[Drama] Hung a sign on a torn screen door

[Victor Freud]

"I'm not throwing my problems out of the window, I'm solving my problem. I need. To make. Room." Egon emphasized his words with his chopping hand gestures before he returned to his desk to try and sort through more of the ever-increasing paperwork.

[Emilie]

"Room for what?"

[Victor Freud]

Egon held out a thick handful of papers for not-Emilie to examine.

"For everything."

[Emilie]

She took the papers to look at them, mostly to placate him. As she looked them over, she doubled back to Sam and leaned in as if she were whispering to her, but her mouth didn't move. It was clear she was pointing her own thoughts at Sam specifically.

Is it possible he has taken in the thoughts and memories of other Freuds and his brain doesn't know one set of... data, from another's?

[Samantha McManus]

I mean, that would be positively bizarre and I'm not sure I know how to deal with some sort of... Ur-Freud?

[Emilie]

I could pinpoint which Freud was this Freud from the others, but I would have no way to anchor the proper bits... She sends back, then speaks up to Egon again.

"About how long has it been since you started receiving overwhelming paperwork loads? Do you know?" She asked of him, hoping to confirm her suspicions.

[Victor Freud]

"Oh ehm..." Egon dug around in the piles of papers for a desk calendar and flipped through it. "Ah, yes, about a week."

Actually looking at the papers, REALLY looking at them, would bring about images; so many conflicting flashes. Countless lifetimes of varying degrees of familiarity. Lives as doctors, lawyers, farmers, and bankers. As heroes. As villains. As kings. As paupers. Every colour of knight. Lives of the land, the sea, the sky. Underground and outer space. There were even a few dresses, too.

"It's just so much to sort through and ready for market, I had to stop operations just to try and get through it all. It's the bumper crop to end all bumper crops."

[Emilie]

She passed the papers onto Samantha to peruse with a knowing glance, then redirected her attention back to Egon.

"You're in luck Mr.Freud, as I just so happen to be the industry expert in your output." She probably didn't look the part of an expert. She'd done nothing to change her overall vibe, unlike Sam who was well suited to these scenarios and knew how to play the part.

" However, you need to understand that I'm just an analyst. My associate here is going to have to do the heavily lifting in terms of numbers crunching and paperwork.

That means you're going to have to concede some level of control of this project over to the both of us."

[Victor Freud]

Egon seemed to balk at the proposition, narrowing his eyes at Emilie. She really didn't look like an expert, what was she playing at? But as he opened his mouth to speak he gave pause.

"... I know you...."

[Emilie]

"As you should.

See? Getting things sorted already." She comments offhandedly.

[Victor Freud]

Egon snapped his fingers. "Luna! No, wait, or was it Sparrow? No, that was your sister, wasn't it? Or was that Wren. It was a bird name, like Raven...." Egon began walking around as he spoke, reaching into one of the massive stacks of papers and struggling to remove something. "Wait, do you have sisters? Maybe it's your mother I'm thinking of. Ophelia, right? Or was it Juniper? It was Juniper, right? We always just called her June. Lark! That was the bird name. Or was it a tree? Like Willow or Ivy or something. Birds live in trees, well except for chickens and burrowing owls. It was definitely something about nature...."

The man kept rambling off names as he pulled out another set of blueprints from the stack, looking at them for a moment before walking them over and pushing them into the box with the boots and the rejection letters.

"I'm terribly sorry, my memory really must not be what it once was. I'm pretty sure it started with a V, though. Vera, Vivienne... Violet? Oh I rather like Violet, even of you look more like a Scarlett. Then again, so does your friend. Speaking of... I thought you were going to help with this?"

[Emilie]

"Violet will do nicely." She replied.

"Let's not put the cart before the horse.

Morrigan? How shall we proceed?"

[Samantha McManus]

"Mister Freud, I know that farmers don't have much love for me and mine, but some things require a bird's eye."

