Retcon

by Beige

Chapter Six - Books

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…This room doesn’t have a window.

“Hey,” Retcon said casually as she turned from the manticore’s enclosure to face the griffon, “what else do you keep here?” She fought to keep her expression neutrally curious.

Gurney’s expression became predatory, setting her further on edge. He beckoned over, padding down to last the metal door at the end of the corridor. Like all the doors, as well as the boxes in the room she had been in with Lemony, this door had a label, though whatever convention the labels all followed appeared not to apply to this one;

Gusty
“Ice'd Phantasm”

Gurney slid open the window hatch, and stepped to the side, smirking. “Take a look.”

Glancing cautiously at the griffon, she approached the viewport and looked inside. At first, she had difficulty discerning what was inside; she could see white, but not much in the way of shapes, as if there were a sheet over the other side of the window. Then, she noticed that the depth of the image would undulate, as if the room contained clouds. Angry clouds, she surmised, given the rapid shifting of shadow.

Retcon almost took a step back in surprise when the flurry behind the door abruptly slowed. It was a hailstorm, she realised, contained within the room, vicious shards of ice battering the window, though somehow not a sound of this obvious barrage made it through the metal door.

As she watched, the white, grey and cyan of the storm clouds coalesced into a shape in the centre of the cyclone. A vaguely equine figure, a stormy blue-grey in colour, and two piercing icy eyes. Staring right at her.

Their eyes met. She felt as though she had been drenched in freezing water, paralysed to the spot.

After a terrible moment, the creature tossed its head wildly, and vanished once more behind a dense curtain of cold and ice and cloud.

Retcon started breathing again.

“May I present to you,” said Gurney in a low tone, “the only known Windigo in captivity.”

She shook her head slowly, still eyeing the window. “What… is a Windigo?”

“Terrible creatures.” He sounded surprisingly reverential. “Ancient beasts of magic. They feed off of negative emotions, which increases their power. The stronger they are, the colder the air around them becomes, leading to a vicious downward spiral. These creatures very nearly caused the extinction of my kind and the ponies.” He glanced over at Retcon. “Gives you the shivers, doesn’t it?”

“Is it safe in there?” Even though she couldn’t hear it, seeing the chaos behind the door, an indoor blizzard, had put her on edge.

Gurney shrugged nonchalantly. “I think this thing’s been here longer than anyone working at the Institute.” He slid the window hatch shut with a clank. “It wouldn’t surprise me if the Institute originally grew out of the attempts to contain it, at least that’s what I heard. I dunno, Sky has the files on it.”

Retcon pointed at the label beside the door. “Its name is Gusty? Sounds like an understatement,” she quipped.

“Nah. Best I can tell, Gusty was the one who brought it in. They must’ve worked here years ago.”

…Well I thought that was funny, she griped at Gurney’s lack of reaction to her joke.

The only known captive Windigo… A dangerous magical entity, the likes of which nearly ended her species, and it was being kept in a room in the same building as she; a no-one with no memories.

What is the point to showing me all this, she wondered. She knew that she couldn’t reasonably conclude that her suspicions were warranted. She felt lost, trapped in a maze of doors, with the walls slowly closing in on her, hunting for some small spark of familiarity.

The Windigo… scared her, she had to admit. It was the way Gurney’s voice had dipped as he explained what it did, the way that arrogant smirk left his beak. She was thankful the creature was being kept behind the huge metal door. Thankful to its jailers.

Was that the point? To reassure her, that they keep such creatures locked away to keep her safe?

Or to let her know that she, like the emotion-eater, could easily be contained?

Here she stood beside the griffon, on one side of the metal door, as she pictured the creature in the blizzard on the other side. It crossed her mind just how little metal there was between them.

---

“This is a toothbrush, and that’s toothpaste.”

Retcon glanced at her reflection in her bathroom mirror, who looked just as lost as she felt. “Explain.”

Lemony smiled patiently. “So what you do is, you take this tube, pop the cap like this. See? Then you squeeze a small amount of the paste onto the brush, about the size of… well, about that much. Then, you swill it under the tap, just for a second, and then you brush your teeth with it.”

She scrutinised the proffered toothbrush closely. What a convoluted procedure. “Why?”

“Well, to keep your teeth clean and healthy. Brush your teeth twice a day, and you prevent plaque and stinky breath.”

Retcon looked sceptically at the brush. “So… twice a day, you scrub the food out of your face?”

“Pretty much. Give it a go?”

Sitting on her hindquarters, she gingerly took the brush with both forehooves, twisting it around with interest, before trying to brush her teeth. “Yaaah-hahh?” she asked, looking straight at Lemony.

