[open] This Fire is outta control; gotta burn this city!

[npc_kun]

Characters: Open
Date/Time: Oct 24-26, anytime
Location: Park & elsewhere (please specify location in comments)
Rating: Varied
Summary: Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here to memorize a great tragedy that befell our sphere one year ago today. With HOT DOGS! A-BOOYA! Who's gonna cut the Fugue cake?! Second Annual Edensphere BBQ is ON!

[ooc

Comments

[man_genius]

The food could be a simple psychological trick. An elaborate, cruel trick, although it seemed at odds with the sphere's usual MO. He vividly remembered Qi's explanation of what happened when she tried to host a funeral for the recently dead. A giant fish ate her--literally. So why memorialize people now? Then again, if they had controlled the fire, then they had a purpose for that. Maybe this was tied in into it.

Or maybe it was just a childish prank. A part of him deep down saw the humor in the situation and probably would have laughed if he didn't know how deeply the Fire affected his closest friends.

Affected in more ways than one. Genius hadn't caught Gene's slip but Derrick did and now he was fixated on the other man.

"Wait a minute. Rewind. You came back? Came back as in rehatched?" His eyes narrowed. "Oh my God you died didn't you? You totally died! I really did eat a dead Gene-dog! A...oh god you cook hot dogs in fires don't ya. Jesus."

That was simultaneously funny and incredibly cruel.

"Yeah a joke. Notice how everyone is laughing."

[bloody_pens]

Derrick winced, wishing he hadn't prodded now, especially after Genius quite predictably spazzed about it.

"Settle DOWN, Genius." He considered using his brother's real name to drive it in further, but decided against it. "So you died in the fire... you and how many others? And the Sphere is CELEBRATING THAT? Suppose it could be funny in a schadenfreude sort of way, especially to those of us who weren't here when it happened... and whoever writes those stupid creepy entries certainly loves to mock us."

He looked longingly at his place of food, still hungry but not feeling right about the prospect of eating it.

[live_ringer]

It took some will power not to roll his eyes when Genius went off. He knew his friend was concerned, in his own way. And sure, it was a big deal, but... Gene would rather leave it behind him and move on.

"Could you say it a little louder? I don't think they heard you over at the barbecue pit."

Granted, Genius's volume wasn't really that bad, but Gene was on edge with so many people milling about. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a puff of breath. "But... yeah. That's pretty much it."

Derrick got a grateful look for taking the whole 'death' thing more or less in stride. "Like I said, about half the Sphere from what I heard. Though, I think I was gone for about a week after, so I didn't really hear the exact number as it happened."

Gene caught Derrick's longing look and raised a brow. "You alright?"

[man_genius]

"How can I settle when I have a Gene dog in my stomach!" But he did sit back down on a bench, leaning as far away from the food as possible.

"Sorry--er. I'm sorry about...you know," he mumbled at Gene. Inside he was reeling. He'd never known that Gene had died so his entire world felt like it had gotten a hard shake. Gene was so...Geney! He was self sufficient and not prone to disaster like Fred or Youth, yet here he was on his second life, like some sort of demented video game. The fire must have been more horrifying and more comprehensive than he'd imagined. He was extremely glad to have missed it.

"No. I don't get it." Genius raised up his left hand palm up, like he was weighing something. "Don't remember." He raised his right hand. "Remember. This isn't consistent. Why do everything in your power to stop people from having a normal life, then turn around and memorialize a particular event?"

He had no answer for himself so he looked to the other two eagerly. "Also Derrick, you're not allowed to get the dead. It's for your own good."

Somebody knew his brother far too well.

[bloody_pens]

Derrick pouted briefly at Genius, then to Gene's question he said,

"Well, I'm hungry as hell, but I'm not about to sink my teeth into stuff with peoples' faces on it. Can't just ignore that and let- whoever engineered this think it's funny and that we'll just ignore it. So don't worry, man-twin. I won't touch it."

He blew a breath through his nose, hard, pondering the answer to Genius' question.

"It really doesn't make any sense," he agreed. "Didn't your star-friend's brother write about how he couldn't remember it happening? Why make some people forget and let others remember? Why make it happen in the first place? If the Sphere or whoever or whatever runs it wanted to kill people, why not wipe out EVERYONE?"

