video. open to all lockets.

[cerebral]

I need help. [Charles looks more like how he'd been when he arrived in the Drabworld nearly two years ago - longer hair, a full beard, only this time he was dealing with piecing his mind together bit by bit rather than recuperating from years of substance abuse. While he talks, he continually looks off at something at the corner of his eye, blinks, before refocusing on the locket again.]

Not with getting anywhere, or anything like that. Look - I can't be the only one who was wounded during the battle. I was before then. I'd gone through something some weeks before, but... I don't know. I don't know if everything made it worse, or if it kept it from getting better. [He runs a hand through his hair out of nervous habit. Wherever he is, there's not a lot of people surrounding him and with good reason. There are times when his telepathy threatens to overwhelm him again and it's better to be away from large crowds right now.]

It's my head. My mind. [There's a deep sigh, before he pushes forward because fuck his career as a spy - ] You remember when you shared memories with one another? I can do that naturally. And because of everything - I can't sleep very well, not very well at all.

[There's more to it than that but doesn't want to get into the nitty gritty; he's sure people can infer. Mumbling - ] Where can any of us even go right now? [A moment later and he clears his throat.]

I would also...I'd like to know who's still here. Even if we haven't met in person before. Fuck, even if we hated each other. It's a wild new world and, God - [He smiles for the first time, bright and abrupt, in spite of everything that happened.] There was mention of a party? I need a party. A week's worth.

Comments

[cerebral]

[A flash of relief crossed Charles' face in spite of Javik's manner. Finally, someone who's encountered something similar.] I'm not human. I'm a member of an evolving sub-species. And by the sounds of it, I can do what your kind can do - I'm a telepath.

[He does his utmost best to focus and keep his speech ordered.]

I think - I was exposed to something several weeks before the battle. I lost control of my abilities in a disastrous way and then there was the entire...everything, in the gem. [Overwhelming, to say the least.] And now - it's like the volume in my head is wrong. One minute things will be silent, the next I'm getting everything at once. The things I saw well up in my mind like they're happening in front of me. When I do sleep, I have nightmares. But I don't think they're mine.

[notavirtue]

[At this point, Javik didn't have it in him to be annoyed that someone looked human, but claimed otherwise. Most of them weren't telepaths, though.]

You will need to be more specific. Exposed to what?

[Magic, probably. Still, having delusions or hallucinations when your mind was so sensitive was never a good thing. Too bad Javik wasn't a doctor.]

If they are not yours, then find a way to remove them. My people could do this - store memories to preserve them, or be rid of them. If, because of your telepathy, these nightmares are from an outside source... then I do not know the solution.

[cerebral]

That's the thing - I don't know. I can rule out another mind, because I know what that feels like. One minute I was fine. And the next was - [A visible look of discomfort crosses his face as he tries to remember.] The world felt like it was tilting. I wasn't sure if I was dying or going insane.

[That's dreamshit for you. But the second part of what Javik says sees him snap his head up.]

I know of something like that. [He's thinking of Hermione's pensive. The problem being that it makes copies of memories, rather than takes them away completely. Surely they could at least try to alter it.] It's not exactly what you describe, but it's a start.

[notavirtue]

The latter, I would assume.

[Cheerful diagnosis from the unqualified.]

Pursue that, then. We called them Echo Shards, and the memories of many people could be stored and retrieved. Even if I had one, I do not know if it would work. The nature of this world may count it as technology, and without the Station...

[A shrug.] If there is a means to get one, I plan to do so.

[cerebral]

[:I]

If I come across something that could work similarly, I'll let you know. [Not as a favour, or debt of gratitude for the suggestion, but because here everyone is starting all over again. And they all need any help they can get.]

[notavirtue]

[The tension between courts didn't seem as pronounced, at the moment, so cooperation was the name of the game.]

If you do not already practice meditation techniques, you may find those beneficial as well. Even if it does not help you sleep, it will still focus your mind.