So if I'm following this, you still... have to have some version of yourself left who didn't fuck up, and then if you die again, some version that both didn't fuck up before and didn't die where you did? Or some version that just went off doing something else completely.
[he follows easily enough, because after that, he does think he'd rather not hang around the same spot. what if it happens again?]
Yeah, something like that. Let's say...let's say there's a coin toss. In one timeline, there's a me that won and got to leave without playing the Decision Game at all. In another timeline, there's a me who lost, who had to play the game and got killed. But there's a third me who lost the coin toss but knew I was gonna die and had to SHIFT. I could switch with the me who won the coin toss, but not the me who died in another room in the game.
Like I said, the other thing needed to SHIFT is access to the Morphogentic Field, which is an invisible space that's used as a way to pass information between living things. Think of telepathy as a basic form of using the field.
People who can tap in are called espers. They can do things like send mental messages to each other, or alter the consciousness of another person. Stronger espers have the ability to see across multiple timelines and universes. They can see different outcomes and different memories of their other selves...which is how SHIFTers know what timelines they can jump to.
[he's not really sure what else he can even say to that-- seeing other timelines and messing with people's consciousness? any single person being able to do all that...
[a pause, before he huffs out a breath and continues.]
I don't have any memory of the first seven years of my life, so-- I wasn't sure where I came from, and the rumors back then... they thought something my ability did was the work of a god, the first time it got unleashed. Can't really say that I blame them, considering it wiped out part of the city. I knew it was me, but I didn't realize I wasn't just-- some incarnation of that. A container for it.
...you've always been able to use your ability then is what you're saying. That's kind of a lot of power for a kid. [Seven years gone.] Did you ever get the real answers?
[...isn't that a familiar story. He's silent for a moment, unsure if he wants to even explain, if Chuuya needs to hear it, but eventually:]
...about nine years before I learned how to access the Morphogenetic Field, a pharmaceutical company kidnapped eighteen kids, all pairs of siblings. Separated them into two groups and started putting them through puzzle rooms sort of like the ones here. There are two things needed to access the field: epiphany, and danger. The goal was for them to access the field and feed the answers to one another. Forcing them to access a higher consciousness with telepathy. It pushed those kids to fight to live...and one girl died because she couldn't save herself.
[At that, he looks very perturbed but he doesn't look at Chuuya.] Nine years later, nine of us were kidnapped to go through the same scenario. That's where I learned the story.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I really hate most people like that. [A pause.] What happened to you after that?
[...ah. if pairs were taken, and only one girl died... chuuya's frown deepens at that, eyes narrowing slightly. he knows what he would want in that kind of scenario, but-- he doesn't entirely want to ask.
he might ask anyway, once junpei's done asking questions, but for now he's just sort of-- mulling that over in the back of his head, taking a moment to pause before he gets around to answering.]
A local gang of kids took me in when I didn't have anyone else. They ended up making me their leader, and we operated on the basis of retaliation-- I made it my job to punish anyone who messed with our territory or any of the Sheep's members, because as the one with the most power, it was my responsibility to use it against anyone who tried to hurt us.
[...a humorless scoff there, another shake of his head.]
Which goes to show a kid doesn't know anything about actually leading, right?
[Chuuya can ask. Junpei doesn't often talk about it when he isn't directly asked, but he's more interested in this right now.]
...hah. [It's equally humorless, if only because a kid shouldn't have been put in that situation in the first place.] It makes a little bit of sense, I think. Hurt the people who hurt you first. It's a defensive move for protection, isn't it?
[But he shakes his head.] I dunno. It's not like there aren't adults who feel the same way. [...] Wait you were part of a gang called the Sheep? [Sheep are so...fuzzy...]
It is, but you put all of that on one person, and it's easy for it to fall apart. They were easy for someone else to manipulate-- plant doubt in them about whether their trump card is gonna stay in their hand, and they'll try to secure their own safety.
[...yeah he needs to find somewhere to sit-- he's just perching on a nearby game cabinet, that's fine. gravity cheats.]
And look, I didn't pick the name, okay? They were already Sheep when I joined up.
[This unfortunately puts him at about the height of Chuuya's legs so he stands there and looks up at him.]
