Pre-Moebius Sharing [A couple days into the racetrack liminal]

[itsananimalthing]

So a lot of you know I've been tryin' to rebuild memories from before Moebius. For you new people, Moebius was a Jaunt before most of you got here, were we died a lot and lost our memories every morning. A lot of that stuck.

[Look, he's being helpful, filling things in for people who don't know the story. Isn't that nice of him?]

Managed to put together somethin' kinda big out of them.

[Enjoy a brief lifestream of Riddick's strange vision: everything is tinted slightly purple, sources of light are doubly bright, and everything seems much more focused on heat and motion. It's an image of his hands, held apart in front of him, and after a second, an arc of electricity jumps between them, from one hand to the other. He holds it only briefly, then lets it dissipate.]

We can make energy out of liminal stuff. Claudia don't need to shoot me with her electricity gun to power lightcycles no more, we can just make that shit.

Came with somethin' else interesting while I was tryin' to put that trick back together. I was on at least four Jaunts before Moebius happened, might be more-- but there were people back then from the last round of this. The one Fortune won. We called 'em the Unlucky Dead. I don't got much about 'em yet, just a couple names and faces, but I'm workin' on it.

Figured that might be important to know.

[The last bit is said dryly. He knows that's an understatement.]

Comments

[itsananimalthing]

It doesn't. That's why I started fightin' back, to get back what I could. It takes a lot of work, and a lot of that work's in the brain. But I can try and teach you what I know about it.

Helps if you have somethin' to start with. I started with Moebius itself, since I still had a few shreds from that, and Nova Venizia, since we'd been there before.

[galvanizer]

I can deal with brain work, just point me in the right direction. I wasn't here for Nova Venezia, though. I think I got brought back after that revisit.

[itsananimalthing]

Then you missed some freebie flashbacks. I can walk you through some of my memories, see if it sparks anything. Come by the forge. The door's under the bleachers. We can talk about it.

[galvanizer]

Give me a few minutes.

[And in a few, she's there, knocking on the door before stepping in, looking down at the man with a small smile.] How did this past Jaunt treat you, Riddick?

[itsananimalthing]

[The door slides open easily for her, revealing the forge. Riddick is in the room beyond the forge fire, which is burning low rather than hot. The floor is covered in furs and rough cushions, but no chairs. Enjoy sitting on the floor, Asa.]

I was short. And immortal. And had some kinda problem with using the words "me" and "I". Worked out in the end, though, so guess it wasn't too bad.

[galvanizer]

I'm trying to imagine you as short. It's not working. [So amused.]

[She hunkers down to the cushions, getting comfortable with her legs crossed.] I had hooves. And ran around naked half the time.

[itsananimalthing]

Sounds like a good time.

[He's not going to share with her memories of being short. It'd be too silly to bother with. It was pretty weird, though.]

So tell me what all you can do with the network. I'll tell you if we can get started on learnin' memory tricks with what you got.

[galvanizer]

Not a whole lot, unfortunately. Whatever I had before Moebius is still lost, and seeing as I was gone for years afterwards... [So much sigh.] I can do some livestreaming and psychic protection.

[itsananimalthing]

All right, yeah, you got some work to do.

[He looks a little apologetic about it, but only a little.]

At least, if you wanna do it the easier way. There's two parts to this. First part is makin' an environment in your brain where you can recreate stuff-- second part is actually reconstructing the memories. It's just a lot easier if you can look at what you're making.

Both parts mean you gotta learn somethin' first, though.

[galvanizer]

Everyone has to start somewhere. [She just gives him a smile to indicate it's okay.]

What do I need to do?

[itsananimalthing]

[Easier to start with the psychic network stuff. Riddick really isn't sure even how to teach the memory strengthening things. He basically came with that shit already.]

First you gotta do the opposite of livestreaming-- you gotta get inside somebody else's head to see and hear what they're seeing and hearing. Sensory eavesdropping, we call it. Mostly you do it with somebody else's permission.

[He smirks a bit, at that, since he's sure there's circumstances when you could do it without.]

[galvanizer]

... Why do I get the feeling you could learn to make having permission optional? [She might be smirking a bit herself, but moving on-] All right. I can livestream, so now I need to pick up the opposite. Then?

[itsananimalthing]

You could. Wouldn't suggest tryin' it, but just about everything we can do on the network can be done without permission if you're strong enough, and the other person ain't protected enough. Anyway, after eavesdropping, then you gotta turn that around again to actually project somethin' into somebody else's mind. An image of yourself is what most people do, so when you're talkin' on the network, it's like you're talkin' in person.

[He pauses, then adds,]

Most people don't actually bother to do it, at all. If they do any images on the network, it's livesreaming or memories. But you can do it, and its an important step to learnin' other things.

[galvanizer]

Seems useful, too. Okay, so eavesdropping, projection, and then?

[itsananimalthing]

Then you use that projection to make a place inside your head you can kind of go to, design things in a kind of real mental space, view memories and shit like you were standing in the middle of 'em, or just get away from Traveling for a while. That's the best way for me to work out the rebuilding, where I can see it and fill in any details that're obviously missing.

[galvanizer]

A bit like meditation, then, and using it to build up memories to sift through them. That's useful...

[itsananimalthing]

That's just the stage for doin' it. Actually learning to reconstruct the memories is another thing-- gotta train up your memory first, start finding the details in things and learning how to store it, and then you'll be good to go, to take pieces of something you remember and start filling them in.

[galvanizer]

It's always the little things. [PAIN IN THE BUTT-] And the missing information, does it start filling in by itself as you piece things back together as best you can?

[itsananimalthing]

More like the more you see, the more things'll come back to you-- seeing pieces of what you remember reminds you of more things from the same memory. That's part of the memory training process.

[galvanizer]

Does it draw on your physical energy, this memory restoration? The mental energy seems a given, but with Liminal Space... Things are never set in stone.

[itsananimalthing]

Nah. The memory "place" is all a mental construct, no liminal anything required. I could make it in liminal space, but it wouldn't be the same thing.

And the actual memory rebuilding part ain't even network shit. It's all your brain just picking up pieces it misplaced, only with direction from you instead of by accident.

[galvanizer]

... Sounds like a pain in the ass. Must be why so many of us haven't yet been able to recover our memories from before Moebius. [Well, she has to start some time.] I'd better get onto it sooner rather than later, in that case.

[itsananimalthing]

Yeah, it is. It's tough work, you'll get frustrated a lot by what's missing and won't fill itself in easily. But it's worth it.

[galvanizer]

It always is. I don't like having my memories blocked - it causes problems down the line.

So. Sensory Eavesdropping first, hm?

[itsananimalthing]

That's the place to start. It's really a lot like listening on the network, only closer. You wanna give it a shot now, or try to work it out on your own first?