[014]

[oliverplus]

[today, Oliver arrives on the Plane with a bed in tow. not just any bed, but what appears to be a standard-issue hospital bed from the 27th century. he is also wearing a hospital gown, and he has an oxygen tube hooked to his nose and an IV in his arm, although the appartuses the devices were attached to don't seem to have made it to the Plane with him. hopefully he didn't actually need those. interestingly enough, there is no sign of injury on Oliver himself, except for perhaps the IV in his arm. but in addition to all this, Oliver looks terribly startled to have arrived on the Plane]

What the--what is this!? [looks around him in confusion, then gives the IV a suspicious look] I thought I wasn't on anything strong! Why the hell... This was a dream! [turns upward, apparently addressing the stars themselves] A dream, you hear?

I know I was wishing to be anywhere but hospital, but blimey, that didn't mean I wanted to start hallucinating! [sighs] I wonder how long this is gonna last... [props himself up a bit, pulling the tube out of his nose as he turns to take a look around him]

[ooc: This is NOT an experiment. Oliver is suffering from some nasty side effects of chemical exposure during an incident on Gondovan. He currently has amnesia stretching through the last several years of his life. His memory will slowly return, but for now he doesn't remember the Plane or anyone on it, nor how his empathy ability works. he also doesn't remember the details of his life on Gondovan or even the end of his travels with the Doctor. So, enjoy the confused Brummie!]

Comments

[bit_impossible]

[only adds to the exasperation] What do you mean "to me"? I'm not the one who lost my memory.

[he frowns] This fellow wouldn't happen to be from Katsovania II, would he?

[oliverplus]

You're the one who changed your face!

Uh...I think that's what they said, yeah. [eager] So you do know about it? What were we in the middle of this time?

[bit_impossible]

[rolls his eyes] Yes, like I said, half a dozen times since you last saw me--but I didn't lose my memory along the way! [a slight lie. the eighth incarnation was a bit dodgy at times in the memory department]

[his frown deepens ever so slightly. any other man would be tempted to lie when given a prompt like that, but not him. the repercussions would be too great. his voice softens as he says:] We weren't in the middle of anything. It was all you and your glorious self alone. Well, I'm assuming you had help. In the very least, you had a Katsovanian with you.

[oliverplus]

Half a doz--no way!

[frowns at that, not liking his expression] Where were you, then?

[bit_impossible]

[he nods] Glad to see you listened this time.

Not with you. I've been around here--and back in my own reality. You haven't been with me for centuries, Oliver Day, not in the travelling sort of way. You've been with me here, at least. [he smiles faintly] It's one of the reasons why I still like coming here. [despite the suffering and wrongness of the place]

[oliverplus]

[stares at him, shaking his head in confusion--or maybe denial] I...don't get it. [tentatively] You're another you?

[bit_impossible]

It's...a bit more complicated than that. For all intents and purposes, I am the same me. All of my memories with you are the same. But at some point--and here's where it's going to get more complicated--a decision or event in my life caused two or more possible outcomes to diverge, and I am from one of those paths. At one point in time, I heard there were other me's running around here. Same face, similar memories, but events that had happened to them were different.

Like, the prime minister of the United Kingdom is Harriet Jones, but in another me's reality, she had been deposed.

[oliverplus]

[frowns, trying to follow that] Okay, so there's more than one version of you. And...you're not the one I'm travelling with right now--you're a future him. Basically?

[bit_impossible]

Basically yes, but you're partially wrong. No matter, it's not that important right now. What is important is finding out why you ran into citroloform in the first place.

[oliverplus]

[makes a face] I think I'm gonna have to get out of hospital to work that one out.

[bit_impossible]

Well. [smiles mischievously] You're out of hospital now, aren't you?

[oliverplus]

[looks down at himself ruefully] Sort of. But how does being here help?

[bit_impossible]

It means we stand a better chance of jogging your memory if you're in a familiar place. [a pause] Well, you were back on Gondovan so that would have been familiar surroundings as well, but at least here I can help you.

[oliverplus]

[surprised] You think it'll be that easy to get my memory back?

[bit_impossible]

Do you want the honest answer or the hopeful one?

[oliverplus]

[frowns] Didn't think so.

Not that I want to go back to hospital, but what use is figuring it out gonna be if I'm stuck here anyway?

[bit_impossible]

Nothing is ever that easy.

No, I reckon you don't, but you're not exactly stuck here, you know. You can go back to hospital and Gondovan.

[oliverplus]

[blinks] How's that?

[bit_impossible]

Mind over matter--or rather, you just think about going back and that's that.

But Oliver, there is something that you're not getting, or rather allowing yourself to process. Well, at least I think that's the problem.

[oliverplus]

I thought you said nothing was ever that easy!

[frowns. he's not sure what the Doctor means, but he can't help but feel nervous at that expression] What is it?

[bit_impossible]

Well, that is that, and this is this! Two completely separate things that lead to different outcomes and are entirely unrelated!

[takes a step forward and sits down at the edge of Oliver's bed] I've said a number of times that I can help you here and now, but hasn't it occurred to you to ask, "Why not there and then?"

[oliverplus]

If you say so.

[frowns, really not liking that expression] You already told me why--you're a different you from that one.

[bit_impossible]

Yes, but if I were there with you, don't you think I'd be trying to figure it out there as well? My knowledge of the chemical is the same as it was then.

[oliverplus]

'Course you would do! But you must be somewhere busy in this mess, too. [uncertainly] You don't remember?

[bit_impossible]

[is trying not to sound exasperated] Yes, yes, yes, I would do! [pauses, then a little more calmly] Oliver, I would do...if I was there, but I wasn't. You had already left me, and I had been gone ever since.