This may be a stupid question but you didn't sign up for goddamn brain surgery, did you
I just heard some people did and I haven't seen you around for like 12 hours
Either you're on top of a building right now or someone's got their fingers in your grey matter
I just heard some people did and I haven't seen you around for like 12 hours
Either you're on top of a building right now or someone's got their fingers in your grey matter
[ Nate is oddly touched that Tim actually considered checking in on him. If he points it out, though, he's sure to get a snide remark. ]
we practically got out of the original brain surgery a month ago, no way i want to go back that soon
i take it you decided not to let them crack your noggin open, either?
we practically got out of the original brain surgery a month ago, no way i want to go back that soon
i take it you decided not to let them crack your noggin open, either?
[ It's late. Late enough that most people should be asleep, which means that the building's resident workaholic has managed maybe an hour before waking with the notification from the security system.
No alarm, somebody up there has access, but does that mean he goes straight back to sleep? Of course not.
It means that however long later he's halfway through a cup of fresh-brewed tea when two buzzing minds become one and he fires off a quick message. ]
I didn't authorize any overtime.
[ Evening. ]
No alarm, somebody up there has access, but does that mean he goes straight back to sleep? Of course not.
It means that however long later he's halfway through a cup of fresh-brewed tea when two buzzing minds become one and he fires off a quick message. ]
I didn't authorize any overtime.
[ Evening. ]
Edited (forgot... my html...) 2020-01-24 16:50 (UTC)
[ After Wade's hasty and understandable exeunt Nate made himself busy distracting from any previous discomfort by wiping down the table they used as a first aid prep zone. He's throwing the last of the rags in the bin when his messages ping.
Ah. ]
sorry, had to come back in for a quick patch job. someone attacked me on my way home.
Ah. ]
sorry, had to come back in for a quick patch job. someone attacked me on my way home.
How would you like to part own a bar? I've heard a rumor there's a 50% share going on the market soon for the low, low price of I'll pay you.
[ Sometimes, you just need to inflict yourself on someone who understands how it is to be over 30, under 300, and capital t Tired. ]
[ Sometimes, you just need to inflict yourself on someone who understands how it is to be over 30, under 300, and capital t Tired. ]
[ As the kids would say, "big mood." ]
that's a pretty generous offer, stephen. you that hard up for partners?
[ It's not a no. Just curiosity. ]
that's a pretty generous offer, stephen. you that hard up for partners?
[ It's not a no. Just curiosity. ]
[ They didn't know each other well. More in passing, spoken about through third parties, but he remembers. ]
holy crap
yeah
it's been a while
holy crap
yeah
it's been a while
Hey there. We haven't officially met, but I'm one of the new Morningstar agents who relocated from New Oslo, and I've seen you around. Morningstar and the Displaced haven't always had the easiest relationship, but I know a lot of you are doing the best you can here. You seem like a good person to reach out to, so I thought I'd share some of the digging I've done.
Gaby told me what happened with those kidnappings recently, and mentioned there was a mercenary group involved. Sending this at all is dangerous, as you can imagine, so I'm spreading the information out among a few of you. You might have to piece things together, but it's the best method I've got right now.
It turns out there are more mercenary groups running around than the one you guys had a run in with. From what I've found, they get a lot of their backing from large corporations—some seriously heavy hitters. Unfortunately for us, that makes things even more dicey. There are powerful people invested in keeping these groups under the radar.
Gaby told me what happened with those kidnappings recently, and mentioned there was a mercenary group involved. Sending this at all is dangerous, as you can imagine, so I'm spreading the information out among a few of you. You might have to piece things together, but it's the best method I've got right now.
It turns out there are more mercenary groups running around than the one you guys had a run in with. From what I've found, they get a lot of their backing from large corporations—some seriously heavy hitters. Unfortunately for us, that makes things even more dicey. There are powerful people invested in keeping these groups under the radar.
[ This is...unexpected, but perhaps it shouldn't be. he's been understandably wary of Morningstar thus far but the intel is something worth looking into on top of his other current interests. ]
hey.
can you give me an approximation of other displaced who are looking into this?
i've assumed from the get go that whoever was hiring the mercs was well connected and well funded. being relatively new here i'm not versed on the biggest power players.
kind of a stupid question, but: who stands to profit the most from maintaining the status quo by harnessing what we can do? what kind of millionaires and billionaires are we talking about?
hey.
can you give me an approximation of other displaced who are looking into this?
i've assumed from the get go that whoever was hiring the mercs was well connected and well funded. being relatively new here i'm not versed on the biggest power players.
kind of a stupid question, but: who stands to profit the most from maintaining the status quo by harnessing what we can do? what kind of millionaires and billionaires are we talking about?
are you asking out of curiosity or are you asking because you're looking for a new job?
[ It's been around five days since he saw the sun for the first time in at least seven short lives. Stephen's signed off with Clarke, made arrangements for the bar. He's moved Tony out of the safehouse and into his lounge. He's gone on walks through parks and botanical gardens, through day and through night, among people and in solitude.
None of it's really doing what he needs it to.
He hasn't been keeping company much, not reaching out. There's been thinking to do. Sense to make of things that ache to dwell on. But there comes a point when it's clear he's out of juice.
He knows what he needs thanks in large part to a memory of a conversation. Armed with it, Stephen pushes past hesitation and reaches out to someone he can only assume is wading through a similar sludge of his own. ]
About that mini-break.
