hadriel | ninth. voice (when the system's wrong, you gotta tear it down).

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ninth. voice (when the system's wrong, you gotta tear it down).

[Mello is all business today - it's Door day, which means new arrivals are likely scanning the network looking for answers, and those who have been here may be looking for signs of those they know who have just arrived. No time like now to make his appeal to his fellow captives.]

We need better documentation. I know this isn't the first time I've said this, and it's maybe even more true now than before - the Null's recent contact with us and the information we've been able to glean from them makes a compelling argument for this, I think.

[He pauses, collecting the words for the rest of what he has to say.]

Frankly, we're not very well organized. We can do better than we have been. What I'm proposing is this: I want to assemble a team to collect and maintain information about our circumstances here - the entities responsible for bringing and keeping us here, their enemies, this war in which we've found ourselves caught in the crossfire. It's not an exaggeration to say that our survival could very well depend on these efforts. Now, I don't care if you have special qualifications or prior experience with this sort of thing - all I ask is that you agree to work as a team, and that if you say you'll do the work, you follow through reliably. If you're new here, familiarize yourselves with the introductory guide and the historical record. Ask questions. Bring us your ideas. If you uncover relevant information, you can contact me, Mello. I'm in the directory, under M.

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I see.

How interesting, Mello-chan. I suppose I could offer my services to help in such a critical time. A little teamwork never hurt.

There's always been a compelling argument, but more so now, I think.

Something seems off to me about them. Nevertheless a line of questioning to determine more about their motives is of particular interest to me.

[Nate isn't really a "teamwork" kind of guy unless the definition of teamwork is "three people standing around watching Nate do all the work, honestly, come on," but he can see the validity of the claim even if his stake in this place feels exceptionally shallow.

He still hasn't recovered from ghosts and candidly, he's not sure he will. But he needs the busy work.

When he replies to the network-wide message he looks like shit, but he's sincere. Nate wants to help, but he doesn't know where to start and whenever he encountered civil wars on the job he usually just skirted around them. If a bunch of gods don't conscript them into an army they're all going to be collateral damage.]

I'm in. Not really sure how to investigate a thing that's only reached out to everyone once, though.

[And what happens if a god doesn't want to answer your text message?]

[If you could only see the Look Mello is giving the screen over being called Mello-chan.]

Just "Mello" is fine. [Please don't call him that again.] I'd appreciate the help. I suspect a number of us are documenting the same things on our own. Working together should streamline our efforts.

Something's definitely off about them. Have you ever heard of something inorganic with the ability to be affected by emotion?

I'll do what I can.

[Nick's aware Mello is probably never thrilled to hear his voice, but when it comes to keeping people safe from both the gods and the Null, Nick is all for it.]

Will this information be public as well, or only available to parasite sympathizers?

[Marian's response is not exactly the most calm or friendly. She doesn't forget old conversations.]

Only in science fiction. That being said, I know that advanced artificial intelligence can very convincingly imitate emotions, so I'm proceeding assuming that they're lying. As much as I dislike this place and being a prisoner here, the gods seem genuine to me. They're idiots, but their intentions probably aren't malicious.

[He's only using voice because he knows it's pointless to try video with Mello. >:c]

Count me in, though uh, there are a few things I think we should go over in person before we write them down.

[It should probably be easy enough to guess why, with the Null potentially observing the network.]

[So guess who is restless without a case to solve and bored after so long (two whole days) taking it slow after being stung upon arriving here. This may turn out to be an extremely elaborate and coherent coma dream yet, but for now, Brennan will play along.]

I have read your documentation and find the historical record in particular significantly lacking.

As far as the emotional effects of these "events" -- what metrics are you utilizing to quantify the extent of the effects? "Fucking pissed" is evocative but nonspecific and highly subjective.

What are the effects of these "energy shots" provided by Delight upon her resurrection? What do they taste like? Again, "good" is nonspecific and subjective.

