☾ Fourth Shimmer | Video

[shimmerly]

[There's the sound of repetitive holiday music playing as Vanessa sighs.]

Has that much time already passed that it's Christmas? [She tugs at the sweater she's wearing and sighs.] This is awful. Tacky, even. [Tug tug.] And trust me, I know tacky. My mom has made bad designer decisions before.

[There's a few moments of silence from her before she

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[transcendens]

Given the prevalence of these delightful sweaters, I have to ask. Is the wearing of garish attire a common practice during this particular holiday?

[shimmerly]

Not many people actually wear them willingly. It's... sort of like this city is that one grandmother who doesn't realize just how hideous her fashion sense is.

[transcendens]

Pity it can't be made to realize the error of its ways. Though I suspect the same holds true for the grandmother in question.

[shimmerly]

Sometimes people who are older are just set in their ways. Maybe that's true of Abax, too. At this point, everything is speculation anyway. [Sigh.] I wish whoever brought us here would give us any information.

[transcendens]

[ He chuckles softly at her assessment of the older generations. ]

Of that I can certainly agree.

[ The amusement fades as he becomes more serious. ]

May I ask how you happened to arrive here? Those with whom I've spoken have mentioned the hospital, but I haven't been able to determine if everyone has had the same experience.

[shimmerly]

[She frowns.] I woke up on an autopsy table. There were two other people in the room with me, one in a body bag and one in the freezers. It's how a lot of us arrived.

[transcendens]

Something similar happened to me. And if it's a common occurrence, then I would wager that the hospital has a more important role in what has happened here than might otherwise be expected. An odd situation, certainly, but I've confidence that it will not remain at mystery forever.

[shimmerly]

It wouldn't really be the hospital that's the important piece as the morgue would be. That's where everyone wakes up. And whoever does this obviously knows enough about us to make toe tags.

I wonder if we'll like the answers that we're given.

[transcendens]

Generally speaking, I doubt that we will. Few people ever truly appreciate the answers to their questions.

Still, I confess that I am very curious about the one who made those little tags. The knowledge displayed upon them isn't as intimate as it could be, but there were details that would be rather difficult to guess.

[shimmerly]

Sometimes the answers we get aren't... really things to be appreciated. [She knows. :c]

It's kind of scary, really. That they weighed and measured us. Knew our names.

[transcendens]

Prior to your arrival here, did you have some means of identification with you? Is it possible that the information might have been gleaned from such an obvious source?

[shimmerly]

[She shakes her head.] I had nothing before waking up here.

[transcendens]

Nor did I. Another commonality we share, though unfortunately it proves us with few clues. I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me about the place from which you come? Your home, so to speak.

[shimmerly]

Los Angeles, or Earth in general?

[transcendens]

I know it. Not particularly well, I don't believe I've ever had occasion to visit the city, but I've spent some time in the world. Japan, in fact. I would suggest that as another source of commonality, but there are enough individuals here who don't call Earth home that I suspect such a correlation would be erroneous. Still, every bit of information helps in solving the mystery.

[shimmerly]

I'm not sure where we came from matters as much as this place. It's like... a parallel dimension to ours, that connects to other worlds. The morgue might be the only the portal. [She's had to deal with those kinds of things before.] But it doesn't tell us anything about who brought us here. Or what. Whatever it is.