the_isle | I Was Going Outta My Mind

It had been a while since the lamp shards had vanished. Things were slowly starting to return to what seemed to pass for normal in this miserable place. The snow falling is now a mix of hail and rain drizzling in miserable phases.

And then it started.

For those who slept, the first time it happened as they were waking up. For those who didn't sleep, well no one is fully attentive at all times - and even if they normally were, they'd find their mind wandering. But when they came back, that was when it would happen.

But what exactly is the it that happens?

A short moment. A glimpse at most. A moment from the future. Small snippets of memories. Traumatic. Cryptic. Confusing. The snippets fragments of memory, that the person who the memory belonged to could see. And so could anyone with them at the time. But...

Those memories hadn't been made yet. Memories of a future that hadn't yet happened. But absent enough context to allow anyone to stop them from happening. Just enough of a glimpse to cause nightmares, to increase trauma.

But if misery loves company then amore is in the air, for each of them will have, it seems, plenty of company in this particular bit of nightmarish horror.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's the only explanation that makes any sense to my mind," he said. "The questions of who, how, and why remain unanswered however." He considered a moment. "Is there any connection between those two children that you know of? Similar background, hailing from the same area, or the like?"

Sun shook his head. "I don't know. I can't access the servers now, to compare. I... I don't usually keep all the records on hand. That'd be... a lot."

He looked down, still thinking about it. "Both are humans, maybe? Um.... I remember that I didn't remember playing with that child they said went missing before. We all did pictures, at one point... and they matched the number of kids I thought were there." An idle bit of head-tilt... not spinning it around like Moon did, but definitely a thinking sort of gesture. "And if I was pulling up records... I must've been trying to figure out if I was remembering right. Right? ...And I was supposed to look in the ball pit this time... And before when it happened, they made me then, and I searched the ball pit three times. We even took all the balls out of it to be sure! And boy, that was a mess...." His rays were sinking back in again just thinking about it. "But there wasn't any child in it. Just a few socks and some candies. ...And the cameras are never working right... and I remember hearing the staff saying all sorts of bad words, when they tried looking those up to see things for themselves...."

Another little pause. "But I don't know for sure how much of any of that might be the same with this one we just saw."

A disappointing answer in one respect, but Sun's account did provide some potentially useful information. "Putting aside for the moment the fact that your former masters clearly have no idea how to conduct a proper search, even an incompetent search crew would have eventually found something had the child simply wandered off," he said. "Which leads me to believe that the most likely possibility is that they were kidnapped. I asked about any similarities they might have had in hopes of perhaps answering the question of why; assuming they were targeted specifically and the perpetrator wasn't merely opportunistic, it would stand to reason that they might have something in common, which could give a clue as to their motive."

"But though we failed to answer the question of 'why' I believe we may have answered the question of 'how', at least in part. Negligent as your masters were, I suspect that there were a number of times when only you were watching the children. And with the devices meant as extra pairs of eyes not functioning properly, either due to sabotage or simple neglect, a nefarious individual or group need only wait for an opportunity, a time when only you were watching, and one child strayed from the group. If they already knew it was possible to alter your mind, as evidenced my Moon's current state, they might well see it as a chance to perpetrate their crime while effectively leaving no witnesses. The discrepancies in your memory could be the result of a crude attempt by such a criminal to cover their trail."

"So... change the kids' records, so I can't remember them right, if I did find them...?" He tilted his head a bit the other way, not liking the sound of that, but definitely considering it. "Or so I wouldn't be able to figure out I'd found them, if I did find them...?

"I don't know how anyone would've gotten in, though, to do it. Kids can't open the big doors by the desk. And anyone coming in down the slide... there's no way they wouldn't make a lot of noise in the ball pit when they landed. And the desk is right there by the doors-- Nnnnhhhh.... I swore I'd be more careful. I don't-- this wasn't supposed to happen once! So why did we just see it happen a second time?"

Foulques nodded. "Or wipe away any glimpses you may have gotten of the perpetrator," he said. "It's possible the damage to the records might only have been a side effect of their inexpert tampering, rather than what they intended. I fear there's no way to know for certain at present though."

"And they might not have needed to tumble down a slide if they were clever enough. If they were to, for example, steal a uniform from a storage cupboard or they like, they could have wandered about with relative impunity. Especially if all the building's employees were as lazy and incompetent as the ones in the day care. And that would be all the more reason to wipe away anything you might have seen of them. A human worker might be fooled by a few clever lies, but with your abilities, you would likely be able to identify a worker who didn't belong."

