animus_network | 001 ☠ Video/Possible Action?

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001 ☠ Video/Possible Action?

[He's been staring and prodding at the terminal for the longest time, wanting to at least have a basic grasp of its function before fiddling too much with it, though as of right this moment, Barbossa will fully admit (privately) that he really doesn't understand it. Witchery, devilry, some sort of voodoo...He's not entirely sure, and really, given the circumstances, he doesn't really care. What matters is that he's pretty sure it's for communication. And communicate he will.

There are far more important things afoot, thanks to the letter he's tucked haphazardly into the sash around his waist, because in it, the worst is delivered. He cares not for the world, but his ship...That's enough to make his blood boil.

But none of that shows on his face - for now. He's already raged privately, before deciding it is, plainly and simply, false. Instead, he looks more than a little amused at the circumstances, as he taps thoughtfully at the screen with one long, black nail.]

So, it do seem me home managed to get itself blown apart like a dinghy hit with chain shot. Funny, that. [He doesn't believe a word of it, and it's evident in his tone, and the quirk of his mouth.] Ye'd figure there'd be a tad more warning. Trumpets. Horsemen. Jack Sparrow running away from the scene of the crime. Alas, can't say as I remember a speck of any of that.

So what be the truth of it, aye? Did our saviors rapture us from our dying homes, convinced of our purity and contriteness? Be we the lambs before the slaughter? [Hilarious.] Nay, there be more to it than that. And since it seems ye have me at a disadvantage, I'd be thankful for some...Insight.

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[But who was phone?]

I know not what this video is. And I don't care. When I say me own eyes, I mean me own eyes. I trust not what I see in pictures and hear from strangers who are but words on a strange chart I know naught of.

[And Tohko just sighs in frustration as she types.]

..A video is basically an electronic method for capturing and recording motion pictures-pictures that move. It's the method you're using to talk to me right now, and you use your eyes to view it. What I am saying is that evidence is on the network in video format, and that if you are having trouble finding it, I'll come to you and pull it up for you. And drag in John, if I can find him while I'm running.

..And I don't blame you for being wary of the network, but I can assure you, the post I'm talking about is quite safe. It was given to us accidentally, so you can be sure it's true.

[Welcome to 18th Century pirate superstition. Having fun yet?]

Well I figured as much. Just because I've not seen as such doesn't mean I can't put two and two together. [Exasperation! How he has not missed you.]

Whether or not these...[He pauses, and then changes his mind, not really recognizing the word to begin with.] Moving pictures do exist, that not be the point. Whether or not it be an accident proves nothing of its validity. [And, okay, maybe he doesn't want to believe his beloved Revenge is gone and he's stuck forever in this place with Jack. Bloody. Sparrow. The implications are absolutely terrifying.] So let's say it's all true. We do what.

[Loads of fun.]

Well, I'm glad to hear that. And I think that the fact that the video was an accident proves it's validity. After all, things caught accidentally will sometimes prove more true than the things normally reported, if that makes any sense. Especially with these Administrators.

And, if it is all true...then we have to try and survive. I would say more..but this network is monitored by the Administrators, if you catch my drift.

Aye, and could as easily be a seed spread far and wide to make things docile, if what else I be hearing be true.

Of course it is. Ye can't expect our captors to not worry if the natives be getting restless.

Oh, a video of that sort won't be enough to make the residents here stop hating the Administrators, trust me. Knowing the truth will just make some people even angrier, and considering recent events..there's no way they could hope to make most people here docile or compliant or even accepting when it came to them.

Exactly, which is why some precautions have to be taken. I'm sorry about the secrecy, but measures do have to be taken.

And ye act as though secrecy be something I'm unaccustomed to. There be more to this story, and I'll have it.

[Okay, that makes her smile.]

I suppose it isn't, considering your profession. However, it's good to see that you're the type who can't let half of a story run away either! I'm not sure I can tell you everything I know-after all, it affects more than just me, and I'm not sure how trustworthy you actually are, since this is our first time meeting. However, if you tell me what other pieces to the story you want to hear, I'll try and see if I can tell them to you.

Other pieces. I barely have words to string together as it stands. I'll be needing much more than I've been given. Where be these...Administrators. What purpose do we serve, living here in a cage as playthings to be broken and repaired at a whim. I'll not have me fate in the hands of another. Not again.

