Chapter Text
“June 10th, 1999. Gravity Falls Oregon.”
“It’s been 17 years since his take over, everyone’s forced to abide by his rules, a world built around fear and chaos on the outside, while mortals have to stick to their programming in a massive facility, he built that world for them, a place for them to be perfect, and if they step out of line they’re reset, their brain forced to forget their entire life, made to be perfect again... but where does that leave me? I am his disciple, and he is my muse, I am the one who sets them in line.”
“My muse has gifted me powers beyond mortals’ comprehension, a way to protect myself... watching them look up to me and praise me like a god, knowing I was one of them- no- I was never one of them, my fate was set the moment I was born, 6 fingers on each hand, that alone set me apart from everyone, my muse calls me perfect, others call me a freak. They never bothered to try to understand me, the real me...”
Ford sighs heavily as he closes his journal. The golden six-fingered hand stares him in the face. He holds his palm against the hand and clenches his jaw. He runs a hand through his greying hair and looks off into the distance, seeing the facility where the rest of humanity is kept. Ford’s eyes narrow and he rises from the old building before leaping off and walking towards the facility.
The world around him is decaying and abandoned... It's Ford's fault this happened... He accepted Bill's offer and caused the end of the world, all for the answers of the universe... it worked, he got his answers, but he ruined everyone else's life in the process... His brother is god knows where his parents are without a doubt dead, that's just how the system works, or as Bill says "That's just how the universe crumbles" Ford just has to sit and watch as humanity dies out... sure he won't die, but he'll still age... he's in his 50's and his hair isn't getting any browner, maybe Bill can fix that- he's getting distracted, Ford has a job to do...
When Ford approaches, his muse's henchmaniacs open the gates for him. As Ford finally gets through to the main facility, nature sounds are getting blasted over the speakers, the sky is just an LED screen and everyone is smiling, they have no memory of their old life, only this new perfect greyed-out utopia… little do they know what they’re really apart of… Ford walks through and everyone waves and greets him with that perfect smile. “Good morning Stanford! Perfect day isn’t it?” A shopkeeper says. “Looking perfect Stanford!” A man with his teenage kids says. ‘Perfect’ The idea of everything being ‘perfect’ is amusing, but Ford has to be nice, so as not to ruin their perfect lives, Ford just smiles and waves… Useless mortals... This world... this place, it’s all just one big lie…
Ford walks further into the facility, he opens a door with a keycard and walks inside, making sure the doors are locked behind him. He looks around and sees multiple ‘perfect’ citizens strapped to chairs and mutant doctors standing beside them in rooms. Ford opens the door into one of the rooms and looks at them. “What happened?” He asks the doctors; they sigh and look at Ford. “Something triggered his memories to come back, and he brought an entire restaurant down with him, kept yelling and then hit someone over the head with a bottle.” They explain. Ford groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Of course…” Ford glares at the doctors. “Remove their memories and kill anyone who got hurt, my muse can’t afford to keep wasting his powers healing these idiots”
God he hates his job, sure being his right-hand man means he won’t become one of these idiots but it's so boring, it’s the same things over and over again, why do they even need him here? Ford sighs and starts doubting his muse’s power over all these people… 7 billion people, trapped in a giant facility, barely any colours, perfect mortals living their perfect lives… blissful ignorance that’s what it is, they don’t know any better, all they know is to wake up, eat, stand around and go back to sleep…
Mutants rule the outside world, constant destruction and chaos, Ford has witnessed first-hand the atrocities out there, it’s better here…
Ford's eyes darken as he walks into the elevator… it takes him up to the watch tower, he steps out and his trembling hands grip the railing, he looks down as all the mortals live their simple lives… his eyes narrow as he watches them on loop, waving and greeting each other over and over again, when they’ve finished walking down the road, they just turn around and repeat what they’ve just done. Ford looks up as the screen becomes dark and shows the moon, he glances down at the people as they smile and close up shop, and they all walk in lines as they return to their “homes”.
Ford pulls out his journal from his coat's inner pocket and he flips through it, his dates don’t add up… ever since this started the days started blending into each other… Time is dead and meaning has no meaning… Ford runs a hand along his face and he closes his journal, putting it back in his coat. The cycle is just going to continue, over and over again until humanity dies out… no one is allowed to have kids, hell they don’t even get the concept of reproduction, they only remember how to breathe, walk, talk, and smile. It's easy for people to regain their memories, but the sight of blood can send someone spiralling, that’s why it's best to keep them in their loops, which reduces the risk of injury.
"Fordsy~" Ford hears the familiar nickname and he turns around, seeing his muse walking up to him.
"My muse..." Ford holds his hand out and Bill takes it and smiles, he pulls Ford closer and grins down at him.
