[open; here there be catch-all!]

[cmdreffingshepard]

Characters: Commander Shepard, Arthur, Booker and YOU! Yes, YOU!
Date: Throughout November.
Location: Various locations.
Situation: Various. This is a catch-all log for all three of these characters. I'll post at least one open starter for each (plus some pre-determined closed threads). If there's something specific you'd like to set up, feel free to PM any of my character journals or pp me on plurk @ frodabaggins!
Warnings/Rating: Pre-emptive warning for some discussion of violence-related trauma in Booker and Elizabeth's thread. Will update this as necessary.

Comments

OPEN; business at the brazen turtle;

[aloadeddie]

Since its opening, Arthur has found the Brazen Turtle to be one of the better places to conduct business in the city. Especially with his Foreign contacts. And now that he's diving much more overtly into dream share and dreaming experiments, he finds the bar one of the best places to meet up with contacts.

He regularly rents one of the private meeting rooms, for appointments and the like. The bar itself is public, so no one is likely to pay attention to people coming and going, but the private rooms are quiet and secluded enough for him to do all kinds of business, legitimate and... less so. Making drug deals can sometimes be tricky, after all, even when said drug is as relatively benign as somnacin.

[baniichan]

Barnaby was no stranger to private meetings in bars, although the Brazen Turtle was considerably less shady than the places he'd frequented during his teens and early twenties. In a seedier joint, someone with his kind of face got harassed by the bar's patrons more often than not. On top of that, once he skyrocketed to fame, meeting contacts without a lot of unwanted attention became even more difficult.

That was why it was almost surreal how easy it was to meet Arthur this afternoon. If Barnaby hadn't started working here himself, he might have even been a bit wary. As things stood, though, he was very familiar with the building's layout, and his prior discussion with Arthur over the network put him more at ease about the man's intentions.

The fact his fame hadn't carried over to Keeliai made setting things up a lot simpler, too.

When Barnaby reached the private room, he discreetly peered inside to make sure Arthur wasn't currently meeting with someone else. When he saw that no one was there, he stepped inside.

"Hello," he politely greeted. "We messaged each other yesterday. Is now a good time for you?"

Barnaby had never been one for small talk.

[aloadeddie]

If Arthur was anything, he was discreet - even if Barnaby was a famous face on the turtle, it wouldn't be the first time he'd worked with a notable (or against one, for that matter). Rich people tended to be the bulk of his clientele back home, and Arthur made it a point to know how to make just about anyone feel at ease.

The Brazen Turtle, in a lot of ways, was perfect for that. Not a dive, but not so drippingly rich that average Joes couldn't go.

He gave Barnaby a faint smile and waved him in. "Now's perfect," he said, actually relieved that the other man was so to-the-point. Arthur would much rather talk shop than talk about the weather, chilly as it was getting. "What can I do for you?"

[baniichan]

Inwardly pleased with his good timing, Barnaby moved toward Arthur and took a seat. Before his arrival, part of him had wondered if he ought to bring Kotetsu along, but now he was almost glad he hadn't. As much as he loved his partner, Kotetsu pretty much turned derailing conversations into a competitive sport, and Arthur was a busy man.

"I was wondering if you were also extending your dream share offer to people who weren't necessarily affected by the recent memory loss," he answered after a moment.

That was the logical place to begin this conversation, so Barnaby started there.

[aloadeddie]

Not affected by the memory loss? That got a pair of slightly-raised eyebrows from Arthur. But not necessarily in a bad way. More in a 'I'm intrigued, tell me more' way, really.

"I suppose that would depend on what, exactly, you're looking for," he prodded gently.

[baniichan]

Barnaby's green eyes remained focused on Arthur, showing no hesitation at all. That answer was just one of many possible reactions Barnaby had gone over in his mind before coming here, which meant he had thought about his response well before now.

"A way to unearth memories that are buried under false ones," was the concise reply he ultimately settled on.

[aloadeddie]

"Buried under false memories?" Arthur asked curiously. "And you're sure they're false?"

If there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was get sent on a wild goose chase - but his interest was definitely piqued. If nothing else, assuming what Barnaby was saying was true, he'd like to know if it was even possible to do with his dream sharing tech.

[baniichan]

"Yes," he said. "As for how many are false, there's no way to know for certain, but I have reason to believe that there are a significant number of them."

His memories of his parents, his childhood, life at the Hero Academy, everything that happened before he met Kotetsu -- they were all under suspicion. Before now, he had resigned himself to the fact that he would probably never truly know the full extent of the damage done to him. But to completely ignore that uncertainty? There was accepting what couldn't be changed, and then there was living in denial. The last thing he wanted was to get blindsided later down the road by something he should have known about his own history.

Of course, Barnaby understood that he would (hopefully) have a whole lifetime to sort through his baggage, which made his circumstances a little easier to bear.

But there were other reasons to experiment with dream share, too. Barnaby knew how vulnerable and unhinged lost or altered memories could make a person. If he or Kotetsu fell victim to the same sort of amnesia as some of the other foreigners, there was a chance they would be left with a choice of either accepting their condition or receiving Arthur's assistance. Quite frankly, Barnaby would rather familiarize himself with the technology when he was in his right mind, and he knew his unfortunate background made him the perfect candidate for it.

[aloadeddie]

Arthur had to consider that for a moment. How would a dream enable them to distinguish between real memories and fake ones? It had been theorized about in his own world, academics mostly, writing papers about things like potential therapeutic uses of the dream share tech, for people with PTSD and other mental illnesses that might involve the suppression of memories.

As far as Arthur knew, however, it hadn't ever been tested. He'd certainly never used it that way.

"Do you have any memories that you're sure are real?" he finally asked. "At the very least, we'd probably want to start with a control."

