Meeting Time!

[hotpaprika]

[On Wednesday morning, all the suites will find another note slid under their door. It seems much less formal this time, but the handwriting is still very distinct.]

I am holding another meeting today, at 5 o'clock. I am terribly sorry for the the location this time, but it will be in the dressing rooms at the department store, as that is one of the few places I could find that we would not be watched.

I ask, however, that you don't all come in at once, because I fear that otherwise, it could catch Fontaine's attention and may add further security measures.

I will be providing refreshments, although I welcome any additional help.

J. Harker

[The dressing rooms are, obviously, a very not ideal place to hold a meeting, but Jonathan had somewhat set things up so that they could at least talk to each other, with all the curtains pulled back and one stall reserved for some cakes and sandwiches. He politely greets everyone who enters but it's clear that he's somewhat wary from the motive.

When everyone arrives, he once again addresses the group.]

Good evening. I am sure last week was an icy shock to everyone that Fontaine is not content to let us live about in harmony. However, it is vital that we do not give up hope that we can find a way out of here, because when we do, Fontaine will have already won.

[He's trying to convince himself this as much as he's trying to convince everyone else.]

[ INFORMATION IDEAS GENERAL CHATTER ]

Comments

[sixthnonsense]

[Hagakure isn't someone who's been too affected by the motive, but this is still really interesting.]

You've actually done it? How?

[allatonce]

So here's the thing: the multiverse is infinite.

[Joy pulls a loop of string from her pocket and makes a Jacob's ladder.]

The choices you've made have ended up here, right? But.

[She dismantles the entire thing and quickly makes a different figure.]

Making different choices creates an entirely different you, even if some of the steps are the same. So, in theory, all Fontaine has to do is drop someone in a slightly to the left version of wherever they're from, where maybe the only difference is you said "no" or you saved that kid or whatever it is you're bent up about. Here's the thing, though: you'll still be you. And the whoooole time you'll be noticing what's better or what you've totally fucked up by making a different choice.

[specialyellthing]

Whew, sis. I've never been so grateful to have only been through three different universes.

[allatonce]

It's......

[Everything Everywhere All At Once, maybe?]

....... a lot until you get used to it. My dad used to say your mind is like a clay pot that slowly leaks water and if you don't stop the leaks you'll go insane trying to be in two places at once.

[sixthnonsense]

[...]

I'm a big believer in the multiverse, but I gotta say, I never thought of it being like that in practice. It's like getting to see the Butterfly Effect unfold in real time.

[allatonce]

Yeah. It's pretty intense.

this is not a gagtag

[fuckingguy]

[giddyundertaker]

[ He's impressed by the yarn work, even if he can't see the details from where he is. ]

There's the catch, isn't it? He'd only allow you to change one mistake, but you don't know if you've actually fixed anything until you face the consequences...

[ Now he's pondering about this multiverse thing. He's already burned enough bridges, but imagine what he'd be like if he hadn't... Or failed at doing so... A curiosity, that is all. ]

I'm assuming you tried more than one time to go back and fix things yourself?

this is going to make my head hurt; MAJOR SPOILERS FOR S2 OF SPACE DANDY, ep 11 and beyond

[bootyhunter]

Whoaaaa, hey, hey!

[Dandy sighs, smiling in a half-hearted manner.]

Agree to disagree! Warpin' doesn't work like that, not for me, anyway. Actually, it's kinda the opposite.

I'll get into the thick of it if I've gotta, but it's a duh-huh-hoozy!

[visiblepattern]

If it's relevant, then I'd think it would be best to get into it, wouldn't it?

[bootyhunter]

[...He doesn't really know if it is, and in some ways, is afraid of what this discussion may uncover.]

So... One thing I can get behind is that, hell to the yeah there's alternate universes! There's alternate universes out the wazoo! And outta the wazoo's big, gapin' other wazoo...

But they're supposed to be separate.

Uh...

[Dandy takes a deep breath.]

Let's say, there's me, Dandy! Standin' in a room on the Aloha Oe, which is... My spaceship? For reference.

[He holds up another finger.]

And then there's another Dandy! He looks pretty similar, and he's standing in the same spot- On a different Aloha Oe, in a whole 'nother stream of time, runnin' parallel to mine.

