( sometime during the flooding, Max unfortunately gets this asshole in her inbox. sorry Maxine. look, she's like 1 of 3 people he knows, and he worries. )
hey. keeping dry? i've started to have nightmares about wet socks, so that's how things are going for me.
[ well, she's certainly not expecting to hear from him, and while she's not exactly happy to hear from the married guy she'd hooked up with, she's not unhappy either. because he's also one of very few people she knows here and she doesn't want him to not be okay.
it's complicated, all right. ]
definitely not keeping dry, but i'm not drowning either so that's something.
( haha, Maxine, GOTCHA... didn't think he could use that as a segue into her accommodations, did ya? well, he's talented. )
if i'm actually going outside, usually i wear the hot little number they gave me after my entrance examination. and if i'm not facing the torrential rain i struggle putting pants on at all, frankly.
you're actually going outside in all of this when you presumably have somewhere less depressing and dank to stay?
they've put us in a motel while the flooding's still going on. it's not terrible, but the staff around here is...questionable. i don't think they like that we're infringing on the possibility of renting their rooms out by the hour.
[ she's heard rumors of the staff trying to get the people staying there to make up for that, and if she ever actually witnesses it or someone tries to get her to do it, they're not going back to their office in one piece, possible citation be damned. ]
i don't sleep unless i can't help it. can't say my nightmares have ever featured wet socks, though.
[ although since something had tried to drown her, they have started involving water again. ]
i was talking about the facilities themselves, not the staff. and all that means is they haven't done something to piss me off enough to risk getting arrested yet.
[ although if she does get confirmation that they're trying to pressure people into sex work who don't want to do it, she won't care as much about that. ]
if they do now, i apologize. it's surprisingly terrible integrated in all sorts of night terrors.
that bad, huh? must be, if you're willing to get arrested here. orientation has been very clear about how much that sucks.
( he's ... impressed, though also concerned, because he doesn't realize exactly what sort of offenses she'd get arrested protesting. )
look, this offer is made without any expectations, since everything is coded creepier than i intend it to be because of my designation alone. but if you want a place to crash that isn't a skeevy hotel with questionable business practices my couch is not that bad for passing out on, i've tested it rigorously
yeah, i'll bet. i can imagine it's at least equal to dreaming about being drowned.
[ okay, maybe that was a little uncharitable. ]
hence why i'm not risking it unless i get confirmation of what i've heard they've been trying to get people to do.
[ she's not expecting the offer he makes, and she's a little thrown off by it. the thing is, she know he's not making it with any expectations, but she still feels weird about accepting it. or possibly accepting it. ]
i appreciate that.
i don't know yet. i'm still hoping we won't have to stay here much longer.
funny you mention that. i guess i don't know about drowning, but i dream a lot about choking on my own blood, and somehow it is worse if your socks are inexplicably wet
( she can be uncharitable if he can make macabre jokes about his own death, it evens out. )
not that i'm suggesting it isn't wrong for them to coerce people into sexual activity, because i'm not, and it is. but what exactly is your plan if they are?
yeah, well, agreed on that front. doesn't seem like the city can take much more of this.
are we actually trying to one-up each other with our nightmares? because i've also technically died before if you want to go there.
[ granted, she hadn't been shot to death by her spouse, just her x7 clone. and it's not that she feels like talking or even thinking about that more often than she has to, but it feels weirdly better to trade barbs like this. ]
i don't really do plans. it would probably involve a broken appendage or two, but i'm of the assumption that reporting it to the proper authorities wouldn't do any good.
yeah, the down wasn't doing too hot by the time we were evacuated. i'd be surprised if there was anything left.
maybe. it's better to joke about our death than be traumatized, right? and tell me i'm wrong: the way you died would not be improved by wet socks. wet socks have never improved anything.
i doubt it would, but i also doubt you getting tossed in the people zoo or whatever the shit it's called is helpful in the long run, either. they've got limitless assholes to fill in for the one with a broken collarbone. there's only one of you.
it's 100% wishful thinking, but maybe combining the sides would ease the gap between designations.
