An Announcement. [Network - Audio Only]

[iamnotgod]

Date: January 2nd
Characters: Walter Weekes, via some still-unwritten Number

---

[There'd been several seconds' worth of internal debate, whether to put this on the Network at large, send it to everyone's known Number individually to make it less public, or even to mention it at all.

Walter's voice is clear, but it's obvious there's effort behind that. He sounds... resigned, exhausted, generally unhappy.]

Has anyone else tried to contact Jim? My own attempts have been... unsuccessful. Including through his Number.

[He'd checked at Jim's workplace, too, but the only answers there were annoyingly vague. Either the man'd gone ghosted, or he was out of the country.

And Walter can't shake the thought that he could have had something to with it, as irrational as it might come across. (At least Jim won't have to remember dying, anymore, unless until he comes back.)

What a way to begin the New Year, huh?]

Comments

[scarsolderthanyou]

I don't actually know much about him, but I haven't heard him around in a while.

Where does he live? Maybe I can pick up a scent, if there was trouble.

Still Audio

[iamnotgod]

He hasn't used the Network much, I'll admit-

[Mostly, Jim commented on other people's posts.]

But I'd gone to his place earlier, to meet up with him, and there didn't look to have been a struggle or the like.

[There's the smallest of pauses between 'to' and 'meet', as if Walter has something else in mind to say only to change it last-second.

He brings out his notebook alongside his laptop, writing down Sam Stone's Number - properly this time, not just using the main channel - to send Jim's address.]

[audio]

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Sam gets it written down somewhere not-network-y.]

Want to meet me there?

Re: [audio]

[iamnotgod]

[His breath holds. One instant, then the next-]

I can, though we might get called out for loitering.

[There's not much energy behind the words, though.]

[audio]

[scarsolderthanyou]

We won't be loitering, we'll be prowling. Much better, right?

[There's a hint of a grin in his voice, though it doesn't last into the next comment.]

I can be there in half an hour. You free, or you need to wait a little?

[audio]->[Action]

[iamnotgod]

Mmm.

[That noncommittal noise is probably answer enough as it is!]

I'm free-

[And again he cuts off abruptly, double-meaning striking him and making him flinch.]

I'll be there when you are.

[Action]

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Sam's big old car rolls up near to the address Walter gave him, and parks a little ways down the block. Sam walks the rest of the way, taking advantage of the cold to wrap half his face up in scarf and hat rather than bothering with make-up for his gray skin. He can even smell through the scarf if he needs to, though if the smells are faint he'll pull it down. Later.

He looks around, taking in the neighborhood and looking for Walter.]

Re: [Action]

[iamnotgod]

[It's... very much a place, not that many details can be seen from the gate, which is where Walter's waiting.

He doesn't announce his presence, though he does make himself try for eye contact.]

Think you can pick anything up from here, or...?

sorry that took so long, lost the notif somehow D:

[scarsolderthanyou]

Nice place.

[Same doesn't really sound like he thinks it's that nice. Too... post-modern-ish for him, really. But it is big and fancy, he supposes.]

Let me walk past the place a time or two, see what I can smell.

[And he does sidle on down the sidewalk, mouth open just a little, since he seems to smell things better that way. It's kind of weird.]

This is Jim-Mun approved

[dragoonrouge]

[Sadie's response is greatly delayed but might shed some light on what has happened.]

So I went searching, and I think I know why he's not on the Network.

\o/

[iamnotgod]

Where?

[What hadn't he searched?

And, realizing just that question might not make sense out of context:]

Er, what did you find out, Sadie?

[dragoonrouge]

Ah, right. Let me copy it in.

[Sadie switches to text and suddenly a screenshot of a small, local news website from the States pops up.]

EX-RAF ADMIRAL CAUGHT IN DEVESTATING CAR CRASH IN RIVERSIDE- IOWA

Admiral Chris Pike was involved in a multi-car pile-up early in the morning. Authorises say that he is in critical condition...

