Network; @XXDARK_STARXX

[omniavincit]

WHO: William and WHATEVER STUPID HANDLE YOUR CHARACTER IS USING
WHAT: Breaking in the network.
WHERE: The information...two-lane country road.
WHEN: Whenever you like (pre- or post-event...or lmao during...is fine)!

[ If one of the handles William selected at random from his phone's perplexing contacts list belongs to you, congratulations! That device you slipped in your pocket? Or squinted at in confusion? Or immediately fumbled, if you're William and can't seem to shake your current spell of bad luck?

It makes a noise. ]

FROM: @xxDARK_STARxx

What do the shadows look like to you?

Comments

[omniavincit]

[ A working sense of humor would only marginally improve William's jokes. ]

Nice to meet you.

This seems like it'd be kind of a colossal undertaking for a single person.

[badassassin]

I did assume it was a group effort.

[omniavincit]

Has something similar happened to you before?

Or are you just the finger-pointing type?

[badassassin]

Someone has to be behind it. Why not the person asking leading questions?

[omniavincit]

[ Is it his grammar? The fact that he uses proper punctuation? He has a lunatic impulse to describe where he is, see if she can do what he's struggled for weeks with. Find someone. ]

You think this is some kind of interdimensional Rorschach test?

Nothing about this place is straightforward. Why would the explanation be?

[badassassin]

You realize you haven't given me a straightforward answer.

[omniavincit]

To what?

[badassassin]

If you're the reason I'm here.

[omniavincit]

No.

[ Maybe it's the starkness of that statement, but he almost regrets that he isn't. That he has no answer for her. ]

I'm looking too.

[badassassin]

[There's barely even a pause before she answers; she didn't really expect it would be that simple.]

Good. The more people searching, the faster we'll find answers.

[omniavincit]

Or the more answers we'll find. [ What satisfies one person doesn't satisfy another. Case in point: this conversation. ]

Were you in the middle of something? When you got here.

[badassassin]

No. I'd just finished a job. Is there some kind of pattern for what people were doing?

[omniavincit]

I haven't asked.

I figured since you're searching for a reason here, maybe you had one before.

[badassassin]

No. I just assume someone is responsible for teleporting me, considering this isn't a normal thing that just happens.

[omniavincit]

[ Oh. He's a little surprised at the depth of his disappointment.

Then why would you think a normal person is responsible? he's tempted to ask. In lieu of going in circles: ] What kind of job?

[badassassin]

[Does she know William is normal?]

It's a long story. [If he hasn't figured it out by now, she is a fan of brevity.] The mission changed a lot, but I got it done. That's the important thing.

Were you doing something special?

[omniavincit]

My favorite kind. [ Not that he expects her to humor him—even if she were...a completely different person, it'd be a lot of typing.

The question gives him pause. He's never had to explain COST—people either understood or couldn't know. ] Not in the moment. Not that I can remember.

We were in the middle of a revolution.

[badassassin]

I've been called in to deal with a few uprisings. Haven't had the opportunity to be on the other side.

Are you a soldier?