“Yep. Uhh, but, watch what you’re doing in the mirror. There you go! No no no, spit out the toothpaste, don’t eat it.”

“Bleh. How does it taste cold?

Lemony giggled. “That flavour is called mint.”

Retcon bared her teeth at the mirror. “How did I do?”

“Heh, good enough! Next time though, maybe go a little slower. Aim to brush your teeth for about two minutes total, okay?”

“Okay.” She laid the toothbrush back in the pot by the sink. Not going to ask what a minute is, I’ll just sound dumb. She tuned to the unicorn and tried to look appreciative. “Thanks.”

Lemony’s expression brightened, giving off a sensation of warmth. “You’re welcome!” She nodded back into Retcon’s bedroom. “Come on, I’ve got some things to show you!”

There was a trolley, a different trolley, in the middle of her room when the two of them had returned. This time instead of food, there was an assortment of papers, bound into individual piles of greatly differing styles. A few of the assortments met her internal definition of the word ‘book’, but there were a few that didn’t; collections of papers that either didn’t have an outer cover, or for which the outer cover was simply yet more paper. She didn’t have a word for those. Perhaps the word ‘book’ could stretch to encompass all of them? That would be helpful if so, she thought.

“I’ve got you some stuff to read!” said the unicorn. “I didn’t know what you would have wanted, so I got you a little of everything, really, fiction and non-fiction.”

“What’s ‘fiction’?”

“Fiction is when the story is just a story.” Lemony nodded to herself, seemingly finding the right words. “Like, if it’s made up and not real. Non-fiction is factual stuff, but fiction can be more imaginative, you don’t need to take it seriously.”

…Wait. “You mean, some of these books are false?”

Lemony snort-laughed. “Well, not exactly! They’re not trying to pretend to be true. They’re just stories.”

“But why would you read those?”

“Because they can be fun!”

Retcon frowned. “I don’t get it. If it’s not true…”

“Just give it a go, trust me. Fiction allows you to step into somepony’s imagination, it’s difficult to describe but I think you’ll really like it.”

“Okay, what’s ‘imagination’?”

Lemony smirked, picking up a large book with a thick cover with a forehoof. “I’ve also got you a dictionary if you come across words you don’t know. Thought you might find one useful.”

“Dictionary?” She inspected the plain cover. “Is it a part of the fiction?”

“Hah, no, the dictionary is non-fiction; factual. It’s a collection of all the words assembled in alphabetical order, so if you ever come across one you don’t know, you can look it up and find out the definition.”

“Right.” That’s useful for someone with amnesia, good to hear they have a book for ponies who forget their words. Though… “What’s… ‘alphabetical’?”

“Y’know, a, b, c, et cetera?” Retcon looked at her blankly. She placed the dictionary back on the trolley. “Huh, well, nevermind.”

The pegasus blinked. “Wait, how can you tell whether a book is fiction or not-fiction?”

“Um, well, you just kinda… know.”

Retcon raised a brow.

“Right, yeah, okay,” Lemony stammered. “Pretty much the general rule is that if the book is telling you a story, it’s probably fictional. Argh, but even then… Sorry, I hadn’t thought that through...” Lemony was… annoyed?

“Uh, it’s okay, right?” Retcon tried to reassure her, but she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t like it when Lemony was annoyed. “Hey, maybe you can tell me which is which?”

The unicorn’s annoyance seemed to dissipate pretty quickly. “Sure, good idea! What sort of thing would you like to start with?”

“I… I actually have no idea.” What did she want to read? She had never considered reading for… fun? She knew she could parse written language, except of course for the odd unfamiliar word, but it wasn’t a subject she had thought of as something for which someone could have a preference. It was like being asked ‘what are your favourite things to look at?’ “Why don’t you pick me something?”

She couldn’t quite place the expression Lemony gave her in response, but the unicorn seemed to be particularly pleased with the request. “Ooh! How about…” She retrieved a book with a very thin, colourful cover. “…This! It’s a comic book, it tells a story with illustrations to go along with it. It’s all fictional, but it’s pretty fun!”

The cover had a lot of bold, striking colours, with a drawing of several ponies in action poses. Taking up the greatest space was a white-coated pony with glasses, loose-fitting white clothes and a black belt around his barrel, wielding a short sword in his mouth. In the corner was an especially mean-looking crimson-coated deer. At the top was the title; ‘The Adventures of the White Knife VS the Red-Faced Buck’.

Retcon took the proffered book, smiling. “Sure, I’ll give this a go. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome! Oh!” Lemony pulled some papers out from the bottom of the pile. It consisted of a folded blank manila cover, inside of which was a loose sheet of paper. She held it out. “Your file.”

