Two for One [Open Audio Network] [Closed Action]

[vernal_miss]

Date: October 21st
Characters: Network Number {235 13 892 33} ; Action for Mary Ann, Ornella, and later Feste

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[Action - Joint with Ornella and Mary Ann]
{Nel} In a family of seven, finding those quiet moments to speak to only one other in the household tend to be rare. As the second youngest in the family, Ornella is not quite old enough to suffer a shift towards a nocturnal schedule like her older siblings, and this provides an opportunity. Slipping from her shared room, she heads out into the hallway and downstairs with one hand clutching to a stuffed toy. For a few days now, a number has been quite intrusive in her thoughts, and regardless of her thinking of it every hour awake, cannot recall the reason it feels so important. When it had popped back into her head before she even opened her eyes this morning, she had lost any chance of returning to sleep for a few more minutes with irritation rousing her all the more quickly.

Reaching the living space, she’s relieved to find a mother present. Bare feet carrying her quickly over the last of the distance, she comes up beside the chair to insert herself into Mary Ann’s space without hesitation, sliding one hand under her arm in semblance of a hug to lean in and bury her face in against her shoulder for a breath. Grasping at the calm granted by the contact, she lifts her head to prop her chin on that shoulder and plead for assistance, “Mum? I remembered someone’s number, but I don’t know whose it is.”

{Mary Ann} "A number?" That sounds familiar. Very familiar indeed. Because there's this number that's been on her mind since yesterday, and she feels like she's known it for a long time but she can't put her finger on where from or what it is even for. It doesn't seem to be a phone number... Perhaps she came across it again while Nel was there? That might be something to narrow the source down with. Assuming it's the same number, even. "What is the number?"


[Network]
“That’s funny… It’s not even ringing,” comes the voice of a young girl. There’s no image to be paired to the audio, but she is certainly not alone.

The voice of a middle-aged woman responds, sounding puzzled. "There isn't even a ceased number intercept message." That's what she had expected, quite honestly. After all the number did not sound like a phone number at all. But it was worth a try... is what she thought.

((OOC note: Mary and Nel will respond unevenly in various threads))

Comments

[vernal_miss]

Recognizing the way her mother repositions and reaches for her, Nel readily moves around to the front of the chair to shift up into her mum’s lap. It makes her feel secure to be held, and her fidgetting immediately vanishes as she reaches to hug her mother with her plush left in her own lap.

“Uh huh. Tried to go back to sleep but it keeps repeating.”

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie doesn't respond to that right away. "Erm, it might be. It's a possibility but we don't know for certain. It's kind of cool though. You can send pictures..." A picture of Squash appears on the screen and on the paper looking grumpily at a catnip mouse. "And if you know someone else's Number then you can contact them directly and no one else can read or hear what you say."

Sadie was forgetting something..."Oh! and if someone without a Number tries to look at any messages it either appears as jibberish or nothing at all. I once accidentally handed my Math's teacher a sheet with the Network in the corner and she didn't even bat an eyelid at it."

[vernal_miss]

The spark of elation at hearing a familiar voice join the conversation dwindles away as the surprise from her grandfather turns to a mirthless tone. She doesn’t think she’s in trouble for calling the number, but there is obviously something wrong with whatever is happening.

Tenative, she’ll answer to confirm her presence, “Yeah, it’s me... Grandpa, are you okay?”

[scarsolderthanyou]

"Yeah. As okay as I can be finding out two you are involve in this sh... stuff, anyway." There's a sigh, as he tries to think just how to keep his family out of potential danger. Knowing them, it'll be impossible. "How long have you two had numbers? The thing you used to make this call, or whatever it is you did with it. It just popped up in your head, maybe along with a memory or a thing you found, right?"

[vernal_miss]

Wincing at the idea of an object plunking onto her head out of nowhere sounds startling if not painful, “I hope it wasn’t anything heavy...” she starts with a comment spoken softly before moving to the other things reported, “Enhance-...Oh! You got better at something?”

“Sorry. I don’t know what else to call you. You can call me Nel though!”

[iamnotgod]

"It was a book, though it wasn't exactly small," he elaborates.

"Yes, Nel, that's what happened - and you can call me Walter."

He's not exactly good at coming up with nicknames on short notice.

