ACE

[ballies]

(pirate noises)

Comments

[ballies]

It couldn’t drive across worlds? If that helps?

[selfimmolation]

[ it does he nods ]

And you're sure that Nevada place couldn't just... be here too?

[ballies]

It’s not impossible that there could be somewhere called the same thing, but— if they were at a casino, Nevada, or rather Las Vegas in Nevada is known for its casinos and for being an over the top kinda place. Celebrity restaurants, shopping, casino halls with insane layouts and themes…

Could be it’s a little too similar to be a different place.

[selfimmolation]

So either they went to the actual place, or it was some kind of illusion, maybe?

[ballies]

An illusion pulled from a memory, maybe…? It’s not impossible someone here has been to Nevada.

[ closes my eyes in the realisation i get to do the ‘wow, a cyoa’s kinda like a somnium’ comparison for the second time this year. ]

And it sounds like they were all able to interact with it… I wonder…

[selfimmolation]

A lot of you guys do talk about Japan.

[ which is a planet? maybe? he is not sure. but: ]

What are you thinking?

[ballies]

Mmhmm. It seems to be a constant, although whether it’s the same Japan, I don’t know.

[ pulls out a map and gives him a geography lesson somehow. ]

The idea of exploring someone’s memories isn’t really new to me. I just wonder if the concept’s the same or similar to what I know.

[selfimmolation]

Really? That's a thing you guys can do back there? Maybe if some of the guys tell us what they saw, we can figure out if there's something from someone's memories here in there and know for sure.

[ballies]

I don’t know if it would be possible here. It’s not something you can just hop in and do without thinking about it — you’d need a specific machine, a monitor, more than just me alone.

[selfimmolation]

They could be using a power to replicate it...? [ also kind of ?? at me alone when she talks about machines ] I just meant asking around--someone's bound to recognize their own memories if they're described to them, right? Then we'd know if they are using them or not.

[ballies]

That would be concerning. But it's not like I wouldn't know how they'd find out -- buuut if they could dig into my memories anyway, why would they need to learn about the Somniums...?

[ ow. her head. ]

Only a psyncer remembers a somnium. If you were the source of one, you wouldn't remember anything that happened in it.

[selfimmolation]

So you can just... root around people's memories and they won't ever know?

[ creepy. ]

[ballies]

[ it's fine. ]

Not randomly, for no reason. They have to sign forms and stuff. [ usually. permissions unclear, game inconsistent. ] We're secret, but there's still steps to follow.

[selfimmolation]

Why would anyone sign forms to have people root around their head?

[ballies]

Because we're dealing with murder investigations and an emphatic "no" might mean the snooping comes from warrants and home invasions instead?

[selfimmolation]

Huh.

[ there's an underlying "you need a warrant to do that" that he won't say but that might be obvious from the look on his face ]

I feel like someone looking at your house is still better.

[ballies]

Somniums are open to interpretation, and influence. They can show you might know something about a situation, but they're not valid as evidence in court. We can only use them to guide us to something we might've missed, or a line of inquiry we might not have thought of.

A bit easier to talk your way around than finding a murder weapon in your house, right?

[selfimmolation]

... Then why do you use it as a first resort...?

[ballies]

Because we're looking into complicated cases? We investigate first, it's if we find someone who's hiding information from us that the Somniums come in handy.

[selfimmolation]

... I don't know if I totally get it. Even if I was guilty, I'd still rather not share my memories, I think!

[ don't PERCEIVE HIM ]

[ballies]

Annnnd that's probably why we're a government mandated secret!

[ yeah! ]

[selfimmolation]

Yeah, makes sense. Government would definitely hide something like that back home too.

[ the joke is it does ]

[ballies]

I know the people actually on the ground do actually want to do good with what we have. They're sincere about that.

There's another reason as well, but I'm really not talking about that one. [ lol. lmao. ]

[ she does laugh though. ]

Yeah, they are usually out to keep inconvenient things, or things that benefit them swept under the rug.

[selfimmolation]

Aw, c'mon, don't tell me it's another big secret you can't share?

[ballies]

Honestly, talking about the Somniums are kinda weird anyway. It’s not like I’ve ever talked with them outside the handful of people who know about them.

[ like she’s doing something she shouldn’t and boss is going to emerge from behind a bush and dock her pay. (she doesn’t get paid) ]

But what about you? If you’d want to avoid a Somnium, does that mean you have something to hide?