Dark Memories

While they were down on the Portal level, Dipper opened Journal 2 to the page with the ring around Bill Cipher.

"What do you know about this, Grunkle Stan?" asked Dipper.

"Not much," said Stan. "I'll tell you what I know."

FLASHBACK

"Look at this, Stanley! I marked this picture in Daniel's Journal 2. Those glasses look just like mine!" said Stanford.

"Huh, I dunno," Stanley said. "Let's ask him. That triangle thing looks weird, all right."

"Hey Daniel, come over here a minute," said Stanford. "What's this picture?"

"I made that years ago. That peculiar triangular creature appeared in my dreams for a few weeks, and a glowing ring of symbols appeared around him. I memorized it and drew it. That's all."

"Those glasses look a lot like mine," said Stanford.

"I'm sure it's a coincidence. There are only so many ways to draw a pair of glasses," said Daniel.

"But now look at the pictures I marked, Grunkle Stan. It can't be a coincidence. These symbols are on things around here, on things people wear mostly. The symbol on your fez, the pine tree on my hat, the shooting star from one of Mabel's sweaters, the question mark on Soos' shirt, the heart on Robbie's hoodie, and the eye in a pentagram from Gideon's cape," said Dipper.

"That's weird, all right," said Mabel. "And that llama is like one on another of my sweaters, but it faces the other way and it isn't smiling."

"Some of the others I've seen around on things: the six-fingered hand from the Journals, and the brand of ice bags we use," said Dipper.

"So what does it mean?" asked Stan.

"It's like a sticker collection, one symbol per person," said Mabel.

"I think you've got it, Mabel," said Dipper. "When we were in the Dreamscape we saw that triangle guy, Bill Cipher. He called us by symbols: Shooting Star for you, Pine Tree for me, and Question Mark for Soos."

"Dreamscape?" asked Stan.

"Gideon sent Bill into your mind to get the combination to your safe," said Dipper.

"Before he gave up on that idea and blew open the safe instead, blammo!" said Mabel.

"We went into your dreams after him, and that's when he talked to us," said Dipper.

"You went into my dreams? You shouldn't ought to have done that," said Stan. "You might have seen private, embarrassing stuff."

"We did," said Mabel with a giggle. "Sorry about that."

"That part worked out all right," said Dipper. "I was feeling kind of alienated from you, but after that I felt a lot closer."

"Huh," said Stan. "That's good, I guess."

"Anyway, Bill said one thing I remember: 'A darkness approaches. A day will come in the future when everything you care about will change! Until then I'll be watching you!'. When he said that, he showed a ring just like this one, glowing around him, right before he vanished. And now it looks like he can see into the future for real..." said Dipper.

"How do you figure that?" said Stan.

"He showed that ring to Dan Corduroy in a dream years ago, with all those symbols that have only been around lately. Like my hat: I got it not long ago to replace one I lost. So we're all caught up in some sort of prophecy or scheme for the future by this monster. It doesn't sound like a nice one."

"One thing's a good sign," said Stan. "The glasses are on there, my brother's glasses. If each of these is a person in the future, that means Stanford is still alive, and we can bring him back!"

"Good, let's get our other Grunkle!" said Mabel.

"You need to tell us more about how he got lost," said Dipper. "And about who was around when it happened."

"All right," said Stan. "First I'd better tell you about Ivan."

FLASHBACK

"This is Ivan Blotts," said Fiddlefod McGucket. "He's volunteered to be our dimensional probe man."

The bald man with a tattooed head came up and shook the hands of Stanford, Daniel, and Stanley.

"How do you do?" said Ivan with an English accent.

"What are your qualifications for this job?" asked Daniel.

"I'm willing to do anything," said Ivan. "I once had my head shaved and tattooed to be a model for a teacher of phrenology, the study of parts of the mind by examining the bumps on the head."

"Does that work?" asked Stanley.

