8 - Video

[burnmythoughts]

[Jean doesn't speak straight away. She starts, a few times, but the words die on her lips and her gaze falls to the hands twisting in her lap.

Finally, she speaks, soft and solemn.]

I was wondering if - anyone knew anything about the breaches, or had any theories. If the Admiral just created these people, these...families out of thin air, or...if they really exist, somewhere. If... [She swallows hard.] If they're different versions of the people we know.

Comments

[toldinthebook]

I think some of them might. [ Maybe. She doesn't know if she likes it or not, not with how her story went in Bargewell ]

[burnmythoughts]

[Jean tries not to blanch at that, simply nodding.] How come?

[toldinthebook]

There were people in my life there that were from home. Or at least they had the same name.

[burnmythoughts]

That's why I'm wondering.

My family was... [And she trails off.]

[toldinthebook]

Familiar? [ She's not going to pry, and not just because Emma doesn't really want to talk about Bargewell ] Maybe making familiar people is easier. It's magic, so... [ And also trailing off because she knows jack about magic. Or he could just be screwing with them ]

[burnmythoughts]

Yeah.

[Jean pushes a hand through her hair.]

Maybe. He could just be...using our memories, pulling stuff from there. [She sounds far from convinced, though. How could they possibly be sure?]

[toldinthebook]

Unless anyone else has a different story it sounds likely.

Are you okay?

[burnmythoughts]

I...yeah. [She musters a faint smile.]

I just - it was hard for her. The girl I was.

[toldinthebook]

Maybe it'll fade. [ She hopes it'll fade, at least for her, anyway ] I wouldn't mind forgetting this.

[burnmythoughts]

Me either. [A wry, dark smile.] I didn't really need a lesson about the dark side of human nature.

[toldinthebook]

You- Were you trapped? In there. [ She doesn't really want to be any more specific :\ Emma had known enough about what was going on with the experiments then to know that it existed, and to ask if that's what this girl meant ]

[timesbureaucrat]

There's very little evidence to know with any certainty, but I can say that there has been at least one dimensional leak where the alternate self I turned into was quite real. I'd met him before, away from the Barge. I suspect that all of the people we turn into and those we encounter are real within the alternate universe the Barge brushed up against.

[burnmythoughts]

[Her expression tightens, as she nods.]

I...wouldn't mind it if she was real. Not really. [That Jean's life was kind of horrible, but she wasn't.]

...What was he like? The other you?

[timesbureaucrat]

In this breach or the one I met away from the Barge?

In this breach my alternate self was a very normal human. He worried about taxes and home repair and other than the fact that he worked at Region 10, he lived a very average life.

[He doesn't immediately volunteer information about the other self he met away from the Barge, on that alternate Gallifrey. The one he later became during one particularly unpleasant flood. He's not sure what to say about *that* Narvin.]

[burnmythoughts]

[Jean smiles, small and rueful.] 'Average' shouldn't sound so extraordinary.

[She won't push, about the other one. But...]

...What did he do, at Region 10?

[timesbureaucrat]

He was an administrator. He wasn't directly involved in any of the dirtier work, so he found it easy to ignore or justify. Most of the time.

[burnmythoughts]

[A bitter little laugh.] It's always easier when you can't see their faces.

[timesbureaucrat]

Quite.

He was an unhappy man and a coward and I'm quite content to put that person well behind me.

And what of your experiences there?

[burnmythoughts]

I was one of the people he didn't have to see.

[onceandfutureprat]

God I hope not.

[burnmythoughts]

[A strained but genuine smile.] You too, huh?

[onceandfutureprat]

I'd rather hear about yours.

[burnmythoughts]

[Her face drops, but she does answer, after a moment.]

...The person I turned into - she wasn't bad, really. She just - her life was hard.

[softly] Harder than it should have been.

[onceandfutureprat]

Why?

[burnmythoughts]

[Her smile is thin, and there's more than a little self-deprecation in her voice.]

Because she couldn't hide who she really was.

[onceandfutureprat]

Is that necessary for an easy life?

[burnmythoughts]

[She can't help but laugh, low and sad.] Yeah. Yeah, it is. [Not 'was'.]

[onceandfutureprat]

[A year ago, Arthur might have said something different.] It shouldn't be that way.

[burnmythoughts]

[Jean regards him quietly, for a moment, before she smiles, faint and slow.]

Thank you.

[darknessb4me]

What's the practical difference?

[burnmythoughts]

[She doesn't quite meet his gaze.] Knowing if the people we met there could really act the way they did.

[darknessb4me]

It's not that far-fetched.

[burnmythoughts]

I guess nothing is, here.

[hungryanhorny]

You sure you wanna know?

[Some evidence says they're real - namely, that people have been left behind in them before. Barge comes out - but they don't.]