigm which brings out existentialism, isn't it? ]

Different enough by the first copy, to be considered unique?

Or do you think several must happen, for a real change?

[black_black_heart]

Current events prove, I think, how large a change one alteration can make.

[ He doesn't know that's the real theme of the current shenanigans as a whole, but he sure knows that's what happened to Szelhamos! A timeline where the seraph didn't fall; remained Levanael... so much of that alternative world is so different that even an outsider like Tannusen can see it. ]

Maybe that's the point.

[pianola]

I think you're correct.

[ By now, she's pretty certain Memories had been altered - though what Memories for what people, she can't quite tell.

She pauses, though, turning that over in her head, with what she'd already learned from her world. ]

But is it really their changed circumstance - or their changed choices - which make them different?

[black_black_heart]

Either one leads to the other, doesn't it? Seems like a chicken or egg kind of thing to me.

[pianola]

The result may be the same.

[ This is important, though - ]

I think it matters to those affected.

[black_black_heart]

Maybe. I guess that's something they'd all have to figure out, those that even know it happened; the answer likely isn't the same for everyone.

It's not quite the same thing, but my kind reincarnate over and over again. It's something I've given at least a little thought to over the years.

[pianola]

Your kind?

[ There's a hint of curiosity in her voice.

Then, she admits: ]

The world I am from seems to have changed, many times. It may also not be quite the same thing.

[black_black_heart]

What, like someone hit the reset button on it? S-- Levanael could probably have an interesting chat with you about that; they do the same stuff to his universe on purpose.

[pianola]

I met him.

[ The messenger. It all made sense, and while she hadn't been wary of him at the time - she was now, quite suddenly. Her eyes widen, a little. ]

I am not surprised.

[black_black_heart]

[ Tannusen's been watching her on this video stream long enough to know that even a slight expression was a big deal. Reminded him of someone he'd known, back on his Earth. It's enough to pique his interest, at least, sitting up slightly from his casual slump back against a dark wooden wall. ]

Oh? And why's that?

[pianola]

He reminds me of a Memory.

It's not a clear one, and it might not be real.

[black_black_heart]

[ There's a pensive look on Tannusen's face. He doesn't know precisely what she means by 'memory', but there's that slight Inflection that makes him think she doesn't just mean a normal... you know, memory.

And then there's the fact that her world resets. ]

Something from a past reset? I get flashes of old lives, sometimes.

[ Some were more than flashes, of course, but not always. ]

[pianola]

... It could be.

[ She hesitates. She doesn't know how to explain, what little she understood about Paradigm, standing next to the Negotiator while he spoke with Angel - even to others from Paradigm, let alone a stranger. ]

Some Memories have never happened. They seem like they could have been, but ... I think are instead suggestions.

Some may be from past versions of our world.

And others ... might be stories, or fiction, that we may have heard in the past, and now mistake for what might have been.

[ It complicates things, being an android, and having yet more false Memories placed there - but at least most of these had been removed. Only faint lingering ones remained. ]

[black_black_heart]

[ Okay, that's enough to make Tannusen sit up properly in his usual booth in Velvet, un-leaning from the wall and actually sitting more like a normal person with his feet on the floor. The pooka's brow even furrows, just a bit. ]

That... sounds like the Dreaming.

[pianola]

I don't know what the Dreaming is.

[ She's curious, though, and that might show. Here was someone, the first someone, who didn't react with confusion to the idea of different Memories, different versions of what was real. ]

[black_black_heart]

It almost sounds like you might, just not by name.

I'd rather discuss this in person, at any rate.

[pianola]

[ A long pause. ]

Where?

[black_black_heart]

Wherever. If you want me to pick, my default is Velvet Lust in Genessia City. We're closed during daylight hours, but I can let you in.

[ It's almost funny how often Velvet doubles as his office. ]

Do you know of it? Big brick building downtown.

[pianola]

I’ve walked by there.

[ She’s never had reason nor inclination to go in. Nightclubs and performing were what her father enjoyed ... and then. They were different sorts of nightclubs. ]

... I’ll be there soon.

[black_black_heart]

Alright, I'll unlock the door for you.

[ Action ]

[pianola]

[ Roughly thirty minutes later, there is a knock on the front entrance of the Velvet Lust - and then Dorothy lets herself in, as she believed the unlocking implied.

Curious, she lifted her head, looking around.

This world had a different idea of what a nightclub was, clearly. Not that she disliked the space. It was only something new - and she wondered, briefly, what it was like, filled with people.

Also.

Something, something, seemed strange about the place itself.

But, not being a thing she could quantify, with her sensors - she ignored the idea. ]