[ he actually gets a laugh out of her with the first sentence, not that he's there to see it or that she'll let him know about it. ]
getting shot sucks but it was immensely worse when one of the bullets i caught was during a rainstorm and i passed out in a puddle. yeah, i'll concede to that.
[ which, incidentally, is not how she died, but she did come close to it; first due to being shot and then due to a member of the breeding cult that's trying to wipe out the existence of her and her kind trying to poison her IV. ]
maybe. but that doesn't mean i won't do something if i can. if i manage to catch one of them trying to get others to solicit, that is; pretty sure they're onto me.
i think it's more likely that they toss us back in there once the flooding stops and leave us to fix everything. while expecting us to fulfil our duties as citizens of a city we didn't ask to move to, of course.
not how i died. that was in the woods in wyoming. i woke up to learning my brother had shot himself to give me his heart.
noted. but like i said, whatever they're doing they're making sure not to do when i'm within earshot or able to see them. and everyone stuck in the place has been minding their own business, so if i'm right, no one's told me.
i want to say at least we know where we stand, but that doesn't make it easier.
i feel like i'm playing a losing game here, if you've got multiple shootings and deaths to one up me with. jokes aside, though, i'm sorry. my brother is the most important person in my life, i can imagine what that would feel like and it's eviscerating.
( turns out, he beat Alex to the punch and died for him, so he'll never have to learn for sure. listening to his brother sob for him to stay hadn't improved his death experience, either, but not even Daniel is ready to joke about that. )
not exactly something people would be dying to share, i imagine.
but if you do see something, they're still letting people make emergency contracts, right? you can give people my details if you want. it's not much but maybe it's something. at least it'd get them out of there.
[ part of her wants to continue, mention that renfro had turned up her heartbeat while she was still recovering from the transplant as part of the early stages of her reindoctrination torture. not to continue with the one-up game they've been playing, just because she's never really had the opportunity to talk about this and how it had felt to lose her brother twice. but she reads his apology again and can't bring herself to type out the words. ]
thank you. they actually found a way to keep him alive in spite of that, if you can believe it. but he's not the only sibling i've lost, and yeah. it's awful.
yeah, probably not. and who knows, maybe i'm being paranoid. maybe they're deciding to do that without any coercion, if they're doing it at all. but i hate the idea that they're being pressured to. the city's fucked enough.
[ she'd seen the offer he'd made on the network and the next part of his message still surprises her. she fingers the edge of her device a couple of times, debating what to say in response. ]
no comment on the multiple shootings, though, which says plenty.
( Daniel wouldn't mind being a soundboard, frankly — he's heard and experienced all sorts of terrible things, he can sit through more. brother stuff does hit hard for him, though, probably always will. )
it would be hard to believe if i hadn't been here for a few weeks. you get used to the unbelievable fast around here.
i wouldn't be surprised if you were right, this place is perfectly content being coercive. no patience for people to get resigned to meeting quota on their own, it seems. but you're right that forcing people to sell themselves for just a place to sleep is a spectacularly new low for this shithole.
no. even an emergency contract with a stranger is a risk, though, so i get it.
i mean, i came back. it doesn't sound like you get to.
[ it's not even the worst encounter she'd had with one of her brothers, but she's only ever managed to tell ben's story to alec. it's a secret she's hoping to hold onto, but she doesn't have much faith in being able to do that while she's here. the network's already had her telling more than she wants to about herself to strangers. ]
yeah, i guess that's true. i'm not used to being one of the least weird things around.
i guess the aphros in the food, atmosphere, and weather aren't enough for them. why just limit themselves to that when they could extort and further traumatize people?
yeah. [ it's why she hadn't responded, though she had taken note of it. she's reluctant enough to the idea of contracting herself to someone. ] it was a nice offer to make, though.
