un: unitA2 (voice)

[abandonware]

[The voice that filters through has the gruff, raspy edge of someone who hasn't spoken in a while.]

I need intel on the monsters on the outskirts. I'll kill them in exchange.

[After a moment:] There's something else that I need. A cloak. It needs to - [an irritated sigh, and in a mutter:] how do I explain this - to be able to offset high temperatures. A heat sink. It'll increase my functionality.

I can do something in return. That's all.

Comments

[rebellions]

Exactly.

[ Well. "Replacement" would be more appropriate; reattaching whole limbs for humans isn't possible, of course, but his right arm is far from "human". ]

If I had any goddamn clue "where", I wouldn't be sitting here twisting my thumbs, now would I? [ A pause, in which he realizes that doesn't exactly apply to him when he's missing an arm right now─ ] Metaphorically speaking.

Anyway, they were around the city a couple of months back, but I haven't seen them since.

[abandonware]

Don't be a wiseass. I'm asking so I can search. [It's immediate, snapped out without thinking. Then she grumbles to herself, and tone less caustic, asks a followup question.]

What caused them to show up?

[rebellions]

[ When she puts it that way, he... doesn't apologize, of course, because pigs will fly before he even considers that. But when he replies, his tone is slightly less irritated than it was before. ]

... Fuck if I know. At that time, the whole place got stuck in some sorta eternal night? Something about one of the Chosen's powers going outta control.

[ He thinks. He didn't quite bother following up on the details, since he was preoccupied with... other things. ]

[abandonware]

Hm.

[She's thinking...]

If you can't find the tears, you'll have to recreate them. How'd your arm get stuck in something like that?

[rebellions]

Well...

[ Ah, screw it; Jinx has already made it public anyway, there's no point in pretending it was something less stupid than it actually was. ]

I put it in there.

[ Okay, there's actually more to that story, but he's not sharing it, even if it would make his actions and decisions look slightly less stupid. As for the suggestion of creating them, it's something that may be possible... if he had his right arm. So that's just circular reasoning. ]

Good idea. Too bad we have no effing clue how to do that.

[abandonware]

You put your arm inside a tear in reality. [...] Oh-kay.

[That "Oh-kay" says it all. She has no comment on his stupidity outside of this, but boy is she thinking "that's stupid." In any case...]

By finding the machine. [As if it's easy.] It's a simulation. It has to have boundaries.

[rebellions]

[ Honestly? That's way milder than he would've expected. For better or worse, he's used to people berating him for his actions, justified or not. ]

The world's Observer doesn't necessarily need to be in it. They can be outside.

[ Which leads him to wonder... was that what the "outside" he saw through the tear was? Was the AI located there?

Still so many questions and almost no answers. ]

[abandonware]

Maybe. [She concedes.] But that doesn't change the idea.

The more you mess around with the boundaries, the more anything observing will notice. Might be able to get its attention and figure out your. Arm problem....

[rebellions]

[ She does have a point, but even so, there's something else that bothers him about the way she talks about the issue, and he can't keep ignoring it anymore. ]

... Why do you even care? It's not your arm that's gone missing.

[abandonware]

[The frown can be heard in her voice.]

I'm going to be testing the boundaries of the simulation anyway. I don't trust anything here. Might as well look for your arm. What, do you wanna be armless forever?

[rebellions]

[ "Don't trust anything," she says... Well, that's something he can agree on, which is probably why he's not so keen on the idea of receiving assistance from her. Still, she does make a good point about letting things stay as they are now. ]

...No.

[ The tension and suspicion previously present in his voice seem to let up a little, at least. ]

Make sure you don't end up breaking something and screwing all of us in the process.

[ Like a certain someone did when he blew up the city hall that one time. Oops. ]

[abandonware]

[Coolly:] I'm not going to do anything like stick my arms somewhere they don't belong, if that's what you're worried about.

[She's not going to be lectured by someone missing an arm, she thinks.] I just want to learn more about this simulation.

[rebellions]

Hardy har har.

[ But he can't argue with that... even if it's a low bar. ]

Good luck with that. We've been learning shit at a snail's pace so far.

[ He doubts she'll do any better, but who knows? It'd be helpful if she could uncover something they haven't figured out before. ]

[abandonware]

Snail's pace isn't a bother. Got nothing but time here. We'll see.

[rebellions]

Good point. [ At least in theory, it applies to all of them. ] Don't forget to share your findings with the class.

🎀

[abandonware]

Yeah. [How odd. It was almost like being on a team again.

... She shouldn't think that way.]

If I find anything, I'll keep everyone updated.