i was on my way to work when i realized i'm wasted

[capemods]

WHO: A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE
WHERE: Here, there, everywhere.
WHEN: Anytime from 6:00 PM to the wee hours of the morning; feel free to tag in with a specific time in your subject header.
SUMMARY: Chronos and Vector are failures and half the City goes apeshit!

It's been a lovely, warm, sunny day in the City, winding into a nice warm afternoon that definitely doesn't feel like the first day of Fall. As the sun gets lower and lower in the sky, however, something goes wrong. It's a very discreet malfunction, and even people in the general area probably won't notice it; what they will notice, however, are the temporal shockwaves emanating from the malfunctioning device.

Not to mention the eventual effects of those shockwaves. Is that man standing in the middle of the crosswalk with a lampshade on his head? Where did he even find a lampshade?

Comments

[hackeralastair]

"Yeah, that's right." Well, that took care of one thing, assuming Yuusei was indeed still around and saw the post. He set his hand gently on Kiryu's knee. "It's okay, just take it easy. Maybe you don't remember anything about us right now, but we're here for you. We're like brothers. And maybe I'll page Saitou, get him to come back just in case."

aw I love it when I stop getting notifs

[satisfiedsigner]

Kiryu frowned down at the hand, but he didn't make any move to get rid of it. Though it did make him wonder just how friendly they supposedly were. That and the use of his first name; even his team didn't call him that...

"Who's Saitou?" he asked. It sounded familiar, more familiar than the rest of this, but he couldn't imagine why.

I know they're being stupid right now

[hackeralastair]

That hand was as far as it went for now. "One of your best friends, kind of a mentor," Alastair replied. "He taught you how to use a sword. He's out and about right now, he should be back a little later." He made a face at Aome as the cat stalked past them both and gave them a kitty stare of disdain. "That's his cat."

[satisfiedsigner]

Kiryu gave him the most incredulous look he could when Alastair mention the sword. Even if that was true, why would he need to? He had his deck and he could hold his own in a fight.

He scowled right back at the cat. He didn't care if it liked him or not.

"I should just stop asking questions. I keep feeling more and more lost..."

[hackeralastair]

"...sorry." Alastair didn't know what else to do, besides answer his questions. How could he just forget like that? It's like he's back in his own past or something. He was determined not to lament all the memories lost, not until they could figure out what happened and whether it was permanent.

"I know this is probably weird, and hard to deal with. I wish I could do something to make it better," he admitted in a low, quiet tone. "If there's anything you need, just tell me. Okay?"

[satisfiedsigner]

"Yeah. Me too..." he could only imagine what it would be like if Yuusei or Crow or Jack suddenly didn't seem to remember anything. He didn't think there was anything wrong with his memories, but these guys obviously did. And the evidence suggested there was something wrong.

He gave Alastair a faint smile; he really was good friend. "Do you know how I can make this go away?" he asked, gesturing at his eyes.

[hackeralastair]

"Uh..." Alastair frowned a bit. "It's one of your powers. I don't know how you change back and forth, you just kinda...do. Whenever you want to. Maybe...concentrate?"

[satisfiedsigner]

"Powers...?" Well, it wouldn't hurt to try. He shut his eyes and concentrated and making it go away. he didn't see his arm glow briefly, but he could feel it when the room suddenly felt cooler than before.

[hackeralastair]

Alastair noted the glow, but he was familiar with it by now, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Better?"

[satisfiedsigner]

Kiryu nodded with an even bigger smile. "I can actually breathe. Do I look normal now?"

[hackeralastair]

"Yeah, pretty much." But to himself, Alastair wondered. Did being in Signer form, which Kiryu seemed to like better, make him feel like that all the time? Short of breath and overheated? He had no idea...

[satisfiedsigner]

Well, that Kiryu was used to it. Any amount of breathing was a lot after being dead. But it was more than weird to a Kiryu who hadn't gone through that yet.

"I saw a guy laying in an alley once. Dead. His eyes looked like that." He shrugged, starting to inspect his hair. He didn't want to talk about that anymore.

"Alastair...how close are we?"

