♋ PCG 20

[crusthatecean]

[Action, 1338 Benny Road]

[Karkat wakes up unable to shake the memory of his dream. He has nightmares regularly, a combination of sleeping without a recuperacoon and everything he's been through since he began playing Sgrub. But something about this one felt more real and vivid and awful, and he remembers it more clearly

Comments

[Phone]

[godisachild]

It's another bullcrap lie pulled by this place that we were dumb enough to walk into. Whoop-de-doo.

I think it's kind of early to discuss it more than that.

[crusthatecean]

You don't think it's worth maybe talking this out and coming up with a plan?

[godisachild]

Okay what are we planning for? Whatever is going on right now is so vague that we have no idea what to expect. Like what do you plan to do right now, exactly?

If you want to plan out some way to, say, counteract whatever's happened to make people think "we" aren't some type of weird friggin' clones, good luck with that buddy. I don't think we're convincing these morons.

[crusthatecean]

Okay, let's all throw our hands in the air and just let our friends think we've vanished forever. I am fine with accepting a life where everyone views me as the equivalent of a door stop. Sure.

[godisachild]

Fine with me. I'd think it was fine with you too.

.....

How would you prove it to them, then? The town's done something so their immediate reaction is to view us as some type of stupid clone. We'd have to find some way to actually change whatever kind of weird brainwashing the town is doing. Which, as far as I can tell? No one can do. So unless you have a better idea to break through their programming with nothing to go on, I'm not sure what you're expecting.

[crusthatecean]

It's not. Don't take this evidence of my own self-important insecure shit to mean I have an actual death wish.

I don't know how to prove this, but at least it's someone to fucking talk to.

[godisachild]

Yeah, sure, whatever.

Yeah it's great. You're talking and I'm talking and we're just having a great old party talking about nothing.

I'll assume you had a dream too, and that it was probably identical in at least the basic message and tone.

[crusthatecean]

Manipulative beefgrub designed to play on our most obvious fears and insecurities to provoke us into pointless sacrifice?

[godisachild]

Yeah, that's pretty spot on.

I'm wondering if it really was insincere though. Looks like they plan to make us go through it, just not immediately.

[crusthatecean]

They did say something to that effect.

[godisachild]

......

I'm curious. How long exactly have you been here?

[He fights back the desire to say "supposedly". As much as he's saying people aren't clones? He's having as hard a time fighting back the urge to scream it himself.]

Specifically, were you here for the insane nightmare festival that happened in late March?

[crusthatecean]

No. I've been here for about a quarter-sweep now. The first event I was really around for was the one where we were assigned someone to kill.

[godisachild]

Pretty much just missed it, then.

.....

Look, what I'm about to tell you is all conjecture, but....

During March, the town pretty much broke out into this massive free-for-all fight. During it, people ended up being able to get inside the Dairy, and found that it was what was supposedly powering the town. And what it was using for power? Were the souls of the people who'd been droned here, or the consciousnesses, or the memories, if you prefer.

They tried to play it off as a prank after the fight finished, and that they were screwing with us the whole time, but....

[crusthatecean]

[The concept makes him feel sick; he wants to say he doesn't believe in souls, but then what are dreambubbles?

The thought that they could be doing that to Equius and Nepeta, that it might happen to Tavros and Feferi and Eridan and Sollux, makes him both frightened and furious.]

And you think that's what they want with us now?

[godisachild]

....I think it's a big possibility.

They had a lot of souls in there, but even that's a finite resource. I dunno why they pulled this crap instead of just perma-droning us but, hey, whatever rocks their boat I guess.

[crusthatecean]

Because Mayfield, as always, just wants to fuck with us and everyone else?