003 - Memories of a False History

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Memories of a False History State of the World ▲ Locations ▼ Bestiary
OOC ▲ Comments Please refer to the original Event Announcement for more information or to ask any questions you might have! For the disaster prompt, players are not restricted to the versions given, but they are intended to be the most common. Feel free to borrow ideas from the disaster suggestions thread as well!

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The Sound of All Things Bad
The sound comes without warning. What the sound is cannot quite be made out - it is at once artificial and natural, bestial and mechanical, rumbling and roaring and crunching, shattering and crashing and screaming. Everything about it feels like a threat, warning of danger. The cacophony of noise reaches throughout the entire Void, loud and inescapable, the mangling and clashing of different sounds leaving each individual with a different idea of what it could possibly have been. It sounds different to everyone, each person able to pick out a part of the sound that ties to their own fears.

What if...?

How long the sound lasts would depend on how the individual perceives time. It might last for seconds, or it might last for minutes, but once it stops it does not repeat. Where it came from or what it is does not become the slightest bit clearer, and people are left to only speculate.

Disaster
No one can quite be sure what has prompted them to remember that day. It might have been that noise of approaching doom, or perhaps it is seeing the crumbling ruins of Hammerlocke itself. Once a stray memory surfaces, it is easy enough to look into the details and recall in full the vivid memory of Hammerlocke’s destruction - the ‘truth’ of what caused the mountainside city to crumble into ruins, as so many have wondered since their first appearance. Though the memory is clear and detailed, vivid enough to have been witnessed in person, it is out of place and does not belong, and anyone who can recall the events knows it.

Attempting to discuss the matter will soon reveal that while others recall the event with similar clarity, the details vary from person to person. Over time, their own memory changes and adapts, occasionally changing to something new entirely, yet the original is never completely forgotten. Memory is a strange and fickle thing, so easy to influence and manipulate, that the truth is difficult to find.

While memories differ from person to person, there are three particular tales that recur:

From the Sky

Though the sky above did not change from its paper-like blank white, the land grew darker and darker as though cast in shadow. The source of the shadow was clear: above, slowly descending towards the wings of the castle, was... something. Something immense, yet shrouded in crackling storm clouds.

As it continued to grow closer and closer, something in the clouds began to swell. It grew larger and larger, an electric hum of energy in the air, until with a resounding crack it burst and a great shadowy beast fell to the ground, landing with such force that the resulting shockwave shook the earth and tore through the stone buildings, causing so much of the city to tumble in an instant. It moves, and it screeches, raising its head up as the great storm above continues to swell and crackle.

This would not be the only beast.

(Based upon: Meteor, the Lunar Cry, and the Darkest Day)

The Battlefield

It was never clear why the fighting eventually made its way to this defenseless city, but it came without warning. The chaos was heralded only by explosions as the city walls were blasted through by tanks that had somehow made their way along the treacherous and narrow mountain path that simply was not meant for such heavy machines. The thundering explosions and the collapse of buildings could surely be heard for miles, and people and animals alike were quick to flee.

Though they reached Hammerlocke first, the tanks seemed like nothing compared to the enemy. The enormous shadowy monstrosity that swooped in from the sky seemed to be made from far more advanced technology. Even just the one towering machine, as large as the castle falling to ruins beneath its feet as it lands, proves deadly as it fires upon the approaching tanks, blasting them all to pieces within an instant before turning fire on whichever buildings remain standing.

(Based upon: Tanks, and Reapers)

The Mysterious Storm

There had been no way to predict the change in the weather, never mind how destructive it would prove. One moment, everything had been still and quiet, and the next the city was assailed by howling, violent winds and freezing, glittering snow and ice. Though the city was built of stone and had stood the test of time for centuries, it could not stand against these combined forces. The only shelter was underground, for the furious storm was so powerful it could rip through earth, lift up and fling any object in its path with devastating force, shattering windows and toppling buildings.

Propelled by such force, the ice and hail proved destructive in its own right. As the storm froze everything in its path, the hailstones became like bullets and great chunks of ice became missiles. By the time the winds began to grow calm, there was little left standing.

Something about the storm seemed somehow unnatural, but where it came from was anyone’s guess. Some, however, may have spied a vague figure through the tempest, of unclear appearance but its presence somehow threatening.