As she speaks, a crow steps out from behind her shadow. Then another, and another, making a hopping procession to the window, where each takes flight in turn.

"As for you," she says with a turn to her associate, "I know trust isn't going to be easy with us, but I'm giving you mine. And my eyes. All of them."

She holds out her hand as the flock surveys the property, trying to hone in on the threads of different Freuds scattered about. Of course, she needs someone who knows all of them, so that's why she's trying to link up.

[Emilie]

'Violet' accepts the invitation from Samantha, and links hands with the other entity to symbolize a connection. Proving that at least at the moment she can be trusted, she does not make any power plays to try to overpower Samantha's will, putting all her focus on sorting out Freuds.

At least, for now anyways.

[Victor Freud]

From the outside, the two brothers got to see the murder of crows emerge from the house and take flight over the fields. Samantha would be able to feel the "scarecrow", the natural resistance Victor or anyone's mind had to such probing, though perhaps never before had it been manifested as actual scarecrows stationed out amongst the crops. With their unique vision they could see through the metaphors; the bankers boxes laying outside with their scattered contents being core parts of his self, what made Victor who he was, the contents the various experiences that had shaped him. Already more than half a dozen had been discarded, their contents slowly moving with the rest of the chaff toward the thresher. And the chaff itself, all of the information that a mind takes in day in, day out, but only small portions of it become true memories, and fewer still shape a person. Those useless memories are forgotten to make room for new ones, new crops that weren't being planted - and the reason why was obvious.

Above the farm, in those growing darkening storm clouds, was a myriad of countless lifetimes, all funneling in to the farmhouse. Hundred, perhaps thousands of lifetimes of memories containing vastly different experiences. Even if he were successful in discarding all of the commonalities, all of the shared experiences, all of the memories and skills that weren't somehow useful... Victor's brain could not possibly contain all of the best of the best as it seemingly intended. The harvest was too bountiful, and the cream of the crop too plentiful. His experience in the Astral had dumped 20 Olympic swimming pools over his head and he was trying to catch it all in a bucket; being conscious (and in the process, planting new crops) would only have been throwing additional cups of water at him as he did so. And so in his efforts to try and hold it all, or hold the best of it, he was dumping the bucket out only for it to overflow again and again. How long before his mind reached the point where it began poking holes in the bucket, or cutting the bottom out entirely.

With "Violet"'s aid, the two would be able to see the context of much those fleeting moments swirling around the slowly-spinning funnel, and why he would have been working so hard to keep so much of them. Lifetimes as doctors that had developed cures, great inventors, mathematicians, adventurers, heroes, billionaires, even more mundane professions, and some that were just bizarre. So much knowledge, skills, and experiences that could be used to improve his life, to help others - it should be no wonder why Egon was so frantic to keep so much of it.

[Samantha McManus]

"...Mister Freud, I think you're missing the most obvious solution to your problem."

"Indeed, I believe I could suggest a significant new revenue stream which would allow you to run the farm as you see fit."

"You've been trying to run in too many directions at once. While I'll admit that this much new material is tempting, I daresay there's too much here for you to go through in several lifetimes."

"Have you considered a roadside museum?"

[Victor Freud]

There was a pause.

"I... well, no, I had not." Egon eventually answered. "We don't get many passers-by this far off the beaten path. I honestly wouldn't know where to begin."

[Samantha McManus]

"What would be paramount here would be condensing all this down to a manageable level for the exhibits. You've got to be able to hold their attention, aye?"

[Victor Freud]

"Well, yes, but I've already been trying to sort out the cream of the crop. You think you can get rid of all the chaff?"

[Samantha McManus]

"I think my associate here can help quite a bit at summarizing each of our potential exhibits."

[Emilie]

Violet nodded.

"I'm somewhat of an expert in this field."

[Victor Freud]

Egon let out a deep sigh before he spoke. "Then please, do it. I can't handle all of this on my own. And it's no good for me to ask those two for help." The young man gestured toward the outside in reference to his siblings.