[hackeralastair]

"Uh..." Alastair didn't even want to touch the dead comment, he'd seen bodies before in childhood and it wasn't something he wanted to dredge up. Not that the other comment was any easier.

"Honest?" He shrugged, shifting so he could look Kiryu in the eye. "We're kinda seeing each other."

[satisfiedsigner]

Kiryu couldn't help a brief moment of disbelief, if only because he couldn't imagine how long he must have been here already to have a relationship with someone. Although Alastair had been pretty friendly so far; he could think of quite a few people who'd be a much worse date.

"Yeah? I wondered if it was something like that. I haven't heard anyone else use my first name."

[hackeralastair]

"Heh..." Alastair looked down sheepishly. "Yeah, that's a real funny story. You told me to, so I just kinda did." And when they were estranged, that simple name change meant everything. "That was a while ago, before we ever got together.

"It's okay, right?" he quickly added. "I'm not gonna pressure or anything, until you can remember again, but..."

[satisfiedsigner]

"I just...haven't heard it in a long time." And he had to wonder why he'd been telling anyone to call him that without being so close, but he was sure he had a reason.

He blinked over at him at that question. "It's fine. I'm just sorry I can't remember any of this."

[hackeralastair]

It had been so long Alastair had forgotten the circumstances exactly. He just knew it had become a habit, and the fact that he was the only one who did only made their relationship that much more unique. "Nah, it's okay," he assured. "We'll get those memories back, or figure it out. Maybe there's something on the network about it."

He really hoped it was something different. He didn't want to think that any of his family were brainwashed. His new master wouldn't betray him like that, would he? Brainwash the closest people to him?

[satisfiedsigner]

Kiryu held out the comm in his hand. "Do you want to check? It'd be good to know if I'm the only one or not."

[hackeralastair]

"Yeah, it'll just take a sec." Alastair's thumbs flew over the keys, pulling up the listing and skimming the posts. It did sound like a couple of others were having a similar problem, but there was no announcement from the Porter, no villain claiming responsibility, nothing of a "this is what happened and this is how to fix it" sort of vein. Sighing, he handed it back so Kiryu could wait for an alert from Yuusei. "There's a couple of weird posts, but nothing major. I'll keep an eye on it through the night."

His doubts were intensifying, so he tried to shake them off and focus on Kiryu's needs instead. He could snoop online and investigate his questions tomorrow, there were more important things right now.

[satisfiedsigner]

"Just a couple?" Kiryu studied the comm for a moment before just going back to holding onto it. It would harder to hear it if it was in his pocket. "That's good though. It's better if it's only a few people."

[hackeralastair]

"So far, anyway." Alastair was willing to entertain the idea that there were more people affected than those who posted to the comm - there always were. But people tended to flood the comm when something was going on, so he remained wary.

[satisfiedsigner]

And that was about how long he was willing to sit still for now. he glanced back at the kitchen, still a little amazed by that, and got up to start pacing around the living room. And after a brief sound of annoyance, he was tugging his hair back in a messy ponytail.

"I don't get it. What's the point? Getting amnesia is practically suicide..."

[hackeralastair]

Alastair sat forward with his elbows on his knees. "I don't think it's something you do on purpose," he suggested. "You were fine before I went to take a nap, so whatever happened, happened in the last hour or so while I was asleep." His lips twisted in a thoughtful frown. "The real question is, whether someone else did it to you on purpose, or if it's some kind of random accident or what."

[satisfiedsigner]

"I doesn't matter if it was on purpose. It's still one of those things you just...really don't want to have happen."

He paused next to the windows, momentary awed by the sight of the rest of the city. It sure looked like how he imagined Neo Domino.

"Has anything like this happened before?"

[hackeralastair]

"Um...sort of?" Alastair had to think; being in the City for almost a year and a half made some events blur together. "The Porter herself has done a number on people before, but she usually makes some kind of cryptic announcement when she does. Lately people have been going missing and acting weird, there's been all kinds of accusations that people have been brainwashed." His expression hardened briefly as another flash of doubt lurched through his stomach.