animus_network

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[Needless to say, Rick has seen better days. He's had a chance to read his note and change and get a feel for the dormitory level of the tower, but no amount of acclimation is going to make him comfortable with the fact that everything he knew--everything he was comfortable with knowing--has simply vanished. Desperate to find some tangible connection to his world, Rick makes a call for the one person that he knows can support him. So far, he's found no evidence that she's even here; an open post is all he can think to do next.]

Codi? It's Rick. You're probably hiding, and that's okay--you don't have to say where you are. I just want to know if you're all right.

I love you.

[He might be starting to panic a little bit.]

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Codi...a friend of yours? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if your friend isn't here...and this isn't a very nice plaice to be, either.

[Feferi truly sounds apologetic.]

[He replies almost immediately, but oddly still in text.]

Codi's my wife. Dakota Perkins--maybe you've seen her around? She has bright red hair, hazel eyes, kind of tall, fit. She might be going by Bridget if she's in one of her moods. She's hard to miss. Are you sure you haven't run into her?

[Rick isn't ready to accept the inevitable just yet.]

I'm sorry. It's possible that she might be here, but a lot of people come and go. The only people with bright red hair that I know don't fit the rest of your description.

[voice doesn't seem like enough. Feferi flips on the video after a moment. She's not human, and she hopes that doesn't freak the newcomer out too much.]

I'm Feferi Peixes. I'll certainly keep looking for your wife for you, even if I haven't seen her, though. And...I've been here for over a year now. If you have any questions. But like I said, this isn't a nice plaice.

It's pretty horrible.

[The fact that Feferi isn't human does, unfortunately, freak Rick out a lot, but the fact that it does is only evident in that it takes him nearly ten minutes to reply. Even then, he's not sure if the image is fake or not.]

Maybe she's only just arrived, like me. Or maybe she'll show up in a few days? Anyway, being here has to be better than being dead--if our worlds really have been destroyed. I don't know if I believe that note. I don't know if I can believe anything.

[Rick pauses, too flustered to type. He takes off his glasses and rubs at his eyes for a minute or so, taking deep breaths to regain his composure.]

I can believe that this place isn't nice, though. I'm too nervous to leave the floor that I'm on to find out. Where are you?

Either one of those is possible. It's always best to hope for the positive.

[She pauses for a second, tucking some unruly hair back behind her.]

I know. I look weird, right? I'm a sea troll. I'm from a planet called Alternia originally. There are a few others that look like me around. Most of us are perfectly nice - a little different, but we aren't intrinsically bad. I'm not going to do anything to hurt you, though. That's a promise.

[She points to the flower she's wearing in her hair - specifically, to the green leaves.]

Green is a good color here. It stands for...well, let me explain it this way.

Some of the admins of this place - they aren't bad. There's a little boy, named Zo, running the show this month. He's not a bad kid, he's just confused and misguided.

Right now is as safe as the Tower gets, anymore. It was better, once, but unfortunately, things are changing really quickly around here. I'm at the terminals closest to the first floor of the dorms. There's a lot more I can explain, but it's better in person.

...also? You can touch the horns, just not around the base. It's like hitting the base of your fingernail too hard - that hurts. 'Kay?

[The terminal idles...having realized that Feferi is on the same floor he's on, Rick has taken her advice. He'll find her in a few minutes.]

[ 'who would post something like this on the network here' is the question that has Raven looking into the post further with a faint sense of dread at his core.

it doesn't take much investigation before he gets up from the terminal where he's seated and rushes off in a blur.

it's a distraction, yes, from recent events. but any distraction is a good one if he can focus on a task rather than the overload of memories of what he'd been doing for the past month--

(there is something about the man's plight that strikes dangerously close to home.)

one round, another, another sweep of the floors.

...one more. ]

i'm sorry.

your wife's name isn't on any of the doors.

[Rick is, at this point, far too distraught to inquire deeper into who this person is, or how he's managed to check all the doors, or even how many doors there are, really. He pecks at the keys with fatigued despondence.]

