retrospec | (no subject)

Posting from this network, you'd probably assume I got my job back. Hey users. For those of you who're new, my name is Zee. Sorry to say it, but you've been pulled into the Retrospec project now. Not sure what that is? Get someone else to explain it to you, there're plenty of people who've been around for way longer than deserved.

So…you'd probably assume I got my job back, and I kind of did. I kind of did, but there's a funny little thing about Retrospec and memories. Let me tell you a brief story.

Once upon a time, there were the four founders who came to this planet, founded the city of Recollé and started the Retrospec project. Yeah. Another planet. They're technically aliens, I might technically be an alien, some of YOU might be aliens, it's hard to say. So anyway you have the four founders: Spinnato, Cavendish, Mahoney and Vanderweele. These four created an ideal project to protect life on other planets, offer inhabitants a safe haven to recover from tragic events of their world that were being destroyed (as planets are wont to do) and "regrow" the place you once called home. The problem is that the four of them weren't entirely in agreement on what sort of people should be "worthy" of being saved, or who should be able to become part of the Retrospec project to preserve their souls and recreate what was lost. Souls are a tricky thing. I should know, given I think mine was floating around in the endless abyss for a few months while my body regenerated.

There was such a controversy amongst the founders that one of them, Vanderweele, ended up wiping out an entire family line. There are relatives left from the Spinnato family. Cavendish and Mahoney decided to spearhead the project themselves and sentenced Vanderweele to life in solitary confinement. Once that happened, they began changing how the project was one. They hired some of their own family members. They changed and became the "new" Retrospec.

Vanderweele's not dead though. And as a master of illusion, you can guess where this story is going. I'm not going to do this vague and hiding bullshit that the company's fond of: Vanderweele is out there and meddling with the affairs of this city to overthrow and regain control of the project. All of these weird storms that are happening, the things that mess with your soul? That's Vanderweele's work.

So why am I telling you this?

…Vanderweele got to Retrospec. A lot of you asked if Retrospec knew I was alive again and at the time I didn't know if they did or not, so when I got back to this layer (thank you, by the way. All of you.), I went to headquarters. Everyone inside doesn't even seem to remember that they were working on the project. I don't know WHAT he did, but their memories…everything's scrambled. The entire tech department resigned and I'm not sure if Maurice thinks he's working in a normal mailroom or what. They're almost on the same layer that you guys are before you wake up. Or that's how it seems anyway.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like it's just you and me.

We need to start moving and putting a stop to this to fix everything. I'm not saying you have to. If you want to sit this one out, fine, but I have a feeling most of you want to do something about this. Bring people back to themselves. That kind of thing. You're all pretty stubborn from what I've noticed and that's the good thing.

There are some things I need to check. I'm learning how everything works here and I'm trying to understand all of their notes, not to mention I need to retrieve a few things and wait for a field agent but you'll hear from me soon. I have an idea, but these things take time.

Stick together. Talk to each other. Keep focused.

Oh. I guess also I should mention I moved offices? I'll be staying at headquarters for a while but my remote office is easier to access. Head to the public library, you should be set to get past the scanners on the back of the building and the door will appear for you. I'll be reachable by text, too.

Good luck. Be in touch soon.

Zee Carlisle
Hiring Manager
Retr

spec Incorporated

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[Somehow, he's not surprised at Sakura being so gung-ho about getting everyone back to their 'real selves', being the optimist she was, but boy does he have feelings about all of this.]

I don't really think making that choice for others is a good idea. It's not fair to them to put them through any of this again.

The best thing would be for us to choose. Whether we want to be involved with the app, to remember, or not. I know that. But I'm not sure if that is an option.

Or, at least, we weren't given a choice, but Zee-san seems to think getting us on the app will help?

No. I think he wants to finish the project the others founders started, and 'restore' everyone to who they were in the past, whether we like it or not.

If he was trying to help, then he'd know not everyone is better off being how they used to be. It'd be nice if they gave us the chance to choose, but knowing them, it probably won't happen.

I'm not sure how it works? But maybe there isn't the option and it has to be all of us that have the memories, that are restored.

I would want everyone to be able to choose. Nobody should be forced like this. I wouldn't want it for Fai-san, not after what happened to him with the app. I'm just not sure if there's another option to consider here. A compromise of some sort.

... I wouldn't want it for Fai, either. He doesn't deserve to go through something like that again. Nobody else does, for that matter.

[Like Mio, but... he's still not sure if he should tell her the extent she suffered while on the app. Not if she was at risk of regaining it again.]

I think the ideal would be to finish restoring whoever's already on the app, and leave whoever isn't out of it. That, or maybe convince Zee it's a bad idea, otherwise. I don't think he'd listen, but it's worth a shot.

No. He doesn't. None of us do. I agree that having a choice, or at least, just sticking with finishing making those of us already with the app remember, that would be best.

I'm just not sure if they have that much control over it.

They probably don't, but at least it's worth a try to ask, anyway. He's probably the only person left in the company that we can probably talk to about it at this point.

[Well... he was the only one who ever bothered to talk to them, period, so that wasn't a huge change.]

We'll figure something out, somehow. Worst comes to worse, we just don't do what Zee asks us to do. He can't make us if we refuse.

The others don't usually respond, if we have questions or want to talk about things, no.

I'm not sure if that might work or not. I mean, some of us might not want to help and others would, so.

I don't think that's going to be changing any time soon, either...

[RIP everyone else in Retrospec, shame you had to get Vanderweele'd like that]

Anyway, there's no stopping people if they want to help him-- we'd be no better then Retrospec if we did. But with less users involved, it might be less effective.

[... or... he hopes so, anyway!!]

Probably not.

I'm not sure if it being less effective might be better or worse.

Who knows. Both of our options aren't looking that good right now, so we're stuck no matter what. But it can't be any better than what we're dealing with, that's for sure.

This is complicated. I'm not sure if it is so simple. I mean, it seems like it, the idea of finishing this so we all remember and all, but.

But what's the end goal to all of this? Once they have us get all of our memories and stuff back, what happens from there? Are we supposed to go about our lives again with all of these changes?

It doesn't really make any sense.

I'm not sure what the goal would be then. I assume so though? That we would have our memories back and keep going like before, here. I mean, they said they were saving our souls? Right? So they can't just send us back?

No, they can't. Unless they were also restoring the worlds our souls came from at the same time, but they seem to have enough trouble just getting individual people back in one piece.

[Jokes on you, Xiaolang, you don't even know about the location regains!!]How can we keep going on like before when all of this is interfering with our lives, though? Our changes haven't been too bad, but...

[But Fai's changes. And Mio's. And Noah's, and Mikleo's, and anyone else who couldn't go about their daily lives like before thanks to Retrospec's meddling. It wasn't fair.]

I'm not sure I remember hearing about them managing to restore our worlds. It sounds like it's a lot of work for them just to get our souls back, yes.

I'm not sure we can go back. To the way it was before. I'm not sure if they expect us to.

... it isn't right. None of us ever asked for this. Why do they think it's okay to ruin other people's lives for the sake of their own experiments?

[But he realizes how that may have come off, and he quickly amends it.]

I mean... I don't think our lives, in particular, were ruined. There's some things that I'm glad we remembered. But... we might have been luckier than others.

We didn't ask. But probably, they might not think of it the same way. They might think they're helping, restoring our memories and all.

But you're right. Even if some memories scared or worried me, others might have had worse.