"I guess," Ren answered with a shrug. He was trying not to show it, but he felt uneasy about everything. Lost memories, lost years, and no way of knowing when everything would be fixed--it made him feel like he needed more help and guidance than he'd ever admit.
"We've always got the mess hall, if you feel like eating goop." She grinned, if she'd done just that for a long time. "We've got some variety back at the teahouse. Lots of canned things," she admitted, smiling. "Rice, different spices, something called freezedried. Ramen, if I'm afraid that's instant."
Who knew if ramen even was appealing. It was a general overview of what Sakura had decided to stock up on while on planet, if she'd gotten a decent number of things with the intention of them being supplies for everyone at the house. "Or we can head home and decide things from there. It'll feel nice to get away from this atmosphere for a while."
"No slop, please!" That was one of the few things Ren could remember clearly, if only because it was impossible to forget how bad it was.
"Maybe it would be better if we go home," he decided. He was a little apprehensive about facing everything that was supposed to be familiar to him, but it was better than the medbay.
She was tempted to laugh. She figured one of these days she'd find someone who actually enjoyed the slop in the mess hall. Not today. "I think we can avoid the slop for now."
Sakura pulled the box of refolded clothing up, moving it back to where it had been before shed pulled everything out for Ren. "Home sounds like a good idea to me," she said amiably, picking up his former shoes. "I've got your old shoes. Did you want me to carry your old clothes, too, or have you got them yourself?"
"I've got them," Ren insisted. He hadn't had much of a problem with Sakura cleaning up after him before, but...well, when it came to clothes and underwear and stuff, he was a little embarrassed about a girl seeing them.
"Looks like we're ready." She looked up, waving to one of the other staff members. It's a semi-official nod toward protocol, and they all are contactable by ring or comm device should they be needed back in MedBay. "Do you remember the gravity tubes?"
Sakura nodded, internalizing that along with everything else. "At least you won't be surprised at how we change levels," she said with a grin, winking. "Unless gravity tubes and director tentacles are part of things for you back home."
Ren shook his head. That definitely wasn't normal for him--not before, at least. But the fact that it felt more familiar, along with everything else about the ship...
After a moment of trying to figure out how to ask the question, he said, "Why do I remember everything here? Shouldn't the Clock have taken everything?"
Sakura wasn't sure she wanted to answer that question, if her bias toward younger audiences had her answering anyway. "We're not sure," she confessed, "If we expect it has something to do with the ship itself. It's not a perfect theory. Some people have been losing memories of events on sip, if part of that looks more like a coping mechanism than total memory and time loss. It's possible the clock can only function in a way that affects physical time and memory from our original worlds. Outside of that kind of linear context, its effects break down."
In short, they had no idea. Theories, but nothing concrete. Expecting the ship to help hold memories together begged a kind of ongoing connection and memory back-up that was distinctly disturbing. (Not that the ship was anything less, even on great days.)
"Yes, from what we can tell." She looked bothered by it, if it was hard to tell what about the selective block was most worrisome. "It makes things easier than they'd be otherwise. Can't forget how great the mess hall is, even if you want to!" She winked at that.
"I guess," Ren answered with a shrug. He was trying not to show it, but he felt uneasy about everything. Lost memories, lost years, and no way of knowing when everything would be fixed--it made him feel like he needed more help and guidance than he'd ever admit.
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Who knew if ramen even was appealing. It was a general overview of what Sakura had decided to stock up on while on planet, if she'd gotten a decent number of things with the intention of them being supplies for everyone at the house. "Or we can head home and decide things from there. It'll feel nice to get away from this atmosphere for a while."
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"No slop, please!" That was one of the few things Ren could remember clearly, if only because it was impossible to forget how bad it was.
"Maybe it would be better if we go home," he decided. He was a little apprehensive about facing everything that was supposed to be familiar to him, but it was better than the medbay.
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Sakura pulled the box of refolded clothing up, moving it back to where it had been before shed pulled everything out for Ren. "Home sounds like a good idea to me," she said amiably, picking up his former shoes. "I've got your old shoes. Did you want me to carry your old clothes, too, or have you got them yourself?"
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"I've got them," Ren insisted. He hadn't had much of a problem with Sakura cleaning up after him before, but...well, when it came to clothes and underwear and stuff, he was a little embarrassed about a girl seeing them.
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Ren nodded. "I think I remember everything about the ship. It's just the--the stuff about me."
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Ren shook his head. That definitely wasn't normal for him--not before, at least. But the fact that it felt more familiar, along with everything else about the ship...
After a moment of trying to figure out how to ask the question, he said, "Why do I remember everything here? Shouldn't the Clock have taken everything?"
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In short, they had no idea. Theories, but nothing concrete. Expecting the ship to help hold memories together begged a kind of ongoing connection and memory back-up that was distinctly disturbing. (Not that the ship was anything less, even on great days.)
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That explanation cleared up nothing. Ren gave her a puzzled look and asked, "So Stacy can block some of it, but not all of it?"
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Ren could only make a face at that. Seriously, Sakura. Don't even joke about that.
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"Okay," Ren not-quite-sighed in relief. And, well, you never knew what Phillip might decide he wanted to try next.
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