CONTACT.

[ascintilla]

Comment here with the IC date and time.

Comments

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

Iota?!

[The control breaks and there is DEFINITE worry on his face.]

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

[ THE NUMBER YOU HAVE DIALLED IS CURRENTLY ENGAGED. PLEASE HOLD THE LINE. ]

Shh. I am listening. Puma? Please hold for a moment, I need to reroute—

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

[Well, she shushed him, and he's not sure WHAT'S going on.]

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

[ The screen goes blank. ]

[ WHO KNEW KIDS WOULD BE THIS MUCH TROUBLE, GODDAMN. ]





[ Maybe ten, twelve seconds later, Iota speaks up through the STILL BLANK computer's speaker system. ]

Puma, if you would like to continue our [ fffzzzt ] conversation, please come to the medical bay. It will be quieter there.

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

...all right.

[He's blanking out again. Fighting the surge of panic.]

I hear any hissing, I'm breaking shit.

[FAIR. WARNING.]

[But standing up and heading for the medical bay.]

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

[ Aw, come on, don't you trust her?? ]


[ Don't answer that. ]

[ It's a quiet, uneventful walk over to the medbay. Iota seems to be entirely pre-occupied with whatever the hell it is she's dealing with right now. And once he's there … oh, there's Iota. Iota's body, at any rate, sitting up on one of the medical cots. Her hand is pressed against her forehead, and her cheeks are … wwwwwet? ]

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

[...what]

Should she already be up?

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

Biomed gel significantly increases the rate of healing. [ She mumbles, distracted. ] If anything, I am being overly cautious …

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

...why did you suddenly connect? You were freaking out.

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

[ Lowers her hand, glancing over at him with glassy, definitely watery eyes. She looks like somebody's hit her over the head with a two-by-four. ]

A small emergency. It is quieter here.

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

...

[Coming over to look at her face.] What do you mean?

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

[ It's not a huge crying fit. There's no drama, no fanfare, just weepiness and leakiness and something kind of … dazed. ]

[ She blinks up at him. ]

What do I mean by which statement?

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

It's quieter. What's noisy?

[Does there seem to be brain damage? Seeing if she can track his finger.]

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

[ She blinks again, stares at him in confusion, and then—as if finally realizing what he's trying to do here—starts tracking the finger back and forth. ]

Oh. She wanted my attention.

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

She who?

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

Not her.

[ That doesn't clarify. ]

Not her. [ Gestures to herself. ] The fragment.

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

That first her doesn't clarify.

The hurt fragment?

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

Yes. She needs a name.

[ Still doesn't clarify. ]

[ Iota mutters something under her breath, wiping at her eyes. ]

The fragment, who requires a name, loudly and somewhat violently requested my immediate attention. She, whose body I currently reside within, is fine.

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

A description can help for offering suggestions.

Except she, or you, are crying.

You said there were fragments from the games who were basically self sustaining. That means people in the game interacted with them.

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

I think that I am the one who is crying.

[ Looks down at her fingers, and the dampness she'd wiped away from her eyes. ]

... Hm? What were you saying?

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

And now evading.

[Sighs, rubbing his temples.] Why are you crying?

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

[ Well, now she's pouting. ... ... more than she was five seconds ago, anyway. ]

If you are speaking of the fragments I implanted, yes, those who explored were able to interact with them on a direct level. If you are speaking of the "fragments" from the previous game I ran, some did choose to implant them.

[ Settles her hands in her lap. ]

... And I am crying because you are giving me a headache.

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

I'm pretty sure that's not why you are.

[He sighs.] Maybe you should talk to those who chose to implant, if they seemed fine at the end of the game. They might be able to help, they know what it's like, if they consent to help, it might actually help.

Re: DAY 220

[ascintilla]

[ she could do that ]

[ she could do that, she could do that, couldn't she? ]

Puma. [ there's a hint of warning there ]

[ she could do that ]

Have you, or have you not, spent the past several days resisting the urge to throttle me for what I have done to not just yourself, but multiple children in Kyriakos ...

Re: DAY 220

[purrtylittlewires]

...

[Gives her a hard look.]

Remove the option from the table.

You're not ready to use it. The only way you seem capable of using it right now is the way that would harm your friends, so don't. Or you'll just repeat your mistakes.

And you're not going to be ready if you keep going down this road, Iota.