Me, as in the first guy? Closes his eyes and thinks this is me. And then the other Dandy blinks at just the same second and thinks-

[He raises the same finger on the opposite hand, wriggling it to illustrate as best as he can.]

This is me. But if you try to merge the two, you can't.

The one on the other end just gets a headache. There's no way to bridge the gap between 'em, or at least, there shouldn't be.

[To Joy, specifically:]

It sounds like you have.

[visiblepattern]

[..........................this is so far above his pay grade]

[bootyhunter]

I think what Joy' gettin' at is- Don't do it, 'cause it's all the same either way, right?

[He's doing his best to discourage other people from pulling stupid shit!]

And what I'm gettin' at, is... Don't do it! 'Cause you won't ever make the jump. You'll either end up right back where ya started, or worse.

[Dandy exhales sharply.]

You'll just disappear.

Sorry. This BS makes my head hurt, too.

cw: emotional abuse

[allatonce]

[Anyone who's happened upon Joy fiddling with her radio will know the clip that plays on a loop:

Try harder, Joy.
I can't.
Try harder.
I can't!

It ends in her screaming. Apparently, she's not going to be able to get through the week without explaining:]

Technically I didn't bridge the gap. I burned them all to the fucking ground.

1/2

[bootyhunter]

Oh.

[Surprisingly, he thinks he gets it.]

So you-

[Up until a certain point. He blurts out his own interpretation:]

All of you, are ya one...?

2/2 more spoilers for space dandy ahoy!; cw maybe minor body horror

[bootyhunter]

[Dandy is, unknowingly, a victim with the same fate, although for somewhat different reasons. His own understanding of things is only half-correct, as the dim-witted fellow is missing some very important pieces of information.

Instead of being forced to navigate those spaces and consequently burning them all to the ground, he is the bridge itself. Dandy currently occupies a human body, or more accurately, a human-shaped vessel that craves sustenance and supposedly bleeds, but contains not a single trace of DNA. There are other tells, sure, like the lack of a regular heartbeat or sometimes the absence of one altogether.]

It's okay, Joy.

[Thankfully, nobody is close enough to him to know.

And they never will be. Not as long as he's kept guessing.

Joy's apparent heartbreak is what affects him most, not the metaphysics of the space time continuum. For all his biological anomalies, emotionally, Dandy is actually fairly simple. He hurts when others do, and even moreso when he can't do anything to stop it.]

...This stuff's fucking psycho! There's no way it could actually be your fault.

It's... A lot.

[To say the least.]

[vholran]

Simply just 'noticing' it? Not experiencing it?

[daimakaicho]

Mix of both, I have to assume. There's not really any way to forget everything up until that point, unless you use some kind of spell to counteract it.

[ She hums, tilting her head to the side. ]

But by that point it's too much of a hassle, and there's a chance you'll still be making things worse.

[vholran]

A fine argument. Will it work by the end of the week, I wonder?

[ Desperation thy name is the unfortunate prisoner who goes forth with it. ]

[daimakaicho]

No. Likely not. There's a reason why some linger on their regrets.

[ She smiles. ]

But that's the terms of the contract, hm? Especially now that all the conditions have been stated, someone will surely be willing to take the risks, even knowing what's likely ahead.

[allatonce]

Pretty much what she said. It's like... Imagine a glass that's half filled. Normally, the question would be "is it half full or half empty?" but here, you dropped the glass and it's in a million pieces and you can't put it back together again.

[Fun! That doesn't sound like it sucks at all.]

[honeyedtea]

. . . But it really does work?

[ Mielle sounds like she's just had all the wind knocked out of her. ]

It really is possible to... go back? And make different choices?

[prompocalypse]

You're going to give my principal an aneurysm if you keep talking about chronomancy like it's pointless.

I don't really agree with you and I think you're sort of just speaking from your own emotional baggage right now, but I think contradicting you is sort of redundant considering, yeah, you're right. It is a manipulation tactic.

Even if they have the ability, they just want to get us to kill for them.

[allatonce]

Time travel isn't pointless. It's thinking you've picked the right thing to change and that it won't accidentally fuck everything else up that's pointless.

[prompocalypse]

Yeah, like, I get that much.

There's no way to ensure a perfect happy ending, you'll just drive yourself mad if you even try.