The universe has seven levels

[agent_harkness]

Ohhhhhkay. *deep breath*

This all started when miss_gate disappeared. Given the, erm, altercation she was involved in, I suspected the Dream Police at once. Problem was, those guys are notoriously vicious. If I was gonna go after Them, I couldn't put anyone else at risk. That's why I had to get lyndawithay out of the way, hopefully where nobody would go looking for her. (Still sorry about the punch, Lynda - you didn't trust me an inch, with good reason, and there wasn't time to convince you.) Didn't quite work, though, since you all basically invaded arthur_gate's house, which ended up with him getting kidnapped too - even though he hadn't broken one of Their arbitrary "rules" about non-fraternisation between levels of reality.

*puts on Power Point presentation*

You can imagine the different levels of reality as floors in a building. Everybody thinks of the guys in the floor above as being more "real" than they are. de_seingalt is less "real" than, say, pfred, who is less real than agentcompassion.

(Anybody not following? Questions at the end.)

I tried to make a deal with them_from_there to find out what Their ultimate plan really is. I said I'd work for Them - turns out that meant They made me into a fictional character, like de_seingalt. If you like, they demoted me down one level of reality. It was like being a puppet. I keep my eyes and ears open, though.

Their mistake was that because Giac and I were now equally "real", he could swap himself for me. He couldn't tell Their plan without dying - They'd written that into him - but he knew I could, so the swap would be worth it.

He's one hell of a guy.

Anyway, their plan is this: They want to capture a "real" person, someone on the level of, say, qthewetsprocket. They think this will allow Them to break through the Fifth Wall and take over LiveJournal. It's a crazy plan, but it just might work.

Somehow, together, we have to think of a way to stop Them.

OK, questions.

Comments

[lyndawithay]

You're wrong. I only doubted you because I sensed you were hiding something! When you explained what favor you were really going to ask me for, I did believe you and trust you, until you hit me.

Bad call there, Jack.

I would have followed you anywhere, and I would have trusted you completely, if you had given me the chance. Now, though, you're going to have to earn that trust back. And my body and my heart are for someone else now.

Why would your looking for them have put me at risk? I haven't been involved with any "real" people.

Do you have any ideas of how we might stop them? How can we kill or incapacitate them so they will stop interfering with us? What kind of beings are they, and what are the weaknesses of their realm?

They wrote into de_seingalt that he wouldn't be able to talk about their plan? Did they create him? Will destroying them destroy him?

de_seingalt is one of the finest men I've ever known, and I gave him my word we would come back to free him. Don't make a liar out of me.

Finally, what favor were you REALLY going to ask me for?

[agent_harkness]

Why would your looking for them have put me at risk? I haven't been involved with any "real" people.

Neither has arthur_gate, as far as I know. They make up "rules" as it suits them.

We've gotta destroy Them once and for all, that's for sure. We know explosives work in Liminal Space, so that's a starting point. What we need to do now is get as many ideas and guesses and speculations onto the table as we can - put all our heads together and try and come up with a plan.

[lyndawithay]

Well, here's what I know about Them:

They like to repeat things three times.
There are many of Them.
You can get into There by dreaming as well as by travel.
They are able to make people more imaginary/fictional.
They don't like people from different levels of reality mixing, for some reason.
They are scary as all get out, and can kill.
But fictional characters they have killed can come back to life.

If explosives work, perhaps guns will too? Perhaps it would be possible to kill Them?



...aren't you going to answer my other question?

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

*idea*

*slow, evil grin*

...i can think of a way to make Them have to arrest Themselves.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

So... does that mean the "real" people are more powerful in some way? And in particular, are "real" people who use their own names -- note that both "jonquil" and "qthewetsprocket" are probably pseudonyms -- are more powerful still?

I have to admire the meta.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

The more I think about this, the more interesting it gets. For instance, should I have a sock -- which I neither admit nor deny -- I presumably have a quantum more power than the sock. Can I transfer that quantum? If so, the sock could use it to combat the Them, and they wouldn't be expecting it.

On the other hand, washed-out doesn't really suit my complexion.

[agent_harkness]

Sharp thinking! I guess that would be like having a real person disguised as a sock. Question is, how would that affect the real person's LJ account during the mission?

