Karkat was falling apart. He didn't want this. No, he had never wanted this, but the memories came, not in a satisfying way, but in a clash of disconnected fragments of emotion and imagery. It wasn't pleasant, especially since he now had to make careful effort to hide it from Terezi and Kanaya. If they found out he'd be getting a touchup for sure.

Of course, his hopes of hiding were destroyed when his old images of Kanaya and Terezi became indiscernible from the new ones. When his confusion became obvious, Terezi was quick to report what was happening. Karkat was terrified, and tried to force up some memory of how Terezi used to be, hoping maybe she would remember and fight for him, but she ignored him and remained cold, driven by the same fear that had been instilled into all of them, the fear of remembering their true selves. He thought of the desperation in Sollux's voice as he himself let the authorities take him. He should have helped him from the beginning.

He blanched at the sterile smell as he was strapped down to a stretcher and put in the back of a white van where a few trolls hooked him up to an IV, and the beginning stage of drugs were pumped into his system. Karkat struggled, but the drugs made him feel weak and complacent, helpless with no will to fight. He looked beside him, and was shocked to see Sollux in a stretcher next to his, his eyes half open, empty. This would be his ninth touchup.

Karkat found the will to struggle again.

This was all his fault. He had to do something about it. Those fuckasses could fucking fight him. Still, a part of him knew that he could protest all he liked, and the restraints would still be too tight, and he would wear out soon enough.

The van eventually stopped, and they were carted into a sterile facility where they were separated and taken to different rooms. Karkat watched in defeat as Sollux disappeared from his sight, and he was brought into a sort of hospital room. There, new medications were put into his IV. There was no explanation, but he was stripped and given a short physical before they strapped him down again. Karkat knew he should fight them, but at this point, with all the drugs he had been given, he had neither the strength nor the will to do so.

Once they had him restrained once more, they brought him to a strange silver tube, and slipped the stretcher into it. It was lined with lights. Karkat's heart sped up. He remembered this. The lights suddenly started flashing violently, in strange patterns, burning Karkat's eyes as well as blinding them. It wasn't long before it became too overwhelming and Karkat passed out.

0o0o0o0o

Karkat awoke, disoriented, to Sollux shaking him gently.

"Hey, KK, come on. Come on. You've gotta wake up."

Karkat groaned, his head pulsing and pounding and spinning. "Sollux? What the fuck are you doing?" He sat up, blinking a few times, his vision all bright spots. When they finally cleared up, he saw that he was wearing only a hospital gown, and that they were set up in some back room of some unfamiliar place. "Where am I?" He looked up to see what could only be Dirk in a fancy troll costume of some sort, leaning against the wall. "Wait a second. Strider? I mean, other Strider? Oh gog. Why the fuck, are you dressed up like a troll? More importantly, why are you here?"

Sollux sighed in relief. "Oh good. It seems whatever Strider did worked on you too."

Karkat gave them both a baffled expression. "Can one of you please explain to me what the actual fuck is going on?"

"That's you alright, KK." Said Sollux with a heavily fanged smirk. "We were brainwashed, remember?"

Karkat nodded slowly, the memory of the time without memory flooding back to him. "Yeah, but last I remember we were both heading to get a touchup."

"We were, but then Strider stepped in and pulled us out halfway, and I guess that restored out memories."

"But why?" Asked Karkat, looking up at Dirk. "And you still haven't answered my question about the troll getup."

"It's not a getup, it's a holographic illusion." Said Dirk. "I pulled you both out because I think I'm the only person who never lost my memory. John, Dave, Rose, Roxy, Jake, they're all like completely different people. I have no idea what happened to Jane."

"But maybe we can create a device to trigger everyone else's memories in full." Suggested Sollux. "We could use the technology from the touchup machines."

"It would take some experimentation, but I think we can do it." Said Dirk.

"We can also use memory forcing to create a domino effect. The more people we expose to real memory, the easier it will get." Said Karkat.

Dirk pushed off from the wall. "Alright. Let's get to it."