Down the Rabbit Hole

Posted on 11 Jul 2026 @ 1:23pm by Lieutenant Ryan Collingway & Lieutenant Commander Steven Remington

509 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Streets of Sherman Oaks

///Streets of Sherman Oaks///

As they continued to walk, Ryan thought about what the doctor said about their memories returning. He definitely was relieved that this might be only temporary, rather than stay in this limbo forever. Right now it felt like his memory was a puzzle with several missing pieces, but as time went on more of those pieces should click into place, with probably the 1984 memories diminishing as a result.

But there was still one piece that didn't fit into anything. One that sat beside itself. His memory as a teenager. It scratched at him. A green-skinned alien..an Orion...pointing a gun at him. That weapon had been set to kill. A flash.

Why didn't he die from that?

[I]Hold the memory gently until you can process it. As soon as it is reasonable, call me, or Commander Batenburg. Try not to go down the rabbit hole with something.[/i] A calm voice instructed him. One that was familiar and not at the same time.

It was good advice.

One that Ryan ignored.

It wasn't as though this was a good time to mention it to Batenburg anyway.

Instead he scratched at the memory. Demanded answers.

Once again he saw himself as a teenager. There had been something in his hands at the time. He couldn't remember what it was.

The Orion had fired...but not at him. Something beside him.

The weapon shifted to him, with a promise that he was next.

Ryan gasped a little as he opened his eyes. That was all his memory wanted to reveal. He noticed Riah and Steve watching him. Riah had been in the middle of another scan around the area, and probably noticed his blood pressure spiking. "I'm fine," he said quickly. "Just a bad memory."

Amberlyn looked concerned. "From what happened in the last 36 hours?" she asked.

"No," Ryan said. "Before." Seeing her prying gaze, he sighed. "I've been dealing with some suppressed memories with Doctor Emerson. It seems like what happened to me also seems to have disturbed them as well."

"That's very interesting. You should both be cognizant of this, that other memories that have been dormant or suppressed may indeed bubble up," said Riah. "Please let me know if that's happening. I won't intrude upon your memories, but that could be very disruptive of your peace of mind." This was an element which she had not considered. "There appears to be a need to sort real memories, imposed memories and even imagined memories." The human mind was still such an unknown quantity.

"Nothing for me. I'm still just trying to make sense of being part of 2425," said Steve, now a little curious: what he might remember suddenly.

"It's a lot," Ryan agreed. "But I'll keep my head on the mission," he promised.

Steve looked at his scanner. "Clyde's picking up Lieutenant Flammia's life signs now. We're close."

~~~
Lieutenant Ryan Collingway
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn

LtCmdr Riah Amberlyn, XMD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Arawyn

LtCmdr Steve Remington
Chief Science Officer
USS Arawyn

 

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