retrospec | text ❖ living in an era with gps takes all the fun out of it

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text ❖ living in an era with gps takes all the fun out of it

Carmen Sandiego shared a photo.
7/15 near *̸̗͈͔̺̙̥͐̏͐͊̅̀̇͊͌͞/̴̛̼̦͍̟̑̀̆͋͜*̵̠̣͍̓̏̋̌̑̌̐͜͜͝ͅ|̸̻̪̰͔̇͗̊̃͋͊͢͝͠*̸̢̧͓̦̫̞͖͌̈́́̎̇͞͡͝|̘̤̩͙͇̯̱͊̔͐̚̚*̡̧̜̹̗̆̿̂̄̃̀͠͠͠ͅ\̴̨͉̱̼̜̭̀͑̇̇͆̔͜͠*̢͓̯͕̩̙̬̏̽͂̃̅̃̂͡

The structure above was built in the 7th century BCE by two legendary architects, Trophonios and Agamedes. Is it:

A. The Palace of Knossos on Crete
B. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi
C. The Pillars of Hercules
D. The Colosseum of Rome

Trivia aside, color me curious: what's the most unusual place or thing you've seen thus far in your "hallucinomemories"? That you're willing to tell someone about, of course — I'm not seeking to pressure anyone into revealing secrets they wouldn't be willing to share with the class.

(Or, I suppose, if you're playing along with those bingo cards we were given and need to share something with a stranger, responding to something like this would certainly qualify, wouldn't it?)

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I know I was there specifically for the sake of seeing how a business deal in Brazil turned out, though I don't recall many other details about what that entailed.

But then, I seem to recall having been in various places around the world; apparently I was well-traveled, if nothing else.

And how have you been getting those memories back, out of curiosity? Have you been ending up in those same places by sheer coincidence, and remembering them once you're there?

It's largely incidental things in the memories themselves. I know one of them was set in Europe, because I remember thinking at one point that it was an inconvenience for me to have come all the way out there for...whatever I was doing at the moment; I know a woman I was dating and I were in Africa for the sake of managing resources. Things like that.

I haven't left Recollé since I arrived, personally. It's nothing I've had much interest in.

That makes two of us — at least the part about having left. I'd like to get back to what I'd been doing before I came here at some point, but it's not altogether feasible for the time being, so making the best of my time here is frankly the next best option.

What resources were you managing, exactly?

The difference there being particularly stronger, then, if that's the case - I was brought here as a child, around the age of ten or so. What was it that you were doing before?

As for the resources, I don't recall. I know she had a fair amount of stock in...something. Presumably some sort of corporation. But I don't recall many specifics about my professional life as of yet.

I investigated insurance claims — typically ones that dealt with allegedly stolen artwork. Insurance fraud is a surprisingly lucrative business for people who are rich in assets and deficient in respect for the law.

Have you considered trying to trigger more of your hallucinomemories deliberately? Associating with stockholders of corporations, for example, since you feel as though that might be related?

I've considered, though for a multitude of reasons, I'm hesitant to do so. I have reason to think that the person whose memories I'm experiencing wasn't a pleasant fellow, to put it as gently as possible. But I suspect that in the end, curiosity will win the day - the whole thing is morbidly fascinating from a few steps back, after all, and I've never been satisfied with a lack of answers. Whether that's a virtue or a flaw is debatable, but in the end, it is what it is.

Is that something you have interest in, yourself? The concept of deliberately triggering these visions we've been having.

Do you find yourself preoccupied with the question of how, if at all, that person's history reflects on you? If it's true that what we're remembering are memories of some past life we've lived, I'd imagine there's plenty to ponder about what implications that past life might have for a given person's present one.

As for triggering the hallucinomemories deliberately, I think there'd be value in it. As far as I can tell, there's very little we actually know about this phenomenon and why it happens — and I can't see how learning more about it would be a bad thing.

So yes, I've considered volunteering as a test subject for that particular brand of experiment. It wouldn't be right to suggest it and then expect someone else to bear the burden of finding it out for me.

Perhaps I'll end up contacting you at some point about it, then, should that genuinely be something you're interested in. I'm not entirely certain with regards to the best way to go about it just yet, but I can safely say that unusual experimentation and pushing boundaries are things that I'm highly familiar with.

Although with regards to whatever history may or may not be uncovered, however...I wouldn't say that I'm preoccupied with it, though I do find that notion troubling from time to time. That person's actions - and the few emotions and thought processes I've been privy to in witnessing them - are so far removed from my own that it's difficult to reconcile anything that he's done with anything that I can imagine doing myself. Not just from a personal standpoint, but a general one.

Not so much "je ne sais quoi" as "who in God's name does that", in other words.

[And that was the moment when Albert Wesker sealed his fate to someday get an inbox text of SO SPEAKING OF "WHO IN GOD'S NAME DOES THAT", GUESS WHAT I'M PRETTY SURE OTHER-ME APPARENTLY STOLE someday.]

...Oh, come now, you can't get my curiosity aroused with a comment like that and NOT elaborate. Will you give me an example?

[...Please. I need this in my life.]

You're still willing to ask that, even with the knowledge that I've mentioned that this person wasn't particularly pleasant...?

[...I mean. It's not a "no."]

["I'm not going to ask how you stole Mont St. Michel I'm honestly more just concerned with where the fuck you even put it."]

At the risk of answering a question with a question, let me ask you something first.

The sorts of things you're describing. Are they also the sort of thing that you couldn't in good conscience solicit someone else to listen to, because of the burden that knowing it would place on them?

["I'd be more concerned with the notion that you stole the color blue if Jim Halloway hadn't apparently beaten you to it here."]

More like I've been informed recently that I have a tendency to be flippant without realizing it, generally about things that others might find disturbing.

For a...somewhat milder example, however - apparently he declared himself God once, after a physical altercation with an old man over who had the right to actually be considered God in the first place.

[BREAKING NEWS: Every Color Now Missing From The City Of Recolle
Local Philanthropist Carmen Sandiego Claims Responsibility For Theft, Stating Cryptically: "Get on my level, Jimbo"]

...

Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you elaborated rather than leaving it up to my imagination, because that's certainly nothing remotely close to what I might've expected.

[..."Literally punched out an old man over who gets to be God" is honestly the least offensive way he could have described that clusterfuck.]

Dare I ask what you were picturing?

My notions of "inconceivable and reprehensible" generally tend to conjure up thoughts of explosives placed in high-traffic areas.

Battling an old man over ascension to godhood is slightly more niche of a pursuit than I would've immediately concluded.

Don't worry, to my knowledge he hasn't decided to engage in any wanton acts of terrorism, domestic or otherwise.

At any rate, the point still stands - I found "who actually does that" to be an appropriate reaction to finding out that my past self punched out the elderly for the sake of asserting himself as a better candidate for godhood.

It seems a little absurd to say I find that reassuring, but I genuinely do appreciate the confirmation.

...And at the risk of being facetious, I feel as though there's a Cronus joke of some variety that could be made here, but I'll refrain.

Facetious or not, I'm not going to argue with that sort of humor, believe me.

Although I do hope the man in question wasn't actually my father, although with my luck thus far I wouldn't be surprised.

...

Now I'm just left wondering if I shouldn't amend my reference from Greek mythology to Star Wars.

Somehow I doubt that ruling anything together was ever on the table. If that's any consolation to you.

Punching each other in the face does tend to put something of a damper on that variety of cooperation, I would imagine.

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text ❖ living in an era with gps takes all the fun out of it

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