The Administrators reside in the basement, via access by an elevator that only they can operate. And we're supposed to live here 'happily' and, if my suspicions are correct, give thanks to Ruana, despite everything she has done to us.

...Good. I'm glad to hear that you're willing to fight for your freedom. Where are you right now? If you tell me, I might be able to give you more of this story without worrying about who may be reading.

They told me this be...A library? I suppose that be so.

Ah, alright then! Hang on just a moment then..

[After typing up that message, Tohko would run down to the third floor library. Since she hadn't seen a pirate in the nineteenth floor, he must have been here. Upon spotting him, she'll walk up to him and smile. Weren't expecting a teenage girl, now were you, Barbossa?]

I'm sorry for the wait. I'm the girl who has some other pieces of the story, if you'll care to listen.

[No, he definitely hasn't been expecting a teenaged girl. (He's had enough of your kind, thanks to Ms. Sw- Mrs. Turner, as she was close enough.) In fact, he hasn't been expecting a female period, but that figures. And it doesn't matter to begin with.]

You. [Seriously, though.] Aye, this be a sad day, indeed, when the likes of me fall to the mercy of the likes of you. So be it. Tell your story, lass.

[Tohko looked a little puzzled at that first comment.]

I'm not quite sure I understand why it's a sad day when I have more information than you. After all, you're a new resident here. It only makes sense that I would know more than you right now. That may change though, as events play out. And you don't have to call me 'lass'. I'm Tohko Amano, the book girl.

[She then nodded to herself and lowered her voice to a whisper. Normally, she wouldn't..but Tohko thought that the library might be a bit more..scrutinized than other places.]

The part of the story that I had left out is that Dax managed to bring about twenty people down to the basement where the Administrators are so that they could learn the truth about our bodies. It was because of this and because he tried to bring something from another universe here to kill Ruana that she killed and ate him.

Now, you are a pirate, so I have no doubt that you can keep secrets and things to yourself. I need a different sort of promise from you. I have an extra bit of this tale to tell, but if I am going to tell it, it must be kept only to yourself. I don't care who else you meet here, your mother, your lover, a friend, a trusted ally..you won't tell them this part of the story. If you don't, and I find out about it, I shall take a page from a friend of mine and not hurt you. I shall utterly destroy everything that you love and care about. I shall hate to do it, but when the stakes are this high, I have to make that threat. And I will carry it out. So, what do you say?

[And for several long moments after that, Barbossa can, without any shame, say nothing. Many things have happened to him in his life, but this is probably one of the most interesting threats he's ever gotten. And she looks so innocent, too. It's...Almost funny, really. There's something gloriously beautiful in it, and he's a little disappointed that it's an angle he hasn't anticipated.

But after that long, long silence, he breaks into a slow grin.]

I may have underestimated ye, la- Miss Amano. [He acknowledges as such with a slight bowing of his head.] Alright, ye've named your terms, and I'll agree to them. There be no one in this miserable place I'd wish to tell good day to, besides.

[Oh, Tohko was usually very innocent. However, with a change in her role, she had to think about what her decisions would do to others that were involved and what telling the wrong people could mean for them. Thus, the threat, which she would carry out.

Tohko returned the smile and gave a small curtsy at the nod. She knew her manners. However, when she spoke, she still kept her voice to a whisper.]

Most people do tend to underestimate book girls until it's too late. And while you might find that there are a few people you would wish to tell, after awhile, since you've agreed to the terms, you'll know what I'll do if you do tell them.

..Before he died, Dax made sure two friend of mine and I got notes from him, stating that he had hidden away some information for us in the Administrative floors. He put in security measures so that the other Administrators couldn't reach it, which means that it'll be a long, uphill battle for us. But..we're willing to wait for an opening for the elevator to be used. At least, until we can find a way to operate the thing without the other Administrators catching on. So, you are not the only one fighting here. There is a group. So, if you want to go against them, then I would suggest that you fight them too.

[Her insistence that he'll want to talk is more than humorous, but he keeps it to himself. If what he's been told is true, there's Jack, but Jack's not the sort of person you tell anything to. Not if it's important. And not unless you need him, which is rare in and of itself.]

So, that be it? There be a resistance. [It's almost too good, but she might have missed the memo where he's...A pirate? Still. If there is anything a pirate is good at, it's resistance against the powers that be. Hadn't that been what the battle against Beckett was about?] And how do ye plan to fight them, when it seems everyone cowers in their own shadows, deciding a life of servitude as the plaything of these...Creatures be the choice they wish?

