Work Text:
"Well," Ford said, shining a strange light into Dipper's eye, "If there was anything in there... I see no reason to believe there is now." He clicked off the light, then, with a sigh.
"I-I just don't get it..." Dipper said, blinking and rubbing at his eyes, "Why would he save me? I already didn't know what to think when he saved Mabel, like- like he was just doing it for brownie points. But then, then the way he looked at me..." he groaned, "He seemed concerned? Legitimately?"
"Believe me, I understand," Ford nodded, "And I wholeheartedly believe that he hasn't got his powers. But that means, perhaps... something else is at play here. That, or, it's all just freakish coincidence..."
"I kinda doubt that... I mean, like- That's the second time, you know? The second time one of us has gone down, and the second time it's left us with only Bill able to tell the story. He could say anything he wants... including covering up if he did something terrible."
"And yet," Ford said, "There's nothing to suggest he's injured either of you, after the fact. A suggestion that he's telling the truth."
Dipper shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah. Exactly." A beat passed. "Is it bad if I... if I almost don't want him to be telling the truth?"
"Hmm..."
"I mean, it's... he tried to kill us. Obviously you know that, I'm- I'm just saying," he sighed, "It's hard to think that he's just... changed. I don't want him to hurt anyone here, but- but at least then we'd know what to do with him." He added in a low mumble, "Then I'd know what to do with him."
"I feel... similar, yes. Between the highs and the lows, he showed me so much," Ford put a hand to his chin in thought, "Hurt me so much. But there is a part of me that sees, what I believe is real effort on his part, an effort to change. And it's tougher than nails. As much as I want to trust his change is real, it doesn't stop me from seeing... the monster he once was."
"...I'm sorry, Grunkle Ford," Dipper said solemnly.
"Ah, I shouldn't be talking so much about that anyway," Ford answered, face softening as he leaned down to plant a kiss on Dipper's forehead, "You're a good kid, you know that?"
"Pffbt, well," Dipper scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck, "I try, I guess?"
"You do a good job of it, for just 'trying'," Ford smiled, then turned back to his thoughts. "I wonder... would we find out anything more if you explored the Mindscape?"
"The-" Dipper asked hesitantly, "The Mindscape? I dunno..."
Ford snapped his fingers, "Ah, right, you've also... Sorry, I don't know how that slipped my mind. We don't have to, it was just a thought."
Dipper took a breath in, weighing his options. He could try, or he could not try. If he tried, he might learn something that would help everyone - maybe there was a hint lying in wait regarding the family's new tormentor, or maybe he'd just find... stale crumbs. Then, he asked, "No, I... Can you tell me more? I've read what you wrote, but... it wasn't a lot."
"...Yes, of course," Ford said with a gentle smile, "So, the Mindscape... It's sort of a web that connects us all. Hypothetically, for every living brain there is, is a corresponding pocket of the Mindscape."
"Every one?" Dipper marvelled, "How- what-?"
"As I said, hypothetically. It's not a guarantee - for example, we can't teach an ordinary duck how to access the Mindscape, and trying to visit a pocket without knowing for certain that it's there is... dangerous. But, at least as far as humans go, everyone is accurate."
"Okay... wow..."
"Fascinating, right?" Ford grinned, "I started exploring mine, oh... Long before I even knew it was called the 'Mindscape'. I called it the mind palace, at the time, just as others did. A place where you go to store information, so that you might remember it better. Not a list of facts, but pictures on the walls of a house, a perfect stock of ingredients in the kitchen! Well..." he chuckled, "That's all a part of the Mindscape."
Enthralled, Dipper hung on every word. He took that as a sign to keep going, with a fond smile. "There's a part we consciously control, and a part that we don't. Those mind palaces reside in the Upper part, which is under our control. The Lower part, that's the one we don't control. That's where we would go to find memories we might have lost, where our dreams usually take us. That said, you don't have to touch the Lower part at all to fool around in the Upper," he affirmed. "It can be... very, very stressful to dig into the Lower."