[vernal_miss]

A wrinkle of her nose accompanies her sympathetic remark, “Ouchies...” Books tend to be heavy, and while that characteristic is perfect for pressing flowers, it is not so good for noggins.

“Hi, Walter!” Nel says in a cheerful greeting, happy to learn his name.

“Can things fall on you any time?”

[vernal_miss]

To hear her mother give the concept credence is all it takes for a grin to split right across her face and let a happy peep of a squeal slip as her shoulders curl upward. As an avid fan of fantasy, she can be nothing less than delighted at the mere possibility of honest magic. Wiggling her feet hanging in the air, Nel contains the desire to jump up and run in circles by instead snuggling in against her mother’s front.

While Sadie tempers the use of the word, the child is convinced until given an alternative explanation. Science is fun, and she enjoys learning about how the world holds itself in a balance that allows life to exist. But magic!

The appearance of the cat on the phone is promptly appreciated wih a soft ‘ooo’ in awe, and she listens to every detail. Private calls or messages are possible, though Nel wonders if she can memorize other numbers well enough to make use of that function. Then, Sadie reveals just how private this network happens to be. Nel becomes still as she stares at the phone with her brows knitting and eyes narrowing slightly before her gaze turns curiously up to her mother, “...but my mum can hear you and see your writing.”

[catted]

"...I don't think either of us had something come along with it," she throws a look at Nel to see if she agrees, but Nel didn't mention anything and she feels like she would have, and Mary herself certainly doesn't think anything but the number came to her, "but we both remembered it less than a week ago.

Nel told me about hers this morning." So, less than an hour ago. "What is 'this stuff' by your definition?" She's almost glad that her father is on here. She trusts his explanations more than that of strangers, for obvious reasons.

[catted]

Mary Ann blinks as Sadie starts to speak, not because of the words, but because... what an odd feeling. For a moment she wonders if she's going to faint, but no. That's not it. It just feels... hollow, and then a wave of dizziness, and she can hear her own heart very loudly for a second. That's what it is, right?

She's rather glad that she was just sitting down and had Nel's weight leaning against her.

"We both can," Mary Ann agrees. "I assume I really have a number, too, then." She even knows which one. There's really no mistaking.

Well. At least this way she can keep an eye on Nel and make sure that she doesn't get into trouble with whatever all of this is.

[catted]

She lets go of Nel to start and pull together Nel's hair in a quick, untidy braid. It's not for the day, but Nel's hair is thick enough that it will keep even without a tie and that way it's out of her face for at least a few minutes.

"Sometimes you need to use a thing to get it out of your head, or speak it out loud or write it down." As long as it isn't a song, in which case singing it can make it get stuck worse in one's head.

[catted]

"And if it was written down, would it be preserved?" As bad as this sounds - could she check in on things that Nel wrote? Or, which is her actual concern - could she check what other people wrote to Nel? It's not that she wants to routinely invade her privacy or anything, but just in case some strangers sends her daughter weird messages, she wants Nel to be able to show her if it upsets her...

[iamnotgod]

"Yyyyes?" Walter says, though he doesn't want to make poor Nel paranoid! Or get her mother mad at him at that possibility.

"It seems to be pretty uncommon even for us, though, so as long as you're not experiencing a sudden sense of hollowness accompanied by the sound of a heartbeat - and are just aware of your surroundings in general - you should be okay."

[vernal_miss]

All the more soothed by the management of her hair being woven it into a temporary braid, Nel lets a soft yawn slip. Squeezing her arms in the hug in thanks for the taming of her hair so that she can move freely without considering how her hair might catch, she untwists to sit sideways with one arm left at her mother’s side.

“I’ve said it a bunch… But I haven’t put it down anywhere,” she answers. Maybe if she can use it and it does nothing, it will finally be discarded.

[vernal_miss]

Contrary to the concern, Nel takes that possibility in stride when granted a better understanding of the possibility, “Oh, alright. If I feel funny like that then I’ll know.” It might still scare her at the time, but at least after an initial jolt she can reason it for herself.

Then she asks, “How come something appearing makes you feel that way?” For all she can think, Nel has no recollection of feeling that way previously.