"As far as I can tell, it's a complete fraud," said Ivan. "It predicted I have great talent as a leader, can you imagine? I've gone on from job to job. Most recently I've been a traveling banjo minstrel, which is fun but doesn't pay well. When I saw your ad in the paper for dangerous high-paid work, Mr. McGucket, I jumped at the chance."

"It's no joke that it's extremely dangerous," said McGucket. "We're about to open a portal to another dimension. When it opens, Mr. Corduroy here will throw you through with a rope tied around you. One of the Pines brothers will hold the other end of the rope. After a few seconds to look around, we'll pull you back. If you're still alive, that is."

"I'm willing," said Ivan. "Danger means nothing to me."

"I just came here with you to introduce you to the others," said McGucket. "I'm quitting the project."

"What?" said Daniel. "Now, when we're so close?"

"It's too dangerous," said McGucket, "Who knows what we could unleash? Yesterday, when I was checking the settings, the Portal sparked for an instant and I caught a glimpse of a creature of unimaginable horror. I wish I could unsee what I saw."

"It was probably your imagination from over-work," suggested Stanford. "A nightmare when you dozed off."

"I know what I saw," said McGucket. "Speaking of nightmares, I don't think you should trust that creature in your dreams, Daniel. Something tells me we shouldn't tune the Portal the way it told you."

"But... Bill is the astral representative of the alien civilization that sent the crashed inter-dimensional space probe we found buried deep under the ground here," said Daniel. "The benefits to humanity of contacting them... the robots you've been able to build, the inventions Stanford and Stanley have made, just from the bits of technology we've been able to reverse-engineer, the Portal itself... it's all a drop in the bucket compared to first contact with an entire advanced alien civilization!"

"I know that's what you think, but it's too much risk for me. I quit," said McGucket. "You can keep my laptop with my project notes. The password is my middle name: Hadron."

"So, that's what the Portal project was all about," said Dipper.

"Yeah," said Stan. "Then something went horribly wrong, and Stanford was lost."

"Were you there when it happened?" asked Mabel.

"I was upstairs on the ground floor, on guard to turn away curiosity seekers who might be attracted by the bright flash of light when the Portal opened. Like I told you, we timed it for the night of the fourth of July so we'd have the cover of fireworks. July 4, 1982. My brother marked it in the calendar in his room."

"The secret hidden room," said Dipper.

"I sealed it up after that night," said Stan.

FLASHBACK

Stan was in the living room when Daniel and Ivan came rushing out of the basement. Each of them had a Journal under his arm. Ivan's right eye was bleeding.

"It's all gone wrong!" Daniel shouted. "I've shut the Portal down."

"What happened to Stanford?" Stanley asked.

"Lost in the Portal," said Ivan. "He sacrificed himself to save me."

"You've got to open the Portal back up and get him back!" Stanley said.

"No!" said Daniel. "It's too dangerous. We're taking the Journals so it can't be opened again."

Stanley came at Daniel to try to grab one of the Journals, but the strong young man shoved him back. Stanley fell back and hit his head on the wall, and he was stunned for few minutes.

When he came to himself, the two were gone. He rushed down the stairs to the elevator and went down to the Portal level.

There were signs of a struggle. Under an overturned chair, he found Journal 1. Near the Portal, he found his brother's glasses.

"Stanford!" he called.

The room was silent. The Portal was shut down. Without the codes in the missing Journals, he might never be able to activate it again.

"And that's how it's been for the last thirty years," said Stan. "Looking for the lost Journals, and entering codes by trial and error. There were millions of possible combinations. But now..."

"Now you finally have all the Journals," said Dipper. "You can open the Portal again. But should you?"

"I'm going to," said Stan. "Whether I should or not."

Author's note: Thanks to Lil ol Gravity Falls, OMAC001, SophiaCrutchfeild, rbvictor, CosmoFan47, supersexyghotmew95, valusuperchic, Zeditha, and LittleMissFangirl12 for the reviews and encouragement!