The Attached Meme

[truthsnomiracle]

The Attached Meme


Inspired by the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode of the same name.

• Comment with your character, specifying name, canon, and gen/shipping/smut preferences, and/or tag someone else.
  
• You and the other person now have two problems. One, you're aware of each other's surface thoughts regardless of either of your wishes, and two, if you try to distance yourselves from each other you're struck with nausea and vertigo until you manage to get close again.
  
• Optionally, roll for or choose details:
  
  1. You've been captured by some hostile force and had devices surgically implanted into the backs of your necks in order to facilitate interrogation. The mental link between you and dependency on proximity are just side-effects. Can you escape under these conditions?
     
  2. You've been cursed by a spellcaster or supernatural being who wants you to "learn a lesson". Whether that's a real lesson about each other made possible by forced openness and time spent together or just the lesson of "don't mess with me" is an open question, and figuring it out may be key to having the curse broken...
     
  3. One of you has suddenly awakened to latent paranormal powers, or your existing powers are suddenly misbehaving -- perhaps due to unforeseen interaction with the other person's abilities, if they have them. Maybe you could solve this, or at least the part about having to stay near each other, if you could only gain control over your power...
     
  4. You were both willingly part of a scientific experiment, whether one of your own design or something you both volunteered for, and this... was not the result you signed up for. The mental link may or may not have been a known goal, but the involuntary aspect and the inability to separate aren't things either of you expected. Can science undo what it has done?
     
  5. You both came into contact with an unknown substance, whether by accident or simply because of mutual curiosity, and this was the result. Now if you're going to be able to have privacy relative to each other again, you're going to have to figure out what it is and why it had the effect on you it did in order to find a way to counteract it.
     
  6. Your choice, or something new!
  
  
• Have fun!

Comments

[reluctantjinrou]

[Aside from it being a formality, I thought you might be curious as to what my name was. How do you wish to proceed? I'll begin by saying I cannot enter that building. Just one of the many problems I mentioned.]

A pleasure, Mr. Edgeworth.

[He crosses his arms over his stomach, leaning against the wall again. He's trying to think of some kind of solution. Anything they do has to be together, right?]

[truthsnomiracle]

(I mean that it's more proper to refer to most people by their surname unless they request otherwise or fail to provide it.

There must be a fire escape... but I can't believe such a thing is necessary. If there were only time to simply learn the number one must dial to reach the landlord...)

[Outwardly, Edgeworth simply nods in response to Natsuno's spoken words.]

[reluctantjinrou]

[He tilts his head a little, confused.]

[You're welcome to attempt it, but I cannot enter private property, at least not without being invited by someone who lives there. Unless this is your building of residence, we'll need to come up with something else. Or perhaps this investigation is a lost cause when we should be figuring out what this liquid we collected is.]

I wasn't suggesting you drop decorum or anything like that. Feel free to address me by my surname.

[truthsnomiracle]

[The (Prove it,) that drifts through Edgeworth's head at Natsuno's claim of inability to enter private property without an invitation is reflexive. As the younger one goes on to suggest that the investigation might be a lost cause, the prosecutor bristles with deep offense.]

I refuse to accept that there is no way we can approach this investigation -- particularly not given the resources I have at my disposal.

[As he speaks, he pulls out his cellphone from another inner blazer pocket.]

(The detective may not be the ideal person for the job, but he'll have to suffice.)

[reluctantjinrou]

[It is easy enough to prove. Natsuno pushes off the wall without comment and walks up to the door of the complex. Before he can get his hand on the door, he stops. Having found the barrier, he leans against it, leaving several inches between his body and the door. A somewhat effective trick.]

What kind of resources do you have at your disposal?

[Now that sounded interesting. A detective? Just who is this man?]

Keywords.

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth stops just before dialing as Natsuno demonstrates the presence of an apparent barrier that he himself did not experience -- and he knows full well that no one put something transparent there in the interim. Under the circumstances, the prosecutor's brain breaking is probably quite perceptible. Sorry, Natsuno, it'll be a bit before your questions about him are answered.]

[reluctantjinrou]

[He sighs a little bit and straightens up, leaning against a visible wall instead as he waits for him to regain his senses.]

[It's a good thing I didn't lead with, 'Hey I'm Natsuno and I'm a vampire'. Well, a Jinrou anyway.]

[Since it's daylight and all, it's probably best to qualify that. He'll try and quiet his thoughts for the moment, so Edgeworth can recover from what he knows is some very sane shock.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth makes a few undignified choking noises before his mind finally processes things enough for it to register horror at the idea that there could somehow be such a thing as a vampire. As if the situation weren't nonsensical enough as is...]

This... this is a nightmare. That has to be the only rational explanation...

[...Oddly, while fear does seem to be registering, it's not actually directed at Natsuno himself.]

[reluctantjinrou]

Not one of my worst, but yes. It certainly feels that way.

[You should try to calm down. I have no intention or inclination to hurt you. This other circumstance should worry you more than me. A strange directive, I know. I can only give you my word after all. You look like you need a cup of tea or something like that. Standing here isn't getting us anywhere.]

[truthsnomiracle]

(It does seem as though you mean no harm, and yet the implications...)

