Memory Hatcher

Subject: Memory Hatcher Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:54 am

Quote :: A Memory Hatcher is a corporal entity which usually hides in objects. They have the tendency to infect big objects in densely populated places (e.g. a copier in a school/office).
If they are openly visible, they look like rather small, colourful and shiny jewel eggs. Many people find them rather pretty and there have been necklaces made with Memory Hatchers (most allegedly "cursed").
Inside an infected object, it grows long, thin crystal threads into it. Despite the fragile appearance, a Memory Hatcher and its threads are almost impossible to break.
Search out shows the object pulsating, with vein-lined eggs growing out of it. It can also appear organic (a bit like a foetus or innards) or show a slimy, proboscis-like protrusion.

After being in contact with an infected object for a while, people will start making up excuses why they need to revisit this object. Those can appear perfectly reasonable even if they are not immediately necessary. Most people react rather civilly if their reason is disproved but will quickly have new reasons. Some people might also react in a dismissive and wary to aggressive manner.

If someone is around the object for a prolonged time, they will slowly start to forget. It usually starts out with rarely revisited memories or mundane things of day-to-day life that reasonably might slip your mind. This quickly escalates to forgetting valuable and important memories, though.
The subject might not notice this at first since the Memory Hatcher also feeds it memories. Those however are pure fiction, even though some might resemble jumbled-up memories of other persons. Some people are more susceptible to memories with a real source than others. Rare individuals proclaimed themselves "clairvoyant" because of this.
In the worst case, the victims forget every real memory. Instead, everything they remember is pure fiction which hampers them dealing with the easiest life tasks. After the Memory Hatcher's influence is gone, however, they are able to retain memories normally again. Which is why after a short stay in psychiatry (because Memory Hatchers like offices, their influence is often regarded as a work-related mental illness not unlike burnout), most victims start to recover to a degree where they are able to function again. Victims have a tendency not to question fake memories, although they are able to recognise them if provided with enough evidence.
Some people have also reported very vivid, realistic fantasies (usually of the 'exciting' kind, often positive, sometimes not) when around the object.

The most executed method of BANISHING a Memory Hatcher, based on a very old recipe, is dissolving it. For this, it needs to be fully removed from the object it infected. (Due to its sturdiness and tendency to develop complicated thread canals, not a simple task. If it hasn't infected something with the consistency of almond paste.)
You need a basin where it fits in and cook up the following ingredients inside:
- Water
- Vinegar, enough to distinctly smell it
- Rosemary, at least a handful
- Cloves, at least a handful
- Butyric acid, enough to smell it (you can find it in butter, parmesan cheese and vomit if you're really desperate)

You'd better wear something like a perfumed operation mask so the overwhelming smell does not distract you or cause you harm (headaches, throwing up, fainting, etc). You also need a strong, sour taste on your tongue. Keep a slice of lemon or lemon-flavoured candy in your mouth. Best bet.

After it completely dissolved in the fluid, be sure to seal it away somewhere. Burying it in airproof containers is the usual modus operandi. You might find some at chem labs or hardware stores if you're lucky.

An alternative approach suggests that certain high frequencies and a careful hit with a random hammer (nothing you have a personal connection to in any way) might reduce it to dust. Which could be removed from the object carefully. Extra attention would be necessary not to leave a single speck of dust unaddressed. Then, the dust would also be sealed in a container and stowed away out of people's reach. We never got around finishing that method, though, so that's just out there.

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