(11/2)

[erythristic]

To those recently introduced to the Retrospec application, welcome.

Ms. Wiseman's comments yesterday lead me into a jumping off point for a small reminder. If you are affected physically by your recollections and you would like a medical professional to look at what's changed or you require attention for matters related to this app that would be difficult to explain to another doctor, contact me. My name is Grell Sutcliffe, and so far I've been handling such matters for quite a while - I've also been physically changed myself, so I understand how disorienting the experience is. All visits and information are kept confidential, as would be expected for any patient. If you want to tell people, it's on your own time.

And going off of that, I have some findings for us all, ones that I confess are not reassuring in the slightest. If you'd rather not read this for peace of mind, none will judge you.

[the rest of this post is hidden under a collapsible link - letting people choose if they want to read on.]

Death is not permanent. At least when it comes to Retrospec users. There was an incident of someone being resurrected recently, and if you know who it is, I advise you to not go babbling about it. That's their information to hand out. But regardless, I personally could confirm the death, and on the same day, the person was in a hospital room unconscious but most certainly alive and recovering. No, I don't know how they did it, no, I didn't help them. I'm as baffled as the rest of you are going to be, and I cannot tell whether this information is anything short of frightening. Quite frankly, I was debating whether I should release this knowledge at all, but after consideration, it's best that you know.

I'll try to answer any questions as best I can.

Comments

[roseblooms]

Damn. ...Pardon my French.

[F A W K E S]

What you're saying has sinister implications, though. So Retrospec's sphere of influence extends even to encompass death? I wonder what that might suggest about how they "saved" all of us...

[erythristic]

You see why it was a difficult decision to eelease this information at all. That their dominion is more absolute than possibility suggests.

[roseblooms]

I can remember a situation in which I almost certainly died — and significantly, I DON'T remember how I might've gotten out of it.

Perhaps that's the point from which they snatched and reconstructed me.

[erythristic]

Just as a suggestion, have you ever attempted to construct a timeline of what you can remember so far? It might narrow some unknowns for you.

[roseblooms]

I've managed to put together a rough one, yes. There are a lot of holes, but I've been able to make some guesses based on the people I remember in those memories, and how relatively close to them I seem to be in each of them.

[erythristic]

Then that eliminates pure uncertainty. It would be interesting if more than one person remembered a near death experience to explain this reconstruction.

[roseblooms]

Because I alone might be an outlier, but multiple data points would give rise to the possibility of a pattern?

I wonder how many people would be willing to confess to something like that, though. I wouldn't think most people would be eager to, but people on this app are sometimes surprisingly forthcoming about personal details that way.

[erythristic]

It's rather shocking that they do, but you can never quite predict people. If you end up holding some sort of survey, I would be delighted to know the results of such.

[roseblooms]

I think the trick is figuring out how to ask without coming off as hilariously insensitive or hideously gauche, really.

[erythristic]

Tell them they don't need to answer if they're uncomfortable and watch them leap at the chance to talk about themselves.

[roseblooms]

Reverse psychology, then?

And to think, my students are convinced that principles of psychology and behavioral analysis have no practical applications outside of our lab. How shortsighted.

[erythristic]

Such practices are simple elements of human behavior and provide useful long after one exits the schoolroom. I'm surprised they're so eager to discard such a valuable tool.

What do you teach, if I can ask?

[roseblooms]

Oh...I've done a handful of things, really. Normally physics, but then circumstances led me to make a switch into the law department at the university. Ah, and this semester I took a position as the graduate assistant responsible for teaching a lab in behavioral analysis, as I mentioned. Rat Lab. Hardly glamorous, but it helps pay the bills.

[erythristic]

Fascinating all the same, but I'd hate to make you talk shop when you don't even have the advantage of being able to properly convey your emotions towards your students in your facial expressions. Still, you have my respect - teaching is quite the profession, and your fields even more.

[roseblooms]

Oh, believe me, I've graded more than enough exams for Dr. Lutece to know how to properly convey my emotions toward my students in the written word alone. I typically strove for a neat balance between aghast disbelief and "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed".

...While occasionally being tempted to staple Burger King applications to the more choice among the exams, if you follow my implication.