saveyourbrain | TEST DRIVE MEME

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test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME

TEST DRIVE MEME

> The Park. Man, what a nice day out. Why not enjoy it? I'm sure -- shit, yep, there's some echo monsters.
> The Mall. Exactly what it says on the tin! Dodge the hordes of teenage mallrats or take part, whichever suits your tastes.
> Rainy Day. Agh, it's fucking awful out. And is it raining those vermilion things?? Now you've got an Echo to contend with on top of everything else. Find some shelter, quick!
> PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, HOW FUN
> The most horribly kitschy Arts and Crafts Fair you can imagine.
> NEW YEARS. What better way to start out the new year than to learn that everything you know is a lie? Or if you are already acquainted with the network pass out some resolutions.
> A food fight has just broken out in the cafeteria. Join? Flee? The choice is yours alone.
> Wild Card! Make up your own.

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[Just a little! Julien smiles too. He's never sure if he likes hearing someone speak or especially sing in Elvish - well no, he likes it, it's just kind of creepy and distracting and he's not sure if he should like it.]

I don't know, but it happens a lot. They just walk through string or fishing line or whatever, and it gets tangled... I hear it can happen with long hairs, too.

[It takes a pair of tiny scissors that Julien carries around, but the string is removed.]

She looks a little worse for wear, but they're pretty tough. I don't think anything's infected.

I've heard about string or fishing line, but never long hair. [He may look just a tad guilty. Not that he sheds particularly badly, but his hair is past his waist and while he usually ties it back when he's out and about there's inevitably some loss.]

I'm glad she's all right, though. Shall I let her go?

Anything fine and long enough, I think. I've heard some people leave out long hairs for birds to make nests with... I mean, I've never known anyone who'd admit to that, but still, don't do it.

[He stows the little scissors and balls up the nasty bit of string. ...what's he going to say to this guy when the bird flies off. Hmm.] Yeah, go ahead. I think she wants to get back to her friends.

[Gabriel's heard of people leaving out hair trimmings for birds to make nests of, but that wouldn't be long enough for a bird to get tangled in so he stays quiet.

Instead, he releases the bird and watches as she flutters off to join the rest of her flock. He brushes his hands off on his trousers, and then stands, straightening his legs which are starting to ache. Then he offers Julien his hand to help him up too.]

That language you spoke to the bird. Where did you hear it?

[Julien considers for a moment, then takes the proffered hand. His skin is silk-soft and as thin as a frog's, and his temperature is almost ten degrees warmer than normal. He's also pretty light, but part of that is that he's using Gabriel's hand more to steady himself than to be hauled up.

Then he dusts himself off, watching carefully. There's an oddly-textured pearly brightness to his eyes, but Julien does look like the sort who might wear fancy contacts.]

It's... something a friend's been teaching me. Doctor Strider, at the LSR. Ah - heniog? [Do you understand?]

[Gabriel probably wouldn't notice his weight if it wasn't combined with everything else and it sets him thinking. Nothing he'll be able answer without asking, but a few ideas. There's one thing he needs to ask that he's too cautious to ask but - ah. Well.]

I've never met him but I've heard of him and, well. Seen him around.

I understand it. Sort of. I think I know a version a little different. [But he didn't know it at all two weeks ago.]

Yeah, he's pretty well known around here. Knows a lot of surprising things, but you could say that about just about everyone.

[Julien can still more or less understand that. And it's still weird.] ...like but different. Hmm. [He rocks back on his heels a little. Julien is inclined to be cautious, but if this guy knows a similar language there's really only one plausible reason why.]

It's Elvish. They both are - yours sounds fancier, but I've heard Strider singing with a few of those words.

[Oh fuck it. Gabriel throws caution to the winds.]

It's a numbers club thing, isn't it? They must be related. Is it a memory of yours or just something you learnt from him?

[A smile flickers across Julien's face.]

I see I don't have to explain a bunch of things. - yeah, it's related, and it's not one of my pulses. I don't think the other me comes from his world. Though it does have humans running around with swords and bows and things.

And flaming - flaming monsters with whips. [Gabriel wonders aloud, half to himself. That's something that he can't forget as much as he'd like to.]

Assuming it's the same one, of course. It's not a language of Earth, I know that much, although it does bear some similarity to Finnish from what I can tell.

Have you worked out more about yours?

[Julien raises his brows. They're dyed too - they turned white when his hair changed.] You'll definitely want to talk to Strider, he remembers something like that.

Yeah, humans are this tiny minority. Whoever I'm turning into [he's in denial about just what that is], they're the "child and successor" to humanity and run the world. And my guy's gone and sworn he'll try and protect humans, so.

That's why I have this not-a-fever and all the rest.

I hope for his sake he doesn't remember getting as close to one as I do. [Nightmares are one thing, but nightmares of the death of the ~~man~~ elf he once was is not what he really needs.]

If yours was someone who protected people I think yours and mine might have something in common. [Mentioning the fever makes Gabriel frown faintly, though.] Is it uncomfortable?

It sounded... pretty harrowing when he told me the story, but Aragorn and most of his party got out. [he can't help thinking of them in DnD terms.]

Maybe! Guardian types, huh? Though mine's also sort of a scout or spy and knows medicine and uh... goes into the afterlife... [He shakes his head.] It's all pretty complicated.

