Posts

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  if there's a way out of this, somebody tell me
  S saviior_exe

  Stole was a new word for it. Rockman had said some choice things, some angry sentiment, but not stole. The time wasn't stolen to them, because- "Um, thank you."

  Tea. It was always tea. Netto expected coffee, the horrible instant stuff that Enzan only really pulled out when he wasn't expecting anyone. At the office. He stared down at the cup for a few moments. Rockman still inspected the table.

  "Um, yeah. Um- I guess that was low on the rung of crap that happened, but I thought it was- kinda the worst part." This, Rockman did react to- his hologram disappeared, but he was only returning to the PET. "Uh- the tech he was, working on, was also kinda bad too."

  He took a sip, and the sting on his tongue seemed to invigorate him to keep talking. "It was, like, a thing to make it easy to do full-synchro with any navi. A Link. Based on, like, the pulse transmission stuff. Just a lot safer. In theory."

  Maybe if he said it in a rush it wouldn't feel so bad. "It made me really sick, and uh-" He glanced at the PET, and went for it- "I think it's made me, um, unable to synch with Rock. At all."

  He said it, and it was a bygone conclusion, but soon after the words left his mouth there was a steady drip drip from his cheeks. He was crying. It was the absolute worst part. Damn the lost time, damn the pain, damn the sickness and the hallucinations, this was what was stolen from him. Netto blushed, as if ashamed of it, and looked away from Pen. "W-We just go fucking ballistic if we do. Can't control it anymore. W-Which sucks."

  Understatement. Netto pushed the heel of his free hand into his eye to stem the sudden flow of tears. He thought he'd already cried them all.

  Open Threads kq-i

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  if there's a way out of this, somebody tell me
  S saviior_exe

  "Um," Netto stalled out, which was quite unusual of him. If there was anything he was known for it was his quick wit; but Pen's hands on his face made his eyes water. He quickly shook his head (a motion Rockman had done a thousand times before) as if to clear the emotion he was feeling. He'd already talked this out with Enzan and Laika. He could do this again.

  "I mean, I guess- I guess he did. I don't know what to think about it," and he was honest. Brutally so. Rockman looked at an interesting chunk of the table, as if he were tracing the wood grain, and did not chime in again. "Do- do you remember how, like, I like- showed up late?"

  (Netto remembered it and felt a pang in his chest; looking at Enzan's betrayal, all over his face, in that horrible hospital bed- oh, and Laika-)

  "A-After everything happened. W-Well, um. I guess- we were all kinda busy, right? Haha- um." The laughter was clearly nervous. He started to twirl a strand of hair near the burn scar. "I didn't. Know. I - I didn't know what was happening when it happened. Cain-" He loathed the name, it felt horrid in his mouth now- "He blocked my communication and didn't, tell me. Made it seem like everyone just stopped reaching out. He would- randomly let calls through, so I wouldn't get suspicious."

  Netto suddenly barked out a laugh louder than he meant to. "When I say it like that, it sounds- sounds like some real villain shit, ahaha."

  Rockman's little hologram glanced up at Netto, though didn't quite look at him. He'd seen it all already, known this part; but it didn't stop the ache. Didn't stop what they now shared.

  Open Threads kq-i

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  if there's a way out of this, somebody tell me
  S saviior_exe

  Netto opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. It just hung there, and the shock of what Pen had said made the fresh scar on his temple ache. She was supposed to get the next Link trial— of course, why wouldn't she? Enzan probably was too, though he'd had the good sense to shut up about it. Pen just didn't even know. What do you even say to that? He could think of a thousand things, but all of his defenses had made Enzan and Laika look at him in that way that made his chest ache. Some mix of shock, pity, horror, and anger. He didn't want to see it on Pen too, and certainly not because he was still sorting his feelings about all of it.

  Instead, he gave into temptation and placed his PET on the table. Rockman appeared a moment later, hologram sitting atop the device. Instead of Netto, he spoke what his operator was struggling to say. "Dr. Cain is getting fired. Soon. The ethics board review is in a few days. Dad is on it. That project is probably going to get scrapped."

  Netto wrung his wrists, and somewhat shamefully looked away from the table. Guilt was written all over his face, though for what it wasn't clear. There was too much to say, and that brand new pit of anxiety hadn't really left him yet. It would one day, that he was sure of– but all of these feelings were new to him.

  Open Threads kq-i

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  and it's simply irrational weather
  S saviior_exe

  Whatever Meiru was burdened by, Netto lacked the memory to fill in the gaps. His time at Via Iracunda was everything and nothing; flashes of anger, flashes of violence, and nothing.

  "Oh no no," he waved his hands, with a slight gesture to the window. "I've got folks to get me things, don't you concern yourself with that. Plenty of runners." Who those runners were didn't matter. He had connections!

  Netto shifted so he wasn't so languid. Really, he looked fine, save for the occasional bandage, and a re-opened burn that sliced his side burn near his temple. Where the Link had sat.

  "It's nice to meet you properly," he said with a winning smile. "Feel like every other time has been like, passing trains in the night." (Passing ships, but whatever.) "I'm Netto, but- I guess you knew that. Haha."

  Open Threads fs-i kq-i

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  if there's a way out of this, somebody tell me
  S saviior_exe

  He didn't mind the papers- it made him feel a little better about the somewhat constant mess his own apartment was in. Netto didn't fully realize just how early it was, as his days had been so upside-down.

  Netto blinked, and didn't quite respond to Pen right away. So Enzan didn't say anything to her? A crawling fear began in the pit of his stomach- Pen definitely didn't know, and that had to be that. "Um - yeah, I am up early."

