saveourearth | Halloween Reaction Videos - [Open] [Network

Entry tags:

Halloween Reaction Videos - [Open] [Network - Video]

Date: [October 31st]
Characters: A string of numbers yet to be determined (Russell)]

[Mid-afternoon, Halloween, a video post becomes available on the network. It's coming from a slightly odd angle, pointed as though someone had tapped their number on a mirror and propped it against the head of a bed. Front and center in the view is Russell, sitting a few feet away, with a pile of things in front of him. Two different cell phones, a few colorful sketches, and... several bones. There's no dirt on them, but they sure don't look like plastic.]

I am having. A day.

Multiple times, today, I've had that... that dizziness, and emptiness, and found myself remembering things or finding things. I can't go to my door without tripping over something that sets it off. Is that just me?

And, can anyone tell me about this?

[He gestures at one of the cellphones, and holds it up close to the mirror so the charger port is visible from the mirror's feed. It's not any of the standard ports, or even an obscure one. And something about the style of the phone, there's no match on Earth for it.]

Did one of you drop this off with the bucket, or do the rest of all that... decorating?

((ooc: Tag in action/prose as you prefer, and I'll match! And if anyone has the technical skills to examine a strange electronic device, and especially to devise a charger for it, I'd love to pursue that option.))

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"Ah, I see." Russell nods and hums in response, savvy enough to follow the general plan for the charger situation, but not enough to make educated guesses about app codes or drivers. He heads for the cabinet and pulls out the more decorative tea set - the one his mum insisted on getting him, one holiday, for guests.

"And it wasn't just one thing, but a lot... That's going around. Did you want your usual...?" He turns as he asks, then squints at his cousin. This is the first time today he's properly looking at Benjiro, while both are standing, and something's off. He tilts his head, trying to place it.

Benjiro would be more than willing to assist with the efforts, although he has a feeling Jim and Walter will want to follow through on the possibility.

After holding the stretch for as long as he can tolerate, he lowers that arm gently to rest with shoulders less tense for the moment. The teenager nods as he confirms it after answering, "Yes please. And you're right. I got one, then two together almost immediately after from the same source. And second one felt different from the other Echoes I've experienced..." The last sentence comes haunted with the same nerves that creep when one stands at the edge of a cliff, but he doesn't say more as he notices the way his cousin is staring at him.

"Is something...?" he begins only to key in on the difference, "Oh, right. I didn't mention it. When I went to the junkyard to get the parts for my motorcycle I uh...had an Echo that gave me a growth spurt."

"That's it," he says with that triumph of placing what he was noticing, then he doubletakes. "All at once?"

Somehow, the notion of growing sharp teeth is less bewildering than growing several centimeters in a day. It might be because losing one set of teeth and gaining another is already a thing, so that he can imagine the sharper teeth grew in over time. Or it might be how heights can vary a bit already, depending on what people are wearing.

Russell tilts his head a little more to doublecheck Benjiro's feet before concluding - no shoes, those were left at the door. This is real. "Or did it come... slowly through the night?"

The teenager looks off as he unhooks the loops from behind his ears to remove his face mask, showing the sheepish smile behind it, "Unfortunately it was all at once. It was rather inconvenient, but I was lucky no one except Sadie witnessed it." That, and his rib had still been healing at the time when his bones and other tissues started shifting to expand. Since then he has received the occasional comment when someone notices the difference about how fast he's growing.

Looking back to his cousin directly, Benjiro starts to realize something is different in the way Russell looks as well. His expression flattens as he notices the way the light falls on his face, and he ventures, "Odd question, but uh...have you been feeling okay?"

There's several things about Benjiro's situation that Russell doesn't envy, and the abruptness of those physical changes is a big one of them. How long will his streak of fortune last, with him being alone or only with networked friends around when things happen?

With that worry on his mind, Russell positively sags. "Oh, god. Is it noticeable? I don't want to go to a doctor, I feel fine, but..." Something is not quite right. Mildly enough that it might not be one of the magical changes, but persistent enough that there's little besides that or some serious illness to explain it.

The change had been disorienting at the time, and with more likely to follow in kind, it will be only a matter of time before he can no longer hide. A reality he dreads.

As strong of a reaction as the question causes in his cousin, Benjiro wonders how long his appearance has been thinning. Not one to outright lie, he still tries to address it gently, “Only a little. It might be the lighting in here.” Honest worry comes out as he encourages his cousin to seek aid, “I’m glad you feel alright, but we can still get hurt and sick even with our Numbers. I can ask Dr. Tilly. She’s a neighbor that recently got her own Number, and she offered to look after Sadie to keep her eyes secret.”

"It isn't just the lighting..." Russell turns away to hide his grimace, and busies himself with finishing up the tea tray. Once it's all settled, he brings it over to the table. "But, uh, thank you. That's... She didn't just find out about it? More people are getting their numbers for the first time, still?"

