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There is a mystery that's currently unsolved. It's in Avedan's head. It's not like he's going insane (he's quite sure that he's not) but lately his sleep's been pretty eventful. He'd always had dreams (didn't everyone?) but lately, they've been getting more vivid. More lifelike. And, most interestingly of all, more internally consistent.
It's really, really confusing. Avedan is somewhere between wanting to learn more about the internal history present in the dreams, and wanting to understand why they're being so - insistent. He suspects it has something to do with malfunctioning servants, but all of his are working just fine. He checked. Twice. So - maybe someone else's aren't working properly? Or something? He doesn't know, there's zero precedent for eerily vivid and consistent dreams. Avedan tries talking to someone about it, exactly once. They immediately think he's having reoccurring nightmares.
But they're not nightmares. Well. Okay, some of them are, one of the more memorable ones included desperately clutching a woman's hand, begging her to stay with him, just keep breathing, to stay alive. She didn't. If it'd been with someone he knew, he might have thought it was just a simple nightmare. But, no. He's never seen her before in his life. Only his dreams, and not all that often, either. Because there are others, with - happier memories attached to them.
He's started to notice patterns. In - consistent people, consistent places, and most interestingly, consistent personalities. He's pretty sure it's not his subconscious being uncreative (if it were that, he would be naked at work or something) but the bizarre internal consistency his dreams are exhibiting.
It's hard, to figure out if there's a timeline to it all. But there is one thing that's consistent: a city. He does a quick bit of research, finds the city's name (Lapis), and after a bit more research is confronted with the dream's reasonable level of fidelity. As in, it's nearly the same, with exception to what he suspects is construction. And he's never been to Lapis in his life. Just what is going on? He can only think of one way to find out, and that way involves packing up his bags, handing them off to a well-maintained servant, and then heading off to Lapis.
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do_over
if_at_first
"Lots of math? Math about what?" asks Sylvi, directing her wood horse in the direction Avedan was dragged by the parrots.
do_over
"His opinions of things, how important they were to him, what his priorities were - that kind of thing. In math form. Apparently our scale's the same."
if_at_first
"Lu was once extremely pleased about the number 40.5. It was a weird dream."
do_over
Slow blink.
"Wow. Um. Okay then. Lu had good reasons to be really pleased about 40.5. Kidan loved her very, very much."
"Wow. Um. Okay then. Lu had good reasons to be really pleased about 40.5. Kidan loved her very, very much."
do_over
"Forty point five," repeats Avedan, shaking his head. "I'm - genuinely having trouble wrapping my head around that." He glances at the letter from Kidan. "But he said the scales were the same. So - okay then."
if_at_first
"Well, so far. This is - more people than I ever expected to be but it's not a huge number? Maybe yours is off, you'll have to - check the others' math."
do_over
"It's possible," says Avedan, dubiously. "But Kidan made it clear that he and Aydanci were vastly different in life experiences, but their scales still managed to be the same. I'll check the math anyway, that's the general idea."
if_at_first
"Yeah. I don't have a math thing but apparently I get to read my past selves' condensed notebooks, all of them, it's going to take ages."
if_at_first
"Thanks."
Here is the cache! Here is Charp!
"Milady!" Charp beams, bowing.
"Hi, um, Charp," says Sylvi. "Am I pronouncing that right?"
"Yes! Come in, come in." It steps aside. "I've kept everything neat for you. What are your names now, please?"
"I'm Sylvibel. Sylvi."
Here is the cache! Here is Charp!
"Milady!" Charp beams, bowing.
"Hi, um, Charp," says Sylvi. "Am I pronouncing that right?"
"Yes! Come in, come in." It steps aside. "I've kept everything neat for you. What are your names now, please?"
"I'm Sylvibel. Sylvi."
if_at_first
"Of course, sir!" says Charp. "Milady, your notes are there -" There is an entire bookshelf of notebooks, neatly labeled with dates and nicknames. "You recommended that you start with the volume that I've put on the desk for you, there. Sir, your notes -" a smaller bookshelf. "There are living quarters upstairs but they are not currently stocked except for a few jars of honey for the unlikely eventuality that you would arrive in immediate need of food. I can air out the basement servant workshops if you expect to use them soon."
Sylvi has left her wooden horse standing outside the building and runs a finger along the book spines. "I brought some food, although the honey's clever."
"Of course, milady. It was your idea."
Sylvi giggles.
Sylvi has left her wooden horse standing outside the building and runs a finger along the book spines. "I brought some food, although the honey's clever."
"Of course, milady. It was your idea."
Sylvi giggles.
do_over
Avedan snickers, heading over to peruse his smaller bookshelf. He picks the one neatly labelled, 'Start here' and gets to reading.
"Scale's the same," he informs shortly. "Yeah, Lu earned the forty point five, I am really quite impressed."
"Scale's the same," he informs shortly. "Yeah, Lu earned the forty point five, I am really quite impressed."
if_at_first
"What does it mean to have earned a forty point five? I only have a snippet about it - the number and how happy I was and - I don't know what pronouns to use for these people - anyway, it was only a minute and then it went into a bit about Aly and then a different, regular dream. What did the number mean?"
do_over
"... Basically that she had managed to make it to the top of my - his? priorities and importance scale. As in, literally everything else was less important. Actually, looking at the numbers most of it wasn't out of love, though that was there and was a factor, but - she was competent, good at what she did, pointed it in a good direction and got things done. Essentially, she was his priority because he respected and trusted her to - I suppose the best terminology is be his greatest ally and that either one of them would handle things in the other's absence."
if_at_first
"Lu seems to have talked about Aly and Kib in the first person when using pronouns and the third when specifying with names," reports Sylvi, paging through her - Lu's - the provided notebook.
do_over
"Kidan didn't leave what pronouns he used for me," observes Avedan. "He left lots of math, though." Pause. "Really useful stuff, too. Hmm, I need paper - excuse me, Charp? Is there paper around here, and if so may I have it?"
if_at_first
"Of course, sir."
Charp shows him to the office supplies, of which there are many, pleasingly organized.
Charp shows him to the office supplies, of which there are many, pleasingly organized.
do_over
Oooo, office supplies. Pleasingly organized office supplies.
"Thank you," he says genuinely, and then he is lost to the world of man and obsessively dissecting the resources given to use for his own ends. Bwuahahaha.
"Thank you," he says genuinely, and then he is lost to the world of man and obsessively dissecting the resources given to use for his own ends. Bwuahahaha.