The pegasus blinked. “My… file?”

“Yeah, I had to get everyone to sign off on it, but… this is a copy of the file we have on you.” Her smile turned a little sad. “Like I said earlier, we don’t have much on you, but… maybe this will help put your mind at ease.”

Her magenta eyes never left Retcon’s golden ones.

Gingerly, the pegasus took the file. “Thank you.”

Lemony just smiled warmly in response. She nodded at the trolley. “So hey, I’ll leave those with you if you like. I’ve gotta clock out, but I’ll be back to see you tomorrow morning, cool?”

“Yeah, sure. …Uhh, are you going to lock the door?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. Nothing personal, I assure you, it’s just standard procedure. Sorry.”

She nodded. “I understand.” Had to make sure.

Lemony stifled a yawn. She seemed to have been tired for a while. “So, goodnight! I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

“Oh, yeah! Tomorrow!” She tried to look cheerful as the unicorn closed the door behind her, though the weak grin dropped completely as she heard the click of the door lock. I guess, after seeing that gravity thing, and the… Windy-thing… She sighed to herself. I can see why they’d lock a stranger in for the night. She glanced around the room. It’s at least nicer here than…

The file returned to the forefront of her mind. Jumping up onto her bed, she laid down on her front and brought the paper out from the folder;

Property of Royal Investigation Institute
CLASSIFIED - EYES ONLY
do not copy
do not remove from facility
do not transfer

Sort: LS.028
Subject ID: C13.274.B
Type: Fauna, F
Hazard Assessment: F
Subject Classification: Pony, P
Identifying Features: olive coat, forest-green mane and tail, tree mark.
Feature(s) of Interest: Total amnesia. Has no memory of life before arrival at facility. Appears to remember language and recognises certain subjects such as food, some artificial objects, and other sapients. Maintains the intelligence expected for her age, however will require societal reintegration.
Containment Procedure: Standard Unknown Sapient Procedures apply. Subject is to be assigned to standard sapient quarters, and is to be permitted rights in accordance with behaviour at assignee’s discretion.
History of Subject: Subject was discovered outside of town unconscious, Appeared to have collided with the ground head-first during flight. She was transferred to the Everfree facility shortly after where she was stabilised.
Assignee: Lemony Meringue
Notes: Has selected for herself the name 'Retcon'.

Filed by: Flt Lt Light Shower

Retcon chewed the inside of her cheek. Well, that’s a load of… useless. She slid the paper back into the folder. ‘Murrang’ is spelt really weird. So I guess Lemony is in charge of me? Still weird that they would pick the historian; both Shower and Gurney would make more sense. She glanced around the room. So this is ‘standard sapient quarters’? Considering the manticore’s room…

A thought came to her. Standing up, she trotted over to the window, looking out into the courtyard. Again, she could see a few windows which had bars set vertically into them. She had yet to see any rooms with bars in the windows from the inside, and neither the room with the manticore or the Windy-thing had windows. At least her’s didn’t.

Although… looking closer at the paint on the windowsill, there were barely distinguishable circular swirls, looking as if they had been painted over separately. Looking up, there were similar swirls directly above each one next to the glass.

Frowning, Retcon pushed it from her mind, returning back to her bed. Nothing she could do about it now. She resolved however to keep an eye out for rooms with barred windows. Particularly the containment cells she had seen with Gurney; she wanted to know what kind of room would require metal bars in the windows, and checking the other cells by the manticore seemed like an ideal place to start. If she could ever get some time to herself outside her room.

Though, Lemony had left her for a short time, when she met that Guard. If such an opportunity were to arise again, she could perhaps sneak away and slide open some of the viewing hatches on the big metal doors. She could at least excuse it as curiosity, whereas going through the many wooden doors in the corridors required actually opening and entering. That would be less easy to make excuses for.

What was that Guard looking for again? If she had seen… what was it? No matter, she shook her head to dismiss the thought. Not important.

She glanced back at the file. I wonder which town I was near, did I live there? Where did I lose my memory? She frowned. Why doesn’t it say?

Comments

[Not A Watermelon]

Man, you’re gonna run out of ciphers.

[Deus]

Huh, this is really intriguing! Loving the mystery and how Retcon makes you question everything. Looking forward to the next chapter!

also I'm way to dumb for these cyphers lmao

[dark_samus3]

encoding: hex
message: Don't talk to me about those things.

[RoboRed]

Filed by: Flt Lt Light Shower

🤔

Yeah, maybe I'm just reaching here.

Also, Retcon is adorable in how she seems to miss just every other social nuance.

[DIRKWITHAGUN]

10633321
thats when you start combining them!