(I overhead Them say something about the "snow" filter in Photoshop Elements, if that helps.)

[agent_harkness]

Interesting philosophical question... I guess the next level up from real people on LJ are the folks actually sitting at their computers, but maybe there's a level in between. Can't say I heard Them say anything about it.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Note that since we're all negotiating within LiveJournal, which presumably the Them can read, it's all sort of pointless, unless we start using a one-time pad.

For the sake of argument, can we assume this particular conversation is friendslocked? Otherwise we might as well declare ourselves captured and be done with it.

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

0_o

oh, pfuck...

*raises hand?*

um...yeah. i have some questions:

1. does your 'demotion' mean you can't do anything now that you could do before (you still seem to shag fine, i'll give you that)? or is it just in name only?

2. you said you and giac were like 'puppets' - but he grew a lot by shagging all of us interacting with everybody. couldn't he possibly overcome his 'programming' over time and become more real? (ergo you could too and get back to normal?)

3. when are you going to shag the doctor again? (important)

4. ...should some of us start making liminal icons? :/ *scours gimp 2.2 manual*

[off_coloratura]

Yeah, I thought of that too, and even tried it a bit, but couldn't quite figure out how it was done.

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

i think i could probably do it; i'd just need to know what pattern to use to paste over the original image.

btw, i meant to tell you yesterday (today?) before the sleep monster slew me - di_carlisle finally fulfilling his oral fixation?... = ME IS DED OF THE HAWT. *shiver*

[agent_harkness]

(Jeez, Q, not in front of the Victorians! That goes for you too, Lynda!)

When I was freed, I went back to normal. (Thank God, because I have a limited number of scripts to quote from.) I guess Giac started developing in that direction too, once he was out of Their clutches. In fact, maybe that's why he was the perfect trade for me - an imaginary guy who was becoming real, a real guy who was becoming imaginary. *shudders*

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

*nods*

btw...if people like me and agentcompassion are on the sixth level...who's above us? :/

[lyndawithay]

What? What did I say?

...As if the Victorians never say "body."

They all know about me and Arthur, anyway. It's not like you to be so circumspect.

[pfred.livejournal.com]

*wipes eyes and stands up*

i've got a question.

*alarmingly flat and emotionless voice*

...what are They doing to uncle giac right now? if they're as vicious as you say then They must be punishing him for escaping and helping us. so what price is he paying just for you to be here right now?

*unwavering accusing stare*

[agent_harkness]

I guess he's going through exactly what I went through. Being a puppet. Not able to do or say anything new or original, only what he's made to do. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

We'll get him out. I give you my word.

[pfred.livejournal.com]

*bites lip*

*remembers what the other captives said about a neverending nightmare*


*grudgingly believes you about rescuing him tho*

[lyndawithay]

*feels incredibly guilty*

[dorothee1887.livejournal.com]

*feels ever so slightly guilty for concealing Mini-Uzi in big fluffy bath towel during 24hr Shagathon with Giac, but justifies weapon due to previous fanciable blokes betrayal experiences*

[lonely-god.livejournal.com]

*raises hand*

I'm not sure I'm able to cope with this level of post-modernism. I had a bit of a flirt with it in the late 1970s, and it's certainly always been something of a hobby, but at the deep level I'm really far too modernist, embodying a belief-system which - while flexible and subject to the whims of the author - does ascribe value-statements like "This is right" and "This is wrong." I've been quite taken with Magical Realism of late, but that's still underpinned by a more coherently applied claim of scientific knowledge as the basis of the universe I inhabit. It's always just sufficiently advanced technology for me.

My brain hurts. See? I'm too old for this sort of thing, rich and intertextual as my past may be.

[type4o.livejournal.com]

*SCANS YOU WORRIEDLY*


...HAVE YOU BEEN AT THE MUSTARD AGAIN?

[pfred.livejournal.com]

...that's okay, dad. we'll understand if you're too scared busy to come.

[lonely-god.livejournal.com]

Shush, you secondary extrapolation of my subtextual romantic inclinations!

[agent_harkness]

Fact is, Doctor, it could be more dangerous for you than anyone else here. You're part of a vast cultural fabric spanning generations and continents - if They could, They'd snap you up like a Twiglet in a piranha tank.

Besides, if we screw up, we may need you to rescue us.