My questions lie along those lines for most of the record. The latter half is less subjectively written, but I still am left unsatisfied by the descriptions of the events. It is enough to allow me and other newcomers to form a timeline in our minds and to know what to expect of this place; however, it provides fewer answers than any logical person would prefer. Perhaps there is an oral component to the historical record here? If so, that must be added to the introductory guide and the historical record.

As I am a recent arrival, I will be unable to provide any assistance regarding prior events, but I am well suited to this type of work and would enjoy involving myself in such a project. There is very little here in the way of mentally stimulating activity that I find satisfying.

I don't think they're lying. I spoke with them - they seemed entirely convinced that the gods are their enemies and must be destroyed. I was convinced, anyway. [And L would know that Mello doesn't trust easily.] And it tracks with what Sorrow told me, about how almost all of them were killed off, before. If they're not actually capable of feeling emotions, they certainly believe they do.

[Malice is a difficult thing to judge. Mello can see the logic in what the gods do them, but surviving the effects - like this most recent business with showing him his long-dead mother - is a bitter pill to swallow.]

I don't think they gods are idiots. Some are more intelligent than others, but they're all trying to survive.

[If Mello weren't already disinclined toward broadcasting his face (too many years of training for a life of secrecy, too many years as a criminal and a fugitive after that), he certainly would be after this most recent event. Of all the people to have show up here, his long-dead mother is by far the most painful, and losing her all over again, real or not, ripped open scars on his heart that are taking longer than he'd like to heal up again.

So yeah, he's throwing himself into his work - what he's chosen as his work in this place. It's not the work he trained for since he was a boy, and it's not the work he chose when he set out on his own as a teen, but it's work that gives him a sense of purpose all the same.]

They said they'd be in contact with us again. I don't see any reason to doubt that - it's clearly within their capabilities.

[Nate picked up on patterns, before, in the city's architecture - ways Mello never considered. Perhaps he's done the same here. That's one benefit of teamwork, after all - multiple sets of eyes, multiple minds, multiple points of view.]

You didn't speak with them, right? Did you read over all the responses they gave out?

[It's not that Mello doesn't appreciate the offer - he's just a child and holds grudges forever. Still, he manages to be less combative and more interrogative when he asks:]

What can you do? Specifically.

[To Mello's credit, he manages to get his loud sighing over with before turning on the feed to respond.]

Unlike them, I haven't withheld any pertinent information, and I don't plan on it, either. When I say that our survival could depend on collecting and assembling information, I'm talking about our survival, those of us who've been brought here against our wills. I'm not pledging allegiance to the gods or the Null, and I'll throw in my lot with either of them if it can guarantee our survival, but I'll just as soon fight both of them if there's no benefit for us.

Even when people sound entirely convinced of a claim, I can't quite trust what they're saying when it doesn't seem to add up. I'm sure you know the reason why.

[L trusts even less easily, but he has yet to speak with them. He only has reading the words of others to go off of, and his own restless cynicism.]

They are trying to survive. More than that, they seem to be trying to help us survive, so in this case, it's their word over the Null even though it feels a lot like Stockholm Syndrome to phrase it that way.

[There's a good long break while Marian figures out what to say. In the aftermath of the ghosts event, seeing the contrived apparition of her former best friend and colleague... it reminds her a little too closely of past arguments. The anger adds to a certain frustration, muted down to a much quieter resignation in her actual words.]

People like you will never get it, will you. It's all about you, your family and friends. Anyone you don't know doesn't matter, nothing else does.

I'd like to help how I can, and I have some information I've been given on the monsters in the caves that might be useful.

[Although he also has something else that he'd like to speak with Mello about, which is not entirely on topic.]

I also wanted to ask you opinion on something, if you don't mind.

Do they have a reason to lie to us? I think they've been awfully straightforward about what they want and why they want it.

[Mello did speak with them, and he found them more forthcoming than even the most straightforward of the gods.]