(Based upon: Weather, El shortage, and Diamond Dust)

Misplaced Memories
Worries about whatever disaster must have befallen the ruined city of Hammerlocke aside, people quickly become aware that memories of the disaster are not the only invasive, foreign memories. How the other memories come to them seems, on the surface, to be very similar: a connected thought occurs, and upon realizing the memory is not theirs, people are compelled to think more about it until the memory is uncovered in full detail. Unlike the memory of the disaster, however, this one quite clearly belongs to someone else. Someone who is here.

On puzzling this out, some might find they have more than one stray memory sitting in their minds. More importantly, however, is the feeling that something from their own memory is missing, and whatever memory is missing feels like it is something important. It could just be their own phone number, or it could be their name, or the face of whoever is most important to them. It could be something small, it could be something big, but all people know is that it’s something important and it’s gone.

There is no clear, immediate answer as to what people can do about their lost memories. With regards to their new memories, however, the path might seem a tiny bit clearer, for surely it seems a bit unfair that they can see into someone’s past in such a manner without their knowing. Perhaps it’s best to talk to them about it?

Although the lost memory is not always the same as the ones borrowed, taking the memory back to its source and prompting them to discuss and think about it proves a great help - as they talk, the invasive memory leaves, a lost memory is restored, and those who succeed are able to tell others the solution.

While the invasive memory is gone, people can still recall having it, and can still recall the details, but they will no longer remember it from the other’s point of view. Perhaps it might change how they see each other from now on?

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code bases by tricklet

Comments

[realway]

[ a hard lump starts slowly taking shape in her throat as legion elaborates, feeling a cold dread crawling up her spine as more comes to light. ]

She wouldn't frame me. [ she scowls, nearly offended in her forceful denial. ] She's - She's my friend, Legion. I've known her since I was a child, she wouldn't do that to me, and she wouldn't bomb the temple, and...

[ ahsoka stops, heart racing and expression lost. why is she defending a person she doesn't remember? the name strikes so much familiarity, so much longing, but she doesn't know why. ]

I'm sorry. I don't mean to get emotional. [ emotions are... they're not to be expressed, aren't they? she thinks barriss would agree with that. ] Something inside me tells me you're wrong, but... you wouldn't lie to me, would you?

[forwearemany]

Dishonesty is both irrational and counterproductive in this scenario.

(Legion, like many other synthetics, is not much for lying in general. They prefer to omit information rather than state untruth.)

We did not state that she bombed it. (They say, gently.)

(It is clear, just as with her rushing to defend this person, that she remembers more than she is willing to admit to herself.)

[realway]

...No, you didn't. [ she lets out a rough sigh, brow furrowing. ] Somehow, she's never too far from my mind. I haven't seen her since the trial, and... well she's likely dead now.

[ what became of barriss is unknown. there are gaps in her memories still, but the punishment dealt down for terrorists is clear. as selfish as it may be, she doesn't want to think about it anymore. she is certain she will continue to. ]

I think it's my turn now. [ she isn't eager to bring back these memories to legion, but she is looking to get away from her own traumas. ] So you remember being betrayed. Do you recall the reasons why?

CW: Mass Effect's treatment of robots is fucked up

[forwearemany]

(...Why?

Has anyone ever needed a reason to hurt them? The memories relating to their betrayal are gone, but others remain. Their headflaps shift, ripple as they think of them. Of being told they do not have a soul. Of attempts to program the desire to even ask that question out of their people. Of the murder of not only countless Geth, but everyone who tried to protect them. Of being shot for no reason other than existing in the same space as organics. Of it being literally illegal for them to be alive, as though the government had a right to control that.

Has there ever really been a why?)

We are Geth. (The lights on the side of their face flash briefly red.)

[realway]

...

That isn't acceptable.

[ she decides on plainly, not knowing the whole context but also knowing she doesn't need to. right then. ]

You were with two people - a commander named Shepherd and a woman wearing a purple mask and hood over her face. The three of you together were standing over a large machine called a Reaper, which you had just destroyed. Because of that however, your people were vulnerable to an attack.

You suggested uploading the Reaper's code to the Geth to give them independence, but Shepard and the woman told you not to. Even if it meant the death of the Geth, they didn't want you to do anything. And then you...

[ she stops there, trailing off, but she knows she has to tell the full truth. legion did so for her. ]

You tried to do the upload anyway. The woman stabbed you.

[forwearemany]

It occurs regardless.

(The universe doesn't care about acceptability.)

She is creator admiral Tali'Zorah.

(It does not surprise them, that she would attack. She had nearly done so before.)