savetheearth | 04

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04 | [Video]

[The webcam feed opens, and Mort looks a bit ashamed of himself.]

It would seem that I...well, I seem to have forgotten everything about these numbers and this network for the past couple of weeks. It's somewhat alarming, really.

[He sighs.]

I apologize if you came in looking for help with anything and I gave you a difficult time about it. I'm now leaving a few notes for myself in the event it happens again. Don't worry--it's nothing personally identifiable or dangerous to keep lying around, but it should be enough that I won't immediately start treating anyone talking about numbers and strange powers as delusional.

My office usually isn't open on Sundays, but given the circumstances, I'm here now. If you need to talk--or if I may have made things difficult for you this past week, please, stop by. If anyone's experiencing any new developments they're having trouble with, again, please feel free to stop by.

[There's another pause, as though what he's about to say next rubs his sense of ethics the wrong way.]

If circumstances call for it, I can...er, I can reassure your family members that everything's under control and that they've got nothing to worry about with these changes.

[There. He didn't outright say he'd lie for anyone, but that's basically what he means, loath as he is to admit it.]

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[[Bakura, on the other hand, is very pleased. Elated to an almost giddy extent. There's just something... amazing about the feeling of having someone right where you want them....

Once before, he'd felt that... no, not him, one of the other of him. That moment in the caves, the winning move...

Trapped forever, huh?]]

Good. [[and he straightens up, smirk lingering]] I've leave you to your work then~

[[he turned, pausing as if just noticing the lock on the desk]] Having some trouble keeping something out? Or something in~?

[Mort glances down at the lock.]

A little bit of both, possibly.

Got tired of it just appearing behind you, eh? Wonder how long that'll hold it~

[There's a long-suffering sigh.]

For quite some time, I hope.

Somehow I doubt that~ [[griiiiin]] Did it mess up your speakers too? Since they're not there any more....

[Suspicious doctor is now very suspicious of Bakura.]

They started malfunctioning. I haven't replaced them yet.

Malfunctioning, huh? First a creepy doll that moves on its own, then electronics that start misbehaving...

Sure you're not haunted?

There's always a scientific explanation for the supernatural.

[SUCH A SUSPICIOUS LOOK HE IS GIVING YOU, BAKURA.]

Really now. What's the scientific explanation for the network, hmm? The past life memories, people turning into monsters, things appearing out of nowhere that won't let themselves be gotten rid of...

[[There's that darker look again...]]

Or are you just using that as excuse to hide something, I wonder....?

It's said that any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic.

[He is stubborn with his love of SCIENCE. He also arches an eyebrow and tries to act calmer about this than he is in some attempt to gain a bit more control over the situation.]

What could I possibly be hiding?

And how did that advanced science suddenly come into being, huh? That writing numbers on a piece of paper suddenly makes it more advanced than an ipad when before it was just pulp. Numerical Alchemy doesn't exist, yet numbers transform. People are getting back powers that defy physics from chance encounters with monsters, others are remembering other people's memories even as they're being transformed into them.

No matter how advanced, no science can do that.

And you could be hiding quite a lot of things. You know what they say about people who become shrinks, most of them want to diagnose themselves first of all.

There's still got to be some pattern to this we're not seeing, or perhaps some rules...things just don't happen for no reason at all.

[There's a note of frustration there; this network thing and its inability to fall neatly into a scientific box has been driving him crazy.]

What would I possibly want to hide? I've always been open about my past.

[With the exception of the memory in which he killed a woman in her bed, but Bakura doesn't need to know about that...]

Or so you say~ You wouldn't have that drawer locked if it didn't bother you, after all....

And of course it has rules. Magic follows it's own, after all. Not that it means things have reasons behind them. Shit happens all the time without reason. That's just how life goes.

[[And there's a more familiar, hard glint at that. Go ahead and say everything has a reason, Mort. Go ahead. You know where that will lead...]]

[You're not the only one who lost his parents at a young age, kid. Not that Mort's about to point that out. He knows that would end about as well as jumping into a live volcano.]

Some of us simply want to try to understand those reasons, I suppose...even if we're keeping drawers locked for possibly illogical reasons.

Sometimes you just have to accept that there aren't any. [[aaand that harsh glare is back]]

You can't just admit that that thing creeps you out, can you? Wuss.

[Mort tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible, but there was no masking that frown. Then, he unlocked the drawer.]

Watch.

[He opens the drawer. The doll is posed as such it appears to be crying. He closes it again, then opens it. The doll's pose has changed and now it just has its arms crossed.]

I have done nothing to it.

[[perks up at that]] ... It's upset because you locked it away, isn't it? Like hell you've done nothing to it, it's upset! You really are being haunted by it!

Haunted is such a strong word...

[No hiding that slight wince there.]

But there's no other word for it, is there? That's what it is!

Maybe it's just...magnets. In the doll's joints.

[He is reaching. Reaching so hard.]

Previously inactive magnets.

...Magnets. Seriously? That thing looked like it was crying and you think it's magnets by chance perfectly aligning to make it look that way?

[There's a wince.]

It's...about the most logical thing I could think of.

How is anything about that logical? This isn't the internet, magnets aren't witchcraft, you know.

But, when used properly, they can cause a bit of movement with the reversed poles, and...

[He trails off in a sigh.]

I'm aware I'm reaching.

More than just reaching, you're making up bullshit to try and avoid admitting that there's a soul in your do--

[[His hand goes to his chest as his heart races, the hollow dissociative feeling washing over him as another memory returns. He grimaces, forcing himself to continue on]]

--in your doll and thus you're a horrible person for locking it up like that.

[[...even if one of the past hims had done far worse.]]

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