[ He can't be the only one who needs a vacation. ]
None of it's really doing what he needs it to.
He hasn't been keeping company much, not reaching out. There's been thinking to do. Sense to make of things that ache to dwell on. But there comes a point when it's clear he's out of juice.
He knows what he needs thanks in large part to a memory of a conversation. Armed with it, Stephen pushes past hesitation and reaches out to someone he can only assume is wading through a similar sludge of his own. ]
About that mini-break.
[ He can't be the only one who needs a vacation. ]
Edited 2020-06-18 00:06 (UTC)
[ They haven't talked since the simulation, and who would want to? Shared trauma is still trauma, and people need to process shit in their own time and their own ways. He might have expected Stephen to go on a bender if the guy wasn't so unfailingly ascetic in everything he does outside of the occasional drink, mid-work. Nate's favored tactic is isolation.
He finds a high, lonely place, a vantage of the world around him, a simulacrum of control so he doesn't drift in the lack thereof. Stability comes on good days and on bad ones, he takes out pent-up frustrations with his fists, the knuckles raw and bloody when he makes his way back to the little apartment he shares with a friend he tries not to drag into his moods.
He thinks of extending a hand, and doesn't. Until his phone pings. ]
i hear belize is nice this time of year.
He finds a high, lonely place, a vantage of the world around him, a simulacrum of control so he doesn't drift in the lack thereof. Stability comes on good days and on bad ones, he takes out pent-up frustrations with his fists, the knuckles raw and bloody when he makes his way back to the little apartment he shares with a friend he tries not to drag into his moods.
He thinks of extending a hand, and doesn't. Until his phone pings. ]
i hear belize is nice this time of year.
so now that this pos network is working again
u there?
cuz i havent heard anything from u since this whole bullshit started and im getting kinda paranoid that ur avoiding me :p
u there?
cuz i havent heard anything from u since this whole bullshit started and im getting kinda paranoid that ur avoiding me :p
hey
i'm sorry, i'm not trying to avoid you
[ He means that much, at least, but Nate is aware he hasn't spent a great deal of time in their shared apartment since the simulation ended. Way to stab him with the guilt dagger though, Wade. ]
haven't been feeling that sociable since we got out.
i'm sorry, i'm not trying to avoid you
[ He means that much, at least, but Nate is aware he hasn't spent a great deal of time in their shared apartment since the simulation ended. Way to stab him with the guilt dagger though, Wade. ]
haven't been feeling that sociable since we got out.
@lance.sweets | sometime now-ish whatever ends up working
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lifetothefullest
2020-07-07 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
Hey Nate, I was hoping I could ask a favor. Nothing big.
[Aka nothing inherently serious.]
[Aka nothing inherently serious.]
[ As if Nate would refuse Lance any sort of favor. ]
sure, shoot
sure, shoot
[ When an offer like this comes apropos of nothing, Nate has genuine cause for concern. If it came gift-wrapped with a little more beating around the bush he wouldn't immediately have some suspicion that something has happened. ]
sure. where do you want to meet?
sure. where do you want to meet?
[ Eventually he's really going to have to insist on her calling him just Nate. Either way, it's cute she signs her messages. ]
can't reach something on a top shelf?
[ ;) ]
can't reach something on a top shelf?
[ ;) ]
hey yuo got your heart set on that lance for the riverside gig?
i've thought about what you said.
i wasn't at work yesterday, but she's not in today and she has a shift.
[ Something in his gut tells him he already knows where this is going. ]
don't panic
[ Something in his gut tells him he already knows where this is going. ]
don't panic
[ Color him surprised Ian is voluntarily contacting him after Nate made his hangovers even worse experiences than they ought to have been. ]
yeah, what's up?
yeah, what's up?
gonna circle back to the question in a second but
PLEASE tell me those aren't your hands
PLEASE tell me those aren't your hands
[Cont. from here.]
ambitions and enough people for an army
no? but he did say you Drakes do okay for yourselves, so I'm not that surprised
ambitions and enough people for an army
no? but he did say you Drakes do okay for yourselves, so I'm not that surprised
oh good, i'm thrilled he's talking us up so admirably
[ That's. That's sarcasm. ]
anything else i should know about?
[ That's. That's sarcasm. ]
anything else i should know about?
Are you at work? Second job, not the first.
yeah, but i'll be on a break soon.
you wanna play some hands?
you wanna play some hands?
[It's been a rough day, all told, and Wade finds himself glad when the last patron leaves and he's able to close up for the night.
He meanders his way into the apartment that he and Nate (and Sam) share, taking a moment to let the weight of a hard day's work just briefly overtake him before crossing into the kitchen for a cold one. Pressing it against the back of his neck (it was a scorcher today, and all signs point to the heat only getting worse) Wade fishes out his cellphone from his pocket and fires off a text:]
home now
u here?
He meanders his way into the apartment that he and Nate (and Sam) share, taking a moment to let the weight of a hard day's work just briefly overtake him before crossing into the kitchen for a cold one. Pressing it against the back of his neck (it was a scorcher today, and all signs point to the heat only getting worse) Wade fishes out his cellphone from his pocket and fires off a text:]
home now
u here?
[ The door to Nate's room opens and behind him is a sprawling mess of papers, some of which he's tacked up on a wall, notebook in his hand. He hangs by the jamb in the space between rooms and chews his lip. ]
...Hey.
...Hey.
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