[ open ] Calibrations of an Archive

[beholding_archivist]

WHO: Jonathan Sims & YOU
WHERE: Jon's Headspace
WHAT: Calibrations!
WHEN: Calibrations Event
WARNINGS: Eyes, Body Horror, Death, Talk of Death & Genocide, Apocalyptic Themes, Fears & Traumas - All the Good Stuff™

Mingle

Over here~

Calibrations

This room is hardly a room, it's a nightmare. Circular and certainly the rough dimensions of a room with an incredibly high ceiling, it lacks distinctive features such as walls, windows, furniture or even an obvious floor to walk on. Instead, the visitor of this room find themself walking on an eye, its pupil focused right on the visitor and thus always right underneath their feet. Kick it, if you like. Poke it. Aside from the pupil constricting briefly, it won't react. Though it sure will feel like poking an actual eye, and doing so may result in something else.

Once one has been able to look away from the eye under one's feet and instead directs their attention up, the visitor may be able to locate the Archivist. Suspended high above the ground, he sits on nothing in particular, one leg over the other and his chin resting in his hand. His posture is relaxed, his unblinking eyes glowing an eerie, yet soft green and his expression one of interest as he watches.

He awaits his visitor's decision.

The decision as of which part of the circular surroundings that aren't walls they end up approaching. As has already been established, there aren't any real walls. And yet, this room is surrounded by different reflections of different memories, each of which can be approached to trigger the respective memory. There is the flickering image of a small cottage, cozily nestled in a quite picturesque mountain landscape. Next to it, the image of a garden, its various flowers being the twisted bodies of what may have been regular people at some point. The glitching expressions on their faces may give away that these people are very much still alive.

Luckily, the following reflection is that of a merry-go-round. A close-up, most likely, for all the visitor actually sees of it are the wooden horses moving past, carrying their faceless riders. Following this comes the reflection of a large, burning building and the one next to it is a dark street, the image flickering and glitching. Then there is the reflection of a massive spider web made of the magnetic tape from spooled off cassettes. The entire web glistens as glowing symbols appear to run along it. The last of the reflections is that of a long corridor with numbered doors to either side. The entire corridor, however, is twisting notably around itself.

Which of these memories will the visitor approach, or will they, instead, address the owner of this gathering of nightmares?

Comments

[mrsklover]

Richie had almost felt bad for Jon. He'd almost thought he saw something human and understandable under all the eyeballs and nonsense. But then he talks about the other memories and it flutters away. He gets it, of course. The idea of revenge being desirable. Part of him wants to kill Pennywise all over again for taking Eddie from him.

But he wouldn't enjoy it and it wouldn't be pleasant. It would just be another chapter of the pain he's been in since he was twelve. And hearing Jon talk about it as something else makes his hackles rise.

"Death and destruction. Is that all there is inside you? Were you ever human? Or is this fucking nightmare all that I'll ever find?"

[beholding_archivist]

"I used to be human." The Archivist acknowledges in a voice that is still glitching along its edges despite his mild tone. "Then I died blowing up an evil mannequin. I decided against being dead, however. Instead... I became something else."

It has been as simple as Jon's words: He was afraid to die. And while he would have never willingly chosen to become a monster and doom his world, just that ended up the final result.

The Archivist shrugs. "I could try to ease your mind now, but... You're more useful to me when you're afraid."

[mrsklover]

"Useful", Richie snorts derisively. "Jesus, how does Stark even like you? How are you possibly able to have relationships with people and give a shit about them? 'Useful'? Man. Fuck you."

Richie doesn't want to move but he wants to get out of here as soon as possible. The eye below him is fucking unnerving.

"I don't know what kinda human you were, but if you'd have been okay becoming this, then I don't know you weren't sort of a monster to start with."

[beholding_archivist]

The Archivist shrugs. "I don't feed on those I care about. I protect them." A simple statement. Richie has never been someone Jon cared about. He may not let the man die or put him into any danger, but this is also because he is much more useful as a reliable source of fear.

"Who I was doesn't matter. That is- uh... The past. I was human. Not flawless, but... Neither are you." No one realistically is anyway.

[mrsklover]

"No, I'm not. But I don't try to make other people feel like shit because it is useful to me. Jesus, man. You feed off of us?"

Richie wants to shudder. He wants to get the fuck out of here and never see Jon again. But this time it's less because of fear than it is disgust. Jon just reminds him too much of Pennywise. And while that should be terrifying, here and now it just made him vaguely sick to his stomach.

"I'm actually glad you don't care about me. You might protect them but who fucking knows what that looks like..."

[beholding_archivist]

"I have my ways." The Archivist offers helpfully. "But... I will leave you wondering about how those look." Jon's voice is calm as he says this. Just stating a simple matter.

And the eye that makes up the floor of this place closes, the different reflections vanishing as this happens and the room is left cast in absolute darkness. Only the light glow of Jon's own eyes remains. It's hardly enough to illuminate the room, but once Richie's eyes adjust to the darkness, he may be able to make out the outline of a rectangle on the floor at the center of the room, glowing the very same shade of green as Jon's eyes. And if Richie feels inclined to investigate the rectangle, he will figure out that it's a trapdoor opening up to a long staircase circling its way down, illuminated in dull,faintly pulsing green light.

