In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 875):

Sunshine considers and shrugs.  "Shit if I know.  I guess we'll see."

And the thing in her mouth is gone.

Mother looks up from her cell.  "Who's that?"

Dad shrugs and looks at you, seeming to hope you have the answer.

You do.  Kind of.  It's the same guy who got blown up back at the meet.  The one who was out in the car.

Or at least someone who looks a lot like him.

Ghostie grins.  <goldenrd>"Told ya."</goldenrod>

I take a test step out of the circle to see if anything explodes.

Assuming it doesn't, I explain to my parents, and incidentally to Sunshine because she's right there, that the guy spying on me was the same guy who was interfering with the kendo tournament and who was killed by a suicide drone bomb.

"Yeah, you did," I say to the ghost, rolling my eyes again.

"I'm not going to trick you. Just tell me what you know."

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 877):

Mother frowns.  "Are you talking to me?"

Sunshine shakes her head.  "She's talking to the ghost."

Mother arcs an eyebrow.  "Is this ghost reliable?"

Sunshine shrugs.

Ghostie gives you a shit eating grin.

"I know you got a lotta people who are following your every move.  And I mean A. LOT.

"There's a couple of bugs in the room you sleep in.

"And there's like this group of stalkers that watch you in shifts.  I can point them out to you as they show up if you like.

"So what about it? We gonna make a deal?"

"No, Mo-

Yes."

"You tell me everything you know about the people following, stalking, spying on, and doing other shady stuff to me, and I'll do what exactly?"

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 879):

The ghost scratches his chin.  "I'll just tag along is all-"

Sunshine breaks in.  "He'll eat your energy.  Probably not very fast or a lot of it.  He's not really all that powerful so I doubt it would do you much harm.  But...you know.  He'd still be a parasite.  Your call if he's a useful one or not."

I long for a convenient wall to put my fist through.

With icy menace, towards the ghost, "Do not try to trick me again."

To Sunshine, I say, "Thanks. I'll call you when I need another exorcism. Were there any other ghosts around? There was some business about Jenny Holbrook killing an elf, and Mr. Ghostface was being cagey."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:18, Sun 28 May 2023.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 881):

Sunshine cocks an eyebrow.  "Jenny who elf what?"

Translation:  she has no idea about it.

Ghostie frowns.  "You could be nicer to me ya know.  Maybe give me a name..."

Sunshine shrugs.  "He's probably forgotten what his real name was.  You'd be fine giving him a name."

"Wait, you're not the ghost who wanted to find Jenny who killed the elf?"

I really hope I'm not triple haunted.

I tell Sunshine the story about the O-mouth creepo ghost man who I had to catch in orthogonal time and drag information out of like the Oracle of Delphi on shrooms.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 883):

Ghostface shakes his head.  "That wasn't me.  Not really.  I just picked up a thought from someone else.

"There's someone around you who is all about the whole Jenny killing the elf thing."

He shrugs.  "And no. I don't know who it is.  Just that they think really loud thoughts about it.  I can let you know if it comes back up again though."

Long pause.

"Okay. Let's start talking. First, how many ghosts are following me around? Are there just a ton of ghosts here? Second, how many people are after me or spying on me, that you know of?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:03, Sun 04 June 2023.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 885):

Ghostface grins.  "So I'm assuming this means we have a deal, right?

"It's not exactly like you have bus loads of ghosts following you. But...you know...you spend so much time in Limbo, it attracts attention.

"As far as people...I haven't exactly been keeping a tally. I can going forward...if my boss would like that."

What.

"What."

What.

"Did you say 'Limbo?' Are you saying that my time pause ability is actually crossing over to some kind of underworld afterlife?"

In this moment, I feel a horrible existential chasm opening in front of me and my concept of reality teetering on a pole in rough seas. Ghosts are real. Have I been visiting the land of the dead my whole life? Has my mother? Is that why she pretended ghosts aren't real? Why have I never seen one before?

I clamp down on rising fear with the steel-clad self-control my parents drilled into me. Be practical. Seek information and certainty where possible.

"Sunshine, can you perceive this Limbo place directly?"

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 887):

Mother guffaws.  "Oh please.  There's no such thing as Limbo."

Sunshine blinks.  "Well...yeah.  There is. Duh.  Where do you think ghosts live?"

She turns to you.  "Psychics can tune into Limbo to varying degrees.  I'm like..."aware" of it. But I can't see it or anything.  I just feel pressures.  Like I'm in a dark room filled with bean bag chairs.  And I can hear things.  If they're loud.  But that's about it."

She cocks her head like a dog wondering if you're about to say the word walk.  "You must be pretty dense if you can go there and never knew it."

I step sideways, which should leave everyone and everything around me greyscale and frozen in time, except for Mother. Temporal awareness is...weird.

Then I attempt to verify the claim. Is the ghost still there? Is Sunshine? If I stand next to Sunshine and yell will she hear it? The latter I can only know once I go back into linear time, unless Sunshine is in orthogonal time as well.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 889):

Ghostface cocks his head as you shout.  <goldendrod>"Uh...was that really necessary?"</goldenrod>

What did you yell? Or was it just a scream?

Good question! This is a pretty cool plot development; just because my character is grumpy about it doesn't mean I don't think it's neat. I'm still not sure if Ghosty McGhosterton is full of it or not. Is Stuffy Mom not in the sideways time space as well?

