RADIO | AUDIO | some idle curiosity

[skeletonenigma]

[The message over the handsets is short, succinct, and to the point. Long story short: the detective is bored, so the first thought to capture some of his idle curiosity gets put to the Foreigners at large.]

Who else has received letters from themselves?

Comments

[ruinsprofessor]

A treatise.

[This is entirely a serious answer.]

Written in ancient elven, and notable for its annotations and the number of Egyptian concepts it contains.

[A hesitation.]

There was a brief postscript, but for the most part it was not phrased as a personal communication.

[skeletonenigma]

[There's a very long pause.]

You wrote yourself a treatise.

[It's not even a question. Just a general statement of incredulity and bemusement.]

[ruinsprofessor]

In ancient elven.

[This seems to her an important point to make.]

It deals primarily with the subject of memory, and there are some fascinating considerations on the anatomy of the soul as it specifically relates.

[She knows Skulduggery didn't ask.]

[skeletonenigma]

[Nor is he going to. He's learned his lesson.]

It's useful to you, then? The issue of personal correspondence aside, is it all relevant to you right now?

[ruinsprofessor]

[There's a pause, and the sound of a tapping that is likely Raine's fingers, drumming an even rhythm as she thinks.]

Not directly, no, but it has the potential to be.

[Memory will always be one of her interests and Issues.]

I can only assume my future self thought I would be able to discern her meaning from what she chose to include.

[skeletonenigma]

[Skulduggery probably won't be much help in that regard. There's a certain amount of paperwork he's willing to do as a detective; political papers he prefers to leave to the politicians, and treatises to their academic experts.]

She might be right. From what I'm able to gather, it might also have been meant for a different version of you.

[ruinsprofessor]

[...hm. Raine considers that, and there's a rather noticeable pause.]

I... think I will choose to continue to believe this was meant for this version of myself.

[Perhaps it wasn't-- that hadn't even occurred to her. But she was rather partial to the strange little intimation of hope she left herself.]

It only means I will have much more research to do.

[skeletonenigma]

Fair enough. If it's helpful to you, it doesn't really matter. I'm just trying to find a pattern.

[So far, he hasn't really found one, apart from time/universe manipulation. That's a pattern in as much as a tsunami is a giant wave.]

[ruinsprofessor]

[Raine thinks a little longer.]

There's no way this "letter" could have come from anyone but me. It's unsigned, but I'm certain. Has anyone been uncertain of the provenance of their missives?

[Another beat. Then:]

...if you believe it will help, you're welcome to take a look.

[Mostly because there are only five words of it that will mean anything at all to him.]

[skeletonenigma]

Not that I've seen. What makes you so sure? Is it just the way it's written, or the information contained within it?

[He smoothly jumps right over answering the last query. It's force of habit more than anything - no, he doesn't need to take a look, and drawing attention to that fact usually only leads to trouble of some sort. Offence, or at the very least a misunderstanding.]

[ruinsprofessor]

[Frankly, she's all right with him not following that up. It simply seemed prudent to cover all possibilities.]

First, not many people could produce ancient elven so fluently, especially in an academic context. That limits the possible candidates. Second, the overlap between elven scholars and scholars versed in Egyptian language and concepts is an exceptionally narrow one, owing to the difference in worlds. If that weren't enough, the post-script refers familiarly to Colette, who, though a friendly person herself, is often addressed formally as a function of her station. Therefore, the author is likely a person close to her, or at the very least from Iselia.

...additionally, the handwriting of the annotations appears to be mine as well, and the topic is of significant personal interest to me.

[It adds up. Certainly, someone could duplicate the circumstances by chance, but it seems astronomically unlikely. The simplest answer is often the correct one.]

[Unless you're Lloyd, unfortunately.]

[skeletonenigma]

[... So she's pretty damn sure, then. Fair enough. One thing in her explanation stands out to Skulduggery, though, and he's not quite sure what to make of it.]

That topic of personal interest. Is it Egypt?

switches to private to Skulduggery

[ruinsprofessor]

Ah--

[There's a pause. Consideration. But, after all, it's Skulduggery.]

Not specifically. Memory is the salient point. In addition to my disinclination to return to my world without the last two years of memories, most of my childhood memories are... inaccessible.

The alteration or erasure of memories based on emotional trauma seems to run in my family.

[It's said in that distant, cool sort of way that, for Raine, means there are a lot of feelings about it, but they would get in the way of talking.]

The inclusion of Egypt simply speaks to retained memories, in one way or another, and continued associations.