"Yeah. But so would the Staffbots. And those are everywhere! They're always going around cleaning up the floors and wiping the tables and at all the counters and everything. I think there's more of them than human staff...." In other words, any impostor would have to run a gauntlet of bots able to ID them as an unauthorized "employee".

"They'd have a lot to have to erase, if they did that. But... if they were going to change the kid's records... why not just erase them, like they might've erased their own?"

"That would make things more difficult, yes," Foulques said thoughtfully. He'd assumed that the mammets would be relatively few in number compared to the human staff, but apparently that wasn't the case. "As to why they simply wouldn't erase the children's records, I suspect that that was a precautionary measure on their part. An error in the records might have a number of explanations, but if the records were missing entirely, when the children's parents and any number of human staff knew they had been there? That would likely make it obvious that tampering had occurred, which would likely lead to additional security measures being taken and perhaps even serve as a means of tracing them if investigate further."

After another moment's thought though, he sighed, shaking his head. "In the end though, we can only speculate. We know that something sinister is likely afoot, but we simply lack enough information to form any concrete theories beyond that. Though some good may yet come from this; now that you are forewarned that something may happen to the girl, you will know to keep an especially close eye on her while she is under your care. Thus the scene we just witnessed may well be avoided entirely."

Sun nodded. "I'll try to remember. But if the geometry's that far off... I guess I just have to be extra careful with any child that might be that one." Slight pause... "Oh! Or any that get dropped off by a parent like that!" It was certainly one way to identify the kid, if the kid's own profile were incorrect, right?

Foulques nodded. "And any other details you think may be helpful," he said. "Forewarned is forearmed, as they say, and in such a situation one can't have too many metaphorical weapons in their arsenal." A moment later he too realized something. "Also, did you perhaps notice a date among the information that was scrolling by? I saw some numbers, but I'm afraid I don't know enough about your world's calendar to tell if any were a date."

"I saw it said next month, but... I couldn't see the day's date on that one." A pause. "You... really think this is future-stuff? Not... some sort of trick?"

"Hmm... not as narrow a timeframe as one would hope," he said, "but better than nothing, I suppose. And while I had my doubts at first, I've now seen too much to call them mere fabrication. But as they are visions of the future, they are not written in stone, and may yet be changed for the better if we are vigilant." He was about to continue when another vision appeared.

Security Breach

The scene opens from Foulques' POV. He's looking out a window at what must be Auradon at night. The lights of a town or city are visible in the near distance and Foulques' own reflection can be dully seen in the glass. Even in the faint image, it's clear that the clothes he's wearing are much nicer than anything seen on the Isle. He's speaking and the sound comes in in mid-sentence.

"-has been made of the great heroes of Auradon, yet at the the first hint of danger, they cowered and scattered like mice. And such panic was even encouraged, by a respected scholar no less! And then not long after, a disgruntled teenager was able to walk into a museum virtually unhindered and steal not only the crown of Auradon's queen but a weapon dangerous enough to warp her mind and powerful enough to allow her to hold the entire kingdom hostage. Were the offenses not so serious, the level of general ineptitude would be laughable! Something must be-" The vision ended just as Foulques was turning away from the window, cutting him off just as suddenly as it had begun.

Foulques looked at where the vision had been, frowning. "And perhaps we aren't the only once who need to be more vigilant, if all I said there was true."

"....So we should get them to guard a museum?" Just double-checking!

That actually brought a wry smile to Foulques' face. "Among other things," he said. "Though I expect we'll all likely have more pressing concerns for some time yet. This may help explain something I saw earlier, however. I saw a vision of myself and another man putting a group of people through some sort of physical or martial training." He opted not to mention that the training was happening while singing. "Perhaps I was I was in the process of correcting the laxness of I had observed."

Head... tilt? "Why don't they just put security Staffbots in the area? That's what they did at the Pizzaplex...."

He quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not certain they have such things." he said. "In fact I'd be willing to wager that they don't; they're likely only commonplace in your world, perhaps even only in the Pizzaplex."

Pause. "Sun, how much do you know of the world outside the... establishment where you worked?"

"Oh. Um... A bit?" A little pause. "....I've never seen it." Just gonna look up at him, not going to elaborate yet.

He should have known. Of course they wouldn't allow him to know the world beyond the small area of his assigned tasks. All the better to keep him cowed and under their boots. But though he was angry, the anger was not directed at Sun. Instead he asked, "Would you like to? It's broad daylight currently, or as broad as this place gets, so you needn't fear losing yourself."

