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

[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.

[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.

[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."

[catted]

"...You can smell better?"

Out of all of that, that somehow is the thing that sticks the most. Probably because it is about her father.

"How do we get those things?

And what kind of things are there on this network?" Does she have to be worried for the kind of content that Nel will encounter?

[scarsolderthanyou]

"It just kind of happens, usually along with a vision in my case," Sam sighs. "But yeah, I can smell better. Do you remember the last day of pride when I came back with your youngest, and then immediately went to sit out the rest of the day in the shade? That was when the smell thing hit me, and it was like every smell was overwhelming."

He thinks back over the previous network posts. "The network should be okay. If everyone knows there's a kid on here, they'll probably keep things mostly tame. There's swearing here and there, but mostly it's been pretty clean. There aren't all that many of us on here."

[catted]

"I guess swears are the least of my worries, if they're not overly offensive." If they don't ridicule certain groups of people, or things like that. She'd like to keep her children's ears clean-ish, but there's a certain level that is just life.

Especially if Nel now has almost unlimited, and rather forced, access to this thing.

About the rest... "Yeah, I remember that. I thought you were just exhausted. How long have you had access to this?"

[scarsolderthanyou]

"Since June. So not that long, when you think about it. It still feels new and weird," Sam admits. He hesitates, then adds, "Nobody can really figure out what it is or where it came from, or why it's just us on it. Don't think it's government, especially not when there's kids on it, but can't think what else it could be." Well, besides magic or aliens, but both of those sound... stupid.

[catted]

"Some organization not the government, perhaps?" But then what organization, and what could their intentions be? "Has nobody spoken up on the network who might be behind the whole thing?"

[scarsolderthanyou]

"I'm having a hard time working out how it's happening at all-- who could suddenly change my sense of smell, or somebody's eyes? So I just don't know, honestly. Neither does anybody else I've talked to. We're all just as confused as you are, we've just been confused for longer."

He pauses, then adds, "Can I come over, and have us talk about this in person?"

[catted]

Sam is right, of course, she realizes belatedly. That is a topic she shouldn't have breached on here.

"Sure. Everyone else is still asleep, I think, so it'll just be me and you and Nel."

[vernal_miss]

Having remained quiet while her mum and grandpa talk, Nel does gleam a little more understanding from it. So far everyone else has been truthful about what being on this network means, and it sounds as though she'll be safe using the network so long as she keeps her promise to shield the number she used to access it. Of course, she's now further convinced magic is the answer to how and why....

She is curious about how much better her grandfather is able to smell things, but if he's coming over, she can ask him when he gets here. For now, she'll stay in her mum's lap and finish talking with other people while they wait.

[scarsolderthanyou]

"Thanks. I'll be there in half an hour, maybe." And he disconnects from the network, heading out to his car.

True to his word, he's at their house within half an hour. The morning streets are pretty empty, so he made good time. Rather than knocking and waking anybody else up, he just lets himself in. They're family, after all.

[vernal_miss]

Conversations on the network wrapped up by the time her grandfather arrives, Nel is curled up close with her mum in the chair when she hears the door open. Traces of sleepiness are rubbed away from her eyes with one hand as she lifts her head up. With one look to her mother, Nel slides from her lap to stand up on the floor and hurry over to meet her grandfather. Hair still half held in a tieless braid and wearing her jammies, she doesn’t hesitate to greet her grandfather with an immediate hug.

He sounded upset before, and she doubts the worry would be gone so soon.

[catted]

Mary stops in the door to the kitchen to let Nel greet her grandfather and then lead him into the room.

They'll wake people if they talk in the staircase, but they can close the door to the kitchen. Once everyone is in the room and she's closed the door behind them, she turns to her father and asks: "Tea? Coffee? This sounds like a conversation that you'd want a warm drink for. I'll certainly get a coffee before we start. Cocoa, Nel?"

[scarsolderthanyou]

Nel gets a warm hug, right back. "This ain't your fault, and I'm not mad at you," he assures her quietly before finding a seat at the table. Nel can sit in his lap if she wants. She's getting a little old for it, but he still lets her if she needs the comfort. "Coffee is always appreciated." He's still American in most ways, after all. "Thanks."

