ArchivedLogs:Shared Hallucination

Shared Hallucination
Dramatis Personae Ash, Rasputin, Samuel
In Absentia	2013-09-10 '
Location <NYC> High Line - Chelsea
Built on a freight rail, the High Line once was a railroad and has been reclaimed as green space in the middle of the city. A park situated high above Manhattan, what was once a rusty industrial wasteland is now a stretch of peaceful space to lounge and relax among grass and flowers and plant life. There are restaurants, ice cream sandwich stands, a beer garden, and the view all along the elevated parkland is unbeatable. It's late afternoon, the evening is on it's way in and the High Line is busy, both with the locals who've come from work and with tourists taking the chance to visit the park. The sun's still up, though it's not far from setting. Samuel walks through the park with a faint smile as he speaks with a young woman, they're both dressed for business, the woman looking over some files on a PDA while Samuel simply has a hand in his pocket. His memory for schedules and such is famous (at least when he's got physical contact with anything that's got files on it). "No, I won't be back in the office today. I should really make a habit of getting out more often. I'll call it an early day. Let's call it a day early." The woman nods, hiding a brief moment of surprised as she taps in a few commands on her PDA, then she's placing it into her pocket. "Thank you sir." With that she's turning and making her way out of the park. Samuel simply continues his slow stroll. Also admiring this beautiful day is Rasputin, in hir normal cat body. Strays are not too strange in New York, and Rasputin is no exception, though ze is still careful to avoid police and animal control. This is why Rasputin is perched inside a bush, tail gently swaying out with only the tip visible, playing with a small cellphone. Ze is trying to make the buttons work, but is unable to due to tiny paws. Ze meows a bit, and it turns into a hush grumble. "Damn it, why was I cursed like this?" Rasputin grabs the phone with hir mouth, and makes hir way out of the bush, leaping up a nearby tree. Rasputin places the phone gently down on a branch. Ash wanders upon the scene, one hand thrust deep in a jean pocket, while the other holds the handles on his lunch box and thermos. He has a hard hat stuffed under his pocketed arm, very much looking like a typical construction worker. He's decked out in a white tee shirt with roughed up and faded denim around his legs, tan steel toed work boots and a red and yellow plaid flannel tied around his waist. He also appears to be coated in a fine layer of dirt, but that is not remarkable given the rest of his gear. He whistles quietly and brokenly to himself as he walks, taking in the sights and more particularly the people around him. Sam takes a breath once he's on his own, letting a small smile creep across his face. He takes in his surroundings, then he spots the phone. And the cat that's carrying it. He approaches the cat with a thoughtful frown. "Now, where did you get that?" Rasputin looks over to Samuel, meowing. Suddenly, the meow morphs into a humanoid voice, not too loud, but loud enough that Samuel can hear it.. "Well, I bought it off a guy in Harlem. Totally legal, I swear." Ze smiles a bit, grabbing the phone again. It's an older model, no touch screen, just buttons. Ze then places it infront of hir. "Oh shoot, forgot to properly introduce myself, need to learn ettiquette and stuff. My name is Rasputin, nice to meet you.". Rasputin purrs, making a smile again as best as ze can. Ash happens by when Samuel decides to challenge a cat and a tree for a phone. His brow wrinkles up as he considers, but as Samuel seems rather casual about it, he is less inclined to pause at this point. He does watch though. Samuel had wondered about the cat in the tree with a phone, it had been a peculiarity, one which warranted comment. The cat however soon spoke, this defied all reason of course. Eyes widening, mouth moving but not working, Samuel eventually manages the only response that comes to mind. "You're a cat." Of course the cat in question must be unaware of this fact, or else it wouldn't be speaking. Laughing, Rasputin shakes hir head. "My body is that of a cat, but my mind..well, I'd say that's different. But, I guess this is pretty freaky. Well, as freaky as flamethrowers and telepaths, atleast.". Rasputin finally spots Ash, and waves a paw, before realizing hir body is different and stopping. "No need to be alarmed, though, I have my shots, no rabies, I'm fixed, et cetera. I'm just, I guess, not afraid to be me.". Rasputin rambles on like this for a few more moments, before stopping hirself. "Sorry, I ramble a bit. Nice to meet you, again.". Ash stops in his tracks when the cat begins to gesture at him and speak, a deepening furrow marring his forehead. He takes a moment and inhales deeply, looking the cat over and shaking his head, a small twitch making its way up his spine. "I'm sorry, gatito, I think I would remember a talking cat. You must have me confused with one of the several million people who live in New York City." He glances toward Samuel and frowns. "The cat yours?" Samuel seems to finally get his composure back, at least enough to follow the conversation. He looks at Ash. "No, not my cat. I've never met a talking cat before." He looks at the cat, studying it for a moment. "I'd suspect a mutant of some kind?" He then sighs. "However, it does answer the question of how the phone was acquired. "Actually, last time we met, I was a bird. I can understand why you'd be confused though.". Rasputin replies to Ash, before looking up to Samuel. "Mutant, yes. And yes, the phone is mine.". Rasputin waves hir tail around a bit. "Did not mean to startle you. I never mean to startle. It's just hard to talk to people like this, I guess." Rasputin goes to follow it up, but looks down at time on phone. "Oh crap, crap, I have somewhere I need to be. Nice to meet you, and nice to see you again, mister..construction guy? See you around, perhaps. Well actually probably not, since I don't live around here and getting down here is difficult, so.". Rasputin then leaps off the tree with the phone, trotting off somewhere. Ash marvels for a moment on how a cat is actually able to carry anything, too stunned to really do much. Then he looks over at Samuel and raises an eyebrow. "Okay, so that just happened, right? Because I have actually had brain surgery in the last year and I do need to be careful that I am not actually hallucinating things like talking cats with cell phones that claim to have been birds. Sorry to be strange, but could you help a fellow out? I need to know if I need to get to a doctor." He tries to smile, but his forehead continues to be wrinkled in concern. Rasputin goes home. Samuel speaks in slow, almost uncertain tones. "I heard a talking cat, I don't know what happened exactly, but I definately heard a talking cat." He then frowns thoughtfully. "I'm not exactly sure I'd rule out hallucinations." "Well, if it is a shared hallucination, I will just assume that a mutant is to blame and not some blood vessel acting up in my brain." Ash gives Samuel a smile and a nod, then turns to start walking away. "Thank you for the confirmation. Unless you needed more reassurance, I should probably go." He pauses to make sure he is okay. Offering a wide grin to Ash, Sam seems vaguely amused now that the event has sunk in. "Thank you, but the trouble is, if you fear you're having a psychotic break what can you trust to be evidence that you're not? Anything could be part of the break." He shakes his head. "Still, a talking cat, quite a thing." "Eeech. Man, that's not helpful. Now I have to go check in with someone I know well and ask them to give me a fairly comprehensive examination of my ability to speak, hold my arms out, and smile and shit." Ash shakes his head and scuffs his toe, looking up the path toward the setting sun. "I should go. I'm sorry." Bowing his head Samuel frowns. "I apologise, I have a bad habit of speaking before I think." He shrugs a shoulder. "I hope you test well." With that he turns his attention back to the path he'd been taking.