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Is it common to have the most terrible migraine after the event? And if so, does it happen every time? The IBA should seriously consider handing out Excedrin with their business cards. Maybe a pamphlet of common side effects. Something more tangibly useful than their mission statement.

(( This is essentially the same network prompt as used on the TDM. Happy to transfer threads over or start fresh. ))

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Trust me, you're fine. I'm a cardiothoracic surgeon, so this is like talking about the weather.

I do admit that I didn't know people could fight about things on Instagram. Isn't it all just pictures?

[you're Anakin's age, Harley. you're going to suffer right along with him in teaching this Old Man about how the online world works, and he'd be sorry if he knew what a clueless pain he could be about it]

There's a comment section under each picture which definitely makes the whole app worse. Honestly, I shouldn't spend so much time on it, but my bosses shouldn't be giving me so much bs busy work either so I feel like it all evens out in the end.

Sorry if this breaks the veil of anonymity, but are you the Dr. Whitly at Stuyvesant?

Oh. Comment sections. That's like reading the editorial in the newspaper, all it's going to do is make your blood boil.

[her next question takes him by surprise, but he's not mad about it. if anything, he feels a sudden surge of joy at being recognized. stronger than he used to, really. he wonders if it's the memories. he reacts so much more strongly to attention and compliments these days]

I am, indeed! I don't suppose you'd mind sharing how you recognized me?

My office is next door to your practice.

[ She actually says "motherf-" out loud at her desk before biting her tongue. ]

... Please don't tell my boss the thing I said about being on Instagram instead of work.

For such a big city, it really can be a small world, can't it!

[her second comment makes him chuckle aloud]

My lips are sealed. ... Is it the research facility? We've gotten a few referrals from you folks, haven't we?

Yes, we've sent a few patients your way for cardiac stress tests. I'm actually supposed to stop in and drop off new referral files later today.

I'd love to take you down the corner for a coffee if you'd have the time.

I could do 4:30. Does that work for you?

That's perfect, actually, I'll be finishing up my last phone consultation around then. Your choice where we go, if they make coffee within ten blocks, I've been there.

[ Harleen brought the referrals over to drop off at 4:25 and chatted with the receptionist for a couple minutes. When Martin came to the front, she smiled politely and offered a handshake. ]

Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Yours as well, Dr. Quinzel. Thank you for bringing all of that by for us, I appreciate it. Allow me to treat you to some gratitude coffee? I'm just on my way out.

[yes, they'd already agreed to it over the network, but you had to be careful and spontaneous about these things. Krissi was kind of a gossip, after all, even if she did her job well, and the last thing the Bureau needed was someone like her getting wind of goings-on]

[ Her handshake was firm and professional. She tipped her head and pretended to consider the invitation. ]

I'll walk out with you. There are some case specifics that I'd love to pick your brain about.

Pick gently, it's been a long day.

[he whisked his coat onto his shoulders and picked up his bag, waving to Krissi as he addressed her over his shoulder]

See you tomorrow!

[once they were outside, he rolled his eyes a little.]

Sorry if that was a little awkward. Keeping up appearances with all of this is ... a learning curve, to say the least.

[ There would probably be assumptions anyway. There usually were. ]

I don't understand why there's so much secrecy, but I do know talking about it ended my relationship. So I guess that was a lesson learned. Toe the line, or else.

[he'd quash them the next morning, just to be certain. she was young and had a career ahead of her, and he didn't want to potentially jeopardize that.]

That was ... pretty terrible of them. He must not have been very supportive if he couldn't handle it. Maybe we should get something stronger than coffee. Lady's choice.

Coffee will be just fine, thanks.

[ It wasn't even five o'clock yet, and she was too aware of that she'd been drinking more than usual since this all began. She slipped her hands into her coat pockets and lead them to a coffee shop the next block over. She paid for her own drink. ]

So. Where do we start?

[Martin frowned a bit - he'd offered to pay for her coffee, after all. But he just resolved to make sure to cover her if there was a next time, and found them a quiet booth in a corner where they wouldn't be overheard]

Well, let's see. I think breaking the multiple universes thing down is probably the biggest thing we need to do. And the hardest. How much did they tell you when they found you? Sometimes Mr. Martin and his team are a little ... brusque.

[ She is a strong independent woman who can buy her own coffee. ]

I know alternate universes exist, and for some reason the memories of an alternate me are bleeding over. He didn't say "no further questions" but with that attitude he didn't have to.

I did meet someone at one of the support group meetings who told me a little more, but... The overall answer is that there are no answers.

[♬ ~all the hot baes who spring for lattes, throw ya hands up at me~ ♬]

So far there aren't, no, but ... we have a couple of clues, and a mysterious contact who posts on the network anonymously once in a while. He's fond of code.

Also, there's a portal in a park near the Bureau headquarters that allows passage to a couple other universes. Not the ones our memories are from, as far as I know, but ... they're certainly wild. I didn't believe it until I went through for myself.

Edited 2021-03-09 04:49 (UTC)

[ She nodded a little, recognizing his description of the anonymous contact from what Anakin told her. ]

MMF, right? And the Bureau headquarters has some sort of connection the Manhattan Project?

[ Harleen's brows shot up when he mentioned a goddamn portal to another world. She stared at him from over the rim of her cup, trying to read if he was just fucking with her. ]

A what now to where.

Someone's been doing her homework.

[that earned her a cheeky yet proud, close-lipped smile, and a brief waggle of his eyebrows. then she reacted to that other bit of news, and he couldn't help chuckling]

Exactly. These memories we're getting, from these other places. I think ... the memories aren't the only things sneaking in. Strange things keep happening more and more frequently over the last few months. I think the Bureau may not have as much control over this as they like to think they do.

That much is obvious if there's a fucking portal in the park. How did that go unnoticed? Can people just, just go in?

[ Listen, he can't just drop a bomb like that and then move on. ]

My theory is that they use the same ... process they used to make everyone around me forget what happened when I got my first memory back. To anyone who, you know, finds the portal. ... Were you by yourself when you remembered? I had the bad luck of being in a cafe.

Yeah, I was. Nearly cracked my head open on the damn bathtub.

Ouch.

[he winces sympathetically]

Anyway, like I said, I was in a cafe - this one, actually! And Mr. Martin - which, yes, was confusing - escorted me outside to talk to me. By the time he was finished, people were filing out of there with their lattes to go like nothing happened. ... Even though the fallout from my first memory apparently killed the power for half the block.

Edited 2021-03-15 04:03 (UTC)

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phdmotherfucker - 2021-03-16 04:47 (UTC) - Expand

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