neverstudied | Victory Road IC Inbox

Egon, did you ever read the original Sleeping Beauty? Thank God they toned it down.

[And then Egon gives his little speech to the kitten, and Venkman snorts, his laughter more genuine than before.]

I knew there was a cat lover inside you somewhere.

[Tarantula purrs and leans into the touch, mewing excitedly. She loves her dads. Or at least, the ones that give her pets. She doesn't know what to think of the one who doesn't move.]

It's never too early to be introduced to the concept of bird-fueled vengence and pecking one's eyes out. Birds are dangerous creatures.

[He's...joking, right? He pokes at Tarantula's paws.]

...I'll keep watching over Ray. I'll let you know if there are any major changes in brain activity or...if I come to any new conclusions. [He rubs at his forehead, sighing deeply.] Perhaps we could have Kölliker reach out, see what he's thinking about?

Wrong princess, Spengs. Cinderella's the one with the birds who peck her sisters' eyes out.

[Venkman can't exactly argue the "dangerous creatures" mindset, given that both his own birds have attacked him more times than he can count.

Tarantula's claws flex out and she bats at Egon's hand playfully. Venkman shuffles a little closer to Ray.]

Hey, anything's worth trying at this point. Send her out.

Was it? [Egon blinks.] My parents never read fairy tales to us as a child. Said it would encourage a belief in unscientific values.

[He gives Tarantula one last poke before moving into the living room to retrieve his bag. When he comes back, Kölliker is with him, peering curiously at the new cat. With the excitement of a small child being given a new toy, she greets Tarantula, flickering images of other cats passing through her mind.]

new baby! hi baby, I'm Baby!

[Egon watches her for a few moments.]

Kölliker, if you could--

[He doesn't finish his sentence when there's an abstract thought of affirmation sent from Kölliker. She peers over at Ray, tilting her head to the side and burbling quietly.

After a few moments of concentration, both Egon and Venkman hear what seems to be...a song in their heads? It keeps blipping out and getting sped up, making it difficult to recognize.]

[Venkman scowls for a moment.]

Yeah, well, you know how I feel about your parents and their stupid opinions. Hey, did I punch your dad's teeth out in your dimension, too?

[Egon, Ray, and Winston all independently made the decision to bring Venkman home to meet their family at least once. Each attempt ended in at least mild disaster.

The fur stands up on Tarantula's back for a moment when Ko speaks up, and she looks around, confused and startled. After a few seconds, she figures out the source of it and blinks up at Kölliker, mewling indignantly. Hey! How do you make words happen without sound! What's going on! She raises a paw to bat at Ko's cytoplasmic membrane- claws sheathed.

Venkman, meanwhile, frowns at the music.]

What... Is she- is she getting that from Ray?

You did, yes. He said I should stop associating with such people in the future. Clearly, I did not take his advice.

[Kölliker giggles a little as she's batted, spinning around slowly. The song statics out again as she tries to mentally reach for Tarantula instead. She's baby! Brain baby very smart.]

I...believe so? I can't think of any other source. It sounds almost like--

[He frowns, approaching the Solosis and gently turning her to face Ray.] Please, Kölliker. You can play with Tarantula in a moment.

[She burbles, clearly disappointed, but tunes into Ray's thoughts again. It's sort of like adjusting a really awful television set--most of it feels like static except for a few disjointed image artifacts and jumbled words. Nothing that Egon would recognize, of course. The images are intermingled with the mental emotional equivalent of scribbles on a piece of paper and make the whole thing just incredibly confusing.]

Good. Guess the other me's got some priorities in order if he was ready to deck your dad within the first hour of meeting him.

[Tarantula is fascinated by floating brain baby. Her momentary fear dissipates, and she tries to spin Ko around a few more times before Egon moves her away. The Meowth whines in disapproval.

Venkman rubs at his temples, wincing.]

I feel like my brain's melting, here.

Likewise. I don't think she has the capacity to completely convey what is currently occuring in Ray's mind right now.

