mayfield_logs | The CAST Version of MemTest86+

The CAST Version of MemTest86+

Who:	Falk Gatt and Dakki Sigal
What:	Gat and Dakki had a falling out during the event. Now, with little recollection as to why it happened, they need to patch things up.
When:	Thursday, June 7, a day after the Memory Corrupt event ended
Where:	458 Stone Street
Warnings:	None

[It was Dakki's idea. Whatever happened during those five days, it left the two of them with memories of being a few steps away from getting into a real brawl, and yet—the events of those past few days were like trying to remember a dream, especially where their state of mind was concerned.]

[They needed to talk. First they had to have time to pull themselves together, and so they spent a day or so to reflect on what happened, but—they still needed to talk.]

[So sitting on the front porch this quiet summer evening, they're going to do just that.]

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[They did indeed need to talk. But even with a day's worth of preparation, Dakki wasn't sure that she had all the proper words in order. This was going to be strange and awkward to pick apart.

She's waiting on the porch, hands folded in her lap and gaze distant. Gat did say he'd be right out, after one more thing... That was alright. Maybe a few more seconds could give her the time needed to find just the right things to say.]

[Half a minute passes before Gat steps out onto the porch, but when he does, he's holding two glasses of lemonade in his hand.]

Thought it'd be fittin'. Folks 'round here say when life gives you lemons, you oughta make lemonade.

[Said in his usual folksy, facetious tone of voice—if nothing else, a lame joke ought to break the ice some. He offers one of the glasses to Dakki before sitting down next to her.]

[She's a little surprised to see Gat bringing out refreshments, but it's not a bad sort of surprise. It brings a sad kind of smile to her face.]

They say that? That's a nice saying. I think I like it...

[She laughs a little and takes the offered glass, having a little sip while Gat settles himself. And once he's settled?]

...I'm sorry.

[Gat looks over to Dakki after her apology.]

So'm I. For treatin' you th' way I did.

[In his mind, at least, it felt like he was provoking some of her actions, though he couldn't figure out why he was being so obstinate. It was only a few days ago! That's probably the most disquieting thing about the entire spat ... that, even though he's a CAST, his memory of events not even a week ago are that spotty.]

Edited 2012-07-23 07:06 (UTC)

[That's a curious thing for him to be saying. She frowns slightly, sympathetically.]

You didn't treat me all that badly... If anything, I think I was the one that started it. I was so angry. But I can't say that anything that you did was all that terrible...

[She shakes her head in disbelief. How had she gotten like that? And why?]

Maybe so.

[Gat takes a sip from his own glass before setting it down beside him. ]

But I was still treatin' you like I was livin' with an enemy from th' git-go. I was thinkin' more 'bout fightin' back than makin' up. That didn't help nothin'.

[Gat's tone of voice is ... mostly astonished. At how different the two of them acted these past few days ... and for what reason? He turns is head to look ahead of him, though in a sort of contemplative stare down toward the lawn rather than the horizon beyond.]

I reckon we both weren't in our right minds.

I wouldn't blame you for thinking that way, if you were stuck in the house with someone that angry. And hateful. And sad.

[There's lots of astonishment on her part, too. How could she have felt like that? She takes another sip of lemonade. Sour and sweet, aah... two flavors that are easy for a CAST to distinguish and appreciate.]

I think more than a few people weren't. I don't think Miku was. And the streets were just... wild, some days.

[Now that Dakki mentions it ... Gilgamesh wasn't really acting the same way either, he remembers that much.]

There's a fella I work with over at th' firehouse, goes by th' name Gilgamesh. He was actin' different than th' first time I met 'em, too ...

[His voice trails off for a moment, before he looks back over to Dakki.]

If it wasn't just us an' th' folks we know, could it've been th' work of th' town?

So that's four of us, and possibly more... yeah. That sounds like the work of the town.

[She smiles sadly, setting her glass of lemonade down for the moment. That still didn't feel like it settled the matter. It explained it, but hardly excused it.]

So did the town make us all... angry? I don't think it did. That's not it, exactly... Miku was sad. How was your friend Gilgamesh?

[And there was one question she was holding back on, because there was one other thing that she remembered being wrong. But it was about Gat himself, which seemed so much harder to talk about.]

[Gat takes a moment to reflect on his conversation with Gilgamesh that day.]

