The Stranger (Legacy Edition) [Post-Projection 009]

Andrew Edgeworth

Andrew occasionally nods along with the others as they spoke, silently corroborating what they said. Mostly with Vincent.

"It would be wise if we focused on this first before getting to the intended content of the projection. I wouldn't say it's dependent on understanding what happened, but the context will be important later." Ellie and Kaoru jumped ahead quite a bit in the timeline, so he figured that slowing the pace would help Robert out a little.

Robert McCay

Robert tried to soak in Vincent and Andrew's explanation as best he could, but it was an awful lot of frankly life-changing information at once. At the same time, there was that feeling of… relief? validation? vindication? that something strange WAS actually going on. It was enough to get a laugh out of him, short and slightly manic.

"…I ain't gonna lie, this is freakin' me the fuck out. But it's also like-- hah! Poppin' the hood o' my truck t'get a second opinion?" He tilted his head again, like he wanted to scratch his chin. "Never really thought about how they might look like, but the Muse is the one I know, yeah. Always yappin' about somethin' in the back o' my head."

Right now they were offering constructive criticism on their projection appearance, saying they should have at least four more wings and a cool guitar. Robert shook his head.

"Dunno this sheriff feller, though. Maybe he'll… introduce himself sometime? That how it works?"

"…And no, as y'may have guessed, I never really thought about… Like, I thought I was gettin' by okay? And if I talked to a professional, I'd have t'tell 'em about… the other stuff y'mighta saw in my head. Maybe it's cowardly of me, but..."

He looked around sheepishly at his fellow prisoners.

"I'm scared t'death of tellin' y'all, frankly. But I can't take back what y'saw, either, so…"

Andrew Edgeworth

He seems to be a bit amused at the idea that Vincent, Ellie, Kaoru and him were 'popping the hood' for Robert.

"It's a rather complicated disorder with a similarly complicated history. It's not surprising you didn't know the full extent when the entire purpose of it is to hide itself from you and others. In all honesty, there's a possibility you may never meet Sheriff, but he called you his friend regardless."

"…we're not your psychiatrists, Robert, you don't have to tell us anything you don't want to. We're just here to tell you what we saw. Whatever you're comfortable with saying is up to you."

Ellie Carter

"I liked Sheriff Robert," she says, simple as that.

"What Andrew said. You got a weird brain, but we ain't therapists so let's not unpack this too much."

Okay that's not quite what he said. But this is getting a little too chummy.

Kaoru Naito

“Ahh, shit seems complicated, man, but yer engine looked fine t’ me. ‘nd actually, don’t listen to these pussies, that ain’t how confidantes work; goin’ through this kinda shit basically makes us yer best friends forever so, y’know, you’re gonna have t’ tell us all yer secrets ‘n shit fer the rest of yer life now. Just how it works.”

He breaks into a smile, injecting some levity. He can’t handle serious group talks, that’s weird. If he’s stuck in a group, he’s gonna be saying some stupid shit. It’s his purpose in life.

“If ya can’t think o’ nothin’, I learned usually y‘ wanna lead with somethin’ whallopy, like ‘everything started when I was four’…”

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Mmmm, Vincent is getting slightly mixed messages here on if he should continue to explain this kind of thing from the others, but Robert's own opinion was bound to be the most important here either way. He opens his mouth and closes it again a couple times, thinking of what to say or not before ultimately just going fuck it and starting.

"…On the topic of therapy, I have personally found it helpful in the long run, even if I didn't initially. That said, everyone's own needs will look different, and there's also no obligation to tell even a professional every aspect of your life either way." New Vincent fact, he HAS been in therapy for along time in the past hciudchdisu "But yes: We certainly aren't mental health professionals regardless, so… I'd prefer to approach this as equals."

He'd say friends, but he's sure he's really not close enough for that right now, and doesn't want to speak for others like that Anyways.

Vincent gives a glance at that last bit from Kaoru also, and does give a tiny nod. Well, it might not be age 4, but…

"For reference on that front, DID does… typically result from trauma of some sort, or at the very least can become more pronounced since it's a sort of coping mechanism the brain develops. …I can't know exactly how related what we saw in your projection was there, since it was explicitly vague about many things. But I will say that we did see 'depictions' of three different points in time."