[The images and thoughts stop as Kölliker disconnects, turning her attention back to Egon and blinking.]

play with fuzzy baby?

Yes. Thank you for trying.

[A brief emotion of worry passes through both of them--Egon sounds and feels disappointed, which makes her feel odd. But at least he's not disappointed at her, right? She turns to Tarantula and floats in front of her, pressing her cytoplasm against the Meowth.

She's...psychically humming the Ghostbusters theme now. It's fine.]

You think it's really that chaotic in there, or is she just having trouble processing it?

[He reaches out to pat Ko as she drifts closer to the Meowth.]

You did good, kid. Thanks.

[Tarantula purrs and rubs against Ko, tail-tip twitching in excitement. After a moment, she bats at Ko again and rolls over on her back. Venkman watches this with some amusement, before frowning at the theme.]

That's... that's our theme, isn't it? Did she get that from Ray's brain?

I'm not sure. I've never asked her to interpret other peoples' thoughts for me before. Pokémon, yes, but human beings...are still unknown territory.

[He seems almost reluctant to admit that. Maybe it's because Kölliker is a Pokémon, herself, but she seems to have an easier time talking to other Pokémon than human beings. Probably because she doesn't have to speak in English most of the time.

Egon sits down at the desk, folding his hands together. His expression is unreadable. Kölliker keeps sending abstract thoughts of contentedness towards Tarantula and moving images of things she likes--her dads, PokéPuffs, Doppel, so on and so forth.]

If you mean the song that we licensed to attempt to boost interest in the franchise for small children, then, yes. [He scratches the back of his neck.] Interesting that it would carry over between dimensions. Though I don't see why that would be on his mind.

Still not a fan of her being able to read our thoughts at all, but at least she's probably not gonna use that for like, bad sh- bad stuff. Then again, you still haven't done much to teach her morals...

[Tarantula offers a questioning mewl at a mental picture of Ray- he can be awake? Why isn't he awake now?]

For us, the theme song was made for the movie adaptation of the Gozer incident. But you said you guys didn't have that, right?

Teaching her ethics may either cause her to become incredibly selfish or incredibly selfless, especially when it comes to Immanuel Kant's theories.

[Kölliker gives Tarantula the equivalent of a psychic shrug. He's off having fun in his brain, that's why! Brains are good. Brains are fun. She likes seeing what people are thinking because everyone thinks so different and funny.]

We did not, no-- [He blinks.] Of course Hollywood takes no time to profit off of the apocalypse. I believe Ray and Winston came up with the idea. Either that, or someone approached us with the idea and they approved of it. I didn't pay much attention to the process, myself.

[He adjusts his glasses, frowning.] Well, whatever the meaning, we're not any closer to figuring out what's going on with Ray.

Edited 2019-02-22 01:24 (UTC)

Just teach her about keeping things in moderation, Spengs. Better than not giving her any concept of ethics at all.

[Tarantula tilts her head, curious. What's so fun about his brain? Why is it more fun than playing with them?]

Hollywood pounced as soon as they saw an opportunity to make a killing, and we were still hurting for money from all the repairs to the firehouse, so I gave them the ok. [Venkman shakes his head.] I should've worked harder to make sure we'd have more control over the script and the final product, but the money... And we had so much more on our plate to worry about, too.

Anyway. Maybe Ray's off dreaming about being back home going on busts or something.

[Nah, probably not.]

Edited 2019-02-22 01:37 (UTC)

[Because! Brains! Tell! You! So! Much! More! Than just playing! There's so much to know and feel! Kölliker seems to get very excited about this and does a little spin in mid-air. She can feel what Tarantula is feeling right now! And how much Tarantula is thinking!

Meanwhile, Egon's still focusing way too hard on the situation at hand.]

That's ridiculous. I already told you that he's not in a dream-like state, his brain is functioning as if he is wide awake and actively performing activities. Trying to make sense of this right now is like trying to understand why quantum particles fire in linear trajectories while being observed versus creating a wave-like pattern while not under scrutiny.