[baniichan]

"Memories from the past year are completely fine," he said with a nod. "Most memories from my previous job are also fine. In addition, there are a few memories that were previously altered, but a later contradiction helped bring the true sequence of events back to the surface."

That was the main reason he believed his real memories were locked away in his head somewhere. Accessing them was the main problem, especially since up until now he generally needed a large, undeniable contradiction to unravel anything he previously accepted as truth. Seemingly tinier problems were easier to explain away, although Barnaby liked to think he wouldn't do that now that he had a better understanding of what had been done to him.

[aloadeddie]

"So you know how to tell when a memory is false when you're presented with a contradiction to it?" Arthur tilted his head thoughtfully, taking a sip of his drink.

"Do you know anything about the method that was used to suppress your real memories, or why it was done?"

[baniichan]

"Sometimes," Barnaby admitted. "More like the real memory 'clicks' into place, and I vividly recall what actually happened. Although, if I'm presented with enough smaller contradictions, it doesn't take long for me to figure out something doesn't add up, even if I don't know all the details right away."

When it first happened, it had been easy to doubt his own sanity, which sent him spiraling into a nervous breakdown. Of course, everything made a frightening amount of sense once Barnaby learned the whole story. But considering that most people around here didn't know what a NEXT was, he was starting to wonder if Arthur would think he was crazy too.

"I do now, yes," he confirmed. "Back home, people started developing unusual abilities about 45 years ago. Scientists are still trying to determine why it's happening."

Barnaby rested his hands on top of the table, his fingers interlocking together. "As it turned out, someone I knew had the ability to edit and erase memories at will. Eventually, I realized something wasn't right, and he confessed to what he'd done. He then tried to alter my memory so I wouldn't remember any of it."

[aloadeddie]

Arthur, frankly, was starting to question his sanity just a little - after so long here, with people he knew coming and going and leaving him all alone, he was starting to doubt his original hypothesis that this was some sort of new limbo space.

So, honestly, for the moment, he was willing to accept anything Barnaby said at face value.

"Sounds like a real piece of work," he said lightly, sitting back in his seat. "I assume this person... isn't here with us on the turtle? Or is there any way you could replicate the process?"

[baniichan]

"No, he's dead now, and I don't know of anyone with the same abilities," Barnaby quietly said.

He realized he probably sounded remarkably calm about the whole ordeal, but he'd also had a year to process what had happened -- most of which was public knowledge back home anyway. Of course, that didn't mean everyday was easy, and there were still times when he hated himself for unconsciously speaking of such an awful man with actual respect. But when it came to compartmentalizing his feelings for the sake of a specific goal, he was fully capable of it.

"If you don't think it's really feasible, I understand," he added. "You mentioned this was all hypothetical, and I know my case is rather unusual." Even back home, there wasn't much specialized support for someone with holes in their memory on account of a NEXT power.

[aloadeddie]

Arthur waved off his concern easily. "I'm perfectly willing to give it a shot, if you are. Of course, it'd be a process, and like I said before, the chances of it working are probably pretty slim. We'd need to train you up in dream share - the tech I have, in particular - and run quite a few tests. Do you have any drug allergies that you know of?"

[baniichan]

"No." His line of work required a thorough physical at least once a year, so Barnaby was confident about that, at least. "What kinds of tests would you need?"

[aloadeddie]

"Depends. What about powers or resistances you might have? Basically, what I have with me here - the drug that allows dream sharing to happen - it's the basic formula. We'd need to test it on you, run some training exercises, get you used to the dream sharing, before really digging in."

[baniichan]

"I'm able to make my physical capabilities -- strength, speed, hearing, eyesight, things like that -- one-hundred times stronger," Barnaby said. "That might give me some resistance, but only if my powers are activated."

Still, it was good to see Arthur wanted to ease into it rather than rushing in all at once. Of course, that was the only proper thing to do, but the man's caution was a testament to the experience he claimed to have.

"Do you recommend I get examined by a doctor beforehand?" he asked.

[aloadeddie]

He thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. "If you think you should, it wouldn't hurt, but if you've had a check-up recently, I'm sure it'll be fine. As long as you don't activate... er, your powers, that is. I imagine you'd just be resistant to the sedative if you did, which would make the dreams very unstable.

"Honestly, the only way to know how an individual person will react to the somnacin is to put them under."

[baniichan]

Barnaby gave a small nod, considering the man's words. Since he'd been cleared for duty just a short time ago, then he'd likely be fine. "Fair enough. In that case, when do we begin?"

[aloadeddie]

Arthur pulled out his handy-dandy notebook to scan it quickly. "I could start as early as tomorrow. I've got to egg-sit later tonight."

[baniichan]

Egg-sitting, huh. In any other time or place, the near absurdity of their exchange might have threatened to derail the conversation. But when you were on the back of a giant turtle, just about anything seemed to go.

"Tomorrow works for me," Barnaby said. He'd already prepared himself to pursue this avenue, so he was committed now. As far as he was concerned, the sooner, the better. "Where should I meet you?"

[aloadeddie]

Arthur nodded, his manner never wavering from its professional intent. Which, in a way, sort of made the egg-sitting thing even more absurd.

"If you're comfortable with it, I'd prefer to do it at my place - ME-2B. I've got all my stuff there."

[baniichan]

That suited Barnaby just fine. Not only did it make sense from a logistical standpoint, but, since they lived in the same sector, it also likely wouldn't take long at all to reach Arthur's place.

"All right." There were still a couple more things to go over, though. "What time of day works best for you?"

[aloadeddie]

"Morning, definitely," Arthur said with a firm nod. "You don't need to bring anything - I've got everything we'll need at my place."