alwayskayaking | Duplicity Inbox

Did you order eggs? with your beer? [Look, that is completely a combination of food that Tim would eat if he drank alcohol but he also knows that it's not exactly a socially normal choice]

Jon always gives only bits and pieces of information everytime I see him. I'm vaguely wearing him down but it's hard to establish a timeline from it all.

So start from the beginning? I suppose that's when Jon became the Archivist?

No. Not really. Ordered some chips. [Because talking about work? That called for some grease.]

No, I guess if you want the beginning, beginning it was when Jon got the job as head archivist even though he was not at all qualified for the job. I'm still not sure he really understands what real archivists even do.

How did Jon get hired as the head archivist if the man wasn't qualified for the job? No, wait, I already know. Elias.

So he wanted Jon in the position and you ended up as an assistant? were you qualified for it?

[When the chips turn up, Tim will just start stealing them. He will also combine condiments to just smear his chips in. Doesn't matter if those flavours were supposed to go together or not. Vinegar and BBQ sauce? totally works according to little Tim]

Eh? [Tim shrugs lazily.] Yes and no. I was in research before that and some of the work I ended up doing for Jon felt much more like research than archiving at the end of the day. Tracking down old leads to see if there were any updates on old cases. I won't lie and say I didn't enjoy the challenge or the thrill of finding something that might have been missed in the past, but it wasn't exactly archiving either.

[He raises an eyebrow at the younger Tim's eating habits, but says nothing about it.] You know I swear one day I walked into his office to ask him a question and I'm pretty sure he was googling how to be a head archivist.

It really sounds more like cold cases for a supernatural police department with a side job of filing to me.

[Tim snorts out a laugh which he tries to cover with his hand]

Oh god, why did he even take a job he clearly didn't know how to do? No, the answer to that is probably Elias too. That man clearly has had a hold on Jon for a while,

[Tim can read a lot of the signs of an emotionally abusive and manipulative relationship and he's never actually talked to Elias. It's all in Jon's body language and the way he seems to always get deeper into trouble anytime he interacts with the man. Tim has seen it a lot in Gotham and he considers again about the emotional support attack dog that Jon could clearly benefit from]

He probably didn't really get a choice about taking the job.

That's probably the best description I've heard for the job in a while. [He smiles as he crams several chips into his mouth. Respectfully chewing and swallowing before he continues.]

That and there were some perks with the job. I think he got a pretty good place to live in, the pay wasn't terrible, and it's hard to not want to climb up the academia ladder when you have the chance to.

Elias was more of an subtle, sweet talking asshole back home. He actually wasn't a terrible boss as much as I hate to admit it. Couldn't take a joke, but he was alright.

Honestly, that sounds like a relaxing job until you factor in the supernatural and fear factor.

[Honestly it doesn't sound that bad even with the supernatural element. Although Elias would be a pain to deal with, especially with his ability to see through cameras and alter visual data]

I suppose he had to actually worry about consequences back home. Here as a Dominant, he has a lot of the power just from existing.

I suppose if you think constantly surrounding yourself and having to bring up people's past traumas on a daily basis is relaxing. Some of the people we go back to interview are not always the most calm and rational sort.

I also think it's just because he has Jon right under his thumb so he doesn't have to be. He says jump and Jon says how high while already jumping.

Well, there are multiple professions that fit that description though. Psychiatrist, social worker, cop, judge and well they all are doing it to help a person.

Sometimes just talking through trauma can really help a person out. These people seek you out a lot of the time right?

[Unless Jon has gone statement zombie, this is the way Tim thinks it works]

I can't really speak for Jon and his reasoning behind obeying Elias but things have obviously changed since then. What happened?

And that's the key difference. Those people want to help. We were just there to bring up bad memories for our own amusement. We didn't care what happened to people after they left our offices. Some people do seek us out, others are pointed in our direction, but most seem to come to us in the hope that we'll believe them. Half the time we don't even give them that satisfaction. Jon usually tells them they had a night where they drank too much and sends them on their way.

No idea. Maybe he just likes being bullied. [Or maybe Elias would dangle people's safety in front Jon like a sadistic toy which Tim was well aware of.]

Okay, true. I will give you that. The Magnus Institute wasn't exactly established to help people through what they experienced. You can't blame yourself for what was set up or really Jon's behaviour either.

But we've gotten off track, you said it started with Jon's weird promotion. How did it change after that, you took statements, Jon was rude to people. When did it start becoming real and not just drunkards and the easily frightened?

Personally it was before I even joined the institute. I joined because I thought they did more to try to track down the monsters of the world. There was something I was hoping to find and also learn a way to kill.

Except it wasn't really anything like that. It was like any other desk job until these worms started to show up. At first that's all they were. Just really weird worms to be careful around until they started stalking people. It just got worse from there.

[Well there are a couple of lines that ring a lot of bells in Tim's brain. Tim wasn't just around to be a researcher or for just a job. He joined the institute to kill something in the name of someone. Revenge and retribution is easy to recognise when you've felt it yourself.

Something to bring up later perhaps.]

