Private Thus Strangely Are Our Souls Constructed

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

White wisps of steam floated in the air as Ari set down a mug of coffee on the table before Theo. The moon high in the sky and easily seen through the window would indicate it was far too late for caffeine, but Ari wasn't really one to care. He rarely slept anyways. And he knew Theo would ignore the mug if it didn't interest him.

The raven-haired man sat down in the chair across from Theo, lifting his vapor pen to his lips and taking a drag before exhaling, a white cloud billowing out of his mouth a moment later before he took a sip of his coffee. Hot. Too hot. "Ya know, all that talk of whispers and night terrors comin' from playing Terrasphere, I was kinda expecting my life to turn into a horror film at some point," Ari said, setting the mug down with a quiet thud. "You didn't mention soothesaying, or being able to see the past." That was probably going to come as a surprise to Theo. Or at least, that's what Ari hoped. The man would pay to see a look of surprise on Theo's face just once. The man always seemed to know exactly how things were going to pan out. It was honestly kind of creepy at times, but maybe that was just due to his keen understanding of human nature. Strange, given how inhuman the man seemed to be in private.

"If you hadn't mentioned UI-locks and whatever the hell else has been floating around, I would've thought it was just a weird game mechanic, but I haven't heard of anyone else doing that kinda shit." Ari picked up his mug of coffee again, deciding it might've cooled down a bit. It hadn't. "Care to hear about the things I've seen?"

@Jin

 

[Jin]

"Wasn't something I'd heard of," Theo shrugged. "Phobias, strange addictions, psychological stuff- I'd heard tell about things like that, but "soothsaying" doesn't fit the bill based on my research."

Theo turned to look at the man with vague interest. The secrets of Terrasphere were the one thing that piqued his interest, in this world or that one. He interlaced his fingers and hid his lips behind both hands as he peered over his knuckles at Ari. "You're saying that you've got the ability to glimpse things that happened before."

He disliked the implication. Was that limited to his own past, or things that happened to others? It was important that he ask the right questions, since this man seemed willing to speak on the matter. "Are you saying that you remembered something?" chose those words carefully, to show interest in the other man's situation, or to prompt correction. If Ari had seen something else, he'd be glad to divulge it if it seemed like Theo was showing empathy.

Probably.

"I'm listening."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

"Before. Yet to come. Yeah," Ari clarified. "Though, the future is a bit more...ephemeral than the other two." Vague, snippets of what might happen. Just like polaroid scenes of a possible future. Or at least the man thought that it was a possible future. To call those snapshots into the future infrequent would've been a massive understatement. Only once before had that happened, though at a key moment. And maybe if Ari had chosen differently, the outcome would've been different.

"I didn't just remember," Ari said, before taking another sip of his coffee. "I relived it.

I saw her. Mei. I think it was after she started playing Terrasphere, 'cause she freaked out. We were sitting at lunch back in high school and someone slammed their books down on our table. She just...lost it. And the dude was taunting her." Ari found himself grinding his teeth as he remembered the strange, blood induced vision he'd had in Askera's lab. "I remembered just socking the dude in the fucking face. I...well, I didn't really come back to reality after that, but that's another story," Ari said. "There have been other things too. Other people's memories." Theo's memories. Part of what made him what he is today. "It's been...jarring," he said, trailing off just a bit.

@Jin

 

[Jin]

"Scrying? Foresight?" he questioned, "I can't rule it out as impossible, we've seen a lot of strange things and magic in Terrasphere. And events determined by the system don't seem outside the realm of possibility for random calls by various elements within the world- but people? The actual Players?"

As insane and fantastic as it sounded, Theo also disliked the idea of it being true. What could people learn about him if they wielded such power? The frown on his face was unhidden at that thought. "Other people's memories?" At that point, he stared flatly across his knuckles at the other man. If he knew something that Theo didn't want him to know, his Poker face wouldn't hold.

"Jarring how?" he asked, his voice calm as still water. "I can't imagine it sitting well with anyone, but it sounds like you are holding onto something a bit more disturbing than most."


@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

"but people? The actual Players?"

"Yeah, I know," Ari replied, leaning back in his chair and running a hand through his hair. The other man had hit the nail on the head. Most of what Ari had seen, at least regarding his own memories, wasn't that wild as far as the game systems seemed to go. As far as Ari could tell, memory access wouldn't be too difficult, considering the game could already read their brain to translate neuro mumbo jumbo to in-game actions. The future bit could presumably be predictive assumption, calculations. Science fiction stuff, out there, but possible. But seeing other people's memories? Ari had concerns there. The why of it was more concerning than the how. What purpose did such an invasive mechanic have? Why did only Ari, or rather Yugam, have this ability, and no one else? He wasn't exactly main character material, nor did the ability seem to have any kind of practical function. It didn't make sense to the man.

"...it sounds like you are holding onto something a bit more disturbing than most," Theo said, calm voiced, a slight frown on an otherwise calm, face. Intense eyes bore into Ari's body. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Theo was looking for something, he'd said as much after all. The question was what. "Imagine, you're doing something. Whatever, I dunno, you're out shopping for gear or something," Ari began to say. "Someone cuts their finger while looking at a knife. A drop of blood hits the counter. Suddenly you're reliving some random point in their life. Ripped from one reality and shoved into another. You feel everything they feel. Pain, fear, anger. They're hardly ever happy. That kind of jarring."

@Jin