Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Dreamwalker part 2 event
Where: In your dreams
When: October 14th-20th (the second log will go up on Oct 23rd, please keep the two weeks of the event separate!)
Warnings: All different kinds of dreams falling under the umbrella of Delight, Rage, Sorrow, and Hope.

This time, the weird stuff doesn't happen when you're awake- as a matter of fact, your waking hours are the normal ones. That's because you're forced to sleep by some unknown entity, getting more and more exhausted by the moment as night falls. Better make sure you're always around a soft pillow.

Once asleep, it doesn't get any less weird- your dreams will be influenced by one of the four gods that make up the first week. Something to make you smile, something to make you angry- or something that reminds you of your deepest regret or most vulnerable hope, they're all things that you're dreaming about now for some reason, no matter how hard you may try to pull away from them.

To make matters more complicated, there are others intruding on your dreams who definitely don't belong there, and while they may seem like manifestations at first, it becomes clear that these others are actually the consciousness of other members of Hadriel, getting some top quality exposure to your angriest, happiest, most sorrowful moments. Hope it doesn't get awkward when you see them tomorrow...

► This log covers October 14th-20th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you die in dreams you don't die in real life, but if you somehow die in real life anyway, please let us know here.

Comments

[hardwearing]

Your father showed up after fifteen years to kill himself in your kitchen?

[ That's gonna require a little explanation, Kyna. ]

[evocation]

Uh... No. Not exactly.

[This is the hard part, but he's been open with her, so she takes a deep breath and tries to muddle through it.]

He was always an asshole. He was super obsessed with magic, and he dipped on us when I was like... ten or something. Hunting down enchanted objects or whatever. So I never saw him, and then my team got sent to pick up a bunch of magical weapons from this bullshit cave system, and he popped up. And he was...

[She frowns.]

It's kind of a long and depressing story. Are you sure you wanna sit through the whole thing?

[hardwearing]

[ Wash shifts a little, setting his bowl on the coffee table and settling back into the couch cushions. She's still got hold of his arm and he reaches over with his free hand, settling it on top of hers. ]

My schedule's clear.

[evocation]

[Kyna glances down at their hands, biting her lip for a moment. Okay, whatever. Who cares. It's easier to get pissed about this whole thing and power through it, so that's what she tries to do.]

So, uh... He tried following us, right? Tried lying and said it was because of me or something. But he was hiding this book on him, and Tucker pickpocketed him to grab it, and it was... Bad. Like, super dangerous magic, possessed by a demon and everything. Tucker touched it for two seconds and it fucked him up pretty seriously. My dad's didn't always look like that, it was like... the thing was draining him or something. Whatever. I bet he found that stupid book and made a deal with whatever the hell was inside of it.

[Take a breath, Kyna. She's starting to sound more than a little heated.]

So he was there for the weapons, like I thought, and we got to the last one at the same time he did and it was just... A total shitshow. We got the demon out of him and killed it, but his magic was gone. I took him back to my apartment and left him alone for two fucking seconds to call my brother, and that's what he did.

[And then, as if realizing she's essentially just gone on a rant while barely taking a breath, she flushes.]

Um. Sorry. That's it.

[hardwearing]

...okay, so. He really did bring it on himself.

[ Wash processes that, comes out the other side thinking it's probably better for everyone, including Kyna's father, that he's gone. He doesn't say it. Just squeezes her hand a little. ]

I'm sorry you went through that.

[evocation]

[Kyna lets out a breath and squeezes back.]

Thanks. I mean it's... whatever, you know?

[hardwearing]

[ It's not whatever -- if she's dreaming about it she's still affected, still bothered by what happened. But Wash will let her brush it off now, if that's what she needs. ]

What happened to the book?

[evocation]

Harlan destroyed it. At least no one else will screw with it. But, uh... My dream was pretty close to what actually happen. I wonder why yours and Sharkface's weren't.

[hardwearing]

I couldn't tell you. But ours did have something in common -- someone dead survived.

That's gotta mean something.

[evocation]

Well, the gods usually run this shit, right? Maybe it was Love or Hope or something.

[hardwearing]

Maybe.

I don't... like that they were in my head.

[ It's a dramatic understatement. Wash has extreme issues with anything, at all, being in his head. ]

Kinda don't let anyone in there anymore.

[evocation]

[She sure has a track record of stumbling on secrets through magic and stuff like this, doesn't she? Yikes.]

Anymore? What do you mean?

[hardwearing]

...I had an AI too. Briefly.

[evocation]

Oh, right. What did your AI do?

[hardwearing]

[ He thought he could talk about this.

Hell, he lives with Epsilon now, has come to trust him. See him as something of a friend, despite their baggage. But actually going back, thinking about what happened after his implantation... Wash shuts down a little, jaw working. ]

He killed himself in my head.

[evocation]

[Their hands are still tangled together, and she squeezes again instinctively.]

We don't have to talk about it.

[hardwearing]

It's fine. It's important.

[ She needs some background, though, so Wash tries to explain. ]

A full AI is basically a person's psyche, as a computer program. The Project only had permission to create one, but the Director wanted lots. So he came up with a way to break the Alpha apart. They tortured it, ran it through simulations designed to create enough stress for the personality to fragment. That's why every AI was just one aspect of a person.

Epsilon was the last piece they broke off. The Alpha couldn't take any more. It fragmented its memories of the torture to save itself, like any trauma victim.

They knew what they were putting in my head. The placement was curated -- Delta for York, Theta for North, Sigma was originally for Carolina. I don't know if they thought I could handle it, or just wanted to see if I'd break, too, but Epsilon was assigned to me.

[evocation]

Jesus Christ.

[She says it softly, under her breath, and then goes quiet as she tries to process that.]

Why the hell did they stick it in your head? I mean, why did they have to use it at all?

[hardwearing]

The experiment was the most important thing. I was the last one, though. They shut down the implantation program after me -- not that it mattered. Tex and York were already planning to bring it all down to save Alpha. I was still in the med bay when they did, and they made a fucking mess of it.

Everyone scattered. The Meta started hunting the agents who still had AIs.

Nobody ever came back for me.

[evocation]

[God, that's a lot to take in, and the more he talks, the more upset she gets.]

They just decided to go all rebel uprising and leave you there with that thing in your head? Assholes.

[hardwearing]

[ He lets go of her hand and reaches up to rub the implant at the base of his skull, trail his fingers over the electrical scarring that spiderwebs out from it and down his neck. A permanent reminder of Epsilon, if his memory ever fails. Of the time he spent basically institutionalized, alone, not even knowing his own name. ]

I was bitter for a long time, yeah.

[evocation]

But you're not bitter anymore? Why not? I don't think I could forgive them for that shit.

[hardwearing]

I don't know if I'd say I've forgiven them. I've just... accepted it, and they're all dead now anyway. We were never really a unit, the way things were set up we were always fighting against each other as much as with.

[ He thinks for a moment, digging his fingers into his own neck. His voice is a little softer when he speaks again. ]

If Maine had still been himself, I think he would have come back. But Sigma had taken over by then.

[evocation]

[She catches him digging his fingers into his neck and has to resist the urge to pull his hand away.]

But Epsilon never took over you?

[She's curious about why it didn't, but she doesn't want to come right out and ask.]

[hardwearing]

Epsilon just wanted to die.

They pulled him, but it was too late for me. Damage was done.