And what caused the worm? Is there a major fear involving bugs? I believe Jon went over some of the different categories with me but he's rather cagey about voicing the information.

[How do worms stalk people??]

Who were they stalking? Jon, I presume?

I mean many people have a fear of bugs. There was a man in our world, Robert Smirke, who broke many of our fears into categories. I think bugs would have fallen under the idea of corruption.

And I believe they were. Although Jon is probably the better person to know why. He mentioned about Elias needing him marked by every single one of those categories so that is probably the reason, but that's just my best guess.

Jon has mentioned the different categories but he wasn't really willing to tell me all of them. I guessed a few and he confirmed but if I couldn't figure it out at the time, then no confirmation.

[Tim has some more ideas of possible fears. He knows a lot of things people are scared of but sorting them into the categories that Jon's world has is different.]

Okay so the worms started stalking people, or rather Jon? so what happened next?

He made you guess at them? Why? [Tim doesn't see what is wrong with warning people. Besides it would only be the categories and that seems even less dangerous information to share in Tim's mind.]

Next? Next they attacked and tried to kill us all. [He runs his fingertip over a couple of the scars on his face.] Came pretty close to it too.

[Tim shrugs] Because he was only begrudgingly putting up with me at the time and I annoy people with endless questions.

[He's certainly not offended by it, not even really that annoyed about it either. Jon and he didn't know each other that well back then and while he hasn't asked for more clarification since then he's sure Jon would be more forthcoming now]

Do you know why? or rather why they waited for that moment? Do they operate on a hive mind or were they doing Elias's bidding?

As far as we could tell they actually wanted to wait for a bit longer. Jon sort of stumbled onto their hiding spot by mistake. Found a fake wall in the archives and when they poked their heads through it; worms. Killer worms everywhere.

Yes; I believed they worked as a hive mind for as close as I ended up getting and I wouldn't want to repeat any of that day to confirm that. And I don't think they were exactly doing Elias's bidding. From what Jon told me is that Elias needed him marked by all the fears to complete a ritual that he wanted to do. Although, considering we nearly died? I don't think that was the full plan.

Can you go into any more detail of like what happened during the attack? You say Jon found a fake wall and found killer worms? where were you when this happened? and how did you manage to escape?

I've actually managed to avoid talking to the man while he was in the city but I got the impression just from the way Jon talks about him that while he might not plan everything he would have found a way to step in if his plans were in danger.

Me? I was out having lunch at the time so I don't know much about the start of the attack. When I came back there wasn't anyone around the office at all. Just the old tape recorder that Jon uses to record statements with laying on the floor so I stopped to pick it up.

Has Jon mentioned Sasha at all too you? She's a woman who works-- [No, that's not right. The woman in his head isn't Sasha because the real Sasha was gone.] --worked in the archives with us. If it hadn't been for her... [Tim shudders a little.] I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it. I had no idea that there was this... mountain of worms behind me and she pushed me out of the way as they lunged for me.

We ended up splitting up as they chased us. She ran off out the office and I ended up running into the tunnels that we discovered that day under the archives. Managed to fight my way through to Jon and Martin who were trapped in a room by using some C02 canisters that we had learned slowed the worms down and killed them.

The three of us ended up getting lost down in those tunnels trying to find another way out that was safe. I'm not sure how, but we ended up losing track of Martin down there after running into more worms. Jon and I thought we might have found a way out, but she was waiting for us. Fought the worms off as long as I could but eventually the gas ran out and there were just so many of them. [He traces his fingers over some of the bumps of scar tissue the worms had left behind on his face and arms.] The last thing I remember was feeling them burrowing into my skin. Devouring me alive when suddenly the archives fire system went off and filled the whole place up with C02. I ended up passing out because of all the gas and by the time I woke up I was in quarantine.

[Tim nods and listens intently, only answering]

Jon has mentioned the name Sasha but nothing in great detail, as I'm sure you're not surprised by

[before falling silent again.]

Sounds like an extremely close call for the both of you. I'm sorry that must have been terrifying but you survive the worms and the overexposure to CO2 as well.

I take it Sasha was not as lucky?

[There's a pause as Tim shakes his head.] No, she wasn't. Not that any of us knew that at the start. We thought she made it out alright, but she had been killed and replaced by a creature Jon has called the; Not Them. When they kill you they don't just kill you. They replace everyone's memory of you and live your life. She was my best friend and I didn't even know she had been murdered.

[Tim will nod but not really knowing what you say to comfort someone when their friend and co-worker has been replaced. Especially when you can no longer be sure fo your own memories regarding the woman]

What happens when you found out about that? Do the memories correct themselves?

[Yeah, that's definitely not comforting but he has to know]

No. They're gone forever. No photograph, no video, nothing left to remember the real them. You're always left with the face of the thing that killed them. That's the face you grow to miss and hate at the same time.

It's an incredibly insidious and horrible death on all aspects [Tim mumbles to himself before he realises that saying so out loud might not be the most comforting thing]

I'm sorry... again.

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cw: mention of parasites, body horror, worms

Re: cw: mention of parasites, body horror, worms

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