{Five (33)} &diams Remember me to one who lives there / He once was a true love of mine

[burntorangesky]

That [pause] could not have been merely a dream. I refuse to believe it was--that all those people, and that city, were just a part of something I dreamed up.

My true name--or part of it at least, it seems [pause] somewhat incomplete--is Romana. [Pause, pen taps] I will still answer to 'Fred,' if people feel more comfortable calling me by that

Comments

[bloody_pens]

Romana, huh? Think I'm gonna stick with Fred. It suits you better.

DON'T EVER GO AWAY LIKE THAT AGAIN.

[burntorangesky]

As you like. Being 'Romana' will take some getting used to, in any case.

I will do my best.

[bloody_pens]

I bet. Hmm. Romana does rather roll off the tongue well, though.

Nah, I'll stick to Fred.

I also cannot blame you for not wanting to hurt Boss. Luckily I somehow missed his entry about you being dead or else he would've been picking his teeth up off the floor.

[burntorangesky]

Perhaps I will end up doing so myself. I feel more like a 'Fred' than I do a 'Romana' at this point.

I find myself wondering how he has managed to avoid getting killed before now. It seems a miracle, really.

/dick yet adorable mode ON!

[man_genius]

So here's how it's going down. You're buying in starches--lots of them. In return I will not use the rope I may or may not have purchased in a fit of desperation and insomnia this week, nor will I make unflattering comparisons between what I remember about Rome and this situation we all find ourselves in. Also I may have records of your vitals during your coma for you to study later.

I swear to all the monotheistic figureheads in the universe, if you so much as get a paper cut this week I will send Qi after you.

...lol. Sorry, Genius, she is going to be completely unreasonable about the dream business

[burntorangesky]

[Long pause.]

I suppose I can be persuaded to buy you starches, though there is no need to tie me down. Despite my remarks in Juliet's journal entry, I was not going to leave the Clinic until someone gave me permission to do so. Rome? I'm afraid I must have missed that history lesson, myself.

I don't care how much of a coma I was in, that was not a dream. I was somewhere else for two days.

...I'll be careful. I would hate you to bother her over me.

actually he's open to people having experiences while they're asleep. dolls you know

[man_genius]

So long as we understand each other...

[the handwriting shifts somewhat. Srs Genius is done now.]

Can I call you Roma?

[He is from 2010 baby! Love love love]

Ahhh, you showed minimum activity at best the entire time--I can't even begin to understand how you have ANY memories, let alone how you just woke up like nothing happened. You should be...very bad right now. Medically speaking I can't say you weren't where you say you were because there's no reason why you're ...well you know.

[In other words STOP SCREWING WITH SCIENCE DAMNIT]

What? I don't bother anyone--you all bother me! I somehow attract trouble making women and perverted men!

Awesomesocks

[burntorangesky]

Yes, well... mysterious comas, whether they are caused by the Tree or not, are nothing to play around with.

[She's glad he seems to be done with the SRS BZNS stuff, though the topic change is a little... odd.]

I would really prefer if you did not. I already have two names, I needn't any more.

[...ok, that's interesting, and a little bit scary.]

Perhaps I would like to see those records you might have after all--purely out of curiosity, you understand.

Of course you don't. And I protest; I do not make trouble, it merely finds me.

[desig_survivor]

You're okay. That's - that's very good to hear.

[The 'YES you're not dead!' reaction doesn't get transcribed, but he may have punched the air and paced back and forth like an idiot]

Romana. Congratulations. I should try to hold on to that.

[And now the badpings. The very, very badpings.]

You were somewhere else, with new people and a few old ones? Was there [Pause. He can't think of what he wanted to ask, and doesn't know why it now seems worse than if she'd just been comatose for a few days.] What was it like? Not happy, was it?

[burntorangesky]

Thank you, on both counts.

It was [pause] with one or two exceptions, it was a bit like hell.

[desig_survivor]

Will you be telling strangers that your name is Romana, or will you wait to get the rest of it?

[Still badpings, but less so. His first impulse is to write 'That's good', but the rest of his brain catches up just in time.] Not that place in the Wilderness with a volcano and that swamp, right?

[burntorangesky]

I am not entirely sure just yet. Perhaps I will tell them both my names, as Rabbit does, and let them pick.

No. It was cold, windy, and somewhere in Russia--that is an Earth country, by the by. The residents seemed to be survivors from some sort of war, it was unsafe to go beyond the city walls, and the soldiers did not like people who asked questions.

[spandexisyouth]

But how are you sure that it was not a dream?

[burntorangesky]

I cannot prove it in any way, but I [pause] it must have been real.

[spandexisyouth]

Why?

I am not trying to doubt you. I am curious! You only slept, and there are not side effects, and you have more information about you?

Scribbled out right away

[burntorangesky]

It hurt when the soldiers I could feel pain; I became hungry, thirsty, cold, and tired; I could taste the things I ate and drank; I could sense I could feel the things I touched.

I met someone from my past in the city as well. He seemed to know a great deal about me, but every time I spoke with him I seemed to develop a headache.

[live_ringer]

I think 'welcome back to the land of the living' may be my new catchphrase for you.

And Romana, huh? At least you managed to get something out of the experience, weird as that is.

[burntorangesky]

Oh joy. [Pause] Though I suppose I've earned that one.

I am rather hoping Edensphere will give me a vacation of sorts after all that, but given my track record I am hardly counting on it.

[live_ringer]

Hey, could be worse. At least I'm not threatening to tie you down. [Like some people.]

It'd be a nice change of pace, yeah, but you really can't rely on the Tree for anything.

So, this dream... thing that you had. In the city with the less than hospitable soldiers. What was that like aside from 'not pleasant'?

[Yes, someone's been reading around the entry.]

[burntorangesky]

I think the blame lies with Bell for that, for giving him the idea.

The people there were [pause] friendly, at least the ones who had come through the Gate. It was a great deal like Edensphere in that respect; people had been pulled from their home worlds without a by-your-leave, and stuck in Veles. However, they all retained their memories.

[Pause]

Storm was there.