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Lucretia erased a century worth of memories, but those few moments, right after she did what she did, those moments were never written down. And three men who did not belong on the planet they lived on remembering out-of-place hints of memories they could not for the life of them explain.
Taako remembered, vaguely, killing a man he did not know for a reason he did not remember, on a ship he did not remember entering. He recalls the brief feelings of grief en panic and then– nothing.
Merle remembered being in the presence of a gnome, afraid and barely aware of his surroundings, repeating a name, presumably his own, over and over, as if forcing himself to remember it. There was hysteria in his voice, panic on his face, worsening by the second. He remembered looking out the window and seeing a world unfamiliar to him. Had he ever been on an airplane, a spaceship? He doesn’t recall.
Magnus remembered a young woman, with a face he felt like he should know but he didn’t, begging for his forgiveness. He didn’t know this woman. He didn’t know what she was apologizing for. She was crying, and he felt like he should, too, but. Why would he be crying? Confusing clouded his mind completely before he could think of an answer.
None of the memories made sense, so they were pushed aside. Dismissed as a recurring dream, vividly remembered, quickly forgotten.
(except they weren’t forgotten, were they? not these memories, not like the others)
There was something familiar about Barry Bluejeans, Taako thought. There was a sense of wrongness that surrounded him, the thought ‘’shouldn’t you be dead?’’ repeated in his mind. But he was certain he’d never met this man before, and Barry hadn’t given any signs of knowing him either, so he let it go. When they saw Barry get consumed by the fire they caused, not being able to do anything, his first thought was “I killed him again.” Then, moments later, “again?’’
“Davenport!” The gnome in front of them proclaims his name happily, almost proudly, but it unnerves Merle for reasons he cannot comprehend. No one else seems to be as bothered by gnome as he is and Merle feels both like he is missing something and like he knows more than anyone in the room. He learns that this is how the gnome always speaks, in a language made up of nothing but his own name. It is quickly accepted as normal by the members of the BoB, but the name echoes in Merle's thoughts like an alarm, the voice in his head quickly losing its composure as it repeats “Davenport, Davenport, I’m davenport, I’m DAVENPORT!’’
Things were happening too fast for Magnus to focus on the strange familiarity of the Director. His head was pounding, then he was remembering a war he’d forgotten for 10 years, then he was accepting a job offer, and all the while he was pushing the thoughts that he should know this woman off the front of his mind. They would stay with him though, in the months after that first meeting, and they would become overwhelming whenever she apologizes offhand, for being late, for making them wake up early. It wouldn’t matter for what, whenever the Director says the words ‘’I’m sorry,” his mind supplies an edge of hysteria to her voice that brings up half-forgotten memories and another pounding headache.