Video - Eliminate Nightmares With This One Weird Trick!

[fractaljesus]

Greetings, Lunatia. I am Yaha-kui zaShunina.

I understand that the Lunatian government has advised you to refrain from sleep for as long as possible. I also understand that for biological entities, doing so is difficult and results in both physical and mental strain that is detrimental to the health of the organism as a whole.

Thus, I present a solution.

[Rising into view of the feed is an oblong object, floating innocuously in front of zaShunina's chest.]

This is called "Sansa." It is a device from my world that, when activated, has various effects upon the brain of those who view it, but the most relevant among these is the ability to no longer require sleep, though they may choose to do so if they desire. This effect also works when viewed over video transmission.

I will make this voluntary. If you wish to view the activated Sansa and receive its effects, continue watching this feed. If you do not, please close the video now.


[zaShunina gives about ten seconds of silence to allow any who want to leave do so. After that, the object suddenly begins to move without another word from him. It splits into cross-sections and rotates in the air, and any still watching the video will experience some very unsettling sensations.

Nausea, mostly, but also an overwhelming sense of awareness such that they've likely never experienced before. Awareness of higher dimensions, and sudden awareness of more of themselves stretching off into these higher dimensions. The effect only lasts for a few seconds, and everything suddenly comes crashing back to the present time and place as the Sansa returns to its inert state.]

For those who have remained to view the Sansa, I will gladly answer your questions.

(OOC Note: How much the Sansa affects your character (if at all) is entirely up to you.)

Comments

un: robotman; video

[evilgrows]

[Oh, Robotnik remembers this guy. Freaked his brain out something fierce, and it took forever to sort everything out as he learned things the hard way.

But not having to sleep? Screw what's going on now, screw the side effects, that'd be useful.

So he goes ahead with it. He stares at the screen and lets whatever the hell it's doing wash over him. It's... it's a lot to take in, but it's also familiar, in a way, not hard to handle, and it's over almost as soon as it started.

Wild.

And when he's done reeling from that, he opens his own camera, although he still looks mildly queasy.]

...I feel like I've experienced worse.

[fractaljesus]

[Hello again.]

The effects of the Sansa should not be as intense as those you experienced when we connected through the Dinnumion. [He can recognize this much, at least.]

[evilgrows]

Great. Good to know there's a scale. And this fully negates the need for sleep?

[If he has to do sone kind of top up later, that'll be annoying.]

un: anema nera

[goingsoft]

So, uh-

[ Huh. That video. Sure was a thing. ]

-just to make sure, I havn't fucked up my brain, like, super permanently or anything, right? Because I feel like I've fucked up my brain.

I mean- worth it. But still, good to know if it. Like. Wears off.

Ever.

[fractaljesus]

[zaShunina smiles to reassure her, shaking his head.]

No damage should have incurred. [And she doesn't appear to be suffering any unusual aftereffects. Apart from the expected ones, at least.]

What you perceive in your current state to be the entirety of yourself is only a small fragment of you; the majority of you extends into higher dimensions of which you are normally unaware. The Sansa is nothing more than a window--viewing it allows one to look through these higher dimensions and become aware of the other "yous" that extend to these higher dimensions.

It does not truly eliminate the need to sleep, but rather, the awareness it grants allows you to utilize these other "selves" to meet this need. While one sleeps, the others also gain the benefits of it without needing to sleep themselves.

Do you understand?

[goingsoft]

You used the phrase 'higher dimensions' like. Three times. So no, not really. I mean- I'm grateful. And I'm sure that'd be a great explanation for someone who'd had maybe three years of studying philosophy. It's just that it just looks like a giant demon walnut got chopped up and danced around to me.

[ But she does, at least, attempt to think it over. ]

What I'm getting is that there's some other me, presumably in a place with less sleep-murder. And I make her do all my sleeping for me for now. Then if I feel like it I can take a nap or two to pay her back once it's safe to? Is that about right?

video | un: donyoku

[naturalgreed]

I have quite a bit of questions.

You say it is from your world, but do you know who made it? And the reason why someone made such a thing? As well as what it was originally used for? It wasn't made to prevent sleep after all, was it?

[fractaljesus]

I created the Sansa. [He answers immediately, without even a hint of hesitation or worry.]

Its original purpose had been to expand the awareness of the human brain to the anisotropic and thus expedite their advancement as a species. Moreover, with sleep no longer a necessity, it would allow for an increase in productivity and unprecedented progress. The Sansa was a gift to humanity.

Does that adequately answer your questions?

Video | UN: hijikata

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata hesitates for just a moment, then he makes his decision. There's a crisis of people getting hurt in their sleep, so if he can avoid adding to the victim count and instead help 24/7 without needing rest it's a no-brainer. Watching the Sansa feels absolutely unreal, like taking a glance into the programming behind the world, and he ends up with a queasy sensation in his stomach.]

Where are you from that you have a thing like that?

[Sorry, zaShunina, he doesn't know you've already been explaining that... maybe they should have held a conference call, but logistics!! Honestly, what worries Hijikata the most right now is that he may still be like this after he eventually gets sent back to his world and everyone will get angry at him for having one personality quirk too many.]