He knows, vaguely, that every couple of weeks someone accidentally leaves a message, and people helpfully explain what they know about all this. These quiet doldrums between big events or yelling don't seem to reveal anything about the mysteries, and his attention... wanders.

There is a sinking weight that settles in his gut as his cousin turns to finish gathering the tea, and he moves back to the table ahead of his cousin. Using his foot to pull the seat out, he turns and sits, easing down with obvious discomfort, yet once seated he is able to relax. He offers a fill to the verbal blank that is left open, “Convenient? Yeah. Something is still drawing people into this mess. She and her second youngest discovered their numbers a couple weeks ago. Apparently the sequences started one day like they did for us but with no identifiable event and with nothing prior except their first changes. Dr. Tilly thinks that she had her first one nearly two decades ago.”

In terms of preserving mental health, Russell may have the right idea.

Rather than avoid it, Benjiro makes one more remark about the matter of seeing a doctor, “If you give me permission, I’ll talk to Dr. Tilly and give her a heads up, then you can call her to make arrangements.”

"Well. I was going to say 'suspicious'..." Russell shrugs as he sets the tray down, then pulls out his own seat to join the table. "So many of us knew at least one or two others before this network started up. I couldn't help but think, is it contagious? But if she had something decades ago..."

He's not enough of a scientist to think of contagions having long dormancy periods, so the stretch of years with no change seems to him like safety. It's a bit of a relief, and he doesn't hide it. Given how quickly his thoughts went to them spreading it between each other, sitting out the more intensive investigation likely is the right idea for him. Better to only occasionally check in, than to check obsessively and let his mental gears churn on little to nothing new.

"She does sound like the best idea. I'd appreciate that. Which, uh, number would I be calling...?"

In this context, the two words are close to being synonymous, and he gives a nod of agreement. Regarding the matter of prior connections, Benjiro lends an admission, “The thought had crossed my mind early on... I knew several people before the launch of the network. But I agree, it seems unlikely with such a timespan to account for.” Even with the consideration of something akin to dormacy, it would require a selective chain of transfers.

Benjiro leans to one side to produce his phone from his pocket, and with a few quick taps, forwards the contact info to his cousin, “That contact I just sent you is her personal phone. I’ll call her myself on the way back. If she doesn’t answer when you call, she tends to address voicemails quickly.”

Setting his phone down, the teenager doesn’t wait any longer and reaches into the pizza box to lift out a slice, careful to draw off the strings of melted mozzarella before carrying it over to bite straight through the crust side first.

Edited 2018-12-20 08:39 (UTC)

Russell smiles grimly, because what can he say? Everything about it is unlikely. It's difficult to rule anything out conclusively, or to conclude anything. Thinking about it is an exercise in frustration.

"Okay, thank you," he decides, dropping the topic for the time being, and pulls out his own mobile. As Benjiro starts in on the pizza, he checks that the message went through - and that the contact info includes a name. It does, but not who that is to him, so he spends a minute tapping and swiping to revise her info to include 'network dr'. That should be clear enough.

With that done, he reaches for the box and pulls it closer. The better to inspect the pizza for signs of grease. And asks, a little cautiously, "So... food first, this time?"

Yet Benjiro cannot help but tumble possibilities in search of some understanding. Giving up that effort would feel like resignation.

The minute spent editing the contact is enough time for Benjiro to decimate the first slice of pizza. Picking up his tea for a drink after as his cousin draws the box over to examine the pizza, he pauses and puts both hands around the cup with a slight note of uncertainty, "Oh, uh, if that's okay? Would you rather talk first?"

The pizza itself is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of quality. It's no cheap cardboard pizza, but it's not stone-fired either.

"Oh, god, no, I vented enough yesterday, I can wait." Hipster that Russell really kind of is, his nose wrinkles as he considers the middling pizza. It's not really... up to snuff, but Benjiro did go to the trouble of bringing it over.

Continuing to hesitate, he dabs at it with a napkin to take off the worst of the oily sheen. "I mean, did you hear what Sadie found out? That guy, the one who yelled about the petting zoo... That's Chad. Little fluffy Chad? That pain in my... A dog!"

Saying he'd rather eat than talk, and even meaning to mean it, doesn't mean simply doing so.

Shoulders visibly relaxing, he smiles at the allowance of food first. With one more drink of tea, he'll scoop out another slice from the box, and raise a brow at the way his cousin begins dabbing at the pizza. "You don't have to eat it, Russell. Unless you didn't get the sandwich you mentioned...?" He hopes his cousin doesn't feel pressured to be polite for his sake.

It takes Benjiro a second to make the connection, but he does pick it up, "Wait, the dog on that network post she made is the one you dog sit?" The number of connections between those that bear the Numbers is staggering. "That has terrifying implications and possibilities..."

