2020-10-19 - Kittens and Alternate Realities

(TXT to Alexander) August : hey, some questions for you, about that trip you all took to see the Revisionist, if you have a second.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Of course. Hello. Are you well?

(TXT to Alexander) August : Leg's getting there. nothing new, thankfully. well, we did all get turned into cats, but no injuries. how about you, doing better with that revision?

(TXT to Alexander) August : I heard someone going on about how she was so excited the real Dick Tracy lived in the Harbor and I realized she meant you.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Turned into cats? Why? And yes. I'm getting actual income for once. People try to pay me in drugs, but other than that, it's surprisingly good?

(TXT to Alexander) August : there was some kind of...angry Veil cat ghost? I'm not sure how to explain it. it was pissed as hell about some guy taking its kittens and abandoning them. I'm not sure I understand all of it tbh

(TXT to August) Alexander : I feel that's the Veil, in summary.

(TXT to Alexander) August : it is. which is partly why my concern level is minimal. we didn't get hurt, didn't do anything horrible, didn't have anything done to us. could have been much worse.

(TXT to August) Alexander : True. I went on a tour of Addington House, and it was led by the ghost of a woman I don't think ever existed.

(TXT to Alexander) August : well, I guess that's something, even if you have to sort out how to handle the drugs. I guess offload them to de la Vega?

(TXT to Alexander) August : speaking of the Veil...

(TXT to August) Alexander : I don't take them, August. That would be illegal. And Javier doesn't need people handing him drugs.

(TXT to Alexander) August : okay. that's a fair point.

(TXT to Alexander) August : so if she never existed how did she have a ghost?

(TXT to August) Alexander : I don't know. But she said it was 1884 where everything got mixed up.

(TXT to Alexander) August : (maybe related: my question is, Lil mentioned the person doing all the changes was called the Revisionist, and that she referred to the...Collector? as the 'Source'. source of what, though?)

(TXT to Alexander) August : hm, isn't that slightly before or after the town's founding?

(TXT to August) Alexander : Right around that time, yes. And yes. The Revisionist said that she worked for the Collector. And that the -ors are the Sources of our abilities. Doctor for healing, Collector for physical, Director for mental.

(TXT to Alexander) August : ...huh. that seems awfully...not sure how to put it. I guess the ecologist in me finds that suspect.

(TXT to Alexander) August : shit going crazy at the founding would explain things. so by didn't exist you mean you can't find anyone with her name and history?

(TXT to August) Alexander : It matches what Isabella said when she read The Doctor. Like he was just made up of pure...whatever it is that our abilities are made of. And I don't think ecology applies in the Veil.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Didn't get her name. Just her brother's, but he doesn't exist. And he was the founder of the city in another Gray Harbor. Or possibly called something else.

(TXT to Alexander) August : ...another Gray Harbor. like, over there?

(TXT to Alexander) August : certainly our idea of ecology doesn't apply, but it has an ecology. it's own. the trick is sorting out what that is, aside from 'fucking random bullshit', which is entirely likely

(TXT to Alexander) August : mmm, I got the same read off him, yeah. that he was made of the Art. like, if we're Artists, he's a paint construct. that sort of thing. pure potential.

(TXT to August) Alexander : No. Not in the Veil. A Gray Harbor that never existed, founded by Samuel Benn.

(TXT to Alexander) August : never existed...here, but maybe somewhere Else? are alternate planes a thing?

(TXT to August) Alexander : Maybe. I don't know how you test that. But she said that things got mixed up in 1884. Maybe the two realities got too close. Or were torn apart into two from one.

(TXT to Alexander) August : wait. is that...is that where the Baxters take things, when they go? the closing of doors--they're closing some kind of gateway that's open?

(TXT to August) Alexander : I dunno. I figured they were going to Hell. Or Heaven. Or whatever.

(TXT to Alexander) August : eh, christian constructs are way too black and white for this. I wonder if this is also what margaret's crusade is really about.

(TXT to Alexander) August : I guess we need to talk to the historical society, dig up information about 1884.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Isabella is looking into it, and I think Byron and Lilith want to try and talk to the Archivist. But we tried to find information on the founding before. It's all gone. Erased, I think.

(TXT to Alexander) August : I'll ask ellie to do some digging, maybe have her chat with Isabella. between the two of them, maybe they can get some information.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Yes.

(TXT to Alexander) August : can't say it's not unsettling to hear that there might be more than one reality. it'd be nice if margaret addington was willing to talk to anyone at all about this.

(TXT to August) Alexander : I just wonder if it is a nicer one. And you could always try? You're not a Baxter. She might hate you a little less than she hates everyone else.

(TXT to Alexander) August : since I watched her murder a bunch of kids in realtime I don't know if I'm going to make for much of an ambassador.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Hyacinth?

(TXT to Alexander) August : ...maybe. I'll talk to her, see if she thinks margaret might be willing to chat her up.

(TXT to Alexander) August : so listen, if you find any stray kittens. tabbies? check them out first, with your mind Art. they might be Veil things.

(TXT to Alexander) August : got a report of one that broke a table.

(TXT to August) Alexander : !!

(TXT to August) Alexander : I can't have any more cats. But that would be fun.

(TXT to Alexander) August : well I think Dahlia has some with shark teeth. not sure about the table-eating one.

(TXT to Alexander) August : I figure we might have to find a way to take them back over. I'm hoping itzhak knows someone who could raise them. or...something. there's got to be a Veil animal shelter, right?

(TXT to August) Alexander : Neat! Easton and Finch apparently have dinosaur friends. Had, in Easton's case. But I don't think anything in the Veil likes me well enough.

(TXT to August) Alexander : I doubt it? Welfare doesn't seem like the Veil's thing.

(TXT to Alexander) August : yeah she said one of those invisible things showed up to help her in a Dream. I'm not sure nice is the right word, though.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Dinosaurs are always nice, August.

(TXT to Alexander) August : okay, maybe not a shelter, but, you know...something. I'm hopeful. not sure what we can do otherwise, they're just kittens.

(TXT to Alexander) August : in theory. in practice? they're Mei Mei but 5 times the size. not sure I can handle that.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Take them back over there and drop them off somewhere?

(TXT to Alexander) August : do you know what happens to kittens you randomly drop off somewhere

(TXT to August) Alexander : Most kittens don't eat tables. And I don't think the Veil has a functional ecology in the way you want it to. They're probably only someone's nightmare of a kitten.

(TXT to Alexander) August : I don't want it to have one, but I'm not going to assume leaving a young something over there which was domesticated by people will have favorable results. look what happened when I marked a tree with chalk.

(TXT to August) Alexander : That feels like a Veil problem, to me. Let them figure it out. Send it to the Revisionist as a gift.

(TXT to Alexander) August : ...do you think she's like one? I'm being very serious, here. Dahlia can't keep shark-mouth kittens. no one can. but, you know, if it'd help us out in our relations...

(TXT to August) Alexander : She seems like a cheerful sort of person. I can't imagine she doesn't like kittens.

(TXT to Alexander) August : okay, I'll pass that along, we'll see if we can make an appointment.

(TXT to Alexander) August : alright, time for me to feed my critters. take care of yourself, and stay safe. things feel kind of crazy and it's not even halloween yet. Ellie or I'll let you know if we hear anything.

(TXT to August) Alexander : Excellent. 🙂

(TXT to August) Alexander : Don't die, August.

(TXT to Alexander) August : will do. or won't do. ::tree emoji::