He felt himself shudder slightly, and his hand moved into his jacket pocket to touch Nikki's journal. He slid it out and opened it, just to make sure it was still working.

[live_ringer]

Gene pulled a face. Did Genius really have to keep saying Gene-dog? Aside from being a little twisted, it kind of sounded like a terrible nickname. Once the other man said he was sorry about what happened, Gene waved a dismissive hand. He didn't like what happened. Quite the opposite. But it was something he had moved past, to the point where he could almost pretend it didn't happen. It probably helped that he didn't really remember the moment of his death.

"Might make a statement if you cut off the parts with faces in order to eat? ...Of course, decapitated food would look that much more morbid." Okay, so that was... less than helpful. Moving on.

The big questions were the inconsistency of the whole thing. The over arching pattern (or lack thereof) of the memory and lack thereof. "Maybe the object is confusion and the lack of consistency is the point?" Gene shook his head and frowned. He didn't really buy that, not really. "Or... if the motives seem completely different, maybe there's more than force at play?"

Gene rubbed a hand over his forehead and let out a frustrated grunt. In the journals, long ago, mysterious informants had said "Fugue did it". Were they involved in this memorial? Or were they actually trying to pass the blame around before and the memorial was the doing of the Tree? He knew what he suspected, but he wondered if he actually knew anything at all, and the doubt was showing in the lines of his face.

[man_genius]

The disbelieving glare that Genius shot Gene spoke volumes about what he thought about the other man's decapitation plan. Although it was probably a bad thing when a man who worked with brains for a living thought you were being gross.

Genius shot Derrick a puzzled look. "Simon? Oh. Oh God your right, he did say he forgot something big and--wow. I didn't piece that one together till right now. I assume he must have died?" That sounded almost like repression, not forceful loss, but maybe that went hand in hand in this place. He had no answer for his brother's other questions. "Why do they do anything?" He was about to be more flippent when he saw Derrick reach into his pocket and pull out his journal.

Wait no. It was Nikki.

Oh.

"Der." Genius fidgeted on the picnic bench. "I'm sure she's alright." It was an awkward attempt to comfort, but he was an awkward guy. Still he tried to smile convincingly at his brother.

He couldn't dwell on Derrick's discomfort too much. There was still Gene's comments to consider. "Hmmm that is possible. Psychologically throw everyone off, make things so unpredictable that it destroys any will to escape this place. A type of conditioning--not that we're not already mostly there. I mean we're pretty conditioned. You're looking at the poster child for Stokholm Syndrome right here." He was only mostly joking about that one. "But...more than one force...you mean like the rainbow ink people? The same ones who supposedly sent the hourglasses? I don't understand their motive. Freak everyone out and what? How does that make people want to join your cause?"

It was a puzzle to be sure. Although Gene looked even more frustrated than Genius felt. It was probably the memory of dying. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything.

[bloody_pens]

Derrick took his attention off the journal enough to listen to Genius and to wrinkle his nose at Gene's suggestion.

"Yeah, I think I'm just gonna pass on the food altogether. I can still cook for myself, thankfully."

He then shrugged.

"Simon's thing may have had something to do with when he died back in April, too. People forget things when they die sometimes, right? A lot of them seem to be afraid of that having happened when they come back." Derrick couldn't help but remind himself at the back of his mind that he and Genius had been here for quite a long time- almost a year- and had never died themselves. Granted, Derrick had never cared too much to explore this place's mysteries- that was more his brother's department, and he was a little concerned that Genius had yet to be punished in any way for it.

He stared forlornly at Nikki's journal, a sick feeling dropping into his stomach at the thought of what would happened to his family if he died. Genius had taken Youth's death badly enough... he didn't even want to think about what would happen if he, Derrick, were to be the next target. And Promise...

"Haven't really thought much about how this place works or who's behind it," he admitted, forcing himself to shut the journal and tuck it back into his pocket. "Not sure if I even want to start trying. But I get the feeling I'll have to stare it in the eye one way or the other at some point." He bowed his head a little. "... her journal still works. At least she's still here. Somewhere."