Alright, fine, so you followed the Sheep. [He's trying not to smirk at his own joke because this is serious.] In other words, you became someone else's fall guy because someone said just enough to make them wonder.
...I can respect that then. [There's a light smile that probably doesn't belong, but he can appreciate people who have their own goals and volitions. Even if, sometimes, it means fucking shit up for other people.
It's complicated in a way.] And now you're here. So what's next?
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doublesmall) wrote2019-10-14 10:08 am
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[he follows easily enough, because after that, he does think he'd rather not hang around the same spot. what if it happens again?]
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Like I said, the other thing needed to SHIFT is access to the Morphogentic Field, which is an invisible space that's used as a way to pass information between living things. Think of telepathy as a basic form of using the field.
People who can tap in are called espers. They can do things like send mental messages to each other, or alter the consciousness of another person. Stronger espers have the ability to see across multiple timelines and universes. They can see different outcomes and different memories of their other selves...which is how SHIFTers know what timelines they can jump to.
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[he's not really sure what else he can even say to that-- seeing other timelines and messing with people's consciousness? any single person being able to do all that...
it'd be extremely complicated, it sounds like.]
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[he exhales a sigh, reaching up to adjust his hat.]
...I didn't know everything at the time, so that might have been a little misleading. What do you want to know?
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Can we start with what you meant about not being human?
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[a pause, before he huffs out a breath and continues.]
I don't have any memory of the first seven years of my life, so-- I wasn't sure where I came from, and the rumors back then... they thought something my ability did was the work of a god, the first time it got unleashed. Can't really say that I blame them, considering it wiped out part of the city. I knew it was me, but I didn't realize I wasn't just-- some incarnation of that. A container for it.
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[he's not really looking at junpei, his gaze turned elsewhere while he talks. it's easier that way.]
I found out the real story eventually. I knew I'd been in a facility-- turned out the government was running experiments to create artificial gifted.
Considering what they put in me and what I can do, I can only assume they wanted weapons.
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...about nine years before I learned how to access the Morphogenetic Field, a pharmaceutical company kidnapped eighteen kids, all pairs of siblings. Separated them into two groups and started putting them through puzzle rooms sort of like the ones here. There are two things needed to access the field: epiphany, and danger. The goal was for them to access the field and feed the answers to one another. Forcing them to access a higher consciousness with telepathy. It pushed those kids to fight to live...and one girl died because she couldn't save herself.
[At that, he looks very perturbed but he doesn't look at Chuuya.] Nine years later, nine of us were kidnapped to go through the same scenario. That's where I learned the story.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I really hate most people like that. [A pause.] What happened to you after that?
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he might ask anyway, once junpei's done asking questions, but for now he's just sort of-- mulling that over in the back of his head, taking a moment to pause before he gets around to answering.]
A local gang of kids took me in when I didn't have anyone else. They ended up making me their leader, and we operated on the basis of retaliation-- I made it my job to punish anyone who messed with our territory or any of the Sheep's members, because as the one with the most power, it was my responsibility to use it against anyone who tried to hurt us.
[...a humorless scoff there, another shake of his head.]
Which goes to show a kid doesn't know anything about actually leading, right?
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...hah. [It's equally humorless, if only because a kid shouldn't have been put in that situation in the first place.] It makes a little bit of sense, I think. Hurt the people who hurt you first. It's a defensive move for protection, isn't it?
[But he shakes his head.] I dunno. It's not like there aren't adults who feel the same way. [...] Wait you were part of a gang called the Sheep? [Sheep are so...fuzzy...]
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[...yeah he needs to find somewhere to sit-- he's just perching on a nearby game cabinet, that's fine. gravity cheats.]
And look, I didn't pick the name, okay? They were already Sheep when I joined up.
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Alright, fine, so you followed the Sheep. [He's trying not to smirk at his own joke because this is serious.] In other words, you became someone else's fall guy because someone said just enough to make them wonder.
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[he kicks idly at junpei, because yes, leg height... but he doesn't actually try.]
...but yeah, that's what happened. To make a long story short, they turned on me and I ended up in the Port Mafia instead.
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Which is where you are now. [Hm.] ...think you're better off there?
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[that answer's immediate, more serious.]
I promised myself to the Boss of my own will-- there's nowhere else I want to go.
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It's complicated in a way.] And now you're here. So what's next?