And uh - no, not really. It was for a while, but I don't sweat anymore. The main issue is getting close to people. I can't let them touch me, but even if they don't, they ask if I'm sick, sometimes.

I don't know if the people that... if they got out or not in my case, but I hope they did. [Whoever they were, his previous self gave his life up for them. Maybe it could be 'Aragorn''s party? It's worth finding out.]

It seems as though it's complicated for all of us. Do you have somewhere safe to stay? [He's already realised that depending on how dramatic the effect is on himself he might be out of a job ~~or three~~ but that won't stop him from offering his help to others while he still can.]

Yeah... I'm really going to have to introduce you, I feel awkward just repeating someone else's story.

Hah. Thanks, Gabriel. I'm good for now! I live with someone else who's networked. It's an apartment so there's other people around, but I know their schedules - and I'm not going to just stay hidden over something people might notice. [he'd go stir crazy.]

But what's your place like, anyway?

I'd like that. Especially if he knows more of this -- elvish than me. [Gabriel would be the first to admit that he isn't really sure what he's doing with it yet.

But he is glad that Julien has a safe space to stay, not least because he's noticed that he seems to be easily one of the oldest on the network (with a few exceptions, and at least aniline isn't in his teens like many he's seem) but also because it's in his nature to want to protect people and make sure that they're safe.]

Nothing too fancy. Thankfully I don't have a wife or children to worry about through all of this, and my parents are back in the UK so they're safe. [And removed from any transformations that may or not happen.]

He'll probably be happy, he's been hoping for someone else who knows it.

[Julien is not mistaken for a teenager as often as he used to be. Care, stress, and responsibilities over the last several months all take their tolls. He's young, though.]

Probably for the best. Yeah, I used to live with my sister, but she moved out west after the bombing. Can't say I blame her.

You seem to have a pretty busy life... Thought about cutting back a little, or something, in case you end up unrecognizable?

That's understandable, it's human nature to seek out people who understand you.

Your sister isn't one of us then? It's strange how it seems to pick us at random. You'd think that family bonds might stay through all of this. [He's been following the network long enough to realise that it seems to be entirely random who's family is involved and who's isn't. Gabriel is an only child, though, and used to living alone, so family isn't something he often drags into his thoughts.]

I'll have to. If things become more noticeable, that is. But I don't want to have to drop my charity work for it. [It's something that's been bothering him, but hopefully he has enough money squirrelled away to keep him safe and maybe he's brought enough awareness to pass the charity into public funding entirely now, even if that will mean scaling some of it's operation back. Nit's certainly not ideal, but what can he do? He's already retired from modelling once, he'll take what life throws at him and roll with it.]

Nah, she's a normie. And in on a lot of stuff - she had to be, I kind of had to relearn how to talk - but the bombs freaked her out and she's got a daughter, too. Also normal. I think. Who knows, though, if they'd stayed. [He shrugs] Some people get theirs earlier than others.

That stuff's all pretty inconvenient, isn't it. I know if things keep on I won't be able to be out in public like at all. [He presses his lips together.] But I have a rich networked friend with a rich house I might mooch off of, just so I won't be stuck in an apartment. I hate doing that kind of thing! But, well.

[He frowns, head tilting.] You had to relearn to talk? Was that because of the [Vague, slightly awkward wave of his hand] um. Physical changes, or something mental that happened?

[Still, it's a relief to know that people are looking after one another. He needs to look into what he can do and work out a plan to retire from public life if necessary. He doesn't want to be the one to draw attention to them.] If that happens - and I hope it won't - you'll have to find things to do to keep yourself occupied.

Physical... here, give me your hand, it's faster to just show you. [He taps his own shoulder, finger thumping off his hollow collarbone. Julien's a little too polite to go around grabbing hands.]

[Then he smooths back his not-hair again and speaks with his mouth closed, only slightly muffled. His voice vibrates through his whole body, particularly the air sacs branching off his lungs - there's one under his clavicle, infiltrating his bones - and anything touched to him resonates a little too.]

Yeah. Yeah, I know... I kind of have this thing or - power where I can make myself not very noticeable, so maybe I'm not trapped, whatever happens.

[Gabriel hesitates, but does reach out. Compared to Julien's heat his hands are cold. When he feels the resonation he jumps, contact broken for a moment, but then reaches out again, curious.]

That sounds like the most useful power. [He agrees with a laugh, pulling his hand away again.] What I wouldn't give for something like that some days.

[It's a party trick, sort of, but it's fun to watch people react even as he has to keep himself from pulling away from the cold hand. Briefly Julien grins.]

There, see? Not normal. I speak with this... thing in my chest, I don't actually need to use my mouth at all. Took a while to find out how to sound human.

[Now he raises his eyebrows a little] Fame, huh?

Not normal, but useful, I'd imagine. [He pauses, and then adds,] Amongst people who understand, anyway.

[And there's a small not at that and a wry smile.] Not that I'd particularly call myself famous at all, but sometimes a small amount of public attention is needed to get things done.

So far it's basically just good for showing off. I can sing like nothing anyone's ever heard, though.

[Julien snorts, gently, and folds his arms over his chest, eyes bright and teasing.] You're not? I must be mistaken, Gabe, clearly you just look a little famous.

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I need to learn to turn my phone off. Last tag for the night.

<3

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