[ she agrees. in fact, it might be for the best for them to move on altogether now that he's gone and brought sincerity into things. ]
the mystical tattoos didn't throw you off? [ not that they necessarily read as mystical. and come to think of it, he may not have even been in a position to see them. ] nothing that dramatic. i'm genetically engineered.
yeah. i think you've got a little more time than i do.
they're a message, about how i'm supposed to save the world from this breeding cult. i don't understand how, but they're tied to the place that created me. they've been trying to wipe us out so we don't interfere with their plans.
[ she knows how it sounds. but if he's not thrown by vampires, maybe he won't be thrown by the rest of what she's just said. (she has not considered the possibility that he might be reminded of factors of his past by bringing up the centuries old breeding cult, sorry daniel.) ]
less a month. [ not that she's been thinking about it. ]
( his family sort of is a breeding cult, isn't it? haha, whoops :) whatever, it's fine, the puzzle of trying to understand what she just said is distracting enough he doesn't think to connect the dots. )
i'm trying to get this straight. you were genetically engineered by some place trying to save the world from a cult? or is that the mystical part, the message showed up out of nowhere
shit. what happens if you don't find anyone? i feel like nothing good.
[ it's a lot to unpack and she honestly just learned all this herself, so she's still trying to wrap her head around it. trying to succinctly explain it is a harder task than she would have thought. ]
i grew up thinking we were a government experiment to create a perfect soldier, but found out more recently that we were originally meant to fight against this breeding cult. i'm designed for a purpose more specific than war - hence the mystical tattoos which yes, came out of nowhere. they're sanskrit runes, a message that some bad shit is supposed to go down where i'm from and i'm supposed to be what stops it from happening.
[ and then she'd wound up here, and now spends at least part of each day worrying about the possibility of going back home to find out that it's already happened. ]
i don't know. but i've got that same feeling.
Edited (sorry for the edits ily ) 2021-08-01 02:13 (UTC)
( he's surprised she's telling him all this. is it just a matter of wanting to tell someone and he's there? maybe. Daniel isn't used to being confided in, though the idea of being a sound board isn't a bad one. he can't manage much, but listening is relatively easy. )
sounds sort of a no winners situation, since engineering super soldiers to fight a war they didn't ask to champion is messed up on its own. the best of intentions don't mean much when you're forced to be something you don't want to be.
( that came across a little personal, huh? whoopsie!! )
shit, Max. ( Daniel doesn't want to see her locked up or worse because she doesn't have a contract. is she avoiding it just to fight against the system, or because she can't find anyone? ) do you have anyone you can ask? just a friend to buy you another three months.
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text. | un: DOA
hey. keeping dry? i've started to have nightmares about wet socks, so that's how things are going for me.
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it's complicated, all right. ]
definitely not keeping dry, but i'm not drowning either so that's something.
you still wearing the three-piece in all this?
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( haha, Maxine, GOTCHA... didn't think he could use that as a segue into her accommodations, did ya? well, he's talented. )
if i'm actually going outside, usually i wear the hot little number they gave me after my entrance examination. and if i'm not facing the torrential rain i struggle putting pants on at all, frankly.
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you're actually going outside in all of this when you presumably have somewhere less depressing and dank to stay?
they've put us in a motel while the flooding's still going on. it's not terrible, but the staff around here is...questionable. i don't think they like that we're infringing on the possibility of renting their rooms out by the hour.
[ she's heard rumors of the staff trying to get the people staying there to make up for that, and if she ever actually witnesses it or someone tries to get her to do it, they're not going back to their office in one piece, possible citation be damned. ]
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i find it easier to sleep if i'm too exhausted to think about things. but then, bad dreams about wet socks, so you know... you win some you lose some
everything else in this place is shitty, i'm guessing you're being a little too forgiving. sort of like when southern ladies say "bless your heart".
