Confusion Worse Confounded

Firstly, those who had been there already: a Fred, Astra, Velus the teen-dog and Fred's putative sister Fredwina. From the inconsistencies in their remembrance of past events, it seemed that Fredwina might be from a different reality than the other three or else delusional.

Secondly, the new arrivals: another Fred, another Fred(w)ina, two identical redheads called Ragan and Melissa, and another woman called Betty, who claimed that Ragan was an alter ego of hers.

It turned out that the "new" Fred had different memories from the other Fred, Astra and both his "sisters". (Betty, Ragan and Melissa's knowledge of this reality - or should that now be "these realities"? - was comparatively limited, since they were fairly recent arrivals from a place called Earth. And Velus's need to use the code of barks meant that he could not contribute much.)

Unlike his counterpart, the "new" Fred had never met a Princess Astra until very recently at the strange party [3970], nor did his Allaria have a Princess Exotica, [9042] whether under that name or the name of Phaedra.

"I'm not sure how far this is getting us," Betty said after a while. "Deciding which reality we are now in by majority vote doesn't seem very logical. We might well be in a reality that is different from the home realities of all of you. And if it's a question of delusions, the same logic applies. We could all be suffering from them, or if several people's recollections agree then they may just have been given the same false memories."

"But why are we all here?" asked Fredwina (the one wearing rags, who claimed to have been on the island for two years). "Someone has obviously gathered us to this island for some purpose. But who? The Dragon? And why? I can't even hazard a guess on that."

1. Nobody else can offer an explanation either.
2. Someone comes up with something that sounds plausible.
3. The discussion is interrupted by one or more further arrivals.

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