[vernal_miss]

Only managing to catch the tail end of her mother experiencing an Echo, unease taints her confusion at the way her mother looks. She seems okay when she starts to speak again, and Nel’s brows pop high as her mother confesses she has a number as well, “Aw, Mum! I wanna know your number too.”

Clearly, Nel was talking too much for her mother to find a good time to tell her about having a number too. In spite of the delay, the prospect is a promising one. Her mother having a Number means they can figure it out together with everyone else on the network, and she won’t have to worry if Nel forgets to tell her anything.

Besides, stories where people have magic tend to be happier when they aren’t alone.

[vernal_miss]

Her grandpa almost said a bad word, and that has Nel squirming closer to her mother as her initial caution builds to a low-key nervousness. Adults usually curse when they are most relaxed or when they are troubled. This is not the former.

The look from her mother is prompt enough for Nel to shake her head and confirm aloud for Sam, “Me either.” She would certainly remember an object materializing, if she changed, or if she remembered something inexplicable that isn’t at home in her usual day dreams.

All she can do is listen.

[iamnotgod]

"Where these - Echoes, I suppose - come from is still unexplained, as well," Walter answers, and he sounds more than a little frustrated at the idea.

"And it's the feeling that happens first. Everyone's inciting stimuli - people, sensations, doing something new for the first time - seem to be different."

[dragoonrouge]

"It would be a good idea to exchange Numbers." Sadie agrees, "Although if you would like that to remain private between the two of you I'd suggest disconnecting from the Network before you do. You can just rub out the numbers or cross them out tends to be the easiest way to do so." She advises the mother and daughter duo.

Sadie is quiet for a minute before piping back in as he mentions Echoes. "As Walter said, changes can happen but it's hard to pin down the exact causes because it is different for everyone. Just...um, if you feel a hollow feeling and your heart starts to pound harder maybe find somewhere to sit down until it goes, it can be a bit disorientating. Oh, and sometimes the change isn't immediate, it took my eyes a while to change."

[catted]

Huh. That... sounds like what just happened.

Not that she can tell if anything changed about her.

"...Your eyes?" There is a note of professional interest in her voice all of a sudden. That feels like something that falls into her ballpark, at least. Something she should be able to wrap her head around without falling back on such concepts as magic.

Maybe.

"How did they change?"

[catted]

"...Well, you could input it into a phone. See if it's a secret hidden phone number." She's half joking and half... well. Inputting it into the internet might lead to something unsavoury, you never know. But putting it into a phone? That should just return them a 'number not taken' type message.

[catted]

Mary Ann, meanwhile, has written down her own number on the newspaper, and suddenly there is a kind of echo effect in the back of Walter and Nel's conversation.

Two feeds that send the same are open at the same time, it's like two microphone-speaker sets standing too close to each other.

She blinks at the effect, looking forth and back between newspaper and phone.

[scarsolderthanyou]

"It's complicated. It's been going on for a couple of months now, I was one of the first ones to get a number and get on this network thing. It works on anything, you know," he adds. "Phones, paper, chalkboards, dirt, whatever you put your number into attaches to the network. Nobody but somebody else with a number can see it or hear it, from what we can tell, which is weird. But the network's not all of it."

He pauses to sigh and put his thoughts into order, before getting to the important, and potentially scary, part. "There's these visions, or memories, or something-- not sure where they come from-- and sometimes things. That bracelet I found in your mum's things, pretty sure that wasn't actually hers, it's from this. And sometimes we change. There's a girl with cat eyes now, and a guy with sharp teeth, and I can smell things as well as a bloodhound might."

[dragoonrouge]

"It's probably easier just to show you instead of describing it. One second."

Sadie opens her camera on her phone, switches to the front camera and holds it close to her eye so that her face can't be seen and hits the record button.

"This is what happens to my eyes. It started with the reflection and better night vision and the pupil shape and colour slowly changed." She switches on the flash to let Mary Ann get a good look at how the pupil reacts to light.

"It's the first physical change I got, back when we had the weird Aurora."

[Audio]

[iamnotgod]

"Though," he admits, carrying on with the explanation, "some things seem to incite Echoes in multiple people - the Northern Lights was one of those.

"And, speaking of echoes... do you hear one right now?" he asks, in what almost feels like a non-sequitur.