Dipper nodded along, "So, can you do... anything in there?"
"Glad you asked! Well, there are often limitations, true. But they're not quite the same as physical limitations. Most people have the ability to conjure up objects, change the surroundings to their whim. Sometimes they'll meet resistance on the latter, though... You can't run from emotions forever, after all," he paused to think, "Well, you could try to conjure up a person. They're going to have an extremely limited consciousness, though, unless you continue to interact and refine them... You could make a guard for a castle, that is - a construct that only needs to fill a small, specific role. But a companion with unique thoughts and feelings to your own? Quite the challenge."
"Huh. I guess... I guess that makes sense."
"Then, there's... the matter of travel and possession," he took a deep breath, waiting for Dipper to nod. "It's not a risk for the vast majority of people. Not unless they've specifically ticked off an entity with the ability to travel the larger web of the Mindscape, or else intentionally let them in. But, we aren't the vast majority of people, are we?"
"Noooope," Dipper chuckled awkwardly. "Not really."
"So," Ford continued, "The mechanisms of bodily control are a little strange - again, most people never have to think about it. Controlling your body might look like sitting in a specific chair, or holding a magical orb, maybe wearing a specific hat. The possibilities are endless. The important thing is, if you are alone in your Mindscape, there isn't any risk in moving around, or tossing these objects around as if they're nothing special. You're tethered to that control regardless, being alone. If, however, you're not alone..."
"Then- then the other person could take that thing for themself..." Dipper shuddered.
"Exactly. Worse, they could wrench it away from you if they wanted, and," Ford cleared his throat, "that process can get... messy. Regardless if it was taken fairly or not, you might not have memories of the time they were in control. Or, even if they don't take over, they might be able to manipulate your Mindscape itself, creating a place where even the rules don't apply, a place that... scrambles your mind." He paused, letting Dipper take that in - that perhaps this was such a scenario... "Now, whether you've let someone in on purpose, or they came in uninvited, there's almost always still be something you can do."
"...Okay."
"You might be able to bar them off, for at least a time. You might even be able to force them out, though... depending on how powerful they are, you might need help."
"Is there anything to look for? To know if... if someone else has been there."
"Hmm..." Ford pondered, "If you'd ever consciously explored your Mindscape before, I'd say to look out for anything you don't recognise. But, since you haven't... Keep an eye out for everything, I suppose. It might be hiding in plain sight. A door, an open window. If you see anything that seems to lead into the stars, you say so right away. They're not necessarily a bad sign, but given that's what you told us being the last thing you recall before the incident..."
"Right," Dipper nodded, "So... how do we start?"
"Just breathe with me, and follow my words..."
With Ford's careful guidance, Dipper had started to see his Mindscape unfold before him. He felt... pleasantly calm. He looked to his immediate surroundings, stone bricks walling him in. He guessed this might be his place of control, then? He stepped out, carefully, the grass springing up from beneath his feet with each step. It was... bizarre, something that should be so unreal still feeling as if it was right there. He turned to look at the structure he just left - it was much smaller from outside, with a white banner that read "Fort Dipper". Huh. Like the one from his early childhood, built up the way he'd imagined it instead of the cardboard box it had really been...
"How are you doing?" Ford asked.
It took all of Dipper's might to answer aloud, "M'good. It's... hard..."
"It does take a lot of effort to hold focus in both planes at once, yes. You're doing spectacular for a first time. What do you see, right now?"
"Mmh..." Dipper looked around, trees in all directions. "My childhood fort... And, trees. Whole forest..." he yawned, "Stepping stone path, down this way... But it's really dark."
Ford sighed, "A whole forest, huh? That won't be easy to scour, especially in the dark... Then again, an intruder might get lost quickly - if they've left something behind, it might be in plain sight. Can you check the trees immediately around your fort?"
