[“That’s fine” he says. Though Korra wants to take his words at face value, she has this feeling that she should at least say something else. But the words aren’t coming.]
Okay. [She finally manages to unstick her tongue.] You just—you said we dated and broke up before, so I…wanted to make sure things wouldn’t be weird. That’s all.
I said it was fine. [the words are sharper than he really meant, but he makes no apology at the same time. He just doesn’t want to talk about it, and his defenses were up as he tried to figure out the best way to change the conversation. But he feels a little trapped.]
[Right. There might be almost a year between them, but she knows that tone. Korra bites her lip, wishing she hadn't brought it up now.
There has to be something else they can talk about...]
Have you been up to North again? [She blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.] I think the monsters are starting to show up in the tunnels again.
I’ve been doing more reading than anything else lately. There’s nothing to observe—not even Pyramid Head. [he shrugs awkwardly] And I updated it with everything that happened while we were in jail.
I need to write down what happened on your side of things.
I've been looking through the books in the library, too, but I haven't really found anything helpful yet.
[There's a slight frown on her face as she turns her thoughts back to the brainwashing community.]
And...sure. I'll tell you everything I remember. Most of the new stuff, after I regained my memories, is really clear, but the things we did before that are getting really fuzzy for me. Everyone else I've talked to said it's the same for them.
Yeah, they gave us all these fake memories, even made some of us think we were family and all.
[She grimaces, sweeping a hand down her face.]
Ugh. I mean, Wan's about as close to a brother as he could get, so that wasn't too far off, but I thought Ozai was my dad.
Anyway, I remember all of that and some other things. A lot of it's gone, though. I knew how to speak and read English with no problem when I was there. Now that I'm back here, it's like I completely forgot the language except what I learned from Sonia before.
That would've been really useful to remember. [he sounds kinda disappointed, to be honest. He wouldn't have minded learning from Korra, but the idea of learning a new language, in general, is completely daunting to him.]
Do you know how they gave you the new memories in the first place...?
We're not sure, but the memories were definitely linked to the vitamins they made us eat. Mine and Sonia's stopped working on us, so we started remembering things before everybody else did.
Once everybody else stopped taking them, they remembered, too.
Why would they stop working...? [that's the next question, and he looks at her, studying. His natural inclination was probably wrong-- Korra was amazing, but not that amazing. And it felt distinctly inappropriate to think that, suddenly, given the earlier conversation.]
Yeah, I think so. Some of us just stopped getting affected by the vitamins, Wan started losing control of his bending... there were other people like him, too.
[Remembering how he'd actually blown up the house still makes Korra feel uncomfortable. It had been a close call. Too close.]
Whatever was in those vitamins, they must not have been as powerful as Yao Corp thought they were.
But they were clearly still powerful, if some people continued to believe long after they stopped working.
Or maybe they were some sort of prolonging thing... for the brainwashing. [he moves a hand to his hip, mulling it over] Like what they do for people with long term illnesses, sometimes.
And whatever it was, it only responded to how long you would've naturally held the memories anyway.
Yeah. It's scary, the way they can just make us forget and think things so easily. I'm just glad they messed up or something, otherwise we might still be stuck there.
[Korra's hand curls around her other elbow as she talks, a worried look on her face.]
Anyway, I can still remember the stuff I was able to do there, but I can't actually do them anymore.
Sort of? That was the main one, but I knew how to use some of the technology in that place, too. They had these things called...TVs? They showed moving pictures with stories. I think it was sort of like those movers you said Bolin was in back home. I don't remember how they work anymore.
[She pauses.]
I think...it's the memories that worried me the most. I could remember everything from my fake life and it all felt so real. 17 years of fake memories was already pretty bad, but it must've been so much worse for the people who were older. That's decades of memories they put into some people.
[yeah, it sounded like the movers. but it's the rest of her statement that really gets to him, and he keeps his hands still instead of letting them move to try and offer some sort of reassurance]
We don't know if they can do that twice, and even if they can, their entire system fell apart without much interference from your part. You said you just started remembering, right? [it's not the type of reassurance he'd love to give, though.]
But... yeah, I get why that'd be bad. Really bad, especially if they learned anything.
Yeah...I know this one wore off after a while, but Fujimaru said this isn't the first time they've brainwashed people. If they figure out something more effective, then they could just make us all think what they want.
[Korra stares down at the floor, thinking of what had happened in the maze.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
browbeater) wrote2014-07-21 06:39 pm
no subject
Okay. [She finally manages to unstick her tongue.] You just—you said we dated and broke up before, so I…wanted to make sure things wouldn’t be weird. That’s all.
no subject
no subject
There has to be something else they can talk about...]
Have you been up to North again? [She blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.] I think the monsters are starting to show up in the tunnels again.
no subject
but at least the angry look on his face fades to something more... normal? awkward? his usual look? this was turning into a nightmare]
It's a good... workout?
no subject
You still keep a record of things you find in that book, right? Have you found anything else?
no subject
I need to write down what happened on your side of things.
no subject
[There's a slight frown on her face as she turns her thoughts back to the brainwashing community.]
And...sure. I'll tell you everything I remember. Most of the new stuff, after I regained my memories, is really clear, but the things we did before that are getting really fuzzy for me. Everyone else I've talked to said it's the same for them.
no subject
What can you tell me, then? I mean... Ideally, we'd be in North and I could write it down, but... I've got a pretty good memory.
no subject
[She grimaces, sweeping a hand down her face.]
Ugh. I mean, Wan's about as close to a brother as he could get, so that wasn't too far off, but I thought Ozai was my dad.
Anyway, I remember all of that and some other things. A lot of it's gone, though. I knew how to speak and read English with no problem when I was there. Now that I'm back here, it's like I completely forgot the language except what I learned from Sonia before.
no subject
Do you know how they gave you the new memories in the first place...?
no subject
Once everybody else stopped taking them, they remembered, too.
no subject
You think some of them were just defective?
no subject
[Remembering how he'd actually blown up the house still makes Korra feel uncomfortable. It had been a close call. Too close.]
Whatever was in those vitamins, they must not have been as powerful as Yao Corp thought they were.
no subject
Or maybe they were some sort of prolonging thing... for the brainwashing. [he moves a hand to his hip, mulling it over] Like what they do for people with long term illnesses, sometimes.
And whatever it was, it only responded to how long you would've naturally held the memories anyway.
no subject
[Korra's hand curls around her other elbow as she talks, a worried look on her face.]
Anyway, I can still remember the stuff I was able to do there, but I can't actually do them anymore.
no subject
no subject
[She pauses.]
I think...it's the memories that worried me the most. I could remember everything from my fake life and it all felt so real. 17 years of fake memories was already pretty bad, but it must've been so much worse for the people who were older. That's decades of memories they put into some people.
no subject
We don't know if they can do that twice, and even if they can, their entire system fell apart without much interference from your part. You said you just started remembering, right? [it's not the type of reassurance he'd love to give, though.]
But... yeah, I get why that'd be bad. Really bad, especially if they learned anything.
no subject
[Korra stares down at the floor, thinking of what had happened in the maze.]
Or...do what they want.
no subject
[he reaches out and presses his hand to her shoulder, light.
She looked like she could used the touch, even if it wasn't exactly his place.
It also had the benefit of... giving him something steadying to think about, especially after all that had happened.]
no subject
Let's hope it stays that way, then.