video; un: v | cw for creepy dolls i guess?

[mehanizovati]

[the video starts focused on a shelf, and on that shelf is a doll. absolutely the kind that just exudes 'listed on ebay for having the spirit of an angry victorian child in it' vibes with its dead eyes.

when viktor speaks his tone could not be more dry.] Some of you might have noticed the unpleasant dolls that, when ignored instead of bought, come to life violently. This is a matter our household is not entirely aware of because Palamedes continues to gladly buy any unpleasant doll he sets his sights upon.

[offscreen, but not like, very far offscreen (it is not a big living space), palamedes chimes in with a pointed, 'While I respect your aesthetic tastes, you're wrong, they're delightful,' that viktor will pointedly ignore as he continues.]

He will not stop bringing them. Some of them vanish after a week or two. He calls this one Sensible Bethany.

['She calls herself that, actually, I explained this already,' from the peanut gallery. the camera shifts as viktor turns to address him back]

Is this entire place not haunted enough without ugly dolls, I ask again? There is a limit, Palamedes.

[in the unfocused corner of the camera the doll absolutely turns its head to stare directly at the screen.]

Comments

[hearuthinking]

Sure I believe in souls, but I figured we just go to one place or the other when we die. Never really believed one would stick around.

Huh. [He nods; it's interesting stuff]

[megatheorem]

One or the other...?

[There are. Options? This is news.]

Well— it depends on the circumstances and the individual, either way. Most of us just move on, like you said.

[hearuthinking]

You know: Heaven or Hell. Different folks got different ideas on where people go when they die, and that's mine.

[megatheorem]

I don't know, actually, but I'm curious. We call it the River, where I'm from; it's only the one. It's there and everything, just outside the scope of living perception. More or less.

Are you from Earth? I've been told there are plenty of Earths, so I'm building a mindshare of sorts.

[hearuthinking]

Sure I'm from Earth. My native country is America.

[megatheorem]

Alright. I don't know where that is. I'm from a planet I call the Sixth, but apparently it's your 'Mercury'.

[Now, let him find a notebook...] How many countries are there, actually?

[hearuthinking]

Huh. I don't know shit about space, but Mercury is the first, ain't it? The closest to the sun?

Shit, let me think. Geography was fuckin' ages ago. [He does a mental count. This might take a while] Definitely over a hundred.

[megatheorem]

[A brief grin twitches at the corner of his mouth at the phrasing there - "Mercury is the first," well, not if he pronounced it with the capital F. It's not as funny without context, so:]

The one that's a hot little rock with no atmosphere to speak of, yes, that's it. I'm not an alien, for the record; we're human beings, Earth was 'the First'.

I'll write down 'one hundred plus.'

[hearuthinking]

Well. If you were, you wouldn't be the first I encountered who looks kinda human. There was this one I met when I first got to the Trench. She was some kinda doctor or somethin'. She ain't here now, though.

[megatheorem]

No? Shame; more doctors in a place like this would be a godsend. Although if we define 'aliens' as just 'people from other planets,' then sure, I could be an alien. You know, to fill quota.

[hearuthinking]

Guess we're all aliens around here. [As in, none of them are native to the Trench]

[megatheorem]

Also true! And squids, although there are debates about the whole squid-transformation concept that muddy the waters.

[hearuthinking]

I try not to think too hard about that part. Already way too much weird shit in this place.

[megatheorem]

I think about being a squid at least semiweekly.

[Which he says like it's actually very exhausting, so maybe not thinking about it is the better play here. He has a lot of squid notes.]

Although I've seen a picture of a real squid, and whatever we are is only somewhat adjacent.

[hearuthinking]

Good to know, I guess. [He can see why this guy and Viktor get along: they're both nerds]

[megatheorem]

I suppose you had to be there. [and also a nerd, true.] Well, whenever you'd like to meet our ghost, you know where to find us.