zevenentwintig - revival

[gezellig]

 A - 1447 Mitchell Rd - for achromous and anybody visiting the house

[He'll wake up from his drone wife giving him a kiss.  It was the only thing the drone did that was even remotely like Canada, and so he'd at least try to enjoy it on some mornings. 

But this morning, when he wakes up, he doesn't have any memories of Canada at all.  He doesn't seem to remember anything about . . . well, anything at all.  

And his leg is in agony; it feels like someone has stabbed something through it, but when he frantically throws the blanket off onto the woman in bed with him  -- she giggled a bit -- he sees that there isn't a single injury to be found.  Confused, he's interrupted when the woman calls him 'Thijs' and says he's going to be late for work.  ]

I need a day off.

[She'll look a bit concerned, but doesn't press, telling him cheerfullly she'll call the pharmacy -- he's a pharmacist? -- and make him something for breakfast.  When she leaves, he'll lay in bed staring at the ceiling . . . trying to remember who he is, and where he is.  He has only the faintest recollections of being alone, somewhere, in a house with a damp floor surrounded by a fog he couldn't walk through.  What was that?

Hilda might meet the drone wife carrying some soup and toast up the stairs, for breakfast.

Anybody else visiting the house throughout the day might be greeted by Holland answering the door.  He'll try to be sociable as he desperately tries to remember who you are.  He's even trying to smile; his attempts are nothing short of pathetic, and he'll appear to be wincing instead.]

[Phone]

[His normally passive tone with slight bossiness to it now sounds extremely uncertain, even hesitant.]

I don't . . . know where I am.  

[sigh]

Can someone tell me what this town is called?  I keep asking this woman who lives with me and she keeps laughing at me . . . 

B - Around Town; Grocery store; Pharmacy - open to all

[He's feeling only a little better, leg still hurting as he shivers a little, feverish.  Still, his wife -- that's who she was, right?  She really was cheerful, at any rate -- had asked for some groceries, and admonished him to pick up some medicine from the pharmacy.  He'll be driving -- driving, really -- but it will be possible to catch him around town.

He might look a bit odd, as his hair is falling into his eyes, unstyled, and he's not wearing his scarf.]

[ooc:  Holland died at the Carnival, and is now dealing with some revival effects, including amnesia and phantom pain, and lingering sickness from drinking the water.  He'll be okay in a few days.]

Comments

B - Grocery Store

[ooeeooahah]

[ There is a woman that passes him by in the grocery store, who turns around and gently touches his arm. Her voice is a little rough. ]

Holland? You okay, hon?

[ When she has his attention, she withdraws her hand, which is bandaged halfway up to her elbow... and is it normal for her to be wearing sunglasses indoors? The trace of greenish-purple smudges around her eyes might explain that. ]

[gezellig]

[He won't notice her in the slightest until she touches his arm.]

Oh . . . oh, I'm sorry. [Just looking sheepish here, which is great because he never looks sheepish.]

I think so.

[ooeeooahah]

[ She reaches up to brush the hair out of his eyes. ]

I dunno... where were you this past week?

[gezellig]

[He'll lean back a little at the touching. ]

I-

[No clue. He'll clear his throat carefully.]

I might have been home sick. I'm still not feeling well. . . ?

[That statement is definitely more of a question and not an answer.]

[ooeeooahah]

You're not sure though?

[ She really looks worried, as much as you can tell behind the shades. Glancing up and down the aisle, she lowers her voice. ]

Holland, I'm asking seriously - what do you remember? I need to know.

[gezellig]

[Just another sigh. And then he'll bend slightly to speak to her more confidentially; being tall is hard.]

I'm not even sure why you're calling me that name. That isn't the same name she used at home.

[ooeeooahah]

[ Keeping her voice low to match his, Ilsa raises an eyebrow. ]

What is your name, then? Quick, don't think!

[gezellig]

[She'll get a priceless blank look that slowly changes to worry. ]

[ooeeooahah]

[ She nods, sadly. keeping her voice low, she continues. ] I know you as Holland. Though you're currently human, when you are at home you are the embodiment of The Netherlands.

I don't know why you've lost your memory, but here, it could be anything from a virus to an incomplete revival from death, or even a whim of the powers that be.

[gezellig]

I don't remember any of that.

. . . and what do you mean reviving from death? People don't revive from death!

[Huff. That looked about right, but there's still something way off about him.]

So you know me, but I don't know you? That's what you're saying?

[ooeeooahah]

Yes, I'm Ilsa. You've been in this place longer than I have, but until you get your memory back this might be useful.

[ Yes, she said until, not unless. Ilsa pulls an envelope out of her purse, which contains mimeographed copies of a map of Mayfield, out to the highway, the safe housing and medics list, the last edition of The Rose's introductory letter, GLaDOS's letter to the hero and some other reports. ]

It's hard to believe, in the first days here. Take this, and when you have a bit, read through it. Maybe in the park, that's a place you tend to seem happy.

[gezellig]

[He'll take the envelope, not looking inside it yet.]

You think I've lost my memory?

[Fair enough; he really couldn't remember his own name.]

[ooeeooahah]

Well, you're not like one of the drones. You have an awareness that they don't have.

[ She shrugs. ] They're all empty.

[gezellig]

I felt like something was wrong but . . . . well, I think you're right.

Empty?

[ooeeooahah]

It's one of the things I can sense. You have an emotional energy signature that I can pick up on, most of us that are aware have one.

The drones don't.

[gezellig]

The people in my house seemed real.

[ooeeooahah]

Well, most of the winter they were. Meg was here until a little while ago. She was different from the drone, and the animals....

[ Ilsa shakes her head. ] Anyway, last I heard, Hilda was still there. I've only met her in passing.

[gezellig]

I talked to Hilda this morning, but she said she wasn't really my daughter.

. . . I still don't really understand why I'm here.

[ooeeooahah]

Everyone's assigned a family. Sometimes it works. [ Ilsa sighs. ] None of us really do know why we were brought here, hon.

[gezellig]

. . . that's just . . .

[It just makes no sense.]

Hilda said I'd get my memory back.

[ooeeooahah]

I hope so. When you don't remember anything of your life before here, that kinda points to something the town did, and it's generally temporary.

[ Ilsa shrugs again. ] There have been a few here that have been... reset, as it were. They remember who and what they were before, but don't remember anything of their lives here.

[gezellig]

That would be over a year of my life that I don't remember.

[He does look alarmed at that.]

[ooeeooahah]

It's happened before. Unfortunately, frequently.

[gezellig]

[Not comforting at all.

He'll look slightly miserable here. No big deal.]

[ooeeooahah]

Spend a day with your bunny, if it's still in the house. That's one of the things I remember Meg saying you did when you were upset.