imaginarymods: (Universe)
Imaginary Island Mods ([personal profile] imaginarymods) wrote in [community profile] imaginarynetwork2020-10-16 10:12 pm
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new message from user: UN

[A window pops up on everyone's bracers, forcefully installing the System Update that Sans and Sayori developed.

After it's finished loading, the messaging system pops back up, and a new message arrives. It opens without prompting, and a holographic figure projects onto the ground in front of everyone using a bracer.

The hologram is of what appears to be just a regular guy, some ambiguous schmuck. He's not particularly tall looking, wears a pair of big, black-framed glasses, his hair is mousey brown and trimmed short, and he doesn't even wear Faerun clothes.

He stands straight and confident with a smile on his face and his hands behind his back as he addresses the Reclaimers as if looking each of them in the eye.]


Hey! Hi! Hello there. Uh, wow, I gotta say, I wasn't expecting you to get through to me this way, but here we are!

That was pretty amazing.

Well, it's nice to finally meet you face to face! Or... face-to-hologram-projection-of-a-physical-manifestation. Hey! I'm your universe. That's right, the one you're living in right now! The one with uh, Faerun, and all the little folks running around there in places like Thay and Vista Virs.

You might know me as the Story. Some friends of mine like to call me Greg. It's kind of a little joke.

Uh, anyway, I know you're wondering why this conversation is so one-sided, and I'll try to field some questions at the end, but we kinda gotta make this quick, so, storytime! We've got— [he checks his wrist, which definitely does not have a watch.] — Just enough time for that.

Once upon a time, a small group of individuals got pulled throughout time and space, trying to fend off a pretty spooky-lookin' calamity. I'm talkin' end-of-all-worlds big. But saving worlds isn't easy, and more and more folks got pulled into a story and a struggle that was never theirs in the first place.

Those individuals found common ground and worked together to try and stop the calamity, and to reverse the damage it had done.

But despite their best efforts, it looked like they were destined to lose. Though they fought as hard as they could, a cult that sought to stop them from the beginning thwarted their plans and all of a sudden, magic, the hope they'd relied on all along, was snuffed out.

Cut off from magic and cut off from the planes, the heroes turned to each other and gave each other everything they had. They exchanged gifts of weapons, trinkets, armor; all in the effort of strengthening each other against the coming hardships.

As the nights grew colder, the calamity came upon them from the inside. The cult had found a way to plant a seed of doubt in their leader, and that doubt in herself consumed her, threatening to combine with the calamity that already chased the heroes.

None of them were counting on the fact that those heroes had made quite a few friends, notably detective Angus McDonald, a little boy of a particular kind. Those heroes were so kind to him, he'd do anything for them— even make a wish that could have been the end of him.

And so he did. He made a wish on a book that had captured a Relic's light, and that wish met up with all the other wishes those heroes made. Because you see, there's magic in hope. There's magic in love. And there's magic in a wish; Angus the dragon's wish; Lucretia, the cursed crewmate's wish; and yours, the wishes of stolen heroes. When the Relic amplified those wishes, I woke up.

[The hologram man grins even wider.]

I heard it.


I heard the hope in his voice and in yours and it reminded me of something really, really important.


It reminded me... that I really don't want to get eaten!

[The hologram man laughs, eyes crinkling behind his comical specs.]

I don't wanna end!

But see, the thing is, I'm just the story. I can't do anything myself. I had to figure out a way to get you guys all your power back. I realized that when Lucretia brought you here, pieces of your universes came with you. Those pieces became a part of me, including all of the magic that existed in you. With that magic, I was able to stitch the Weave back together.

In other words, we were able to fix the very fabric of magic's existence because of the magic that existed in you.

So I gave us more time by changing what time meant and brought you all here. If I stretched out time, it meant I could not only fix magic, but also take away Angus's entire memory of the thrall of the relic. I just... kind of took your memories of Candlenights, too.

Hey, uh, sorry, Angus, by the way.

The only problem with the whole idea was that in scanning some of the parts of your home, I downloaded parts that were eaten by the Hunger. They became like... vacant information, somehow, and the Islanders here called them "The Cursed." Since all those Hunger-copies really knew was searching for those Relics, they all gathered around the north side of the island, around the Relic that Angus used.

Now, I know that this still probably all seems like a lot of things that weren't your fault, but they sure are our problem. And like I said, I don't wanna get eaten. I'm sure none of you do either.

But I can't stop the Hunger without you.

You are the only ones that can turn this whole thing around. You are the little stars in my skies, the seams in the fabric that sews all your worlds together. You... are everything that makes me me, and I'm everything you bring.

Without you, I'm just... one big swath of space, a page that has yet to be written on.

So... are you ready to take the first step to stopping the Hunger?


((Greg will be open to receive tags (and answer questions) on this post/threadjack until Monday, but not all replies to this post are guaranteed to receive a response from him. You may use this post to speak amongst yourselves as usual, and may even be lucky enough to get responses from other NPCs!

On Monday evening, we will move forward with the CTA portion, starting with signups!))
ribticklers: (045)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[False memories exist, of course, but everyone here, even just the ones who remember, is way too uncoordinated to have created the same false memory. Greg said he changed what time meant. That could be the focal point, if there is one. Going forward and then snapping back. At the least it's-- (a massive anomaly in the timespace continuum.)]

well
i guess if it all reset back to candlenights and we ended up here
it doesn't really matter


[Yeah.]
unrecovered: (Face: Uh-huh)

Private to Sans

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-17 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[He doesn't know exactly what Sans is thinking, but he knows enough to know that this might be hitting on some...bad memories.]