Well, talking about Numbers things without yet going into Echoes is alright by him.

"I did, I just... I haven't tried the pizza from this shop, maybe I'll like it." He's feeling just pressured enough to eat one slice for politeness, and lie about whether he's tried the shop's pizza, but not more than that.

Without knowing what Benjiro's learned from the newest echoes, what he's gained - and what ordinary humanity he's lost - it's hard to know what's the easier subject. This one's more stressful for Russell than talking about his own new echoes would be.

"That's what I said! Or, what I thought." Thinking back, Russell's pretty sure he disconnected from the network without saying much of anything. And that he then paced around the flat, stressing and occasionally talking to himself, before wearing himself out. "It's all... just a little too close."

The obvious contradiction regarding the pizza is ignored as Benjiro finds no reason to press should it be tolerable to his cousin. As sore as he feels, he might tire trying to eat it before he manages to polish it off as he normally would anyway.

Separating a second slice from the pie, he doesn’t pick it up immediately as he further digests the matter of his cousin having to deal with a dog that can communicate with him via the Network. Finger tapping lightly on the cardboard edge, he moves forward with the potential, “To be fair, those same implications could be in your favor. It depends mostly on how you approach Chad now that you can discuss things with him, or at least be assured he does understand what you are saying to him.” He idly wonders how Chad manages to connect to the Network as he continues, “Offering him choices for example. It would give him a sense of control he may not have otherwise and also allows you to set limits without trying to explicitly define rules. It worked well when I started looking after Emiko.” Parenting advice can apply to canines he is fairly certain.

"Well, yes, that all sounds reasonable. Treat him less like a dog... and more like, a person I'm looking out for," Russell takes from the advice, thinking aloud. "Choices, to give him leeway to do things, but helping cover him so people still think he's just a dog... Co-conspirators."

The practical advice is grounding, and Russell nods as he tests a bite of the pizza. It's... not quite up to snuff, but now that he's seeing light down one of the tunnels troubling him, it's easier to swallow.

There's still the question of if the network is contagious, though. If everything from people to dogs to any animals catch it... well, suppose everything became sentient like that, where would they be but a choice between compulsory vegetarianism and cannibalism?The part where dogs already think in ways similar enough to humans to have been hunting partners from truly ancient history.

Russell takes another, haunted bite of his pizza, and sighs. "Of course, they may not call me back soon. I don't think I'm the only one on call. Not with my other jobs, and the theatre group, and all."

That his cousin so readily considers the suggestion and promotes it to a method he could use to cooperate with Chad to benefit them both is promising. Should Russell deem something necessary, he can leave it to Chad to decide what manner in which the goal is accomplished. “Exactly. I used to give Emiko choices for dinner and she’d select what I’d fix from things I felt ready to make. Or if she needed to clean her room, I’d give her choices of when to do it, and hold her to it.” Which was not always easy at first, but became part of expectation with repetition and allowed him to avoid reliance on bribery.

“That would be practical. Which should give you more time to figure out how you want to handle it,” he says as he picks up and starts on that third slice of pizza at a slower pace than the first two were devoured.

After a moment, he’ll inquire from his cousin, “Off the top of your head, you wouldn’t know anyone hiring that would accept a student for part time, would you?”

"Choosing between things I know I can do," Russell echoes, feeling slightly more confident. "And, so long as I go with his choice... he might be satisfied enough not to make other demands."

They can only hope. Even as they talk about it, Russell has his doubts how it'll turn out in practice. Acknowledging the benefits and plotting based on them, that's easy, and appealing... but putting it into action may be trickier, when dealing with the very real and present aggravation of Chad the Amazing Yelling Network Dog.

"Well, most of the places I've been want you to be at least eighteen years old..." He considers Benjiro, and ventures a guess, "but you aren't wanting to wait til summer comes, are you. Were you thinking weekends, or weeknights too?"

Benjiro had the benefit of taking over care of Emiko when his sister was already well behaved for a child her age. Chad, on the other hand, has never experienced social interaction with humans through communication and has yet to differentiate social graces of humans and canines.

Bowing his head slightly and shrugging one shoulder, the teenager nods once to confirm that his cousin knows his intentions, “Yeah… Weeknights too. I have petty cash and that’s about it.” He has not, and certainly will not, mention this to his parents or to their great aunts. The parts for his motorcycle at the junkyard alongside replacement clothes and shoes had decimated his savings early in the month. Now that his motorcycle is finished, he can use it to bypass public transport to tighten his schedule to make a part time position possible without affecting his other responsibilities too noticeably.

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Halloween Reaction Videos - [Open] [Network - Video]

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And the second one**

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Correction to last tag: third slice*

one of these characters is a teenager, which could it be

It’s so hard to tell