2019-07-15 - Good News, Bad News Situation

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Mister Clayton.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Dr. Glass. Is something wrong?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Something is both wrong and good. I found the doctor that was committing people, he's now dead however.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Well, I don't judge you. I can't imagine he was a very good person.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I didn't kill him. Someone else did, for talking about a man named Billy the Ghoul.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I was pretty sure you didn't. Sorry, doctor. I'm in a mood. That's our 'Billy', then? Who killed him? And what does this guy have to do with the f-

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : ...

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : With the hospital?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : This is where it gets strange, so please forgive me if it doesn't make sense at first.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I met with the doctor, Marshall, he was the man running the hospital. But I met him in an office that didn't exist, when I went to the hospital to meet someone else.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I will never judge you for not making sense.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Marshall? First or last name?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : We spoke, and I attempted to convince him that he should take me to the facility, to show me what goes on there. That I wanted a job, or to become his apprentice in their system.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Marshall is a last name.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Doctor. I ask this with all respect and even affection: what the FUCK were you thinking?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : That if I could convince him to take me then no one else would have to go, and I could have more freedom of movement around there as a potential employee than a patient. I realize the risk.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Did you tell anyone that was your plan, or leave anyone any notes so that if you simply disappeared forever we would at least know where to start looking? You're not expendable. People care about you.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : ::frownie face emoji::

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I didn't even know I was going to meet him until I opened the door and went to meet Reyes. Only the office wasn't his, it was Marshall's office. No one knew anything.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I'm sorry. I don't have the right to question your decisions. I apologize. Please continue.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : It's fine, honestly, I realize that my choice was in the moment, and had the potential for me to never be seen from again.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I assume you've told Thorne and treated the subsequent heart attack. But I'll say no more of it. You went to Reyes' office, and it was instead the office of this Marshall.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I got him talking about the facility, first. And it was brought up then that some people were best left in the world, as long as they were doing what They wanted. Billy was one of those people, and they only dealt with him at the end of his life, but their business with him wasn't finished.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I told Byron. His reaction was much the same as yours.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : That makes sense. It doesn't sound like a place of healing, but perhaps a place to break those who refuse to harm, or who are more easily harvested in captivity. While those who spread misery and pain, or have the potential to do so, are left to their own devices. I'm going to assume that with a sobriquet like 'Billy the Ghoul', our bony friend was not among nature's pacifists.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : What was 'their business' with him?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Wait.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I know that name.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Give me a sec.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : You do?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Yes. Of course. I'm a fucking idiot. He's one of our fine town's most celebrated citizens.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : William Gohl, known as Billy "Ghoul". Late 1800s, early 1910s. Likely killed at least 140 men, although only convicted of two murders.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I am holding the femur of a celebrity, doctor! ::grin emoji::

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : William Gohl. Brilliant...where did you find this name?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : My degree was in history, Doctor. With a specialization in crime, and a notable emphasis on the PNW. I should have realized much sooner, really. He is quite famous in some circles.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I never would have made that connection. Never in all my years. So now that there is a name, and an identity, what is the next step?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : You haven't finished your story. The doctor is still alive.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : At about the point that he was telling me that they were not done with Billy he coughed up blood, started bleeding from his chest...I never could figure out why, and told me that HE didn't want anyone talking about this. Then he died.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : From his chest. Was there a wound under his shirt?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I didn't see. I assume...but I didn't take the old man's clothes off. In hind sight I should have, but I got a little flustered.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Flu--wait. No. It's okay. It would be weird to see someone die in front of you and immediately think of doing a post-mortem examination. That would be weird. And you're not weird. It's okay. Did you see, or feel, any other presences in the room with you?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I went to medical school, the dead body wasn't the flustered part. The fact we were in a room in another dimension without any windows or anything, no one else present, and it happening in the manner it did.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : He had my name on a business card for Reyes, and he had the name for the receptionist from downstairs. He drove an old Caddy, as well. I saw the key in his pockets.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : That is literally everything I got. I'm afraid I'm not good at this.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Well, if you were in the real world, I'd say that some of don't need...huh. If the murderer had a way to connect with the target, like abilities like mine, and had strong healing abilities, I'm not sure he'd NEED to be in the room with you. But if he was very far away, he'd have to be monstrously talented. And I don't even know if such abilities can reach /across/.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : But if they can, our sudden rash of murders just got even more infuriating.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : You did fine, Doctor. Your conversation has advanced several mysteries. and I know a Marshall here in town. Summer people, but...hell, I don't know if I believe in coincidence anymore.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : And you're not dead, or disappeared into a hell hospital. You can call the adventure a success, I think.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Mister Easton Marshall. I know where he works and lives, I'm not sure if there is a connection either. It might simply be coincidence, but it's hard to just ignore things as well.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Byron and I considered something about this facility.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I'll ask him. We're friends? I think we're friends. And if it's crazy, well, no one is surprised. And yes?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : What if the facility wasn't upstate, but here....overlaping the hospital. Similar to the City Hall situation you all found.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : ...