[Vague glimpses of memories that clearly disturb the prosecutor crest the surface of his mind -- a murder trial with a vague case from the prosecution and a defense centered on an insanity plea, an article in which the police were accused of having relied on a spirit medium and falsified a case based on her accusation... fresher memories of another, different murder case, in which the victim is that same alleged spirit medium, centered around a mountain temple and the motive established for the killer relied on her not being a fraud... Edgeworth is quick to push these aside with memories of the former case finally being solved, however.

The last two thoughts on Natsuno's part only seem to frustrate Edgeworth.]

(Don't patronize me! I know full well that I can't afford to be so weak!)

[reluctantjinrou]

[I'm not patronizing you. Realizing there are things like me in this world is...]

[He can't help but remember how he discovered it. The feeling that he's having a nightmare, unable to move on a futon on the floor. A girl with pink hair sliding out from under the bed upon which the boy who bit him is sleeping. She bares her fangs and bites him. When the spell breaks and he jumps to his feet to check on his friend, there's nothing there. He takes relief in the knowledge it's a nightmare, just a nightmare. He seems calmer with this knowledge until another memory surfaces, running up the stairs in the same house to his friend's room where his family has found him dead, puncture wounds on his neck.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[Oddly enough, having a "murder" to think about seems to help Edgeworth focus.]

(Was nothing done to verify the truth of the matter? Had I taken such a case, I would work on the assumption that the apparent cause of death was staged. To accept a supernatural explanation so easily and indict someone on that basis would be the height of irresponsibility!)

[reluctantjinrou]

[He sighs a little bit, nodding.]

[His death wasn't considered murder. At first the people in town considered it to be some kind of epidemic. People would get sick, anemic really, and a few days later they would die. Unfortunately, as I said, it's a long story. Some people were Risen and came back as unnatural beings, most remained dead. Then again, some of the people they killed first were the police and those working in the town offices, so no one would be alerted to the fact people were dying daily.]

[It really was an ingenious plan when it came down to it, but shortsighted and poorly executed.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[The concept of the dead not staying dead causes dread to briefly resurface in Edgeworth's mind, but the idea of policemen and other government officials being targeted first results in a cold fury overtaking that.]

(And you're certain of this how, precisely?)

[reluctantjinrou]

[The person I was working with, Dr. Ozaki, was keeping very close track of who died and who disappeared. Especially at the beginning when he considered it an epidemic of sorts. One of the first people to die was the patrolman he was about thirty-two or so? He told me it reached the point that during the day there were no workers in the city offices, and to file his death certificates he had to go at night.]

It really is a long story. I have no problem discussing it, but here isn't a very good place.

[truthsnomiracle]

Nor is now a very good time.

(We've wallowed in our respective pasts for entirely too long. I can only hope that either the truth of the matter has yet to escape, or this is in fact just a nightmare -- preferably the latter.)

[Edgeworth dials a number on his cellphone with practiced speed and grace.]

...Detective, I have two tasks for you. I have a sample of an unknown substance for you to bring to forensics, and I need to obtain permission for myself and a particular bystander to investigate the roof and potentially other locations in the apartment building at 1489 Zenith Avenue.

[Edgeworth scowls in irritation at the response.]

I assure you, Detective, that I'm "collecting" nothing more than evidence. You have your orders.

[There's another pause, then Edgeworth hangs up and puts his cellphone away.]

[reluctantjinrou]

[The conversation brings him back to his original question.]

How do you know a Detective?

[He works a bit at keeping his thoughts as clear as possible, difficult as that may be.]

[truthsnomiracle]

We have a long-standing working relationship. (In which I've learned to trust his intentions and enthusiasm, if nothing else.)

[reluctantjinrou]

I see.

[Seems like a private matter...]

[He can't fight the stray thought, it's not really directed at Edgeworth. That danger comes with the territory when their minds are linked. He slides his hands into his pockets then, waiting in somewhat awkward silence.]

[Already lost track of him anyway.]

[truthsnomiracle]

To answer your broader question from earlier, I have the resources normally due a prosecutor.

[To prove this, he pulls a lapel pin out of his pocket.]

(Given how much we cannot see, do we necessarily know that to be the truth?)

[reluctantjinrou]

A prosecutor!

[His eyes widen in surprise, but his voice is tinged with unironic awe. He feels a little sting of regret, but attempts to push that aside.]

Do you like it?

[truthsnomiracle]

(Has the pursuit of such a career crossed his mind before?)

It... often proves to be a struggle -- [aggravating, humiliating, and occasionally even dangerous, he doesn't intentionally specify] -- but in the end, it's a deeply satisfying thing to play a key role in ensuring that the truth is clear to all.

(Even at those times when the truth is not, in fact, on my side.)

[A glimpse of a spiky-haired, blue-suited man passes through his mind along with that last thought.]

[reluctantjinrou]

It appeared to me to be a really good, reliable job.

[He gives a little sigh and glances away for a moment.]

[Prior to my death I was intending on pursuing a law degree at Todai, I mean, once I finished high school. I spent a great deal of time on my studies because getting top marks was very important to me.]

[truthsnomiracle]

[Edgeworth's mind reflexively recoils at "prior to my death", but the rest seems to take amicably, at least.]

And now, you consider it an impossibility.

[reluctantjinrou]

[He nods a little bit.]

I do.

[If I had died a little older maybe, but it isn't like I'll be able to bluff my way through looking like a sixteen year old for very long, if at all.]