All we can do right now is collect the evidence, sort through it, see what story it tells us - then make an informed decision.

[Three guesses from where he learned that, and the first two don't count.]

[You can probably hear him grinning, though, even if his face can't be seen.]

I'm glad to hear it, Chris. We can use a good mind like yours.

[And he's right - it's smart to keep certain pieces of information in a more secure location than on a hackable network.]

And of course. I'm willing to meet with everyone in person - no, actually, I think it's a good idea.

[Hear that? You had a good idea, Chris. Enjoy it.]

[Well. OK, he. He kind of expected resistance and criticism of his ideas, because not everyone here seems to be on the same page when it comes to this approach. What Mello wasn't expecting was a dissertation on how his methods and the work he has put a good deal of effort into are insufficient. His face flushes hot when he reads over the words of this message, and it takes him a good ten minutes to calm down enough to type out a response. It's both short and pointed.]

And just who the hell are you, exactly?

[You just had to bring family into it, didn't you. If it weren't so soon after the appearance and subsequent loss of Mello's mother, he might be able to shrug off what she says with something dry and dismissive. But as it is, he feels like a snapped wire, electric and flailing wildly out of control.]

You don't know the first fucking thing about me, so don't act like you do. Family? I haven't had a family since I was five years old. I can count the number of friends I have - no, have ever had - on one hand and still have fingers left over. The day after I was brought here, the very next day, I was going to die - not might die, not could have died, was going to die - so that someone I thought viewed me as nothing more than a tool to use and discard without a second thought would be able to save the world, the entire world, from a murderous tyrant.

[He's shaking by the time he comes to a pause, chest heaving with breaths too heavy to keep inside of his lungs.]

Don't you fucking dare to presume you know anything about me, or my motivations. I'm doing this for all of us here - even the people like you who are too far up your own asses to see it.

I'd appreciate whatever information you have. We are pretty sorely lacking in documentation about the creatures who also inhabit this city and its outskirts, so that would be a very useful addition.

[That it's a private message catches his notice, and the request for his opinion is especially interesting. People here don't typically ask for his opinion so much as tell him his opinions are wrong.]

I don't mind at all, actually. My opinion about what?

Of course. There were a few responses of interest to my last post, but of particular note is Curufin's; he provided a lot of details.

[Credit where credit's due and all, and Lance sends along a link to the relevant discussion.

He's glad Mello seems not to mind him asking, although then again who knows if that'll change once he knows the actual subject.]

I noticed that the new arrivals guide doesn't mention the Guard at all. For such a prominent organization, it seemed unlikely to be an oversight.

[Although it's possible. But either way--]

So I was wondering about your opinion on the Guard and what they do.

[If he wants a dissertation, she will give him a dissertation. She has three (three!) doctorates. She can write a dissertation in her sleep.]

Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist with the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, DC. I have been sought by the FBI to consult on murder cases through a partnership with a Special Agent. This partnership has been ongoing for seven years. My staff and I at the Medicolegal Lab determine identity, cause and time of death, and murder weapon from remains others would deem a lost cause.

[Among other things.]

[Marian is unmoved, waiting until the tirade finishes before replying as before.]

Meanwhile, every month more people are drawn in by the Door. People like you and Sharon can't seem to realize that any kind of cooperation with the 'gods' can only cause more suffering, not just to people that are already here, but people that will be brought here. They've made it clear they have no intention of stopping; they won't close the Door and they won't stop inflicting horrors on the populace.

There's only one right thing to do here, and you know what it is. Maybe there'll be a way for us to survive. Maybe there won't. But we don't have the options you seem to think we do.

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ninth. voice (when the system's wrong, you gotta tear it down).

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text - july 12 - with my deepest apologies

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just voice for this paranoid dude 8|

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text; i'm equally sorry for him. /o\ a++ brennaning tho.

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thumbs up emoji lmfao

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