He nodded, not entirely sure whether it was in the outer world or the Mindscape. Oh well. He pushed through the underbrush, watching all manner of interesting, colourful bugs crawl and fly around. "Cool..." he marvelled, continuing to wade through and scan the ground. Blearily, he spoke aloud the details of all the strange things he was seeing, even if they weren't exactly helpful. If nothing else, putting effort into talking made sure he didn't accidentally fall asleep - knowing he might be in some kind of Mindscape danger, that was the last thing he wanted to do.
All of a sudden - maybe because he was being unobservant, maybe because it was hidden in the shade - he tripped on something. It sent his real world body jolting forward, Ford snapping forward to catch him. "What is it? What happened?!"
"Tripped..." he mumbled, "Lemme... what's this..." He crawled back towards the thing, finding out what his foot had caught up on - the handle to some kind of trapdoor. "Trapdoor?"
Ford took a deep breath in, "Open it, only enough to peek inside. Only that much."
Dipper nodded, again unsure where exactly, and cracked open the trapdoor. It was heavy, that was immediately clear - he wouldn't be able to open it further even if he wanted, not even as he tried to will his Mindscape body to become stronger, or the trapdoor to become lighter. What he saw, though, he didn't like.
"...Stars."
"Bar it off, now."
Yet he stared into the sliver of void before him, not making a move. It almost looked kind of... welcoming? He sort of wondered what might happen if he fell through it. Was it really a door out of his Mindscape? The fact that he was thinking so calmly about it was setting off alarm bells in his rational side, but he was... kinda too tired to be rational. He almost wanted to touch it, see if this was a liquid, or more like true space.
"Dipper," Ford asked firmly, "Are you barring it off?"
He knew he needed to. He wanted to as well, he thought. But it felt nice to look at, warm and inviting, the twinkling of stars sending a buzzing through his head. He was- he was supposed to be doing something, right? It was pretty important. He wondered if maybe the more he stared, the more he'd remember. His eyes started to feel kind of wet, though, and he couldn't... He couldn't remember what he was doing. The part of him that was screaming to get away was dying down, and he-
Dipper yelped, his eyes shooting open as a sharp thwack was delivered across his wrist, a very worried looking Ford in front of him. "Dipper- Dipper, are you okay?" He didn't know why, but he had started crying, at some point - and seeing Ford's worried face in front of him only made it worse. He broke out into sobs, Ford trying to reassure him. "Oh no, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you--"
"N-no," he answered, small and quiet, "I-I don't know what happened, I... I was stuck... looking at it... forgetting..."
Ford took Dipper into his arms, then, hugging him like their lives depended on it - and Dipper vaguely wondered if Ford might have started crying, himself. "Okay... okay, we'll figure this out... I promise. Let's- let's not try to go back there for a little bit, okay? Get you tethered back out here. With the shock to your focus, your Mindscape form has almost certainly recoiled away from the door, letting it shut... That's all we can manage, right now, and that's okay."
"Okay..." Dipper nodded, "O-okay."
Ford ran his fingers through Dipper's hair soothingly, just whispering and trying to keep him calm. Like mantras, he repeated, you're safe, nothing can hurt you, it'll all be okay until Dipper's tears slowed, wiped away from his face with large, gentle thumbs.
"I-I'm sorry, Grunkle Ford..."
"Shh, don't be sorry. It isn't your fault. None of this is," he said, "Now... Should we go back up and get some ice cream?"
"...Yeah. That sounds nice."
Ford knew, of course, he'd have to talk to Bill at some point. While Ford had experience being the possessed, Bill had experience as the possessor, bender of the Mindscape - surely if they knocked their angles together, they'd be able to build some kind of theory. But, for now, it was time for ice cream and laughter. As he guided Dipper back upstairs, all he could do was hope that he wasn't making himself out to be a liar. Dipper would be okay, he had to be okay.
He didn't know what he'd do if he was wrong.