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[ although since something had tried to drown her, they have started involving water again. ]
i was talking about the facilities themselves, not the staff. and all that means is they haven't done something to piss me off enough to risk getting arrested yet.
[ although if she does get confirmation that they're trying to pressure people into sex work who don't want to do it, she won't care as much about that. ]
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that bad, huh? must be, if you're willing to get arrested here. orientation has been very clear about how much that sucks.
( he's ... impressed, though also concerned, because he doesn't realize exactly what sort of offenses she'd get arrested protesting. )
look, this offer is made without any expectations, since everything is coded creepier than i intend it to be because of my designation alone. but if you want a place to crash that isn't a skeevy hotel with questionable business practices my couch is not that bad for passing out on, i've tested it rigorously
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[ okay, maybe that was a little uncharitable. ]
hence why i'm not risking it unless i get confirmation of what i've heard they've been trying to get people to do.
[ she's not expecting the offer he makes, and she's a little thrown off by it. the thing is, she know he's not making it with any expectations, but she still feels weird about accepting it. or possibly accepting it. ]
i appreciate that.
i don't know yet. i'm still hoping we won't have to stay here much longer.
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( she can be uncharitable if he can make macabre jokes about his own death, it evens out. )
not that i'm suggesting it isn't wrong for them to coerce people into sexual activity, because i'm not, and it is. but what exactly is your plan if they are?
yeah, well, agreed on that front. doesn't seem like the city can take much more of this.
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[ granted, she hadn't been shot to death by her spouse, just her x7 clone. and it's not that she feels like talking or even thinking about that more often than she has to, but it feels weirdly better to trade barbs like this. ]
i don't really do plans. it would probably involve a broken appendage or two, but i'm of the assumption that reporting it to the proper authorities wouldn't do any good.
yeah, the down wasn't doing too hot by the time we were evacuated. i'd be surprised if there was anything left.
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i doubt it would, but i also doubt you getting tossed in the people zoo or whatever the shit it's called is helpful in the long run, either. they've got limitless assholes to fill in for the one with a broken collarbone. there's only one of you.
it's 100% wishful thinking, but maybe combining the sides would ease the gap between designations.
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getting shot sucks but it was immensely worse when one of the bullets i caught was during a rainstorm and i passed out in a puddle. yeah, i'll concede to that.
[ which, incidentally, is not how she died, but she did come close to it; first due to being shot and then due to a member of the breeding cult that's trying to wipe out the existence of her and her kind trying to poison her IV. ]
maybe. but that doesn't mean i won't do something if i can. if i manage to catch one of them trying to get others to solicit, that is; pretty sure they're onto me.
i think it's more likely that they toss us back in there once the flooding stops and leave us to fix everything. while expecting us to fulfil our duties as citizens of a city we didn't ask to move to, of course.
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i'm not saying you shouldn't do anything. just that in a situation like this, you can do more if you don't have a target on your back.
yeah, probably. they're sort of a one trick pony around here, aren't they. fuck or else, doms good, subs bad. you catch on fast.
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noted. but like i said, whatever they're doing they're making sure not to do when i'm within earshot or able to see them. and everyone stuck in the place has been minding their own business, so if i'm right, no one's told me.
i want to say at least we know where we stand, but that doesn't make it easier.
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( turns out, he beat Alex to the punch and died for him, so he'll never have to learn for sure. listening to his brother sob for him to stay hadn't improved his death experience, either, but not even Daniel is ready to joke about that. )
not exactly something people would be dying to share, i imagine.
but if you do see something, they're still letting people make emergency contracts, right? you can give people my details if you want. it's not much but maybe it's something. at least it'd get them out of there.