[live_ringer]

Genius and Derrick's shared looks of disgust went ignored. Somehow, it was easier to switch into a mode of flippancy than to continue to let himself dwell on the implications of this little stunt.

"I don't really remember the moment when I died. I know someone else who died in the fire had big gaps in their memory. I think it's a common side effect, so it would make sense that Simon has gaps."

The emphasis on the journal confused Gene a bit. He could gather that it belonged to a 'she', and it was obviously a sore point. ...An elevator abductee? Did something happen to Promise? Then again, Derrick seemed buddy-buddy with Nikki, and he Gene had noticed the reaction to her elevator entry that was cut off. Still, he didn't know for sure. Judging by Derrick's expression Gene figured now wasn't the best time to ask for exposition on the subject. So he just looked awkwardly sympathetic in Derrick's general direction before turning his attention to Genius's theories.

"Break our wills through breaking logic? ...Makes about as much sense as anything else." His expression turned sour at the idea that a higher power was actively trying to implement Stockholm Syndrome on them, even if it was meant jokingly. "The rainbow-writers are good candidates. No clue what their angle is, though. Forced dream moments, morbid memorials... they have a thread of being informative, but never pleasant. But it's only two instances, so I don't know if you would call that a pattern."

And if it was a pattern, it wasn't one he wanted to risk unearthing here. After all, the place was open and there were people milling all about that could overhear them.

[man_genius]

"Simon forgets a traumatizing disaster, Gene can't remember the moment he died." Genius' face fell into a thoughtful frown. "How convenient. Remove the most traumatic memories from a person, the type that could possibly cripple said individual." His voice lowered, although that was mostly because he was thinking out loud than any fear of being heard. "Remove that which would prevent the subject from continuing in the experiment."

It was times like this, when Genius went still and spoke without thinking, that his mad scientist side crept out and he almost seemed to be another person.

But he seemed to snap out of it when Derrick spoke again. "Woah woah, man-bro-twin. Nobody is staring anybody in the eye or attracting any more attention. It's bad enough you're a Greeter, lets not borrow any more trouble. Just have faith in Nikki ok?"

Thank God for Derrick. Without him Genius would be lost to the darkness in himself.

He gave Derrick the most encouraging smile he could before he glanced back at Gene. "What two instances? I don't see how anyone's birth dream could be useful honestly. It's just a dream."

Case in point, his own dream was disturbing, painful and still made no sense whatsoever a year later. What use would it have to someone else?

[bloody_pens]

"VERY convenient," Derrick agreed, his expression turning dark. "Maybe it's not so much about traumatizing people as it is making them complacent. Slowly, one by one, they forget everything bad that happens to them. Or they're threatened with bodily harm, or with losing their loves ones. Makes them want to fight that little bit less, so we're kept here. Why? Who the fuck knows? Same goes for why people get each others' dreams. It doesn't make sense, but there you go."

He took a deep breath, then glanced at Gene.

"As long as we're being open and honest here, Nikki and I are from the same place. We were close. Don't know exactly HOW close, but we were."

He held himself back from mentioning the I think she's my wife bit. He still wasn't sure, and he didn't feel right mentioning it to anyone aside from his brother until he WAS.

[live_ringer]

Gene's frown was slowly morphing into a scowl of contempt. It was obvious that they were constantly at the mercy of something else. But having a specific instance pointed out where an outside force was trying to manipulate him into complacency really drove the point home. He liked to think he wasn't getting soft and letting the place take control, but the lack of successful or overt action against these unseen forces clearly showed otherwise. Damn it.

"Almost like one big forcible game of playing House, and we're the dolls being played with." His voice dripped with disgust as he said it.

He hadn't really been expecting Derrick to open up about the journal, but it was sobering. He hadn't heard any updates on Nikki's absence, but he figured it was possible she'd come back quietly. No such luck. He knew how hard it was to lose someone from home, another connection to your past, and it was even tougher when you actually got along with them. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

"Sorry to hear she's not gotten back yet." The sentiment was sincere. Nikki good company and one hell of a shot.

His attention was pulled back to their conspiracy theories by Genius's questions. "Instance one: the hourglasses. They admitted to that much. Instance two: the barbecue." He ticked the two instances off on his fingers, then gestured at the scenery around them. "It may not be useful information, but it's information. Maybe they're trying to connect people by distributing dreams. Maybe they're trying to stir things up by telling those who weren't there about the Fire... I don't know."