Robert McCay

Robert nodded quietly at Andrew, still not sure what to make of this heretofore unknown "Sheriff" and his antics. At least the others had a good impression of him…?

"Well, I'll try 'n' strike a balance. I ain't sayin' anything I don't want to, but-- y'all are helpin' me out, I feel like the least I can do is explain a lil'..."

Vincent's last bit of explanation got an awkward, bitter laugh.

"Hah… that might be the least surprisin' thing about all this, actually. But I'll spare y'all the details, 'less it comes up."

Another moment of silence passed-- even his muse had gone quiet-- as he took a deep breath and straightened up as much as he could.

"…What was the first thing y'all saw?"

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Vincent gives a nod in return to that, more than content with Robert taking stuff one thing at a time.

"Of course. I really don't think you owe me anything, though." Say what he would, but there was no debt at all here in Vincent's mind. As for the first thing they saw…

"To start with, the format of your projection was… something of a stage that would change it's scene when a lever was pulled, with detailed set pieces but entirely plain mannequins on it to represent people, posed in different positions. Everything was very neon and stylized. Each mannequin also had a… 'play' button, which when pressed gave a single spoken line of audio in most cases. …Of note, neither your Muse or Sheriff were on the stage, just positioned next to it, so I don't think they could actually see what was on stage, but they could… hear everything."

That was all set up information, though. What would come next is… well. What the first scene actually was. Vincent takes a slow breath in and out before continuing on with that as well. It had only been a few hours, but he had to make sure he remembered this correctly, because giving false information here would be unfortunate.

"…The first scene it showed, seemed like it was in a home recording studio. There were three mannequins. One held a gun that had just fired, and one was… a bystander, reaching towards the third mannequin, which was the one being shot through the face." Vincent successfully does not cringe when saying that externally, but rest assured he is internally doing so.

Someone else can take over to explain what was played in the Audio, though.

Andrew Edgeworth

Andrew just breezes by the peanut gallery and isn't even going to touch the therapy topic, so he succinctly fills in with more details.

"The gunman was standing in the doorway, and played a threatening voiceline: 'not in my house,' towards the victim - who had been taunting the gunman before being cut-off by the shot in his own voiceline. The witness was the last mannequin button we triggered, and screamed after begging the gunman to stop.

…both Muse and Sheriff seemed to know what event was being referenced, but didn't want to tell us what. After we pressed all the buttons, we had to pull the lever we used to start it again - causing the stage to rotate and transition to the next scene."

Robert McCay

Robert tried to visualize the projection Vincent was describing, but it made his head hurt a little. He did like bright colors and neon lights, and he guessed a stage made sense, but-- maybe best not to think about it too hard.

His eyes grew wide at the description of the scene on the stage, though, especially the paraphrase of the gunman's dialogue… it took a few seconds for him to gather himself enough to speak, half to himself and half to the others.

"...Well, fuck! It just showed y'all that? No metaphors, no symbolism, no nothin'? I thought that's what that damn machine was all about..."

If the headaches hadn't been reason enough, now Robert definitely didn't want to subject himself to the Projection System again. All this was in just the first one?! He sighed heavily and bowed his head.

"If y'all saw that much already, ain't much point in hidin'. But still... I'm not… ready fer questions from the others, so..."

He lowered his trembling voice as he told this strange group of folks the identities of the first set of mannequins.

[REDACTED]

Kaoru Naito

Kaoru shifts in his spot. It’s a sore spot for him, the whole topic, gets him extra mad.

“Turned out ‘bout ‘s good as it could,” he grumbles, “Stupid motherfuckers like that, always lookin’ fer excuses t’ punch down, y’ should’ve…” He pauses, then shakes his head a little, “you shouldn’t blame yerself ‘nd shit.”

He holds his tongue mid-sentence, keeping from saying a lot of things he wants to say. Just seems like it might not be appreciated at this exact second, especailly if he happens to be a jump ahead of anyone on assuming shit.

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