There is his way out.

[mrsklover]

Richie can almost feel the pull toward the new area. An exit, he hopes. But at the same time, he knows that this is an opportunity to know Jon in a way he likely never would, otherwise. Leaving means giving that chance up. But it also could mean not traumatizing himself more.

He looks up at Jon, hands clenched into fists.

"Is there...anything in here that isn't horrifying? Anything at all left of the guy you once were? The good guy, I'd hope?"

[beholding_archivist]

The Archivist considers Richie for a few moments, expression and posture unreadable. Though he does raise his head in the direction where one of the reflections can still be made out after a few moments after all, frowning a little.

"A few." He replies at last, then turns his attention back to Richie. "All of these, really. Each in their own way."

[mrsklover]

Richie frowns and looks back toward the exit. He doesn't know what he'd hoped to find here but the chance of it popping up seems vanishingly small each extra moment he stays.

" 'In their own way'. Jesus. What the fuck does that even mean? You have a weird ass garden of warped humans and fucking nightmares all over. How does any of that show me the guy you were?"

[beholding_archivist]

"The Mortal Garden and its Gardener, right..." The Archivist replies with a nod. "In retrospect... Not a decision I feel proud of. Jared accepted his fate, didn't fight back... Helen was dangerous, but Jared didn't care about us trying to end the apocalypse or not." He falls silent again with an exhale and turns his attention back to Richie. "Why does that interest you?"

[mrsklover]

"Because I want to give you the benefit of the doubt," he answers. "I wanna believe that maybe you're not some monster that people should be protected from. That maybe the way we got off at first was... I don't know. Wrong?" He exhales, frustrated. "People had the wrong idea about me most of my life. I don't want to do that to someone else.

"But with you, I don't know that I am..."

[beholding_archivist]

The Archivist considers these words as best as currently possible. "That's not... I can't give you an answer to that. Because I don't know it myself. I know I don't want to hurt those around me. And that I will protect them." He looks at Richie with his unblinking, glowing stare. "You are not required to believe me, of course."

[mrsklover]

Richie narrows his eyes a little, this time more to express his incredulity more than his anger. "Okay...but I think we can agree that my experience with you makes that a bit harder to believe?" Lord knows they haven't had many interactions that ended positively.

" 'Protected' is definitely not the word I'd use for you and me."

[beholding_archivist]

"I also would not consider us friends." Jon says plainly. It's a simple truth. And yet Jon remembers his peculiar friendships with both Melanie and Daisy. One he fought with on almost every occasion, the other he was traumatized by. And yet he'd consider them both to be his friends.

Though maybe Jon simply doesn't too well what actually makes a good friend. The ones he made here are very different from those he considered his friends back on his Earth.

"We should still be able to coexist without either of us taking any harm."

[mrsklover]

"Is that you saying you're not gonna scare me anymore? Or use your brain-reading shit to make me feel like shit?" Richie's hands aren't exactly clean himself so he shrugs a shoulder.

"If you can do that I guess I can stop hissing and holding up crosses whenever you walk by..."

[beholding_archivist]

Jon gives Richie a quizzical look at the mention of him attempting to avert the Archivist with crucifixes, but he doesn't comment on it directly.

"I don't control what you fear." He points out instead. "And I haven't invaded any of your thoughts in a long while." In fact, he hasn't really been thinking about the man at all. Richie is around, just like anyone else brought to this planet.

[mrsklover]

"You might not control it but you don't really seem all that broken up about using it for a pick-me-up."

Richie gives a sigh. "Look. I don't wanna talk about whatever the fuck is up with you and the brain...eye...spooky shit. But you have probably seen my life, right? You maybe then have a bit of an inkling of what you remind me of, yeah? "

[beholding_archivist]

"I tend to have fewer teeth." Jon remarks plainly. "And notably less balloons." A pause. "And I'm not luring the unsuspecting into any traps. Especially no children." This? This Jon deems very important. Richie's nightmare clown seemed to have been going after children primarily. Meanwhile the Eye has had no interested in the not yet fully developed neuroses of children, even allowed them to age and grow up to let their fears mature before being moved to other domains. Yes, they still experienced fear during the apocalypse, but it's them especially that Jon hoped to have helped when hopefully ending the apocalypse.

[mrsklover]

Richie can feel his exasperation rising up. It's an effort to push it aside. "Maybe...maybe we should focus more on the general similarities? Less on the specific aesthetics?"

[beholding_archivist]

Jon frowns into the darkness the place has settled into. "I can barely think at the moment." Don't ask of him to focus. Remembering those few parts has been difficult enough. "Or safe the matter for later."

[mrsklover]

Richie looks back at the exit and then up at the Jon there. He could use this time to learn more about him but he's not sure how much good that will do. "Alright," he concedes. Alright. Let's... Another time, alright? You and me should talk. But some other time. Okay?"

[beholding_archivist]

"Hm." The Archivist nods once. "Some other time." At least that much is an agreement. Jon doesn't mind talking about things. It tends to be... Helpful.

[mrsklover]

Richie nods and gives Jon one last look before going for the exit. "See you around, creepy floating dude," he shoots over his shoulder as he grabs the door and leaves.