[Video] Are these thoughts my own?

[fromsprouts]

[Umemiya's in one of the training rooms in the Spire, sitting on the floor after a workout. He's in that post-exercise hazy clarity of mind, and has worked out that he does actually want to start this conversation. Someone ought to.]

Hey, talking with Akechi reminded me of something--don't worry, this isn't about ethics at all. It's about some of the recent quests, and things I've seen and heard and felt on them.

The first time I went to Icefall Lake, before we named it that, it was with Anasui and Guilmon. The Lakebed Ruins we found, they had mosaic floors, tiled to look like a map created by some Pokemon flying overhead. Except, they changed, when you looked away. You'd look back and instead of forest surrounding where the Bay ought to be, there'd be desert. Or the volcano would be gone.

[His mental voice grows quieter, a little less certain as he goes to explain the next bit.]

I remember at one point, the thought ran through my head, "Which world is the world we exist in? Which world does the world exist in?" And now that I look back, I'm not really sure that thought came from inside my own head.

I'm interested in hearing what else people have encountered, either on their original expeditions or while wayfinding in the three regions.

(ooc: Please feel free to crosstalk and threadjack one another on this post. I just wanna get this stuff 'on the table' to discuss.)

Comments

voice;

[outbounds]

It is not just the explorations. It has come up previously, but there have been rescues— odd ones!— where these intrusive thoughts have also occurred.

[ He'll elaborate with his own experiences too, but just to get out there that it isn't just the new regions— ]

Everyone who was together at the time would have heard it too. Who was with you?

[fromsprouts]

It was me, Anasui and Guilmon. One of the first quests I ever went on.

[outbounds]

They then would have likely heard it too, if it is the same as what I am thinking of.

[ Otherwise Ume's getting personalized hallucinations, and that's concerning in an entirely different way. ]

Phantump, back in the spring, with Emporio and the non-shiny Mimikyu from the Lum Berries. [ His mental presence in the link draws back a bit to let the sound of this specific bit of memory come to the fore, mumbled and sleepy, staticky and distorted, as accurately and objectively as he can and with none of his own thoughts or sentiments on it included: ] "Are we who we think we are?"

As for explorations... if he wants, Ingo can tell you more about what he heard in the middle forest. What they're calling the Gravebone Woods now, considering how few Pokemon and how many remains you find there.

[ Spooky voices from the place with the mass grave. Fun. ]

There is more to go over, but ... Have you been to that area, actually?

audio;

[shotinhead]

[ You know, as usual. The usual calmness covering up his true feelings. ]

Yeah, yeah, the intrusive thoughts. We've all had them.

[fromsprouts]

[There's a bristle of indignation.]

Great. Do we know any themes in what they say? Times or places they happen more often?

[shotinhead]

Well, they tend to happen when we go to try and rescue others, right? That's what I've noticed.

[fromsprouts]

Huh. And what sort of things have these thoughts said to you?

[Clearly he needs to do more rescues.]

audio;

[edgewater]

Haven't had enough time to explore much, but when me and Six were lookin' for Furfrou, some really weird stuff happened.

[ "they're going to leave me behind!" what in the architect's name could that mean? where'd it come from? ] Happened to us, anyhow. Ended up on our notes. When we found Furfrou, they'd run off and collapsed in a cave. Well, uh, I guess not collapsed. They were like the folks in the clinic, I think.

[fromsprouts]

A coma. A few of the others have experienced that sort of coma before--Ren, Fireheart.

It's another thing that kind of bugs me.

[edgewater]

That ain't what comas usually look like. You don't just up, leave, curl up all cosy and then slip into a coma. [ she's an engineer though so what does she know. ]

[fromsprouts]

...not usually, no. Fuck, that's weird.

[truthdecided]

There's the spire at Furnace Mountain as well. Simply touching it bombarded us with a painful cacophony of dissonant voices.

[He tries to imagine this, to project that experience...

But it's faint. A faded memory, bringing mere discomfort...

Save for one voice: CAN YOU HEAR ME?]

Someone tried to communicate with us before we left.

[fromsprouts]

Were you able to communicate back with them?

[truthdecided]

No. However, I do recall having strange... thoughts of a sort imprinted on me during a rescue mission as well.

[He pauses.]

It was Zweilous, a Pokémon who went missing multiple times.

[fromsprouts]

The one you were rescuing?

[Clearly, Ume needs to do more rescue work. He's been concentrating on expeditions and work around town and the outpost, but there's more he needs to see and do.]

Were they the one the thought came from, or was it someone else?

voice

[no_ufo_ending]

Which world does the world exist in?

[So cryptic! But he does know a little something about worlds within worlds. All things considered. ]

Could it be we're in someone's dream?

[fromsprouts]

...I dunno, could it be? And if we are, are we our actual real selves, or are they still out there, awake and doing things?

[Please explain it to the most mundane-lifed guy around.]

[no_ufo_ending]

I've been in something like a dream before...some kind of extra layer on top of the world I knew when I was awake. If something happened there, something similar would have happened in the real world when I woke up.

[fromsprouts]

That sounds really fucked up.

[Concern and empathy echo down the psychic link. Umemiya cares so deeply about people, it comes through unfiltered.]

audio;

[friendlyflower]

[Guess who hasn't had his Grumpearl stolen or revoked yet? Sure to be soon, though!]

When we were investigating Heavy Downmoor, we found ruins that looked exactly like the Archives. And we all heard this: "How many times have we been here? How many times have we lived here? How many times have we fallen to ruin?"

[fromsprouts]

[Huh, he wasn't expecting the edgelord to pipe up on this one, but the information is useful.]

I was out there last month for a Wayfaring quest. We didn't run into too much odd, but we also were real cautious with the storms we were fighting. I'm expecting it and Icefall Lake to be near impassable during the winter.

But...'how many times have we fallen to ruin?', that's worrying.

[friendlyflower]

... You know. There's one other thing.

The stars change, too. That means there's two possibilities. Either objective reality in this entire universe is unstable, not just the Bay... or just our collective perception of it is.

Maybe this is all a mass hallucination. A dream we can't wake up from.

[offtracks]

I...heard voices in the fog, in the forest. Lost Pokemon who had become trapped there, and were crying out for aid. It could have been a hallucination luring me off-course - certainly those do happen there! But...I have never quite been able to shake off the idea that they really are out there.

[ Take that as you will, perhaps. ]

[fromsprouts]

Mm. Makes me wonder about the new arrivals who go missing. Or do you think this is separate from that?

[offtracks]

I'm not sure. I did not recognize any of the voices, but that means little.

[ There are more than enough new arrivals that Ingo certainly wouldn't recognize them all. Or maybe there's offworlders and natives in there alike. ]