Third Foray Into the Mind

Assuming that Eight doesn't manage to talk Artemis out of this idea, he will spend a few hours in his room meditating and calming his mind, focusing on the presence of the Force. He will leave the door to the room unlocked and a message to the rest of the group (which I'll post sometime before next session), and take his time descending into his own mind once more. He will keep his lightsaber on his person.

OOC: If you and 8 are done, post your message and we will begin.

As you begin once more to travel into your own mind you find yourself in familiar territory. Just like the last trip you find yourself in an Aretak, hospital. Unlike last time the place is neither run down nor dark. The place looks fresh and clean with other doctors, Arahn and Defel milling about.

To find the hidden sickness that he doesn't even remember will be difficult, Artemis knows. He realizes this truth even more keenly as he stares around the pristine hallways. He can smell chemicals in the air--the scent of clean.

Artemis closes his eyes briefly and breathes. In and out, slow and deep.

He doesn't believe that the root of the problem is here. It is his childhood that he does not remember; nothing after the age of four, when his mother left. Nothing save glimpses of classrooms at school.

But sometimes even leaves may sprout when separated from the roots. He decides to search the hospital. At least here he might find some clues. But he doesn't trust his eyes or his nose. The only sense that he really trusts here is the Force.

He reaches out and tries to Sense the presence of anything that is out of place, anything that feels wrong.

As you stretch out through the Force you are certain that something must be wrong for the simple matter that nothing is wrong. Everything in the hospital seems too perfect, as though it's just a facade hiding something horrible from you. However, even through the Force this presence is hidden from you.

Artemis allows a small smile to creep up. "Okay, fine," he murmurs. "Be that way. But I know you're out there hiding from me. I'll find you."

He opens his eyes and searches the room. He approaches a Defel doctor and greets her, asking about the current situations in the hospital. He tries to engage her in light gossip, all the while seeking for a clue. Anything that sounds suspicious.

Looking around you're in a hallway at a T intersection. The Defel nurse only pauses briefly as she seems to be in hurry.

"Busy as usual doctor, there are cures to find, and patients to heal. If you'll excuse me I have to get this blood to the OR stat. "

Normal, normal, all normal.

Artemis nods to her and turns away. These people were figments of his mind. He wouldn't find anything from them. But as he himself had locked away his memories to begin with, he might find clues by tracking himself down.

He walks towards his old office, hoping to find something there.

You make your way past bustling doctors and nurses and see some familiar faces being pushed past you on gurneys. Members of STARS are laid out on gurneys with injuries you've treated during your time with them.

Arriving at your office you look at a holo-portrait on your desk of you and your mother. You seem to recall there was once a third figure in that photo, but can't recall what he looked like. Shuffling through your desk you find a note scribbled on a prescription pad written in your own hand writing.

"Turn back, I've got this covered."

x-Artemis

Artemis slows in his strides to watch as his companions are wheeled by. They're fine, he knows. He treated them himself. They'll be okay.

When he sees the holo-portrait, he knows he's onto something. When he reads the note, he thinks he understands why he couldn't sense the opposition with the Force. Naturally, it's himself.

"I'm stronger now than I was then," he says to the prescription notepad. "You've done a very good job so far, but now we need to conquer this. Not just run from it. We need to beat it, else it will just fester."

He folds the note and pockets it, and after a moment he takes the holo-portrait as well. He studies it carefully, forcing his eyes to roam over the spot where he's sure there used to be someone else. He pays closer attention to his office, searching for more hints, more clues, more places he feels as though are locked away from him.

You turn your office upside down, and find nothing else that seems to be of any significance.

Artemis studies the holo-portrait. If he can remember where the picture was taken, that's where he'll head next.

You remember the picture being taken at the large park near the center of town. You go back through the hospital and head for the exit. As you step through the large automatic double doors you walk into another hospital mirroring the one you just exited.

Artemis comes to a dead halt and glares at the doors. "Oh hell no."

He turns around, undoubtedly to see the same hospital back the way he came. "Oh hell no, you are not trapping me in here. I'm leaving and going to the Park, thankyouverymuch."

He braces himself and concentrates, latching onto the Force and carefully trying to reassert his will. "I want to go to the Park, where this holopic was taken. You are letting me go. Now."

