031 || written/dictated;

[workaphilic]

[ Anyone Who Has Left and Returned with Memories ]

[He thinks on this filter for a long time. (Whether he should keep himself anonymous or not, whether it's even worthwhile in the grand scheme of things.) But eventually, he writes:]

I have questions, if you're willing to answer.

SH

----

[ Anyone Who Has Experienced a 'Trip Home', excluding John Watson ]

I'd like to compare notes, as it were. Provided you're amenable.

SH

----

[Some time later, he'll dictate to the castle at large. There's not much energy in him today; he sounds worn out.]

Give me recipes, residents. Your favorites from your home world, I don't care.

Unless you're from Earth, in which case, don't bother.

Comments

[signedlefthanded]

Nope. None at all.

[workaphilic]

Fairly straightforward, then. [He sounds a little disappointed.] Paradisa is thorough. Or would very much like us to believe it to be.

[signedlefthanded]

Do you have a theory on it?

[workaphilic]

[A pause.]

Might be revising it, actually.

[signedlefthanded]

What is it?

[workaphilic]

[A pause. There's only so much of this the castle will let him say. How to word it?]

Residents here have drawn a number of conclusions about this place and how it operates, the "trips home" not the least of them. They're passed off to new residents as gospel, but there's no real substance behind them. Take a moment to look at them critically, though, and they don't hold up.

We all assume that Paradisa hits the pause button on our home world and swaps us in and out as it pleases. But what if that isn't how it happens at all?

[signedlefthanded]

What do you think then?

[workaphilic]

I don't presume to think anything. The evidence still isn't adequate.

[A pause.]

But. It it were simply a pause-and-replace, there should still be some remnants of our stay. Not memories, but physical changes.

Oh, it's always possible that Paradisa has a cure-all magic spell for that, too. But that isn't any fun, is it?

[signedlefthanded]

No one ages here, Sherlock. I've been here two years almost and I still look sixteen.

[workaphilic]

[impatiently:]

Obviously. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about changes that stick.

[signedlefthanded]

Like scars and things?

[workaphilic]

Exactly like that.

It's something to look into, in any case.

[signedlefthanded]

You can test it.

[workaphilic]

In a sense. Testing it directly would be ideal, but Paradisa is fussy at best and finding a willing candidate might be a struggle.

But then, we do have lots of residents.

[signedlefthanded]

Ask if anyone has any scars. Document it, and if they ever come back, see if it's still there, if they noticed any scars back home.

[workaphilic]

That's the indirect way to do it, yes. Relies on a lot of waiting and puts a lot of faith in memories that aren't mine.

[signedlefthanded]

Ask about scars, document it, and keep track if they go home or not. [This isn't rocket science.]

[workaphilic]

[No, but it is boring.]

It's an option.

[He really won't budge on this.]

[signedlefthanded]

What else do you have?

[workaphilic]

There's always a more hands on approach.

[signedlefthanded]

Like?

[workaphilic]

I have a hunch you'd disapprove, Miss Baudelaire.

[signedlefthanded]

You want to give people scars.

[workaphilic]

It's more direct, you have to admit.

[signedlefthanded]

Yes, but you'll need to actually ask people.