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[ part of her wants to continue, mention that renfro had turned up her heartbeat while she was still recovering from the transplant as part of the early stages of her reindoctrination torture. not to continue with the one-up game they've been playing, just because she's never really had the opportunity to talk about this and how it had felt to lose her brother twice. but she reads his apology again and can't bring herself to type out the words. ]
thank you. they actually found a way to keep him alive in spite of that, if you can believe it. but he's not the only sibling i've lost, and yeah. it's awful.
yeah, probably not. and who knows, maybe i'm being paranoid. maybe they're deciding to do that without any coercion, if they're doing it at all. but i hate the idea that they're being pressured to. the city's fucked enough.
[ she'd seen the offer he'd made on the network and the next part of his message still surprises her. she fingers the edge of her device a couple of times, debating what to say in response. ]
i'll do that, if it comes to that.
no one's taken you up on the offer?
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( Daniel wouldn't mind being a soundboard, frankly — he's heard and experienced all sorts of terrible things, he can sit through more. brother stuff does hit hard for him, though, probably always will. )
it would be hard to believe if i hadn't been here for a few weeks. you get used to the unbelievable fast around here.
i wouldn't be surprised if you were right, this place is perfectly content being coercive. no patience for people to get resigned to meeting quota on their own, it seems. but you're right that forcing people to sell themselves for just a place to sleep is a spectacularly new low for this shithole.
no. even an emergency contract with a stranger is a risk, though, so i get it.
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[ it's not even the worst encounter she'd had with one of her brothers, but she's only ever managed to tell ben's story to alec. it's a secret she's hoping to hold onto, but she doesn't have much faith in being able to do that while she's here. the network's already had her telling more than she wants to about herself to strangers. ]
yeah, i guess that's true. i'm not used to being one of the least weird things around.
i guess the aphros in the food, atmosphere, and weather aren't enough for them. why just limit themselves to that when they could extort and further traumatize people?
yeah. [ it's why she hadn't responded, though she had taken note of it. she's reluctant enough to the idea of contracting herself to someone. ] it was a nice offer to make, though.
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( Daniel sticks to flippant, because the reality is depressing. flippant is better. )
i don't find you that weird. are you secretly a vampire? apparently that's a thing around here.
they've got all flavors of coercion and extortion, they should put that on the welcome sign.
in theory, maybe, not sure about practice. eventually i need one as much as anyone else, right?
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the mystical tattoos didn't throw you off? [ not that they necessarily read as mystical. and come to think of it, he may not have even been in a position to see them. ] nothing that dramatic. i'm genetically engineered.
yeah. i think you've got a little more time than i do.
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( that's not any weirder than vampires. or a mustachioed man cursing your family with a satanic puzzle box. or dying, and not being dead. )
a couple months or something, now. why, how long have you got?
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[ she knows how it sounds. but if he's not thrown by vampires, maybe he won't be thrown by the rest of what she's just said. (she has not considered the possibility that he might be reminded of factors of his past by bringing up the centuries old breeding cult, sorry daniel.) ]
less a month. [ not that she's been thinking about it. ]
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i'm trying to get this straight. you were genetically engineered by some place trying to save the world from a cult? or is that the mystical part, the message showed up out of nowhere
shit. what happens if you don't find anyone? i feel like nothing good.
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i grew up thinking we were a government experiment to create a perfect soldier, but found out more recently that we were originally meant to fight against this breeding cult. i'm designed for a purpose more specific than war - hence the mystical tattoos which yes, came out of nowhere. they're sanskrit runes, a message that some bad shit is supposed to go down where i'm from and i'm supposed to be what stops it from happening.
[ and then she'd wound up here, and now spends at least part of each day worrying about the possibility of going back home to find out that it's already happened. ]
i don't know. but i've got that same feeling.
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sounds sort of a no winners situation, since engineering super soldiers to fight a war they didn't ask to champion is messed up on its own. the best of intentions don't mean much when you're forced to be something you don't want to be.
( that came across a little personal, huh? whoopsie!! )
shit, Max. ( Daniel doesn't want to see her locked up or worse because she doesn't have a contract. is she avoiding it just to fight against the system, or because she can't find anyone? ) do you have anyone you can ask? just a friend to buy you another three months.
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