A deafening pop, like a bubble bursting forces you to close your eyes. When you open them again you're standing in the park on a beautiful day.

As the noise clears you swear you can hear yourself chuckling, and a faint whisper of your voice says, "as you wish..."

You see your mother and yourself as a young boy standing in front of a holo camera on a tripod. A beam envelops you two as you smile for the camera, but you see no one else around.

Artemis clenches his fists and exhales, surprised that his attempt actually worked.

No, I need to believe in myself. This is my mind. I have control here.

He watches the scene, remembering the day before him. Then he frowns. There was someone else there.

He holds up the holopic, mirroring the image in the frame next to the image before his eyes.

"There was someone else here," he whispers. "But I don't know who. That person is the one I've forgotten. Who is he?" He raises his voice, calling to the younger version of himself and his mother. "Someone else is here! Who is it?"

Young Artemis and your Mother ignore you as if they can't hear you. As you look closer you see something standing there next to them. A faint shadow with the outline of a man. The only feature in it's face are two glowing embers that stare back at you seeming to look right into your soul. It only looks at you for a moment before going through some motions as though it should be part of this, but it is ignored by your past as well.

Young Artemis runs around the park giggling, running after something you don't notice.

"What are you doing Arty?" Your mother asks.

"Chasin' shadows." you reply.

Artemis stares, transfixed, at the outline of the shadowy person. Before he can think to stop himself, he points at the shadowy figure and shouts after his younger self.

"Look! There's a shadow right there! Get it!"

He never once looks away from the shadowy figure. He whispers, "Who are you? Are you...are you the father that I don't remember? You must be. You are what I forgot."

You still can't hear yourself and as young Artemis chases the shadow of an insect through the figure standing there, the figure dissipates into nothingness.

At that moment your vision goes red and you feel a flash of pain at your cheek. This isn't right, something happened there. Something painful. Something maybe better left forgotten.

Artemis gasps aloud and cups a hand to his cheek. His eyes shut away the red flash, and then open to stare at the spot where the shadow once was.

He's still for a second. Then his eyes narrow again with determination. "Yes, yes," he murmurs to the air. "I know this isn't going to be pretty. But I have to know. And I have to come to terms with it."

He concentrates. This is my mind. My domain. "Show me what really happened here."

The pain fades from your face and the day seems to fast forward. Young Artemis and Mother go home leaving you standing in the park alone at night.

Your own voice pops into your head, but it's different, more confident and self assured then you have ever been.

"That's where you're wrong, this is OUR mind, and you left me guarding it. It's not going to be that easy."

"Oh bloody hell," Artemis mutters, and he tilts his head up to scowl at the sky. He responds after a five seconds of silence.

"Well, I commend you. You're doing an excellent job, and I'd rather not bring brute force into this. I know that what you're guarding is dangerous. And that is exactly why I need to master it rather than just have it locked away. But you know that. You're just doing what I told you to do. But whether you like it or not, it's time for some reprogramming."

Artemis scans the Park, and his eyes follow the path that his mother and younger self took to go home. He goes to follow.

Home. That's bound to be rife with forgotten memories, and with that forgotten person.

As you walk down a path for a moment or two it feels like you're walking through water, it feels like you pass through a barrier and in another instant you're standing inside your old Aretak home.

Artemis is building something out of toys while his mother is quietly reading a book on the couch. The shadow is across from her looking at the you that just arrived once again, before turning his head down at his own book.

Artemis walks without hesitation over to the shadow, never once taking his eyes off of the person. His mother hasn't seemed to notice this version of him yet, but as the shadow has, Artemis tries his luck speaking to it.

"Hello. I locked you up, didn't I? Just what did you do to me that was so horrific?"

The glowing embers, like the tips of a cigar, light up and look towards you for a moment but if it is capable of speech it still remains silent.

Young Artemis' toy sculpture falls apart with pieces falling into a glass of brandy on the table next to the shadow.

You hear unintelligible screaming in your head and see a vision of Artemis crying.

When you look over Artemis is simply rebuilding his sculpture, the brandy and the shadow are gone.

"Be careful Artemis." Your mother says.

After a few more moments Artemis loses interest in the toys and seems to be chasing a moth around the living room.

"Honey, stop chasing shadows, it's almost your bedtime."

"Yes, maam."

Artemis goes to brush his teeth.