  He felt the urge, but didn't yet dip for the PET in his pocket. It was a crutch. "Umm. No, I'm not on my way to work- um, did Enzan talk to you? Recently?" He laughed nervously, and remembered to take his place at the table. "I've been on leave, remember- um, I mean, it was gonna expire last week, but- I extended it. For a week."

  He giggled, though it was an anxious action. He didn't realize how suddenly awkward this would be. Would Pen lecture him, like Laika and Enzan had - would it be an interrogation? (It was necessary, and they were justified, but still...!)

  Open Threads kq-i

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  follow me into the desert, as desperate as you are
  S saviior_exe

  You know that an Alpha Agent is linked to this world and she knows everything about you. There is no point in reminding her of anything; it was her business, because it was her birthright. She has a right to information, as it was all they gave her, even in death.

  "I suppose he could have infected you," she muses. "Trading it in your mouth."

  Vulgar. She giggles and sets the glass down. Her hand leaves it and you envision grabbing it and running. "Too bad, darling. Try again?"

  Your bet came up nothing. She resets the wheel, and waits for your bet- as if you'd do anything else, now that temptation has you.

  Open Threads kq-i flashpoint

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  The First and Last of Their Kind
  S saviior_exe

  I said that? Rockman clawed in his memory, but drew a somewhat dark blank. His brow furrowed, and he tried to hone in on Cometman.

  It was a dick thing to say. It could have been him. What was Cometman? He was in the net, and that made him a Navi, for all intents and purposes. But...he did feel something. A weird sort of imbalance. Cometman, for lack of a better term, felt between- something unlike him, and something just like him.

  "I'm sorry," and he meant it. "I- I have no idea what I was saying. I wasn't really myself." He hoped that there would be no question to that; Serpentine's influence was a good enough veil, he hoped.

  But he was worried about it. That was weird. Maybe they could get somewhere anyway- "What do they call you where you come from-? Like..." He gestured. "Do they call you a navi? They must not, if you're so...confused about it."

  Open Threads wm-i kq-i

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  and it's simply irrational weather
  S saviior_exe

  Netto raised his arm from the couch, craning a little so he could look at her. He'd remembered her face in fear, and that image flashed for a moment- but it was only a moment. "Hi," he called back, and offered a bit of a dopey, sunshine-y smile.

  He really was just...a guy, sprawled on his couch, nursing his ego and his wounds. Like this, you could see his undercut was growing in a bit, giving him a fuzzy look. His glasses were a bit askew.

  "Sorry about the mess." It was a real Male Living Space (tm) in there. His furniture consisted of exactly the oversized sectional he sat on, a television, and a collection of pictures and awards in the corner. "And I really don't have a lot to offer you, which is a shame. My favorite part of guests is sweets."

  Netto laughed to himself, and shuffled so that Meiru could sit on the couch if she wanted. There was enough room to be comfortable.

  Open Threads fs-i kq-i

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  if there's a way out of this, somebody tell me
  S saviior_exe

  @role

  Netto was better.

  He'd done his crying, his moping, his bellyaching for a little over a week. He'd spent that endless time in his childhood bedroom, counting cracks in the ceiling and fluff on the carpet. He'd just needed time to think. Needed time to roll that conversation over in his head, commit it to memory, not let it be stolen by the wave of shame that'd been crashing into him.

  He'd gone on runs, spanned half the downtown in record time. He breathed in cool seaside air, felt the salt sting his eyes, reminded himself of his own mortality. He'd done all the things that just felt right to do after your worldview was sort of shattered entirely.

  Well, everything except the normal things.

  He was supposed to come to the main office come Monday. He wasn't going out on assignment again, but…Cain was inquiring about the next round of testing. He had paperwork to sign. This was going to be the last trial before his paper was published. Just four weeks of field tests and then it was over.

  A part of Netto wanted to say yes. He wanted to sign the papers, because he wasn't the type to back down before a job was through. He wanted to see this through because it felt like it meant something if he did. That all the horrible things were meaningful if it meant something useful came out of it.

  But he thought of the way Enzan had looked at him; how Laika had. How he was no longer carrying a subPET in his pocket. It would be a let down to them, wouldn't it be?

  …Wouldn't it be?

  But he was better now. The sun was shining and beautiful and it felt great on his face. He'd shed the long sleeved, Official issue workout clothes and had a plain sleeveless shirt and shorts— which meant all of his skin was getting kissed by that sun. He reminded himself that when things were bad, you had to hold onto what was good. And the sun was good.

  But the weight of incoming work did weigh on him. He felt this new resistance he'd never felt before, this inertia to stay away. He really enjoyed his work with the Officials, especially the restoration end of it– sure, the Netbattling wasn't as fun anymore without Rock, but there was still a lot to enjoy.

  …and a lot to dread. His feet had started to take him to the next best place he knew aside from home; Pen's apartment. She must have felt this too, right? Maybe this was just normal nerves. Enzan wouldn't get it, because he'd been in this since he was a kid— plus, he was already stressing them out so bad over the last week. He could spread the work out.

  In a moment he was at Pen's door, knocking gently— it only just occured to him she might not be home, because of said job, but maybe it was still worth a shot.

  "Pen? Hey— it's Netto!" He called through the door. How much did she know…? Did Enzan tell her about their conversation? Maybe they had, and that was okay. This was nothing to be ashamed of, Dad had told him so.

  Open Threads kq-i

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  my turn to test
  S saviior_exe

  hey only im allowed to test

  Silly Zone testing