Naw, he wasn't aggressive. He was somber, though, an' serious. First time I met 'em he was an energetic fella, seemed like th' fun lovin' adventurin' type. Boasted about bein' a legendary hero.

[A beat passes as he realizes something else ...]

An' this week ... I remember 'em was talkin' about bein' a judge of th' dead. He ain't never mentioned that before.

So he was... different. Talking about things that he hadn't before...

[She presses her lips together, obviously and visibly hesitating. But now that she's shown that there's something that she's holding back on, she can't actually hold it back.]

I think... you said you were a wanderer. From town to town. Something like that.

[This causes Gat to pull his head back in surprise.]

That ain't right ...

[Though ... given what little he could recall of how Dakki was behaving this past week, perhaps it shouldn't be so surprising that he'd been claiming things entirely opposite of his own history.]

What else did I say?

That you worked alone. And that you were from earth? Which is... pretty strange. And... there was something about a disaster. I think. It's a little fuzzy...

[She picks her lemonade back up and has another sip. If Gat had said such strange things... what had she said?]

[Gat pulls his head back in surprise.]

From this planet? From Earth? Naw, that—there's no way.

[He shakes his head as he says that last bit.]

If'n this place was s'posed to be set in Coral's past, I'd've recognized some of th' names of countries 'round here. Even if it was in th' distant past ... but I ain't never heard of countries like America or th' USSR until th' town took us.

Edited (My brain, it is scattered!) 2012-07-25 17:22 (UTC)

That was my reaction. You said it pretty much as soon as we arrived here... none of this place, this Earth was familiar to you. It's so strange...

[She frowns, and closes her eyes, and considers.]

...was it Earth or "the earth?"

[Then she opens her eyes and looks back at Gat.]

I don't know. But it's definitely a sign that you weren't... quite you.

[Gat doesn't understand the distinction Dakki's making there, as evidenced by the way he tilts his head.]

Was there some sorta distinction I was makin' with a definite article there?

I think it was the difference between a proper noun and a... term for a planet. It's not very clear, I'm sorry.

[Great, now she felt confused, too. She rested a hand on the side of her face and sighed.]

...so what was wrong with me?

[Gat ponders what significance specifying "the earth" could possibly have ... at least until Dakki asks what happened to her.]

[He tilts his head to more directly face hers.]

[Oh boy, this is going to be hard.]

Well, y'see—

[Gat clears his throat. Not something he really needs to do as a CAST, but it's one of a number of human-like behaviors he's picked up from working with humans for all his life.]

—How'm I gonna put this ... I remember you sayin' that you an' I're enemies. Went beyond jus' havin' a fallin' out ... you were sayin' you were never in th' GUARDIANS at all.

[That wasn't the whole story, though ... from what little he could recall with clarity. There's hesitance in his body language.]

[Wow. Wow, and she thought she had been awkward about revealing Gat's differences. Whatever was up with her, it must have been pretty awful. Or at least very strange.]

I wasn't? Really?

[Her first thought is that it's unthinkable. Her next is a sudden memory that once, she had refused to join the GUARDIANS when offered.]

...you know... I don't know if I'd have joined the GUARDIANS if it weren't for you. So if I thought I hated you, then... hm.

That's th' thing—

[Gat shifts uncomfortably. He can't sugarcoat this. What little he could clearly remember of Dakki's behavior that week was an antithesis of who Dakki really is.]

From what I remember, you said you were workin' for ... th' Illuminus.

.....what?

[That does not compute. That does not make sense. It's absolutely terrible, and she's recoiling in her seat as if the idea physically repulses her.]

No... no, no, no. That's impossible. You're kidding! No!

[Gat slowly shakes his head, looking down a little as if to confirm that it is indeed true.]

It's what I remember, Dakki. To th' best of my knowledge.

But that's ridiculous! I wouldn't. Why would I think something like that?

[She was shouting at first, but her voice is growing a little weaker. She could remember feeling very, very sad, beneath all of the very, very angry.... how could being so sad lead her to that, though?

She brings her hands to either side of her head, pulling lightly at her hair.]

I'd never do that. I'd never, ever do that. You know that, right, Gat?

I don't doubt ya for a minute, Dakki—whatever was goin' on this week, it was makin' us say an' do things we know ain't true.

[Gat turns and looks toward the street.]

... Jus' like back before Christmas.

[He sounds a little disturbed. Thinking back on that horrid week, if the strange behavior and odd claims from him, Dakki, and the people they know are anything to go by, then they've been subject to another case of Mayfield messing with people's heads on a very intimate level ...]