While she sets about doing that, Sam will say, "So much as I'd rather not have my family involved in this, I don't get a say in it, and here you are. Your number and whatever you got from it won't be the end of things. There's something going on in this town, and at least someone has to know what's happening, but far as I can tell it's not any of us who are actually on the network thing."

[vernal_miss]

The pairing of a reciprocated hug with his words, to clarify that his irritation is directed elsewhere, is quite reassuring for Nel as he can see in how she smiles quietly to him in gratitude. She trails after her grandfather into the kitchen, and replies when her Mum offers the hot cocoa, “Yes please!” Not seeking comfort for herself but instead wanting to impart it, she stands next to her grandfather and loops one hand under his arm to lean to his shoulder.

Attentively she listens, smile fading with the return of the serious tone of discussion. Hopeful, she replies without delay, “But...this means we can help you now.” Because it sounds very much to her like her grandfather was intending to keep this a secret for a long time to protect them.

[catted]

"She's right, dad.

This means that if something strange happens to you, we know and we can help." Whatever strange might happen. She doesn't know, but... she's been worried about her father ever since her mother died. To know that there was an entire area of his life that she didn't know about that things could have happened to him in...

[scarsolderthanyou]

"I'm not sure what either of you can really do to help," Sam admits. "I'm not sure what I can do to help, except keep other people from being idiots and getting themselves in more trouble because of this. There's a lot of kids on this network-- not your age, Nel, but around Feste's age seems like."

[vernal_miss]

Unconvinced a strong figure in her life is entirely at a loss of how to handle having a Number, she latches onto the one vague idea, “Then we help keep you and everyone else out of trouble. Mum already offered to be Sadie’s doctor if her eyes need to be looked at.” There is the ethical issue of doctors treating their own family except in emergencies, however, Nel is fairly certain this can constitute one if she or her grandfather get very sick or hurt.

Which, come to think of it, means keeping her Mum safe is very important to more than only their family now.

“And maybe if we ask we can get more people to help.”

[scarsolderthanyou]

Honestly, Sam is probably more alert and focused now than he has been in a long time, since Amy died. Even if this might be dangerous, it's at least keeping him centered and active. "That was kind of you. Sadie might well need help-- she remembers having ears and a tail, too, and hunting animals. And there's a guy with shark teeth, too. The longer this goes on, the more we remember, and the more we might change. I'm just hoping nothing happens that's too hard to hide."

Says the guy who had visions of having wings and flying....

[catted]

"...I really hope it stays things that can be hidden, too. Even if the attention that that this strangeness could draw was mostly positive, it would still be tiring quickly to have constant attention on oneself..." They've been hiding some facts about their children from the knowledge of anyone else for that exact reason for a long time now.

[vernal_miss]

The changes mentioned thus far have been quite limited in scope, and the possibility of more dramatic changes does force Nel to pause to consider as she hasn't really thought that far in advance yet. While something unusual might be interesting, the likelihood of excessive attention pointed out by her mother makes her wrinkle her nose, "Ugh, like celebrities get with those gossip papers? No thank you."

Nel likes attention from her family and friends, but she has no interest in the performing arts.

[catted]

"And worse, because people might try to do science on us." That's... the most roundabout and non-descriptive way of putting it. She really doesn't want to think about details in this regard.

Especially since her family is involved in this. Her daughter (and another kid, but she doesn't know that yet).

[scarsolderthanyou]

Sam is a little less avoidant about it, sorry, Mary. "Nel, honey, if something happens to you that changes you, that other people might see, other people might hurt you because of it," he tells her. "Either because they're scared, they're jealous, or they want to find out how it works. So you're gonna have to keep it hidden, whatever it is, at least for now."

[catted]

Mary Ann doesn't correct him - she'd just have liked to breach this one more carefully. And not now. And also she doesn't want to believe that someone would harm them without at least some form of consent. This is a free country, after all. But... better safe than sorry.

Still, she doesn't want to frighten Nel unnecessarily...

So in the end she just sits there and waits, watching her daughter attentively to react to her reaction.