😢 voice; @b.potts

[tutee]

[ It happened overnight. The amnesia wore off and she woke up Sunday morning suddenly possessing months of knowledge of a man who'd shown her worlds and times Bill could never have imagined, prior to meeting him. She hadn't believed Cisco when he'd told her about this man called the Doctor who could travel through time, who was her friend. But now she remembers him, and more importantly, she remembers how she hasn't seen or heard from him in weeks.

When she goes to start recording, the camera comes on and she gets a view of how shattered she looks from crying, and quickly switches to audio only. ]

How... How do you know when someone's left? Gone home, I mean, or just... gone somewhere that's not here. Is there a list of names somewhere to check?

[ She pauses, hesitant, before adding, ] Do the ones who've left ever come back?

Comments

[alchemyfreak]

Makes sense.

[Someone else has to be aware of alternate realities, right?]

Guess I'm just used to people being more shocked. You'd think being on a moon that pulls people in from different worlds would be all the evidence they need...

Anyway, I do a lot of research on this stuff so let me know if there's anything I can do to help or answer any other questions.

[tutee]

I will. Thanks.

You said you've been in places like this before?

[alchemyfreak]

Sort of.

I was taken from my home world almost six years ago, and found myself in another place before this one. This would be the third, except- the other two were run by beings that claimed to be gods and had nothing to do with a portal accidentally bringing is in for our own apparent benefit.

A lot of things are similar, but it doesn't all add up.

[tutee]

Wow.

[ Because what do you say to that except "Wow" ? ]

Do you think the three places are connected, somehow?

[alchemyfreak]

[A lot of things in Ed's experience, this is the first time he's gotten a wow at all, actually.]

There hasn't been any evidence of that, I don't think. The first place I was brought to was ... a place we were supposed to redeem ourselves for our sins. I was there four years and things changed a lot in that time, we were basically frozen in time so no one aged. We were there to be punished, the idea was that it was based on purgatory in a way.

[None of that made any sense to him but what does he know? He's not religious and it's not a religion practiced in his world anyway.]

After that I was taken to a place that encouraged sinning, which seemed a little backwards. At first I thought it was just another trick but- the landscape certainly never trained that drastically before. The gods there said they needed our help, preferably willingly. It wasn't meant to be a punishment.

A friend of mine from the previous place did show up, but we were the only two there as far as I know.

[so there was one connection, but he'd always viewed it as a coincidence.]

When everyone started disappearing from that place I wound up here, and I guess it was... when I felt the most displaced, so it makes sense. Only the store I used to run is here too, and that doesn't.

So, no... I don't really think they're connected. If they were I think more people would show up who experienced the other places before now. No one's here from Attollo or Purg last time I checked, even the people I recognize don't know me.

[tutee]

That's... [ Bill pauses. ] ...I don't know how I would handle that, honestly. Being pulled from place to place, the people you know not knowing you...

[alchemyfreak]

It happens with people from home sometimes, too.

[Nobody's safe, not even the people who haven't been on another world before.]

People not knowing me I can get used to, I mean I have. The worst part was how many times I've seen my brother come in go... In that place you don't want your friends to stay, it was hell.

[Quietly.]

Watching them leave gets lonely though, no matter what world you're on.

[tutee]

[ Bill nods, sadly. Not that he can see, because this is voice only. But she swallows, and finally says. ]

Yeah, it is.

[alchemyfreak]

The good news, I guess, is that anyone can come back at any time. They might not be gone for long.

[He's honestly not even sure if that's reassuring.]

[tutee]

Maybe. Maybe, but there's no way of knowing for sure.

[ Glass half empty. ]

[alchemyfreak]

No, unfortunately there isn't.

[He'd know all about that, for every time Al came back to Purg he disappeared just as abruptly.]

Sometimes they come and go so many times it's almost better they didn't show up at all.

[tutee]

[ Bill isn't sure she agrees with that line of thinking. ]

I mean, I suppose so, if the place you're stuck in is bad, but... Wouldn't you rather see someone you love for a short time than not see them at all?

[alchemyfreak]

After awhile you start spending the whole time waiting for them to leave again. It's not something I'd wish on anyone else.

[It's been almost two months since Al arrived, Ed will settle down eventually.]

In the first world I was in, my brother never really stayed for longer than a month. He showed up a lot, just never stayed...

[She can probably hear the smile in his voice, rueful.]

The last time he was there for almost a year, though.

[tutee]

[ She can hear the sentiment in his voice, and she can't help but be jealous of the relationship he must have with his brother. ]

I suppose I've just... never had someone I cared about losing before.

[alchemyfreak]

[Ouch. He sounds almost guilty after that statement. Ed's never not had someone he cared about, even when he was alone it wasn't for long.]

That... must be tough.