[fractaljesus]

[Honestly, zaShunina wouldn't be able to tell him whether the effect would remain if and when he leaves this world. But, since Hijitaka hasn't asked, he can't tell him as much.]

My origin is Novo--translated, it means "anisotropic". I was able to produce the Sansa in this world by utilizing Summonrock Chalk.

[mayoninofukucho]

[He'll find out one of these days... honestly, it really would make his life so much easier, but it would also put an end to all those feel-good fanworks that start with him falling asleep at his work desk. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.]

Aniso... yeah, sorry, you lost me. I get the second part, so thanks for that. I don't think many people would have been able to pull this off.

text | un: kishibe

[penpoint]

This will be permanent, right? How does it work?

Continuing in video for him

[fractaljesus]

Yes, it is permanent. However, as I mentioned, you will still be capable of sleep should you choose to do so.

[As for how it works...]

You are familiar with microscopes, I presume. When viewed through the lens of a microscope, minuscule organisms that you could not perceive otherwise become visible to you. These microbes have always been present, but until you viewed them through the device, you could not perceive them. But once perceived, you become consciously aware of their existence even if you cannot see them.

The Sansa is similar to this; it is merely a window--a lens that allows the viewer to perceive the higher dimensions that omnipresently exist. They become aware of how they themselves exist across these higher dimensions. This awareness allows you to utilize the entirety of yourself--while part of you sleeps elsewhere, the rest of you gains the benefits of this sleep, even without doing it yourself.

[penpoint]

That sounds amazing to me. Is there any consequences to be aware of?

Or is this one of those fool-proof situations?

I'm familiar. It makes sense. So it's only one part of me that fully takes on the burden of sleep while the rest of me benefits. I like it. Is this technology common where you're from?

text; un: ruffestrabbit

[zunge]

Its appearance reminds me of a brain.

Is it normal to feel nauseated after viewing this?

[fractaljesus]

The appearance is coincidental.

Yes, that is a common reaction. The human brain is not optimized to perceive more than three dimensions--viewing the Sansa forces that perception upon it, and this may cause enough mental stress to induce headaches or nausea. This will pass momentarily.

[zunge]

I see. Good. Vomit doesn't taste good.

video

[lacrimose]

I feel kind of dizzy... You think it still worked for someone like me?

[Someone who already isn't fully human, he means.]

[fractaljesus]

Akira.

[As soon as zaShunina sees who it is, his smile warms, affection reflected in his eyes.]

Yes, as your brain is configured for three-dimensional space, it will have affected you. [At least to some capacity.]

[lacrimose]

Hey. [He stops making a confused face long enough to offer a smile of his own and a little wave at the screen.]

All right, I trust you. Thanks for helping us all out.

video; un: xinmo

[bailian]

Someone asked how this was possible, and you spoke of other versions of ourselves.

[ He can't help think of the parallel between two Shizuns that were both the same man yet entirely different all at once. ]

What did you mean by that?

[ Different souls? Various worlds like this where other selves are living out their lives? There's too many possibilities and this sounds too important for guesswork. ]

[fractaljesus]

Not other versions--other cross-sections. What you perceive as the whole of your "self" is merely a fragment of a greater individual that extends into higher dimensions.

[zaShunina brings a stack of of papers into view of the video.] I will use these pages as a model for this explanation.

For the sake of this demonstration, consider a two-dimensional entity whose entire existence exists on the surface of a sheet of paper. They would would be able to comprehend the directions of forward and backward, left and right, but would have no concept of up or down. However, directly adjacent to them on either side exist other sheets with their own two-dimensional entities, entirely undetected by one another.

[And then he sticks his fingers through the stack, as though it were no more solid than water.]

To the "world" at the bottom of the stack, my fingers would appear as five separate objects, as without the dimension of height, they cannot comprehend they are connected. The "world" above this would also see five objects, but these would differ just slightly from the "world" below it. This would continue to the top of the stack, with each world viewing a slightly different version of the same object; my hand. However, these are not "different versions" at all, but rather continuations of the same hand. Cross-sections.

[He pulls his hand from the stack of papers, leaving behind no damage to the papers themselves.]

You are the same way--a single cross-section, with the rest of you extending into adjacent cross-sections that you cannot perceive.

Do you understand?

video

[pokexplorer]

[The content of this post isn't super relative to Colress since he has already been exposed to the Sansa, but he still can't help but comment...]

Oh! What a great idea, zaShunina! The effects of the Sansa have been invaluable in keeping my productivity up during this time. I do hope that those who watch find similar success.

Re: video

[fractaljesus]

[Oh, hello there. zaShunina will greet him with a familiar smile.]

I am glad to see you, Colress.

Though the means became available to me before this incident, I had initially decided against revealing the Sansa. [Thanks to certain canon-updaty knowledge.] My decision to do so now is only as a result of the current circumstances.

[pokexplorer]

Likewise! It has been some time, hasn't it?

[zaShunina looks much better than last he'd seen him, and he's very pleased about that!]

Indeed, this does seem like a case of desperate circumstances requiring desperate measures. [But now that zaShunina mentions it...] How did you manage to acquire it outside of the Amphoria pods?