originallutece | (no subject)

"Oh, thank God?" I'm the one that should be saying that!

What's happened? People are missing and nobody remembers they even existed...! And I... Rosalind, I'd forgotten. I'd forgotten everything that had happened until I woke up this morning and thought it was strange the sky was gray when the sun was shining.

How could I just forget everything that happened at the convention?

I know.

It happens sometimes. Have you talked to Carter lately? He doesn't remember. Nor do a few friends of mine. I don't know why it happens, but sometimes people simply forget.

Yes, I knew that he'd forgotten everything, but...

[How does she put it into words? How does she communicate the intense sense of wrongness she'd felt when she'd woken up? How the past two weeks seem to be a blur, how things seem right but in an impossible manner because of how much she'd taken for normal that simply isn't? The feeling of something being wrong with her?]

It's worrying, that they can mess with our heads at any moment like that. It's like they're playing with us.

I suspect they rather are.

[There's a little pause, and then:]

Are you all right?

[It takes a moment before Rosalind gets a response.]

I don't know. There's been so much lately, between the convention and forgetting everything and now so many people missing. Seto's secretary doesn't even remember that he ever existed, much less employed her!

And those two boys that I seem to share experiences with... they're both on the list of people missing, too.

The last time I saw them, they

[Another pause. On her end, Kath is chewing on her lip, feeling the threat of tears that haven't pricked at her eyes yet.]

I got cornered by one of those dragons in the convention center. They jumped in to help me and I don't know what happened to them after.

Ah.

[There's a pause, and then:]

I assume you've searched for their names in the obituary?

[That sounds awfully cold, but there's a point to this.]

[She hadn't. But with a deep breath and a sense of determination, she does now.]

They aren't listed, no.

Then there's still a chance. They might have disappeared to the same place Seto has-- and though they're disappeared, that's all they are. Vanished doesn't mean dead.

It doesn't, but if they were hurt before they disappeared...

[Okay, okay, no. Focus. Another deep breath--her father always likes to point out that if you could build a case on "if"s, any man could win a trial.]

No, that doesn't matter right now. I could come up with ifs all day long. You're right, vanished doesn't mean dead.

What can we do to help bring them back? There has to be something.

For the moment, loath as I am to say it, going along with Retrospec and their demands. This is something beyond our capabilities at the present.

What is it that Retrospec is demanding of us? I'm afraid I wasn't one of the people selected for these tasks.

Fixing reality, a phrase I find as loathsome and nonsensical to type as I assume it is to receive. They're asking us to-- to look into things slipping through from other worlds and close the doorways between them.

So your theory was correct, with everything slipping through from alternate realities?

I believe so, yes. I'd rather more solid evidence in my hands, but if Retrospec is to be believed: yes.

[There's a pause before Katherine responds again. It's amazing to think about, though a part of her is still uneasy, remembering the uncertainty she'd felt before with regards to the idea.

But still...]

So how do you close the doorways?

Is there anything I might be able to do to help the rest of you? This is more important than Father's cases.

Not at current, I think, though I appreciate the offer.

Frankly, if you'd like to help me on a more personal level . . . I wouldn't mind hearing what you've been up to these past few weeks.

Me? Not much, unfortunately. Like I told you, something caused me to forget everything to do with Retrospec entirely. The last thing I remember prior to that was those two boys I told you about before saving me from one of those dragons.

After that... there wasn't much. I certainly got a lot of work done on our current caseload at LJ&H, which Father was pleased with. He's been... concerned about my recent distraction, so I think that mollified him for the time being.

Unless, of course, there's something else you were curious about?

No. I simply . . .

[A pause.]

It's nice to hear something ordinary. My life has been nothing but horrors and oddities these past few weeks; as silly as it sounds, it's soothing to hear something mundane.

Oh. [She hadn't considered that perhaps it would be soothing to hear about something mundane.]

Well, I can certainly provide that. Shall I tell you about how the jostling for the law internships for the fall semester has already degraded into name calling and smear campaigns? Honestly, you'd think this was high school from the way people carry on.

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i could've sworn i'd responded to this holy shit

we'll blame DW

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