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[identitycrisiscore]

[ When Cloud rolls out of his bed at the inn, he squints at the skyline of Aldrip. Squints at the phone-like device on his table, squints at the incoming light as if somewhat offended at how it's not making dealing with the last month of... whatever that was.

He decides the best course of action is to not get out of bed about it. ]

okay, so, like
let's say i have a friend
and this friend might be a little confused about the city.
and maybe this friend is having a little trouble with like

[ ...He was going to say memory issues, and maybe "hey what the fuck happened for the past three weeks", but you know what — until he's sure he's not the only one experiencing them he's just gonna. Not. Talk about that. ]

let me start over
i'm new here.
did aldrip always look like this?

Comments

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[melnik]

If this friend is you, don't worry. You're not alone. Everything has changed as far as I can see.

[identitycrisiscore]

great. just when i was starting to get used to this place.

[ Boy does he have a killer headache and it's not even noon yet. ]

you doing alright?
between the last few weeks it's hard to keep track of, well, anything right now.

[melnik]

Isn't that the truth?

I'm not going to act like it's been easy trying to piece together what is real and what isn't, but I think we've got more things to be concerned about than how messed up our heads are right now.

[ Or maybe he just doesn't want to address that part, really. ]

[identitycrisiscore]

[ Damned if that don't make two of us, Miller. ]

well, if i think about it too hard i'm going to get a migraine, so might as well ask—
you talking about the whole city changing, or something worse than even that?

[melnik]

Mostly that. What does this change mean for us? Before we lost our damn minds, others were speculating that an "environmental reset" might be coming and don't you know it. They were right. If you ask me, it's all but proven now that this world is only as real as whoever is controlling it makes it.

[identitycrisiscore]

you're... actually not wrong.
there's some technology in my world that could explain it, but...
even those virtual worlds weren't this elaborate, and you knew you were in them.
and they wouldn't be able to simulate needs like food or water.
so...
i don't know.

[ "We're all living in a simulation" is not what Cloud had on his bingo card, but the ease at which the whole town changed... well, the explanations that made sense were few and far between. ]

[melnik]

You don't have to take my word for it. I can't say I've experienced anything like it myself.

[ The evidence is completely circumstantial given that it doesn't really seem like there's a way to actually prove a theory like that. ]

It just strikes me that very little is impossible for a force able to pluck people off of different planets and throw them into an observation chamber. I don't see how all of our surroundings could just shift at once like this.

[ The whole "they're gods" thing is still a possibility, as well, he supposes. It just seemed really convenient. ]