[Frustration starts creeping in on his voice as he turns back to stare at the ticker-tape printer. After a brief pause, he gets up and start walking out of the room.]

I need something to eat. You don't mind if I eat the rest of the bagels, do you?

[There's, like, ten bagels still in the bag....]

[Tarantula listens along, eyes shining. Wow... Kölliker is so smart and so cool. How does she know all these things?

This baby is still only like an hour old and everything is so new to her and so overwhelming, but in a good way.

Venkman flinches a little at Egon's tone.]

Just an idea, Spengs, jeez. I don't know what's going on any more than you do.

... Yeah, go ahead. You can have the rest of the one on the desk over there, too. I'm not really that hungry.

[There's a hint of pride in Kölliker's interactions with Tarantula. Because her dads are so smart and cool, that's why! Funny serious glasses dad says that she always works very hard which must mean she is good and smart.

Egon pauses, then picks up the half-eaten bagel and just crams it into his mouth. He returns to the room with the full bag and his own coffee, going to sit back down at the desk and starting the device again. The printer continues to whir and spit out more information.

After a few moments of silence, Egon turns to face Venkman, reaching out to him with his hand. The bagel has been devoured almost immediately.]

I'm sorry about that, I-- [He shakes his head.] I'm worried about Ray.

[Tarantula thinks this over for a moment. If they both have the same dads, that means they're family, right? She baps Ko with one paw again. They're sisters! And maybe one day Tarantula will be that smart, too!

Pretty much as soon as Egon's out of the room and out of earshot, Venkman curls closer to Ray, burying his face in his neck and taking a deep, shuddering breath. His fists dig into the fabric of Ray's shirt and Venkman grits his teeth as he tries to both quietly freak out AND recompose himself before Egon comes back.]

C'mon Ray, we need you. I need you.

[His voice is low and desperate.

Predictably, Ray doesn't react. That doesn't make Venkman feel any better about this.

By the time Egon comes back, Venkman's schooled his expression into a more neutral one, again. He's still practically draped around Ray. He watches Egon get back to work, and blinks in surprise when Egon turns to face him again.]

Hey, don't worry about it, Spengs. I get it. But- he'll be ok. And we'll figure it out.

[Egon grimaces, nodding. He turns back to stare down at the ticker tape in his hands, muttering.]

Right, right...of course.

[!!!!!!!!!! SISTERS........... She's vaguely familiar with the concept of siblings, but none of them have been terribly positive given both Ray and Egon's associations. But the way Tarantula says it must mean it's good! And she sounds really happy!

Kölliker practically puffs up with pride, spinning around and around until she doesn't realize where she's going and end up hitting Venkman smack in the face.

Hope you like cytoplasm, Venkman. Extremely happy cytoplasm.]

[Sisters! Sisters! Sisters! Tarantula mewls, hopping up and down for a moment and stumbling over her own feet, flopping over on her side. She watches Kölliker whirl around, and squeaks in surprise when she slams into Venkman's face.

Venkman splutters, spitting out a bit of cytoplasm that got in his mouth. God, he did not miss getting slimed every day. For a brief moment, he glares at Ko, before relaxing, patting her.]

Thanks. Try to watch where you're going next time, will ya? ... What're you two so excited about?

[Immediately, Venkman has the following pretty much shouted in his brain--]

WE'RE SISTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Egon jolts a little from the interference, but otherwise doesn't react.]

[Venkman jerks back, clutching at his forehead for a moment at the sudden psychic screaming. He grimaces before the actual meaning of her words hits him.]

Sounds like our kids are bonding, huh, Spengs?

[Egon nods, still focused on the task at hand.]

Kölliker is not my child, she is a fully functional psychic embryo capable of caring for herself. [A pause.] But, yes, they do appear to be bonding quite well.

[Kölliker burbles happily, bumping herself against Venkman's cheek--no cytoplasm this time. Her membrane isn't that permeable.]

... She's your baby and you know it.

[He sticks his tongue out at Egon even though his back is to Venkman.]

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