1st Song // Computer [webcam]

[wordsgate]

[Hello all you crazy reincarnated people. Have a really confused looking young man with bleach-blond hair staring at you. He hesitates for a moment, looking a little speechless, before he takes a deep breath and gets up the nerve to say something.]

This is not at all what I expected to find when I Googled that number.

Sorry, I know I must be interrupting a lot, but can anyone tell me what's going on? I tried looking at a few posts around here but I just got more confused. Something about a death, and security concerns and...a general?

[He sighs and rests his chin in his hand, mumbling the last bit of this to himself.] I didn't just accidentally hack into something I wasn't supposed to see, did I?

Comments

[wordsgate]

[Sam looks a little unbelieving, then scoffs and lets out a derisive laugh.]

What a warm welcome!

[secondcomingof]

[ ...this is only making him grumpier, you do realize. ]

You mean the sudden influx of traumatizing memories that come on at random? Quite.

[wordsgate]

[Oddly enough that actually makes Sam calm down a little because now you've caught his interest.]

Wait. Memories? You've had memories? [putting a strong emphasis on it being plural.]

[secondcomingof]

[ And looks at all the additional fucks he gives in managing to do so. Hint: it's precisely zero. ]

Many of us did, yes.

[wordsgate]

[Don't worry, he has enough fucks for the both of you. He leans in a little closer to the camera.]

Yours didn't have anything to do with a song, did it? Or talk about another world?

[secondcomingof]

[ Casval shakes his head, meeting Sam's eyes evenly. ]

They vary from person to person, it seems. Another world, though... that's debatable.

[wordsgate]

Which...which means they probably aren't false memories. That's what I'd assumed, but...

[He's half talking to himself now, his hand covering his mouth again as he mumbles, deep in thought.]

I was on the totally wrong track. But if they're real, then...what connection could they possibly have?

[secondcomingof]

[ Cautiously: ]

Did you see yourself? In that other world.

[wordsgate]

No...there's no images in the memory I have. Just sounds. A song, and some words in my voice.

[secondcomingof]

But it's your voice.

[wordsgate]

I think so. It sounds like me, and like it's coming from me, but at the same time...like it's not. I mean, I can hear it in my head but I can hear it like I'm listening to a recording at the same time...

[He pauses for a moment to analyze what he just said.] Maybe through some sort of recording set-up? I could've been wearing headphones...

[secondcomingof]

You're missing the point.

[ Somehow, Casval's not surprised. ]

Your voice. This world that seems familiar, and yet isn't. You haven't figured it out yet?

[wordsgate]

N...no? [frowns] What are you getting at?

[secondcomingof]

A you from another life.

[wordsgate]

[He laughs in disbelief.] I wasn't aware that the British believed in reincarnation...

[secondcomingof]

[ And Casval just stares in disbelief because what. ]

Well, we've risen from both literal and proverbial ashes more than once, that's for certain.

Still not entirely sure what being British has to do with it, however.

I'm sorry, your edit reason made me cackle. I KNOW THAT FEEL

[wordsgate]

It's simply surprising to hear it coming from someone like you. Sounds more like something my grandfather would say!

[secondcomingof]

[ ...are you calling him old. Oh my god.

He actually has the dignity remaining (somehow) to look offended. ]

I'm thirty-three.

[wordsgate]

[He's a bit confused for a moment, since he was actually aiming for "superstitious." But once he figures out what the other man thinks, he gets a mischievous look on his face. Hey, if annoying the paranoid British military dude allows him to not think about uncomfortable topics for a while, he'll do it. This guy hasn't given him a reason not to.]

Oh? My mistake. You seemed much more...experienced.

[secondcomingof]

[ What the hell does experience even mean in this conte



















waitagoddamnedminute. ]

We have diverged considerably from the original discussion.

[ Read: congratulations you have embarrassed the Captain and win the pleasure of seeing him red muttergrumblebloodyidiot. If only because wow that sure reminded him of certain ladies of the evening he visited last night and that's not exactly a comfortable topic either. ]

[wordsgate]

[He's actually completely oblivious as how he managed to pull that off, really. He was just accusing you of being old, so the reaction is not quite what he was expecting. 33's a little young for a mid-life crisis...

He responds with a shrug.]

I find this discussion more interesting!

[secondcomingof]

[ IT WAS A MID-LIFE CRISIS THAT OCCURRED TWELVE TIMES IN A ROW and he is still recovering from the trauma thank you. Shut up. ]

Regardless— [ huffing ] —this isn't a joking matter. Lives are at risk, so you should take care to protect yours.

[wordsgate]

[He does get a little serious at that. His smile fades, and for a brief moment his eyebrows drop down in worry.]

...Only my own life?

[secondcomingof]

We're all in danger. Not just you. [ Tentatively: ] ...some of us more than others.

[wordsgate]

Mm...

[And now he's thinking about his mother again, and the danger she's now in. He's got to get her out of the city somehow.

He takes a deep breath.]

Would it be a security risk to ask for an estimate of how many of us there are?