✯ Alternate Universe Session 2.0 ✯ [Voice]

[byakkoyagirl]

Comments

[thestormishere]

They can't hurt us now, but this is a shift we're talking about. Who knows what might happen.

[ Lightning sounds... tense. And tired. Imagine that. ]

... Plus, if none of us can sleep because of it? That puts us all at a disadvantage.

[byakkoyagirl]

That is true. We have no real clue what's in store, but we can get through it like we always do.

[She's not too surprised at that really. The lack of sleep can easily affect someone's mood that way.]

You have to try and get some sleep. It's hard, but you can't let the nightmares stop you. Dreams are dreams and nothing more.

[thestormishere]

[ Lightning makes a soft sound in her throat at that- part scoff, part dry laugh. ]

Easier said than done, if you keep popping out of sleep every quarter hour with too much on your mind to go back... if there was anything I could do, I'd be doing it, trust me.

[ Really, the constant waking/trying to get her mind to shut up cycle seems more tiring than just staying up by now, even if she recognizes the downfalls. And obviously, she really feels like venting, because normally she'd keep all this to herself for sure. ]

[byakkoyagirl]

No, I understand. I wish I could help, but these dreams seem to show up even if you go to sleep for a little while. That's what weird about them though. Normally one can't recall their dreams in the slightest unless they enter a deep cycle. The fact that you can retell what happened vividly is what makes them so unnatural.

[private | voice]

[endthem]

I assume, by your advice and choice of words, that your 'dreams' are little more than simply that?

[might sound a little bitter about that]

[private | voice]

[byakkoyagirl]

My dreams are just jumbled messes of colors and images. I can't really make heads or tails of it yet, but it's only been two nights since I started having them.

[private | voice]

[endthem]

How fortunate for you.

[but then the antagonistic tone drops away a little as he checks himself. ...sorry, he hasn't gotten much rest lately.]

Though, I'm curious. ...Do you have an opinion why some others would be having nightmares instead?

[private | voice]

[byakkoyagirl]

Nightmares are normally signals for something the subconscious wants you to pay attention to. They're more traumatic for the dreamer in a sort and thus sticks to the waking memory. I can't say why people would have more nightmares compared to good dreams, but their stream of subconscious thought might be more active in that case.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

Ah, Paprika... [Robert has seen and spoken to her before, of course. She's the sister of one of his closest friends, and he's probably been over more than once.

He might trust Giles more, but he figures he'll need Paprika's assistance for this.]

... My dreams have been... extremely unsettling. I'm not sure if Rupert has mentioned them to you, but if not... well, I would explain, if you wouldn't mind hearing...

I-I've been recording them as well... as much as I can remember of them, anyway. [Normally he remembers things with crystal clarity, but this time it's a struggle to remember... He almost wonders if that's due to the Shift-like nature.]

If you think they are planted Shifts, then why do you suppose they're all so different...? Reinterpreted through individual peoples' memories, perhaps?

And yet some people are remembering things very different from anything that happens here...

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[byakkoyagirl]

I don't mind.

Not all shifts are the same for everyone. They could be personalized for each person. They may be even jumbling around your memories and mutating them. Like I said, there are a number of possibilities. Ignoring them isn't the right way to go in my opinion.

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[semper_cogitans]

W-Well. They're... rather lengthy, though my memory is surprisingly unclear when it comes to them. Generally I have very good memory recall, but... [He sighs a little.] Perhaps a property of the Shift...

... At any rate. Allow me to... try to explain them...

... So far my dreams have been much of the same things, but with gradually-increasing amounts of detail. There's this... metallic city that features most prominently; it's enormous, easily several dozen times larger than Luceti Valley, and full of what looks like advanced technology... wiring and circuitry and tubing everywhere, but with organics like flowers and trees almost mixed in. It's... strangely beautiful, and I always get the strong feeling of... being there, or having been there, and needing to go back.

There was this particular building too, with an announcer that said "Welcome to the Randi Institute", and... a-and it was calling to me, and I felt like I was supposed to be in it... [Robert's voice hitches a little bit here. He's always wanted to feel like he belongs

[Voice | Filtered 100%]

[byakkoyagirl]

[She listens intently to him as he speaks and waits for him to finish before chiming in her thoughts.]

It seems that you're dreaming in a linear fashion. That is, one dream described an A event and the next describes a B event and so on. However, you sound really upset by all of this. The last part where you mentioned the valley being 'violated' - are you talking about from your own perspective, or did everything just appear off to you in a complete manner.

[Written]

[antlioncyclone]

Are you sure they can't be real?

[Written]

[byakkoyagirl]

How real do they feel to you?

[Written]

[antlioncyclone]

Some of it is foggy like a normal dream, but there are some parts that pull on me, the way being tired pulls you to sleep.

[Thoughts and memories can be faked in a dream, but instincts will always be the most real to a creature.]

[Written]

[byakkoyagirl]

Even when you are awake it feels real then? Like everything was meant to happen, or happened in a far off land.

[Voice, filtered 100%]

[byakkoyagirl]

[She takes a few minutes to bump up his filter and nods.]

Go ahead. Do you want to talk in person or just like this?

[Voice, filtered 100%]

[byakkoyagirl]

[She thinks for a moment.]

Why do you think they attacked you in the dream? Did you provoke them or did they simply lash out?