[Her grip loosens and her arms drop, and she lets her hands fall into her lap. Gat had a point. Didn't Gat always have a point?]

...yeah. That's one of the town's hobbies. If it doesn't mess with our bodies, it messes with our minds...

[She remembered well the time that it messed with Gat's mind to the point that he forgot all about her. It's hard to think about. She grits her teeth and balls her fists.]

Sometimes it feels like the town wants to do everything it can to make us hate each other. It won't win! It'll never win! You're my best friend, Gat! Alright?

[Gat nods, without looking at Dakki—at first.]

So long as they don't permanently rewrite our minds ...

[Then he looks over at her.]

... but that don't seem to be their aim. I'm thinkin' they jus' enjoy manipulatin' people into doin' horrible things, then leavin' 'em with knowledge of what they've done when they're through.

[Her voice goes quieter.]

Would we even know if they did it permanently....?

[There's a miserable thought. One she doesn't want to dwell on. Her eyes fix on Gat, and she takes in the rest of what he has to say.]

They've been stuck in here so long, maybe that's all they've got left to do...

[Gat tries to think back to that week. It would have caught his notice, wouldn't it? —but he couldn't remember whether he did or not, not for sure. He's having a sensation much like deja vu, as if it's something he knows he's done, and yet can't recall anything specific.]

Might be possible.

[That's the best answer he can come up with now, though thinking on it further, he adds:]

An' if they don't go rewritin' everyone's minds—then I reckon other folks would notice. They'd have to rewrite a lot of folks' memories to keep anybody from noticin'.

[Now it's Gat's turn to think about what Dakki has to say, about the ones in charge of the town. He turns to look over in the general direction of City Hall.]

You'd think folks who can bring in anyone they like, from times an' places we ain't never heard of, wouldn't get bored that easy. They have th' power to change everything about this town whenever they feel like it. An' they've got to have a good idea what kind of places they're pullin' us from, if they can give us th' things we had while we're here.

[And then he looks back over to Dakki again.]

Didja ever hear th' broadcast they made jus' before Christmas, right when they were just about done foolin' us into thinkin' ya'll erased yourselves?

You're right... they'd have to change everyone. Do they even have the power to do it to everyone? They're powerful, but they're not all-powerful. They keep accidentally admitting it.

[She leans a little further forward towards Gat, starting to get a little more caught up in her train of thought.]

They can bring people in from whenever and wherever they like, true... but they don't want to know us or learn from us... we're decorations. We're here to fill gaps. We're... toys. We're here as toys. For her, probably.

[She blinks at Gat's next question.]

...I remember hearing a few announcements. Which one was that?

Mayfield's news announcer was sayin' he heard there was dissatisfaction with folks erasin' themselves. Real chipper actin', claimin' they ain't heartless, but then tellin' us to kill th' "fakes" so that Santa'd return 'em on Christmas Eve.

Durin' that broadcast, that was when they restored my memories of you.

Oh. That announcement. They... they let you remember? After that?

[She looks disturbed.]

...I think it speaks pretty well of the town that.. I didn't hear about too many people being killed. But... oh. That's...

Incentive to try an' make us all go for th' kill, I s'pose.

[Gat shakes his head. He's disgusted by the recollection of that last-minute blood sport they made out of their game, and the dry tone in his voice makes that clear.]

Considerin' they were still forcin' us to see ya'll as repulsive fakes, that speaks mighty well of th' townsfolk indeed.

Because it's one thing to force us to do horrible things. It's another to trick us into doing it voluntarily...

[She, too, sounds quite disgusted.]

They're not winning. They're not. Maybe we're... wearing them down.

[At the first part Dakki says, Gat nods.]

I've heard my fair share of things th' town's done to make folks willingly turn on each other.

[Then he inclines his head.]

Y'think they're really gettin' worn out dealin' with us, though?

[Dakki looks momentarily uncertain... but then her expression goes serious and firm.]

Maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see. But there hasn't been much gloating lately, has there? It's mostly... panicky whispers.

Edited (what are timelines? D:) 2012-08-11 03:07 (UTC)

[Gat considers this for a moment, taking another drink from his lemonade glass, looking down thoughtfully at the sidewalk on the edge of the household's lawn.]

Y'got a point. Last time I heard 'em actin' smug was—back in January, with part of th' system malfunctionin'.

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