[Emilie]

Violet nodded again, a reassuring smile on her face.

"Try to relax, we'll take it from here.

Ready when you are Morrigan."

[Samantha McManus]

Since this will take some room, she heads out to the yard. The flock is already at work, bringing together elements of one Freud at a time to her quasi-daughter to Marie Kondo down to an "exhibit."

[Emilie]

Violet set in for the long and grueling task of figuring out which Victors 'sparked joy', and which very definitely did not, one by one as the ravens brought them to her. If she didn't recognize them at all, she assigned them to removal entirely regardless of how helpful their information might be. For her, this was about righting the Victor of this reality more than the collection of information that the current Victor seemed so married to. She rationalized he wasn't in his right mind, because how was he to know which one was the right one with all these memories flooding in?

Obviously, the ones that were pitched first was anything she recognized from lifetimes before. Tied back to her full identity, it was much easier to pinpoint and identify all of the countless journeys the pair had had before this one. Anything fantastical went second. This Victor was very much rooted into the mundane, consistent reality that most timelines seemed to follow. These two were handled first to alleviate some of the psychological stress Victor had been under trying to farm all of these lifetimes.

Next, she focused on sifting out and sorting through all of the practical Victors, first by age groups, then by memory locations in the material plane, and finally she would sift through what was left by facts she knew of the Victor who lived in *this* reality. Of course, there was no solid way to know for certain she hadn't accidentally removed some things from before her arrival in this reality, nor was there any way to know if she'd accidentally forced a puzzle piece into the wrong slot. People were far too complex to tell. Thousands of people? Practically impossible...

To Victor-Prime, It may feel like an eternity for her to sort out the Victors, though time here wasn't nearly the same as time in the material plane. And when she finished, she simply stated.

"I believe he is sorted."

[Samantha McManus]

"Now that's an improvement," she nods, looking to the "exhibits" that remained.

"Just the greatest hits, as it were. What the public wants to see, will pay to see."

[Victor Freud]

Egon was... not the easiest to deal with. Because while wanted the women's help (and needed it more desperately than even he knew) he still tried to clutch at and save bits and pieces that were being disposed of. Because who WOULDN'T try to save the cure to a disease that hasn't broken out yet, or the location the lost kingdom of Altruria, or what stocks to invest in to become a billionaire? But by putting pieces in his hands and telling him to put them away, Violet was able to distract him from what she was tossing and what Sam was condensing with the things that were being kept.

When all was finished, the room was much less cluttered - though there were still bankers boxes of odds and ends that hadn't yet been filed the objects sticking out of them at least looked to be on track for the Victor of this lifetime.

"Is... is that really all that's left?"

[Emilie]

"Yes... But don't worry.

It's just enough, with plenty of room to grow." She assured, smiling.

[Victor Freud]

Were Idward eavesdropping there likely would have been some comment about him having more than just enough; but he wasn't, so there wasn't. Egon removed the green accounting visor he'd been wearing and dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief, the latter returning to his breast pocket.

"Whelp, I guess that'll do." He said as he moved back behind the desk, hanging the visor up among the other various hats on the rack. It seemed like he was noticing the record player for the first time as he approached it and moved the tone arm to the off position so that he could pick up and examine the disc.

"So, what do I owe you ladies?" He asked as he set to the menial task of cleaning the piece of vinyl with a cloth, spraying it with a spray bottle before resuming his efforts.

[Samantha McManus]

"We're amply compensated by the bank, Mr. Freud. They'll be happy to know their investment is back on track."

[Emilie]

"And of course, I'll remain on as a consultant.

Just in case you need outside counsel."

