[network] @Mnemosyne; Text; Very early morning 321; At midnight, all the agents...

[bookofnope]

Well, that certainly was a fascinating interlude. Is anyone dead? Shall we share notes while the trauma is still fresh?

My findings such as they are:

• I believe we can confirm the existence of this 'other' Norfinbury mapped over - or perhaps under - the town, though I don't know if this is what the Jack AI perceived during the repairs.
• The residents of the town have merged into a sort of collective entity. It resides in that 'other' town. It does not include the Administrator. I'm uncertain about previous sessions.
• It also does not include any of the people whose incomplete pieces were brought here, who are now incorporated into anomalies.
• The 'protocols' I have been warned about are apparently to do with the cult incident, and perhaps how the admin overcame it.
• The cult is 'blind but still dangerous'. It still has a strong presence within the 'other' town in the southern residential area.
• The collective we have contacted does not know what is in the centre of town, but claims it is worth finding out.

It feels fairly paltry all put down like that, but we do what we can. Please do pitch in. Keep up this collective action lark as long as we can.

Let me also take this opportunity to publish a revised collection of notes. I welcome contributions to those as well - I don't believe, under the circumstances, that it is possible for one person to keep track of all pieces of information, and it's certainly a more productive way to spend the time than cycling one's way through the town's bafflingly large collection of porn lit.

[Attached: The Norfinbury Mystery.txt]

Comments

[termineur]

[ If it was anyone other than Al asking, he'd probably wave it off entirely. But then, Al is probably the only person who can consistently get honest reactions from Gabriel. He looks away, but only for a moment. He just needs to compose himself. ]

You really believe that, don't you? That people can't ever be too broken to be fixed.

[ Of course he did- Al never says things he doesn't mean. At least, Gabriel's never seen it. ]

You know I tried being good back home, right? But people betrayed me and used me like a tool again, and- right before I came here, I had decided the opposite. That there was no hope for people like me.

That's why I'd wanted to run from you, you know.

[armoured]

Well... I'm glad you stopped running from me.

[He rests his arms on his knees for a moment as he thinks about the best way to explain why he has this philosophy. He knows explanations are important, especially to Gabriel, because he can help use them as armour against the thoughts that it's not worth the effort to keep trying.]

The way I see it, you are the only one responsible for whether you stay broken or you keep fighting to get fixed. People are always going to do what they think is best, and sometimes that'll be to help you and sometimes it'll be to use you. But none of that changes me. If they betray me and try and use me, then I'll just turn around and tell them that I won't be used that way. I'll fight back. I'll be who I want to be and keep trying to be better.

[Maybe that doesn't make much sense.]

My brother and I are working closely with some of the military in Amestris and, even though I trust Colonel Mustang to be on our side, he has his own agenda. He'd try and use us if it meant he got to his goals, he has done in the past. But he can't use us to do things that we just refuse to do. We're not automatons, we're people with choices, and that's what you are now.

[termineur]

[ Gabriel is mostly still as he listens, taking in all the information and chewing through it in his mind. Al is good at explaining things in a way that makes sense to him, and yeah- it's really important to Gabriel. ]

I'm glad you know that, that you walked into the situation with open eyes.

[ He's quiet now, trying to decide just where to start with all of it. It seems overwhelming to talk about, still. But with Al, he'll try. ]

There's a part of my past that changed me, and I didn't even know it existed. It was- I couldn't process it, I guess, and I was encouraged to bury it. I didn't even know that I was adopted. I still don't know how that changed me, and I can't be sure that there's not anything else in my past that did the same. If- if I can't trust myself, how am I going to make sure people don't trick me again?

[ He shakes his head. ] I thought for awhile that what I was doing- hunting people down, taking their powers- I thought that was me saying I wouldn't be used, making my own choices. I thought I was trying to be better.

[ He hates admitting stuff like this. He hates pointing out how hard it is for him to know whether he should lean on anything, when he's clearly leaning on Al now. His eyes shine with tears he refuses to shed. ]

I don't even know what to ask for help with, much less determining whether I can trust who I'm asking. My mind is- it's too tangled.

[armoured]

I think-- I think you need to learn who you are before you can worry about the rest of that. Then, if people trick you, it doesn't matter as much. You don't have to worry about what their agendas are, because you know who you are, so their tricks and their machinations can't get to you.

