flexrat will be real

[escardos]

[ or maybe it won't. stay tuned to find out. ]

Comments

[third_alternative]

Yeah... [ said almost warily, like he hadn't even considered that not being the case, and he's now worried that it might change. ] And you're still Flat, right?

[escardos]

I think so.

[ which is also said warily. who knows how much of him is really him, and how much is that other thing that lives inside of him? ]

It's hard to say, sometimes. This place really changes people.

[third_alternative]

You mean because of the weird head stuff, or just in general?

[escardos]

In general. Who knew I'd be fighting angels and weird ghost things. I'm not exactly a Ghostbuster.

The weird head stuff has been with me my whole life. But I guess I can't ever get used to something like that.

[third_alternative]

Neither am I, but the way I see it, ghosts and angels isn't all that different to EVOs.

...does it mess with your memories? Or--what is it, exactly? [ tentative, as if afraid to touch on something too personal. ]

[escardos]

That's true. Technically we have ghosts in our world too, but they don't usually live that separate from us? This afterlife is completely different...

[ as for the following question, flat shakes his head. ]

We share memories, I think. Sort of. I can exist while I'm alive, but I can't exist while I'm alive. That sort of thing. Kind of like how you can't be awake and asleep at the same time.

[ if rex can't follow, that's fine. flat often can't follow either. ]

[third_alternative]

Huh. So like...two minds, one body? That kind of thing?

[escardos]

Correct! We're both part of the same body, but only I'm Flat. And only when I'm dead will the other one take over.

[ he nods! ]

Which is why it handled things after I returned from that adventure thingy. I, technically, died.

[third_alternative]

You...died. But you didn't end up over with us? But still dead enough for the other you to take over?

[ the fuck. this makes no sense. ]

So how'd you get back to being Flat, if you were dead?

[escardos]

Kijima said that it was probably because we didn't die in the correct place. So none of us turned to Dust like you guys. So it's kind of like...being half dead. Have you ever heard of stories of people that were declared dead and then came back to days later? Kind of like that!

[ not morbid at all! worst of all is that it doesn't make sense for flat, either. he's simply vibing with the situation. ]

Reze punched me really hard! I think that, plus the fact that I wasn't really dead, gave me a chance to come back mostly intact.

[third_alternative]

Huh. You really think the punching did that much to help?

...wait. How do you even know all this? If it only comes up when you die...has this happened to you before?

[escardos]

It was happening before I came here, yep.

[ he just? nods? nonchalantly. ]

[third_alternative]

Happening? What, like you were in the middle of dying?

[escardos]

Yep.

[third_alternative]

So you showed up here while dying, and then...stopped dying? How'd you already know about your whole...other-you thing if you stopped dying before you actually...died?

[escardos]

I’ve always known, sort of. Like I said, you can’t be asleep and awake at the same time… but sometimes you can daydream or lose focus, right?

[ he taps his temple with a finger. ]

Besides, I’ve always known I was different. I’m… well, it’s kind of like…I can’t help being like this? Like, acting weird and stuff.

[ he gestures at himself. sometimes you are aware that you are an annoying dumbass… ]

[third_alternative]

You being so weird is a part of your other-you head thing?

[ he thought you were just naturally like that tbh ]

[escardos]

I think so! I've never been good at synchronizing with other people, because I'm not really human.

[ he shrugs. it is what it is, as much as he dislikes it. ]

[third_alternative]

Oh. You're not human? What are you, then?

[escardos]

Dunno! But hey, if you give me a DNA test, I'll pass as human, both mystically and biologically.

[ he shrugs! ]

But maybe it doesn't matter what I am, as long as I believe in what I think I am. So if I think I'm human, therefore I am.

[third_alternative]

....uh-huh. [ he doesn't get it. but he...agrees, he supposes? if it talks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it's a duck, right? ]

I'm technically not human either. Maybe it's some kind of prerequisite for weird brain stuff.

[escardos]

Probably? I think it's like the number 1 sci-fi trope. Or maybe number 2, next to anything alien related.

[ flat laughs, shaking his head. ]

But what I said also applies to you. If you think you're human, then you are. That's just how it is.

[third_alternative]

...I guess. I never really thought about it. I didn't even remember I'm technically not human until like two weeks ago.

[escardos]

Hmmm, well, I'm sure you'll figure it out.

[ nods. he believes in you. ]

What will you do when you're alive again?

[third_alternative]

[ he shrugs. ] No clue. I don't know what I was doing before I got here or what situation I was in. And I don't really know anyone here that well either.