Bill caresses Ford's cheek and Ford smiles and leans into the touch. "I have a job for you sixer, something small, but kinda important"
"Anything for you my muse," Ford says, he'll always be loyal to Bill.
"Good, some guy is going around and graffitiing things, don't even know how he got the spray paint in the first place, but whatever, he's scaring people and I can't afford to have any more breaks in the system, the axolotl is only letting this happen if I don't kill everyone in one fell swoop" Bill sighs and smiles at Ford's face. "Okay! Off you pop, I got things to do! Toodaloo!" Bill disappears.
Ford sighs and his hand raises to his cheek and he feels where Bill touched him.
His muse is gentle with him...
Hours pass and there's no sign of anything no one's out here! Ford looks around the alleyways, he's met with silence... who the hell keeps spray-painting everything!? Bill gave him a job, and if he doesn't get it done... he doesn't think Bill would hurt him... maybe just something small... god knows who the hell is spray painting these things around... Ford walks around the alleyways more and eventually sees some graffiti... the crossed-out red eye... Ford walks up to it and trails his fingers over the paint, it's still wet... it's new, how did they do this without Ford hearing them? Maybe his age is catching up to him. Something catches Ford's attention, his ear twitches and he looks behind him. Ford narrows his eyes and slowly walks up to the wall, he peaks over and sees a woman in a cloak... it's after curfew, how did she even get out here? Ford's eyebrows furrow as he hears hushed whispers and 2 sets of footsteps... Ford sneaks closer and quietly puts on his specialised gloves with built-in tasers on the fingertips. Ford creeps even closer until he hears a snip and people running away. Ford bolts around the corner, ready to attack the people, but they disappear...? Ford looks around and raises an eyebrow at what was cut, he picks it up and examines it, it's wet and cold... something that looks like it came from a human... Ford drops it and looks around more. "Who were those people? What is this? What are they doing out here so late...? Did they not realise the time?" Ford keeps thinking about all the possible reasons these simple-minded mortals would be conspiring so late...
Something cries- loudly- very loudly- it snaps Ford out of his trance, and he looks off in the distance. Ford's footsteps are heavy as he walks around the buildings, he steps into a puddle and he looks down at it, it can't rain in here... Ford crouches down and takes off his gloves, he touches the 'water' and clenches his jaw... it's not water... Ford's eyes widen as the thing cries again... Ford stands up and keeps looking around. It keeps crying, Ford walks up to the garbage and moves a piece of rubbish, eventually finding the source of the crying.
A baby.
Holy shit- Ford rubs his eyes, trying to see if he's seeing things, once he confirms the baby is real, he takes a deep breath and leans forward, examining the crying baby, he looks around and sees the security camera facing away from him. Ford gently lifts the baby into his arms and looks into its eyes, he gulps and looks it over, how!? Who!? Ford's brain is running 1000 miles per hour- how did a baby get here!? These humans don't know how to reproduce- did someone figure it out? There's no way these idiots figured it out, they're idiots! Ford holds the baby in his hands, supporting its head... "Bill's going to kill this thing if he finds it-" The thought crosses Ford's head and he panics, he looks back down at the baby as its sparkly brown eyes look back up at him. How long has this thing been out here for? It only just started crying, Ford cradles it and looks around the garbage, he checks for any more surprises and his hand touches something- his heart stops when he grips it and pulls it out just enough to see what it is. Ford gags and lets go of it, he turns away and looks down at the baby... okay- twins- that's fine- well... only 1 twin survived... Ford wipes his hand off his coat and sighs. "Hey- it's okay... shhh- Please be quiet-" Ford tries getting it to shut up. He inspects it a little bit more, trying to see if she's injured.
Those people- the 'water'- the cut-off piece, that woman! She gave birth and didn't remember what to do with the babies so she just dumped them- the other baby must not have been that lucky... what could've made her remember how to reproduce?! Was it the man!? Ford's losing his mind... how did the other twin die so fast??
Ford takes a deep breath to collect his thoughts and hides her in his coat, he sneaks past cameras and brings her to a public restroom, he gently places her down and turns on the sink, filling it with warm water... He gently places her in the water and starts cleaning her. God- what would've happened if he hadn't heard her, would she have died like her twin? Where'd her parents run off to? They must've somehow accidentally had a baby. How did a pregnant lady walk around for 9 months and no one noticed? Everyone eats the same meals every day, she couldn't have excused it as gaining weight, Ford feels like he's losing his sanity as he cleans her, he looks around, trying to find any diapers or anything to put on her to keep her warm. Ford looks down at his coat and he rips off a part of the fabric. He dries her off and puts on a makeshift diaper for her to wear. His gaze softens and he caresses her cheek gently. "It's okay dear... I'll keep you safe... You're quite resilient aren't you?" He smiles at her and she coos. "Look at you dear... just a ball of wonder..."
"My little Mabel..."
