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....he based my family on his own. All of them except me, actually. As far as I can tell, I was just...what he needed me to be, in order to finish the story.

Anyway, if we existed first and were influencing him, it wouldn't explain the changes. I have memories now that I know I didn't have a year ago. Memories that don't fit anywhere in the timeline I remember. I think he must have answered a fan question, or -- or prepared something else for publication, maybe, and that affected the way I remember my history. He changed my past, more than once. Sand says it's the result of two timelines naturally converging and happens all the time where he comes from, but I'm not so sure. His dimensions are real. Mine are...artificial.

[This all sounds like an absolute fantasy but... but he really believes it, and also, if those things are happening, it's very, very scary? Hange can be ice fucking cold, never doubt it, but her heart kind of seizes for him in that moment because feeling this way, like someone's construct, someone's plaything, must be awful. The psychological attrition damage alone must be intense.

What the fuck!!!]

Wait, so this is... still happening? These changes?

Edited 2019-12-04 06:24 (UTC)

Not anymore. He's dead.

It doesn't rest easy with me, letting that happen. But I had a choice. I could go back to Bill and make sure the Director made it out alive, or I could go back to the Barge and start fixing what I'd done.

So, I picked the Barge. Led a few people to where the portal was hidden and gave others the notes on the original spell so they could devise a way to break it.

If my life and world were being controlled by some other person I’d want to beat them to death with my bare hands myself!

[Quite fervent, here. No excuses for her shithole home, no excuses!!!]

So I don’t blame you for that. Stanford, how long has all this been ongoing? I think your judgment must have been seriously compromised by fatigue and fear and stress! This is all wearing, heavy stuff.

[He bristles.]

My judgment is fine.

Bill told me his suspicions shortly before we began the portal project. He thought we were still in someone else's simulation, and the Authority was controlling us as tightly as the Director controlled my home. I didn't believe him, not until we got to the Director's dimension and I got readings from that universe's space-time fabric. It was just as real as the Barge was. He was wrong about everyone else, but right about us. Bill and I were the only ones who came from the lower dimension.

So, I've only known for seven or eight months. Usually, I try not to think about it. I'm here now, with free will of my own, and soon, I'll have a way to get my family out, too. We've been offered a place to stay in another universe, and I think I'm going to take her up on it. We're going to be okay. My niece and nephew are going to grow up in a place with magic -- and a good school system! -- and I'll stay on the Barge as long as I have to to see it done.

[And that’s totally why you fell in line with Bill’s plans, didn’t tip off any trustworthy wardens, and jail broke the barge, right, buddy? Hange has her doubts about that judgment thing but she’ll set it aside for now. It’s all said and done anyway.

She reaches out and briefly clasps his shoulder.]

Good. I’m glad that you’ll be able to rescue people you care about and find a better home. [Man, a world with magic sounds amazing. She wishes her world was magical, instead of just straight up shitsack awful.]

[Well, he's also worried at times that because of his origins, he's so out of step with what everyone else understands implicitly that he might as well be insane. Being told he had no normal human empathy rattled him deeply in a way that hit him in every bruise from every time he'd been called a freak and made him doubt his very humanity! So, Ford's turned his energy to compensating for the deficiency by being as careful not to hurt people as he can be. Development?? It's just the results that matter anyway, right?]

Thank you.

Was there anything else you wanted to know? I'm an open book!

Possibly literally. They chose my coat and sweater color to match a journal I wrote that they introduced earlier in the story, before they'd decided what I was going to be like.

You know, I’m very sure there is, but I think I’ve grilled you enough for now.

[Ha ha. Foooord. What an odd duck, but plenty of people have called Hange a freak over the years; she can’t judge him for that. In fact, she prefers the strange.]

Thanks for taking an interest. I appreciate your kindness towards Betelgeuse and answering my questions.

[He'd like to think he's embraced his weirdness, that it's a part of his identity he's proud of, or at least not ashamed of. He'd like to think that, like Hange, he prefers it! Unfortunately, it can still be used to hurt him bad, if someone has a mind to.

He sets the tea down and extends a six-fingered hand for Hange to shake.]

You're welcome. Good luck out there.

[Hange has a firm, not brutal, grip, and keeps hold of his hand after the shake so she can turn his hand and look over the six fingers with mild interest. Polydactyly, neat, don't see that too much.]

Thanks. To you as well.

[He startles slightly when she keeps hold of his hand. Knee-jerk response, when a normal-human-looking person notices his hands are unusual. However, he resolutely lets her examine it.]

I've got six toes, too! But you had better take my word for it -- I've been wearing these boots all day.

[Far be it for Hange to not take a mile when granted an inch: she has a hand free, and uses it to probe the bone structure briefly. Neat.

Ford gets a slight smile.]

I will take your word for it. [Another moment and she releases him, he's free.] I'm sure we'll chat again, Stanford.

[He laughs a little out of ticklish reflex when she pokes at the tendons and joints. Wow he had no idea that was ticklish? But he only really relaxes when she releases his hand and when it isn't followed by an expression of disgust. Even being briefly made king of the Finger Dimension doesn't undo the times girls freaked out or called him names.]

Oh, I'm positive we will. I'd bet we wouldn't be able to avoid one another if we tried!

[Stanford Pines wound up being unexpectedly charming. Hange can't help but smile.]

I'm going to be here a while longer. [She likes the beach a lot.] Feel free to roam around, or carry on with your day if that's what you wish.

I had better go. I have much work to do. Transdimensional boats don't build themselves, not even in the Boat Dimension!

You're building an interdimensional boat...? [Hey... that sounds awesome]

No, no, I've kept you long enough, I'll ask later.

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