[No, she didn't miss the memo. However, to her, this resistance was quite important. She kept her voice lowered as she spoke and bit back the urge to chuckle.]

Yes, there is. And the majority of the people here aren't willing to cower in their shadows. They're just quiet. They're a bit smarter than me when it comes to speaking about these things. As for how we're planning on fighting, we need to get together, work out a battle plan. So much has happened this month that it has been tough getting everyone together, but I have no doubt that we will shortly.

And I don't think they'll mind if you call them creatures. They act more like Lovecraftian monsters to me, but one things for sure-they're not human.

[Lovecraftian isn't a word he's heard before, but he supposes he understands the gist of it, given what he's heard of them. Eldritch creatures, of which he's had more than his fill of, given recent years.]

So ye have no plan, no way of gathering the troops, as it were, because of this place, and since ye don't know who ye can trust, ye wing it and hope for the best. [Yep, sounds like a great plan. He's worked with less, though.] But say ye do it. Say it all goes how ye want. Then what. I still don't believe me home be destroyed, lass. But if we be but souls ripped from the flesh, there may be not much we can do. Living free, aye, that's important, but free and still trapped here be just another form of prison.

[At that, Tohko sighed. However, she kept smiling, and her voice was still kept at a whisper.]

I do know who I can trust. I've gathered up a few people. Now we're just waiting for a good day when we can gather everyone together and discuss tactics. It would be foolish to make a plan only to have it backfire because no one else knew of it.

And you're new, so you can't make any sound guesses as to what Dax's information may be. However..he said that he was working on restoring the universes. I'm betting that the information he hid away is his work-and he wants us to finish it and fix everything. If we're successful, then you would have a home to go back to. Maybe even other souls there to greet and order about.

[That, of course, adds a new angle to things, and gives him pause. She, of course, is right on his being the new kid on the block, and doubly-so about his being unable to make a guess about all of that (not that he's...actually that inclined to do so, really, as in all actuality, it has very little to do or interest him). He doesn't say anything for a moment, instead glancing up and around them, just on the off chance some slack-jawed local happened to be looking a little too hard.

He figures, given her (still hilarious) threat, you can't be too careful.]

Aye, and ye say it be in a place ye cannot go. So how do you get to a place ye can't access unless you already be one of these creatures, and without this Dax character? I figure, like as not, ye've been working at this, and that's good. But it be full of holes, lass, big enough to sail me ship through.

[Thankfully, no local, slack-jawed or otherwise, was watching. And just keep laughing and thinking that Tohko won't do anything. You'll see.]

That's the thing. Lots and lots of people were brought to this Tower, and not just ordinary humans, like you and me. Angels, demons, people from the Collective Unconscious..they're here. The trouble, in my mind, is not getting down there. It's getting down there undetected and without too many people getting hurt. This is a stealth operation, after all. Not one of pure action.

And it's good that you don't have a ship to sail here then.

Ye may have to sacrifice for the greater good. [He's done it. Well, not for the greater good, but for revenge. Close enough.] Or ye may need to think long and hard. Surely they have weaknesses. There not be a creature in existence that ain't, and I'd be willing to bet me left arm these be no different. Finding them might be the trouble. But if it's anything worth doing ye can expect snags in the line, lass.

They have weaknesses. For starters, they don't understand human empathy or emotions properly. I'd be willing to bet that they have more. And I know I might have to sacrifice for the greater good. I know that anything worth doing will require some working through of problems.

[Tohko sighed. Playing chess with Wilhelm had beaten this into her, but it wasn't like this guy knew that.]

I know that. I'm just saying that the fewer sacrifices we have to make, due to stupidity or moving too quickly, the better.

[More than anything, he's slightly amused it. She's not going to offend him, because he's simply pointing out the flaws he sees. And after all, it's not like he's a mindreader.]

As ye've said lass, I be new to these parts. Can't know what ye have and haven't mulled over in talks with others or the corners of your own mind. I can only state what I see, and there be plenty enough to be getting on with.

[He offers a slight shrug.] The only thing I can say is that sometimes the sacrifices are small, sometimes they be great. It doesn't have to be stupidity. Which is why as I see it, ye need someone who understands strategy, and playing against the grain.

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