Gene pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. The more he talked about the incidents, the less there seemed to be any sort of cohesive picture.

[man_genius]

Genius shivered at his brother's words. "That or we cling to the familiar. Better to live in a predictably unpredictable world than to start a war against a force we have no real comprehension...this isn't rebels vs the Empire. This is a fight against the force that creates our entire world."

Before Genius could continue on that cheery notion, Gene's comment completely derailed his train of thought.

"House. And dolls. ...Dollhouse?" Genius' face went pale, his eyes suddenly wide and unfocused. Dollhouse! The Dollhouse. The word screamed at him and filled him with conflicting emotions--excitement, joy, a hint of pride and dread...and the tone that Gene spoke with didn't help the dreadful association one bit.

"Dollhouse--that word--that place, I know it! It's like Echo! Like...Priya?" No that didn't feel right, the very thought of those two words together made him nauseous. He was already sitting on the bench, so he slummed down so he could rest his arms on the table and his head in his hands.

He had the vaguest notion that he looked rather crazy at the moment and was making no sense whatsoever. "Have you ever had one of those moments," he said slowly, "where you remember something so important it makes you feel sick?" Not even his name made him feel this...conflicted.

It took him a minute to pull himself together to address Gene's theory. "You think the dreams are trying to help us somehow? Like share ideas? But why make the whole process so terrifying? There's got to be an easier way to share memories..."

Ugh. He really didn't feel so good.

I am sorry if something like this posts twice, LJ ate my first one -_-

[bloody_pens]

"That's quite a colorful way to put it, but yes, it's exactly like that," Derrick said to Gene. "We're being played with by someone who likes it just fine when we play house all nicey-nice and never do something they don't expect us to. In a way, it feels like that's the easier and more appealing thing to do, too."

He shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

"Not that it makes it right. But when I have my daughter's safety to consider, makes me think twice about sticking my neck out. I'm sure whoever runs this place banks on feelings like that sometimes." He blew a breath out, thinking about Nikki and his possible connection to her, too. "... I'm sorry she's not back yet, too. This is making me think about her and... well."

Derrick really hated the direction this conversation had gone in. He squirmed in his seat, then tilted his head at Genius.

"You gonna be alright?" He resisted prying further about Dollhouse and why that had seemed so familiar to Genius. Because not talking about it made it easier for Derrick to pretend that Genius' past didn't exist, and so he didn't have to consider the hard question of why he still loved and believed in his brother in spite of the unquestionably horrible things he'd done in his past.

[live_ringer]

"There's no doubt the odds are hardly in our favour." Gene muttered as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Sensibly, they should just throw in the towel. They were obviously outclassed. But that just made him feel so damned defeated. His insides churned at the thought of just lying down. "I know you've got a family, Derrick. I wouldn't expect you to put that at risk."

Then Genius started babbling about things that didn't seem to make any sense. Wait, one of those words (names?) was familiar. Priya. After a moment of thought, Gene realized that it was a name he had seen in the mural Topher had shown him. Judging by Genius's words, it was a part of his past. But what the hell did it mean?

Gene didn't particularly have issues thinking about Genius's past. Not only was it behind Genius, it could potentially be useful. But the fact that he was feeling sick... "Yeah, I have felt nauseous when talking about my past before. In Adstringendum." There was a pregnant pause where Gene let the weight of that settle. He figured the first thing that would come to either of their minds was Youth's death.

"We should stop," he said with a sigh as he pushed away from the picnic table. The last thing they needed today was a casualty.

don't mind me~

[imthefavorite]

Indeed that outburst had been loud, and when Lockon's ears picked it up he turned his head to see what was going on, distracted from socializing. His eyes narrowed when he saw that the exchange was occurring between Gene and his friends, and by the look of the following exchanges it really did seem like it was Gene that Genius had been talking to.

Well, this was disturbing news indeed. A terrible lump formed in his throat as this new knowledge settled in. He forced himself to draw back enough to keep himself for eavesdropping, but he would have to grab Gene when he was alone.