Maybe she hasn't arrived yet? Maybe she sneaked in here with me and doesn't have a room, or something? I don't know.

I think I need to go lie down.

they tell us that they can only bring one from each world. those who run this place, that is. everyone wakes up in the same way; if she were here they would have assigned her to a room. i'm sorry.

there is always the possibility she will arrive here in time, though.

[ Whether or not that's a good thing. Raven's not very sure of the matter anymore, because as gratifying as it is to be able to see the he cares about well at the best of times, it also means that their worlds have been drawn into this as well.

He refrains from saying so outright, however, even if he'd already implicated it.]

I hope so...they need to bring her here. I need her here.

[Rick knows he's sounding desperate, but it's true and he doesn't care.]

Are there multiple people from the same "world" in this place? It doesn't make sense that there wouldn't be. I think.

[He doesn't quite grasp the concept of "worlds" just yet. It'll take a few alien encounters for that to sink in, probably.]

there are. that, or they're from somewhere similar enough that none could tell the difference.

several of my [ —charges? should he call them charges? ] charges are here, so it's not impossible for you to be able to find people you might know.

[The sigh of relief he breathes is almost audible in his writing.]

Okay. So that means she could still show up later...that's really great news. Thank you.

i haven't done or said anything worth being thanked for, so that's unnecessary.

[ a moment's deliberation, and then another message. ]

good luck, though. i hope you find her.

[ ~~just be pre--~~ ~~just don't--~~ ~~expect the w--~~ are all aborted thoughts Raven deletes before he sends the text. ]

that was probably the most embarrassing love declarationish thing ive ever seen on this network
i think you get a sticker for that or something :O

I'll be honest, it's tough for me to not be embarrassed by everything I do. Awkward or not...I don't think I could tell her enough.

wow that is the sappiest shit
i
you are making it really hard to make fun of it! >:(
rude
you get another sticker i guess
why are you so embarrassed all the time thats kind of unnecessary
you should be proud of your girl!
or dude
im not here to judge

I'm sorry that I can't be more entertaining, but...this is genuinely worrying! I mean, for her sake, not mine. She can usually take care of herself...but if she's not here, that's a problem, right?

yeah i guess so
tbh this place is kind of shitty and horrible so it may be sort of better if shes not
depends on your point of view
but theres some timeline out there where shes all fine and dandy so thats ok i think!

Yeah...that's what I keep hearing. The "tower is a terrible place" thing, I mean. Is being here really worse than not existing at all?

[He chooses not to comment on the multiple timelines thing because, what? Rick does not compute.]

[Come on man, she's like 14 and she...pretends to understand multiple timelines at least..]

idk
its a pretty fucking shitty place
at first its kind of a cool thing to not be not existing when you were supposed to be not existing
and then after a while the charm kind of wears off like when you find out the new triple a video game is actually a piece of shit :/

[that was the most convoluted series of negatives]

[Rick is far too frazzled to parse most of this.]

I guess that's the other "point of view" you were talking about...At least if Codi were here, we would be suffering through this together.

[come on bro double negatives are totally cool.]

make one real shitty honeymoon though
happy anniversary darling were stuck in murder central
~but at least were together~

[Jade can't see Rick involuntarily giggle behind the terminal and then feel very bad about it immediately thereafter.]

I hate to say it, but you'd be surprised.

im a time traveler that fought a radioactive murderdog with friends who were basically the avatar of cthulu and a living tornado
try me :I

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[Text]

voice;

[text]

voice -> video;

[still text]

video -> action?

[text - action is a bad habit of mine, let me fix]

hang on lemme action/introspect it up for a moment; 1/2

text; 2/2

[always text]

forevertext it is;

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[text text text]

[so much text]

[text - blatant sappiness = best anti-troll?]

[text YOU'RE RUINING HER FUN WITH YOUR GENUINENESS!!]

[text YES I WIN]

[text ~rude~]

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