I stare at Ghostface and think for a few seconds, composing my message. If this theory is true, I am going to need therapy. And also will be kind of upset, because I thought I was special. Dammit.

"Hey Sunshine! Hey! This is Seraphina! The code is haberdasher!"

I wait another few seconds, then I go back into linear time. I haven't actually moved from my spatial location.

Another few seconds of waiting in linear time. Then I ask, "Sunshine, what's the password?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:27, Fri 09 June 2023.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 891):

No worries.  I thought Sera was just making a reference to her Mom.  Sorry.  Missed the fact you pulled her in to.

Sunshine sort of frowns.  "Somethin' like...have a gas her?  I dunno.  I couldn't hear too well."

Mother sighs.  Then she kind of shrugs.  "Well I suppose now you have some questions, don't you?"

I didn't intend for Seraphina to pull Sunshine in; I wanted her to stand next to "frozen" Sunshine and yell, then go back into regular time, or at this point I suppose the living world, and see if Sunshine perceived that.

We can keep going with this if you like, though.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 893):

Sorry if there was confusion.  That is what I assumed too.  You did not pull in Sunshine.  I thought you meant you pulled in Mother.

Sunshine seemed to hear something while frozen.  She just didn't hear it too clearly.

So it seems like yes.  Grayscale time has at least some relationship to Limbo

Based on what's been previously established, Seraphina believes that, if she steps into orthogonal time, anyone else who can do so is automatically there as well, and the same is true, as far as she knows, if anyone else steps into orthogonal time. She believes that she and her mother are the only people in the world capable of stopping time.

So, in a sense I meant her to pull in her mother, but as a side effect of what she believes is the power itself, rather than a deliberate desire to do so.

I control my temper and remain calm, taking deep breaths for nearly a minute to get over the trembling, building rage, fear, and pain of knowing that I can no longer trust the only people I have ever loved.

"Why did you lie about it?"

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 895):

Dad looks confused.  "Lie about what?"

Mother waves him off.  "Alright.  Let's not get emo about all this.  Let's talk in private."

She pulls you in this time.

"Okay.  To be precise here, I. Did. Not. Lie.  I simply explained things as I understand them.  That is all.  I mean...come on Seraphina.  Limbo?  Ghosts?  God?  Do you really think any of that is real?

"Your...friend..." She waves a hand at Ghostface, who is standing there looking a bit annoyed by her.  "Is probably just a psychic echo.  That's all.

"I didn't lie about anything.  I just simply gave you the facts as I now them.  This place is outside time.  I never said psychic powers can't work in this place.  They can.  It's just no one can use them fast enough to do any good because we can always move faster than they can.  That's all.

"Better now?"

I keep my posture as neutral as my expression.

"Then why did all of that mystic mumbo-jumbo Sunshine did seem to work?"

I regret, more and more every day, coming to this school.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 897):

Sorry for the yellow on Mom last time.  Didn't realize I used it on her

Mother shrugs.  "How should I know?  Are we sure she isn't really psychic?  And that that mystic mumbo-jumbo isn't just how she accesses her powers?

"Look Seraphina.  I never promised you a rose garden.  To my knowledge, we are the only two people who can enter into this space.  But..."

She looks at Ghostface who sort of waves back.

"That doesn't mean other entities can't enter into this space.  More things in something or other than in your philosophy Hortense.  Something like that.  I never really did like Hemmingway.

"Anyway.  I think you're making Much Ado about Nothing.  So what if there's something else in here?  Does it change the fact you're powerful?"

I do my best to listen, rather than just immediately think of and throw back angry responses. Self-control has been drilled into me, and I'm not going to forget it, not even when my worldview is broken into so many pieces I'll never find them all.

Deep breaths.

"It changes a lot of things. I thought this place was private, and now I know that other things may have been watching or listening to my most intimate thoughts and feelings.

It brings into question the whole nature of time. The dead exist in a parallel timeline and the real world simultaneously? Is this just another world entirely? There are thousands of metaphysical and philosophical questions that have lingered with humanity since Sumeria, and there are new questions to ask, too.

It makes me wonder if you can control time the way I can. If anyone else can. I can make it expand and contract. But does it mean that ghosts and other weird things are immune to my powers? Further, this revelation makes the source, nature, and possible applications of my abilities, of your abilities, new and exciting. What things can we do that we've never tried? What things have you tried and never told me about?"

I can't help myself. I start smiling wider and wider. Horror and rage have been replaced with emotions I've only felt a handful of times: elation and giddiness.

"Can we resurrect the dead? Can we travel to more realms than just the two? Can we somehow harness the energies or powers of other planes of existence? There's multiple lifetimes of things to explore, do, and investigate. Don't you see? Who cares about school! About jobs or fame or Rigney or any of that stuff? Mom-" I call her that instead of 'Mother' for the first time since I was a toddler, "-we can change the world forever and for the better!"

I take her hands in mine, feeling thrumming electric excitement.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 899):



Remember, you are in Grayscale Time right now.  So this conversation is only between you and Mother.  And Ghostface. But who cares what he thinks.

Oh yeah.  Sunshine might hear part of it too.

But that's all.  Really

Mother grasps your hand back.  She stares back at you.  Her face has no expression, though her eyes seem...a bit hungry?

"So...what do you propose here then Seraphina?"