[That Sans may or may not even have at this moment. Great.]


You may not want to go down that rabbit hole.
ribticklers: (017)

private to Wash; 1/2

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
hard to know what's what when there's a whole warren to deal with

[But this particular rabbit hole is clearly something Wash knows about. Okay, so did he tell Wash something, or is this something that happened while they were doing bureau work? Or is it both? Sans is pressing at the edges of his available memories in all directions.]
ribticklers: (113)

2/3 I'm a liar

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[Then one of the walls gives way.]

you
I told you
something
ribticklers: (106)

3/3

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[He can't remember what that something was, but--Wait. Wash. He knows Wash.]

oh
sup wash
guess i'm late


[Someone else might say sorry for that. But not Sans.]
unrecovered: (Face: Uh-huh)

Permafilter, voice, etc etc

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-17 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[He damn near collapses in relief. Finally. Fucking finally. God but he has missed Sans.]

You usually are. I kind of expected it.

[It's bullshit, but it's easy bullshit, and he'll take it.]

[Sadly, this is where it stops being easy.]


...do you remember what you told me?
ribticklers: (062)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
no
but i've got your rock


[You know. The aluminadium. The wish rock. That he's just been carrying around in one of his hoodie pockets, obliviously, since he woke up.]
unrecovered: (Face: Uh-huh)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-17 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Good to know.

[He'd hoped that would be the case; he'd also figured that Sans was cagey on a good day and wouldn't tell him if he didn't remember him.]

[Assumptions can be dangerous, but he's glad that one worked out.]


Do you remember Thay?

[He honestly doesn't know, but it's as good a place as any to start.]
ribticklers: (025)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Again Sans nudges at his memory. What he gets isn't much.]

we went there on a mission
but i don't remember the mission
unrecovered: (Face: Lost in memories)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-17 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Yeah, this isn't going to be fun.]

Thay was...time loops. The relic allowed for time to be repeated, so the town was repeating the same day over and over, trying to prevent...well, a dragon from waking up and wreaking havoc, and the destruction of the Weave.

We went through a number of the time loops ourselves, but ultimately we- failed. At everything. Our only saving grace was that the dragon didn't carpetbomb the city on the way out.

So...yeah. Thay was bad.
ribticklers: (030)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's a very long pause before Sans replies, but given what Wash knows, that may not have been an unexpected reaction. Sans's head hurts, and that raw spot inside him is definitely bleeding. Metaphorically. Shit, he really is sick of metaphors.]

yeah
sounds like a bad time all around


[Get it... Time... All around... Loops... God, this headache is the worst.]
unrecovered: (Face: Uh-huh)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-17 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Thay sucked, and the sun is slightly warm.

[The pause isn't unexpected, but...Sans had said he didn't remember what he'd told Wash.]

[Dammit.]


Before Thay, once we knew it would be time loops, you told me a little bit about your home. That you had time loops there. Given that you also told me Wonderland used that to torture you, it sounds like it wasn't...good.
ribticklers: (108)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[Wow, it's like Wash took a hammer right to Sans's skull. And yet, this time Sans has an immediate response.]

Don't tell Papyrus.
I don't know why right now
but don't.
unrecovered: (Face: Uh-huh)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-17 08:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I won't.

[Just as immediate.]

You told me you didn't want it spread around, so I haven't. I don't know if you told anybody else, though.
ribticklers: (017)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Sayori knows. [She had to deal with him in Wonderland.]
If anyone else does, I forgot. [JOKES]
Still don't remember the details exactly.
unrecovered: (Face: Uh-huh)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-18 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
Does Sayori remember? [It's a terrible and terribly valid question.]

Yeah, I figured if you did, you would have mentioned it, instead of just...remembering that you told me something.
ribticklers: (106)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-18 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. [Having two people know is pretty weird when Sans doesn't even remember the specifics himself, but there's not much he can do about that.]
Guess I should count myself lucky those jellyfish haven't started spreading our memories around again or something.

[He remembers you, Lyrabar. Even if he doesn't actually... Remember what memories of his the jellyfish were showing.]
unrecovered: (Face: Like you're on the Office)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-19 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
[...about that...]

Have you actually been down to see the jellyfish? They aren't exactly shy about sharing things.
ribticklers: (002)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-20 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
i haven't taken a dip
what're they doing down there?


[Showing memories, obviously, but specifically?]
unrecovered: (Face: Uh-huh)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-20 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
Swimming around, sharing memories. [As they do.] I haven't seen any that belonged to you, but I haven't been looking. Saw a few that looked like they belonged to Faerun's Bureau members, though.

Also, I made friends with one of them. It was pretty helpful. [Jellyfriend is a good friend.]
ribticklers: (106)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-20 07:40 am (UTC)(link)
maybe you can teach them about privacy
unrecovered: (Face: Like you're on the Office)

[personal profile] unrecovered 2020-10-20 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
That'd be like trying to teach you not to make puns.

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ribticklers: (055)

[personal profile] ribticklers 2020-10-17 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sans probably gave KV that bag of voidfish juice he got while he was taking advantage of Honoka's vending machine harassment.

Sans has been told not to go down this rabbit hole, and he's inclined to agree with that sentiment. He definitely doesn't want to think about it. But he can't stop thinking about it. He doesn't have the memories there, but he has a raw, open wound in his soul that he doesn't understand.

But he does know this:]


yeah
that would be cool