[Victor Freud]

"Then I suppose it's about time I got back to work." Egon set the record back on the player before he reached for a patchwork ivy flat cap on the hat rack. He paused, but only for a moment, before grabbing a black fedora instead. The clouds were starting to break up, after all. Almost as an afterthought he gave the tone arm of the record player a little nudge, starting the song playing once more as he came out from behind his desk. At least it wasn't as hissy this time when the trumpets and trombones began to play.

"C'mon, I'll give you two a lift back into town. I have to go in anyway to pick up more seed."

[Emilie]

Curious where this was going, Violet followed along with Victor, shooting Sam a very confused look 'behind his back'.

[Samantha McManus]

"Sometimes you just have to let it play out," she murmurs to her associate as she goes to follow.

[Victor Freud]

The big band sound grew less obvious as the three made their way back down the hallway toward the front door, which seemed shorter and less dark than it had when Sam and "Violet" had entered. But maybe that was due to the now more familiar nature of the space, or the improving "weather". Egon grabbed a well-worn coat from one of the hooks near the front door before stepping outside. The loud creaking of the screen door caught the attention of both Idward and Sullivan, the latter of which put a cigar away in a metal holder while the former jumped up to face them from messing around in the dirt.

"Alright guys, I'm heading into town to pick up some supplies and drop off our guests. Idward, I want you to go gather up the files and things I threw out the window and bring them back into the house. Sully, you're in charge of straightening up the office. I expect you two to have this done by the time I get back, because we got a lotta work to do this afternoon." The man didn't even look at his siblings as he stepped off of the porch, putting on his jacket and walking toward the rickety old barn.

Despite being told to go do work, Idward was wearing a wide, crooked-toothed smile, and slowly meandered around the corner of the house to get started. He didn't even seem upset that he was losing out on a chance to claim one of these girls for his own. Sullivan looked almost befuddled by the quick turn-around the women had accomplished.

"You... you really did it." The youngest sibling muttered as he watched his older brother walk away. "It's... it's really all fixed?"

From the house, the melancholic voice from the record player still sang the lyrics it had repeated countless times since the women had arrived.

Sometimes when I,
Wanna run away and hide,
When there's no one on my side,
And all my pride had disappeared.

I take it off my mind,
And leave it all behind,
Nothin' left to do but,
Try to take the leap and follow through...

And that's exactly what I'll do.

This time there wasn't a record skip, and the song progressed. Thank goodness, because after a couple hundred repetitions it must have gotten just a bit annoying

[Emilie]

"Only time will tell... but yes. I think we did." Violet smiled reassuringly at Sullivan.

"Don't worry. If anything ever seemed misaligned, I will always be on standby for consultation purposes."

[Victor Freud]

I know to you I don't seem very strong,
But I assure you before you can find me I'm gone,
So come on and catch me you've still got a chance...

The well-dressed man breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I don't know how much longer we could have held out. You two are lifesavers."

From the barn came the sound of an engine starting and tires rolling over hard-packed dirt, and out of the double-doors rolled a pickup truck that looked to be in excellent shape despite it's age, though it was covered in a layer of dust that one normally associated with those "barn find" vehicles that had been sitting for a few decades. It rolled to a stop beside the trio as it's heavy engine drummed as it idled, and the occupant leaned over the bench seat to roll down the passenger side window.

"Ladies, your chariot awaits."

But not for long,
I'll be rollin' place to place,
Won't stop till I win the race,
Although I may have crossed the line,
No time to waste on you...

[Emilie]

Violet smiled, and reached out to dust Sullivan's lapels once more.

"All in a day's work.

See ya, Sully." She then went to open the truck door and climb inside to sit next to the driver.

[Victor Freud]

Sullivan visibly puffed up like a pigeon when Violent fixed his suit, holding onto the door to shut it once the other passenger was inside.

Egon meanwhile futzed with the sun visor before flipping it back up and turning to her. "Mind getting my sunglasses out of the glovebox for me?"

[Emilie]

Violet of course reached into the glove box to find his sunglasses and hand them to him, as well as reached up to pull down her own shades. "Let's roll."