Because ECHO WAS APPROVED AND I NEVER USED IT 8'D

[iamnotgod]

[His breath stops.

No.

Why hadn't he thought to check - why hadn't he - of course it made sense for it to be family, of course Jim deserved privacy-

His voice is choked, again:]

Oh. That does explain things.

... Thank you, Sadie.

[The thoughts continue, harping on the idea of what if he hadn't let things alone, that he should have known more- then an Echo hits, his mind goes sideways, and Walter goes quiet without hanging up.]

[dragoonrouge]

[Sadie waits for a bit, the longer that Walter goes without speaking, the more concerned she gets.]

...Walter...?

Are you still there Walter?

[iamnotgod]

[Shallow breathing.

He'd done what now????

That was- that was wrong of him, of Webmind, surely.

Wasn't it???

Wasn't it?]

Echo hit.

Still parsing it.

[No, no, everything was fine, there was a reason and it was acceptable-

The sense of cognitive dissonance rose and fell like a wave.]

[dragoonrouge]

[Sadie doesn't immediately reply, wanting to give Walter a moment or two to start to settle first.]

Do you know what sort of Echo it was?

[iamnotgod]

Memory.

[That one he could say for sure.]

And something cognitive, maybe? I'm not thinking the way I just was, about Jim and getting the information about what happened.

[There's something that's missing-]

Whoops level late here but... [Text via phone, evening]

[warped_replica]

Sorry, I was at the warehouse. I just saw the post.

Any luck getting a hold of Jim?

[Text]

[iamnotgod]

No.

[He's blunt, though the fact he's sticking to text rather than switching to audio might speak volumes all on its own.]

Sadie found out something had happened to his dad. I hadn't known, and hadn't known I should know.

[There's a very pregnant pause, then:]

I also panicked myself into having an Echo. I'm fine now.

I think.

[Text]

[warped_replica]

[Although he does not quite understand why Walter should have known, he does worry more as he reads between the lines of text in the way Walter is responding to him. He won't ask his friend to give him the details, and will instead text Sadie to learn more about the situation Jim is facing while he focuses on Walter's reaction.]

Are you home right now? Can I come by at the flat?

Re: [Text]

[iamnotgod]

Not home right now. Can come to your place, or close by.

[But that's up to Ben's comfort level.]

[Text]

[warped_replica]

I'm still in Mossgate. I can meet you at my great aunts' house soon if you're out that way.

[Benjiro would be fine with Walter coming over to visit where he lives, but if Walter is still in Mossgate, he can meet him sooner locally.]

Re: [Text]

[iamnotgod]

Not quite that far.

[There's another, less significant pause.]

I'm still near Jim's place.

[Jim's old place, he refrains from correcting, but that's the truth.]

[Text]->[Action]

[warped_replica]

[There is a slight pause as Benjiro processes that information, then he types faster to try to make up for it.]

I know where that is. I'll meet you there.

[He had learned the location back on Halloween, and while not entirely familiar with it, the teenager navigates straight to it without taking an incorrect turn or going down the wrong street. When he spots Walter, whether down the street from the house or outside the front gate, he slows his bike to a stop and pulls off his helmet.]

[Action]

[iamnotgod]

[Ben gets no reply to that next text; Walter's down the street, having been unable to fully pull himself away from Jim's place after talking with Sam Stone.

He catches note of Ben, relieved to see another face he trusts, though it's mixed with concern and analysis of his own reactions. Is trusting someone enough to make them safe from me? Seeing how Webmind went about violating Caitlin's privacy even though he trusted her-

But Ben is not Caitlin, as Walter is not Webmind. Or so he tries to remind himself, that this is no time for false equivalencies, that those boundaries matter.]

Hey. Thank you for coming, Benjiro.

[He's polite, and he looks happy to see Ben for certain, but the smile on his face doesn't fully match his eyes.]

We... should probably go elsewhere, shouldn't we?

[So Ben doesn't have to point that out himself.]