[Network - Open] [Audio]

[dragoonrouge]

Date: [31st October]
Characters: [Sadie Moore and the Number I still haven't actually decided on even though its been months]

---

Sadie's tone of voice as it comes through the Network is unexpected unless anyone had managed to spend any significant amount of time with her and her brother. It is taunting in a way that only teenagers who have siblings can manage. Her words are probably confusing to the rest of the Network as well.

"You are a bad dog."

Comments

[channingchanningchanning]

In the background, a familiar old man voice can be heard yelling: "Stop, stop STOP, DON'T-" and then breaking off abruptly into angry mumbling when he realizes that the network has been activated.

THIS IS A VIOLATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION OF DOG RIGHTS!!! OR SOMETHING!!!!

[dragoonrouge]

"HA! I knew it!" Sadie crows over the barking on her end and the words said barking is being translated to over the Network, "You do have a Number."

"...Oh Holy shit Numbers can make animals sentient guys."

[channingchanningchanning]

More angry mumbling follows.

Or, as Sadie will hear it, growling.

This is. SO. MEAN. He was doing such a good job pretending to be human! Nobody caught on to anything being weird! And then Sadie had to go and ruin it. No, she's most DEFINITELY not the pretty girl from his memory.

Asking the only important question right here

[runs]

Does that mean there are sentient cats?

[dragoonrouge]

That would be amazing!

[runs]

Way better than sentient dogs!

[dragoonrouge]

Absolutely better than sentient dogs!

Having met him before the shouting makes a lot of sense, he isn't exactly quiet when he barks.

MEANWHILE [Audio]

[iamnotgod]

[It will be a day later - more than twelve hours, at the least - before Walter finds this post, but when he does?

Oh, he laughs. Given how the past night has gone for him, this is just silly enough to pop some sort of internal resistance inside him.]

I- I guess they can be any species, then.

[He says, trying to bring some levity back into his voice, but no; he's still zonked out on stress, it's not working entirely.

It's better than thinking about being overwhelmed by that Data Overload, about what it was like to drown as a nonhuman thoug- aaand there we go, now he's breathing hard for a different reason again.

Not that it's instantly noticeable.]

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie is... concerned when she hears Walter's response, but the Network was not the place to address it.

"Yeah, it certainly opens up some new avenues."

Meanwhile on her phone she texts him, Are you still at Jim's?

[Text]

[iamnotgod]

[He switches to just responding to the text message; less pressure.]

Yes, though I expect we'll both be ready to head over to the flat shortly.

Not that Jim's staying at the flat!

[There's less than a second's pause before the second text goes out, but there's still some internal flailing to go with it.]

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie can't help but grin at that despite the reasoning for Walter's stay with Jim.

But you want him to don't you :P

Maybe you should ask him to stay... Its better than being alone and having Russell there isn't quite the same is it?

Maybe a little on the nose but she was speaking from experience.

[Audio]

[scarsolderthanyou]

[After some of that conversation happens...]

So that's why that guy wouldn't give me his name. That's Chad, isn't it. The little white fluffy one. Right?

[It explains why he was acting like Lassie, coming straight for him. Also, he's really more wigged out than he sounds, but he's good at understating things.]

[Audio]

[spaghettimonster]

[Listening in on Sadie's theory was bewildering enough, without any video to confirm if she'd been pranking them by stealing some unhappy guy's dog. But this is too much.]

...No. The secretive petting zoo guy? Chad?

Re: [Audio]

[dragoonrouge]

"Yes! That's the one!"

She quickly switches to video mode to show the pomeranian, producing a very odd effect between the barking and the translation into human speech through the Network.

[Audio]

[spaghettimonster]

"I...?"

Whatever Russell meant to say trails off in a questioning squeak, and he mutters, "oh my god," briefly to himself before ending his connection to the Network altogether for a bit.

[Audio]

[channingchanningchanning]

I am not little. I am simply small.

[HUFF]

[Audio]

[scarsolderthanyou]

You realize little and small mean the same thing, right?

[Oh god he's talking to a dog.]

[Audio]

[channingchanningchanning]

People use the words in different ways.

[scarsolderthanyou]

All right. You're a small dog. Happy now?

[He can't believe he's even saying this.]

[channingchanningchanning]

[HUFF]

Well, you are using the correct word now.

[HUFF.]

[Text] Morning after Halloween

[vernal_miss]

That's the same dog I saw last night!

Chad? Is that your name?

My name is Nel. You ran away last night. Are you okay?

As a measure to assist with recognition, and hoping to draw his attention, she adds little doodles of cartoonish bones around the words.

[audio]

[channingchanningchanning]

[He is pretty grouchy still about having been demasked like that, but he... actually does still feel pretty bad about having hurt Nel.

So he responds will less grouch than anyone else might be greeted with.]

I am, in fact, English Champion Bumblecorn He's A Jolly Decent Fellow.

[Text]

[vernal_miss]

[When she hears a response while working on something away from the page of her sketchbook, she turns back to it and replies quickly.]

You have a long name, but it sounds happy!

Do you like when someone uses your whole name? My name is Ornella but I like when people call me Nel instead.

[audio]

[channingchanningchanning]

You may call me Chad.

Everyone does.

[It'd actually be weird if someone used his official name at this point. Nobody has used it in years.

...For a fact. He suddenly has to wonder why.]

[Text]

[vernal_miss]

Okay! [That has no clear connection to his full name but if he prefers Chad, she’ll use it!]

How are you feeling today? Yesterday was [There is a definite pause as Nel struggles with an apt description.] odd.