[He shuffles a bit closer and tries to wind an arm around Gabriel's shoulder.]

You know-- I'm not adopted, but I recently found out that my Dad wasn't all I thought he was. I thought he was just a talented alchemist who had abandoned my Mom and Ed and me when I was little, but... but it turns out, he's been alive for centuries. He's a living philosopher's stone with thousands of souls trapped inside him from the destruction of Xerxes, he's one of the founders of modern alchemy in Amestris and alkahestry in Xing.

[He lets out a small huff, half amused and half awed.]

It was a lot to take in and it made me wonder if it changed who I was. Was I tainted because I came from someone with souls trapped inside them? Does my alchemy come from that? But I realised that it doesn't matter who he was and what he did, it doesn't change who I am. I'm still Alphonse Elric, I still like the same stuff and get mad at the same stuff as I did before I knew that. Being adopted is a big thing to learn, but you're still the same person the day before you knew you were adopted, as you are the day afterwards.

[termineur]

[ He leans into the arm around his shoulder immediately, using it as extra support. Even though Al's metal body makes him colder, he's not about to discard the gesture.

He's looking down, clearly sorting through a storm of feelings, but he looks up in surprise when Al describes his own father. It fills in spaces in his knowledge, but more importantly- Al can speak to his experience. A father who's a murderer- or even worse than a murderer, depending on how aware those trapped souls are. Someone who is beyond normal humanity, and it's hard to tell whether that's a good or bad thing. And then the question of what he inherited from all of that.

And Al somehow has the strength to just throw all that away, say it doesn't matter. His mind looks for any argument he has, as much as he'd like that theory to be true. Any theory has to be tested. So he doesn't say how grateful he is for Al blowing away a lot of his doubts here, he just presses on. ]

But what I was, before I knew about being adopted, was a murderer. It's my ability- I got it from him. If I had known anything about it, then maybe I could've-- [ He frowns and shakes his head. ] It's always felt like something was missing to me, you know? Some normal piece of humanity everyone has. And that memory I'd been repressing, that made it clear when I lost it.

I don't know if that's something I can get back. I don't know who I am without it, not when I'm on my own, and I don't have any idea who I'd be with it.

[ He looks less upset, though. He stares ahead as if trying to unravel this puzzle. ]

[armoured]

That's total nonsense.

[He snorts, as if Gabriel has said something genuinely silly. Not in a derogatory way, he knows how deeply this all goes and he doesn't want to offend, but he can't just let that pass.]

You're not missing a normal piece of humanity, and I know exactly who you are. You're my friend, and I've seen that you can care about other people, and I've seen how excited you get about how stuff works, and what you like and what you don't. Maybe your ability squashed that for a time, or warped it, but it hasn't erased who you really are underneath it all.

[termineur]

[ That's something he's wanted to hear for such a long time- such a long time- that his first instinctual reaction is to wonder what Al wants out of him. But this is Al. Gabriel's given him a lot of opportunities to take advantage of Gabriel's vulnerability, and Al's never wavered, not once.

Gabriel closes his eyes tight, trying to fight tears again. Why can Al always do this to him? ]

I-

[ No good. He's choked up. He tries again. ]

Thank you. For seeing that in me.

[armoured]

[He doesn't mind if Gabriel cries, he's not going to judge. God knows that he's wished that he could cry on too many occasions to count.]

I guess now we just have to work on helping you see it in yourself, huh?

[It's soft and light.]

[termineur]

[ His hand reaches up and wipes at one eye, but Al can probably hear the smile in his croaky voice. ]

Yeah, guess so.

Knowing that someone thinks that way already might make it easier.

[armoured]

I'm glad.

[Though he hopes that one day Gabriel will be strong enough to hold onto that even if nobody else feels that way.]

Now come on, let's get some sleep before Steph comes and kicks our asses for making too much noise.

[termineur]

[ Gabriel's really hoping for that, too. He nods, even though he makes no effort to move from where he's at. He'll sleep leaning against Al if the kid allows it. ]

Don't think she'd kick our asses for that, but- yeah. Sure.

[armoured]

You clearly haven't disturbed her beauty sleep before.

[He huffs a little laugh, and he won't move Gabriel. He doesn't mind if his friend wants to use him as a pillow.]