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : That makes a great deal of sense. A. Great. Deal.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Quite a bit once it is voiced, doesn't it?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : He did say something else. That there was someone doing this before him, and I get the impression that while he ran the facility, he's clearly not the head of the snake, as it were.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : But, there are people still there, from before his time. Does time move differently in these dreams?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : No, that wouldn't surprise me. If you killed him, if he's a real person, then he'd just be another judas goat, feeding people to the Dark. Minion.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I think it does. We've theorized about it before. Spacial displacement may well be part and parcel with temporal displacement. I've lost time when I've been lost before, but never very much. But there are a lot of things that apparently ARE that have not been for me.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : You can't see this, but I'm waving the femur you folk pulled out of the lost places, again.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I couldn't bring anything back with me. I tried, so we can cross my specialness off the list.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : A worthy experiment, doctor. But. Follow me down a string of hypotheticals for a moment?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : IF (1) lost spaces can be persistent, and (2) lost spaces can run 'time' at a different rate of speed than what we laughingly call the real, and (3) abilities can reach across the boundaries of real and unreal, and (4) some of the people who have mysteriously disappeared have actually been trapped in these spaces, then...

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : ...

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : It is possible they could still be alive. And be located. And possibly retrieved, IF a way can be found to open doors to the other side, and navigate freely.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : So, if we manage to find a way to strap wings to pigs and teach them to breathe fire.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : ::emoji with question marks over its head::

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : That was basically where my mind was going. That if these people are still here, alive....then they can be returned. Hopefully time doesn't catch up with them when they are brought back to this side. That'd be my worry there.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Even if they died the instant they were freed, it'd be preferable to life spent in the Shadows' embrace, doctor. You haven't seen the things they can do.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Has Thorne spoken to you of our abilities?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Briefly. But I haven't had experience with them, I'm afraid.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : That's probably a conversation for not-text. But there are possibilities there.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Perhaps we can dual purpose the next session?

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : You teach me about this, I'll discount the session.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Unfortunately, now that I think about it, it also means that damned murderer could be cutting people open and slashing tires from the comfort of his bed, miles away, if he has the right combination and power.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : No discount. I can pay.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I'm certain that you can pay, but I set my own prices, remember?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Yes, but I will just leave the rest of the money on the desk for your nonexistent receptionist, and then it will become a thing. I prefer to pay for the things I value.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Very well. Would you accept something in return for the time and effort of teaching me this? Teachers get paid, after all.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Well, since we have already made the ethical codes around dual relationships scream for mercy, I suppose that would be fine. I can't promise that I can teach you anything. I learned by doing, and I think everyone's a bit different. But there are similarities, as well.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I believe this entire town makes ethical codes around dual relationships scream for mercy.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Screaming for mercy is a proud Gray Harbor tradition, ma'am.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : So I'm rapidly learning.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Do you think his car is in the hospital parking lot?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : It might be. I don't suppose you--no, you said you couldn't bring anything back. So no keys.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : If so, security should flag it pretty quickly as abandoned. Dr. Reyes might be able to check.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : No keys. But if it's an older model there might not be an alarm system, and you can get a slim jim and pop the lock. General you, not specific you, unless you can do that?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : If it has electric locks, I might be able to get in. I don't actually break into cars, though, Doctor. Usually. I believe I could find someone who might know how, though.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Step one shall be to find the car, however. I can reach out to Doctor Reyes about the car, though, unless you'd prefer to.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me. It will sound less suspicious coming from you.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I'm not sure how much he likes me after I got the one lead for Miss Whitehouse killed.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : You're more his type of person, though. Calm, professional, urbane. Also I don't want to.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I'll contact him, don't worry.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : ::thumbs up emoji::

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I'll be in touch once I know more.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Of course. Doctor? Are you all right? I should have asked sooner. But that cannot have been pleasant.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : Yes, I'm fine. As fine as can be, given the circumstances.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : I hate to ask, but do YOU have someone to talk to? About things? If not, it might be a good idea.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : About general things, or these things in specific?

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : About anything. You've moved to a new place, away from your usual support structure, and at this point it likely seems like everyone you've met is determined to turn your previously well-placed view of reality on its head. You're good. I've admired your ability to flex with the shifting tides of reality. But it can't be easy. Obviously, not talk to me. But I hope you have someone. That's all.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I appreciate your worry, and while I was seeing someone in L.A., I can't say that I'm seeing anyone here. I'm sure that I can fine someone that I can talk to about it.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : Good. In a perfect world, you would take Thorne, and you would both go back to the saner insanity of LA, and be happy. It doesn't seem like that's going to happen right now, so I at least hope you are able to vent.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : You are the second one that has told me that. I'm not sure that he'd leave, and I'm not leaving him.

(TXT to Vivian) Alexander : In a perfect world, as I said. We don't live there. Just take care of yourself.

(TXT to Alexander) Vivian : I will, you do the same.