"Yes! ....I did get to see outside here a little, earlier!" He seemed cheered up by the change in subject, that was for sure. "Once, it wasn't too dark out, and I saw it raining out there! And another time, it wasn't raining too much, and I could see some clouds from in the entry! And after that, it stopped raining for a minute... and I made sure it stopped first, because I didn't want to try getting water on the back of my head, and I actually stepped outside! There was a cloud that looked kinda like an alligator! And a kid was out there, so I brought them back indoors!"

In other words, it was an exceptionally short-lived little adventure on his part, but from the sounds of it, one he'd love to repeat. They'd just do well to be careful of the moisture... maybe they could find an umbrella, or a piece of plastic or something with which to manage a hood or other covering to keep his circuitry safe until they could fix his head properly?

"Yes the back of your head is somewhat of an issue,", he said. "But not one that is unsolvable. I believe I saw a piece of tarping that might be usable as a sort of hooded cape for you, albeit not a long one. Come; we'll see if it's still where I recall seeing it. And if so, we can get you properly equipped before venturing out." They really did need to get him that missing part though in the long term.

"Yeah?" He was standing up straighter again at that, and would be quick to follow. And it would be very clear the entire time that he was excited about the prospect....

Thankfully the tarp was right where Foulques had last seen it. While not large enough to cover anything one might usually use a tarp for, it was quite sufficient for their purposes. Thus with a bit of maneuvering to find the ideal position, and a strip cut from the bottom to serve as a tie to hold it in place, Sun's makeshift rain hood was complete. It had to be a bit oversized to account for his rays, but hopefully it would still serve.

With Sun thus equipped, they headed for the door. Once there, Foulques opened it, gesturing outside with a mildly amused smile. "After you, my good mammet," he said.

Thankfully, Sun seemed to be tucking those in automatically, whenever something got too close to them -- be it his own hand or the tarp. Maybe that was for the best? They weren't exactly sharp-looking, not as if they'd pose a threat to the tarp... but the way they moved around with his head certainly suggested that they were delicate, so surely, the less they were messed with, the better? And Sun seemed beyond pleased with having something to cover his head, barely able to stand still for it... and his tone agreed, too. He managed to only give a relatively quiet sound that was somewhere between a squeal and a giggle as he stepped out, and bounced there a little where he stood, surveying the area a few yards out away from the doorway.

Yeah, he wasn't going to be saying anything for a good moment. Too focused on this, and he wasn't hearing a small child, which would take priority....

Foulques stepped outside himself so he could close the door behind him before stopping to watch Sun in mild amusement as he took in his surroundings. There wasn't much to see, to his mind. The small courtyard with its generally muddy ground, broken by patches of snow that hadn't fully melted and a few sad clumps of weeds that wouldn't green up again for a few months yet. The doomstones, with their ridiculous 'evil sayings'. And of course there were the thorns, blocking any exit but the path that led to the shore. But to Sun, for whom it was all new, and a cloud shaped like an alligator was cause for excitement? It might look quite impressive indeed.

It was, for a wonder, not raining, even the frequent drizzle the Isle was prone to, but the sky was still gray and overcast, so Sun wouldn't really be able to see his namesake. But there was one other thing he could show him, at least. After a long moment, he walked out to meet Sun. "Is it all you hoped?", he asked.

Edited Date: 2024-11-30 09:09 am (UTC)

"And I don't need to be scared of a few raindrops now!"

He was having trouble staying still as it was, somewhat bouncing in place... he might not have been an actual child, but he was certainly about as giddy as one at holiday-time. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" He spun around again, arms out wide once they'd be clear of Foulques... and then those long arms were suddenly wrapped around the sturdier figure's upper body in a firm hug.

He'd be able to feel a bit of a tremble in the gesture, even so -- for once, the jester's mask seemed to maybe actually fit how he was feeling. He managed a "thank you", even buried against Foulques's shoulder like that.

Foulques was amused as Sun spun around, all but skipping about like a child himself. Then suddenly, the mammet wrapped him in a tight hug, pinning his upper arms to his sides. He stiffened slightly in surprise at the suddenness of it, but quickly relaxed somewhat into awkward acceptance of the gesture. As well as he could with one lower arm he patted Sun's back though the movement was a bit stiff.

A long moment later, their positions hadn't changed. He awkwardly cleared his throat to get Sun's attention. "If I might have the use of my arms back," he said, "there's something else I wish to how you."