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"This is Nathan Brooks. My apologies for being currently unavailable, but please leave a message and I will return the call as soon as I am able."

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From:

solvethepuzzle

[In Nathan's defense, he gets dragged out one or two mornings a week for a run with Nux. But even without that . . . he doesn't think he's had a single memory where his Other had been so much as standing.

[It's an unpleasant question, but he has enough distance from it now that he can at least discuss it a little.] Over half of the people in the room with my Other suddenly died all around him.

[There is more about the memory that bothers him now, but that part is what had been responsible for the panic attack.]

From:

oncedevil

[Nathan's already way ahead of him, then! Better to keep moving, don't want to end up with atrophied legs or anything right?]

Uh. Wow. The hell? What happened?

[Tony's had his fair share of mass death and horror echoes so it's not quite as strong a reaction as it could have been.]

From:

solvethepuzzle

[He still wants the morning runs to stop entirely, but doesn't have the heart to totally call them off. You know how enthusiastic Nux is over everything.]

How much do you know about the case that Lazarus's Other had been working on?

From:

oncedevil

[See what happens when you can't say no?]

Uh, admittedly not a whole lot. He used to help kids didn't he? Something like that?

From:

solvethepuzzle

[Apparently, you get in slightly better shape.]

[... Oh. Awkward.] Actually, this was a mass murder case. Mine took it over after his . . . Well. [He doesn't need to elaborate on that, surely.]

The murderer was able to kill remotely using a notebook. Absurd as that sounds.

From:

oncedevil

[Tony would go but it's kind of pointless for him to join in.]

Oh. After his what? [So. Lazarus has actually largely kept Tony in the dark about this, and he hadn't really noticed it until now. Frown.]

A murder notebook? You know, I'd say it's crazy but I've been yelled at by disembodied heads so I'm not gonna judge.

From:

solvethepuzzle

[Tony would also have to be in Shepherd's Haven.]

[Sorry, he's got to blink at this. He really, really thought you knew. He feels kind of bad about explaining this. Shouldn't this part be left to Lazarus? It's rather personal . . . A long moment before he decides that he can't go back on explaining.] After his died. I'm sorry; I thought you knew at least that part.

The book killed via heart attacks . . . though re-examining this memory, it seems that isn't the only way it could kill. [One of those deaths had been a little more violent.]

From:

oncedevil

[Given what happened it's probably better he wasn't. But yeah.] [Upon further thought, it does sound familiar. It's really hard to say though, so much has happened. Some things start to melt together and get lost in the kerfuffle.] Right, right. I think I kinda remember something like that? Maybe not, we've been through so much it's hard to keep it all together you know? So. A book that kills, and it could kill in any way? Spooky.

From:

solvethepuzzle

[Actually, with Nathan's memory, he doesn't get that. Though to be fair, that could also be because it's so tied to his own Echoes.

[... "Spooky." Right.] Yes. In any event, I wound up reliving the moment where most of my Other's investigative team was killed in this fashion.

From:

oncedevil

[Tony has a history of trauma induced amnesia and disassociation, cut him a little slack. His whole life with the numbered has been trauma.]

Oh. Shit. No wonder you freaked out. You alright now?

From:

solvethepuzzle

[Nathan doesn't expect people to have a memory like his, Tony; it's okay. When the doppelgangers first came about, to prove his identity, he agreed to meet Lazarus at the time and place they'd played their chess game eight years before. They remember the tiniest and weirdest things.]

Yes, I've managed to get some distance from it. I'm okay.

From:

oncedevil

[And this is why he tends to be extremely intimidated by them and excuses himself more often than not to go hide in his dumb and slow corner. Can't hold a candle to Lazarus and Nathan.]

Long's you're sure.

From:

solvethepuzzle

[Tony, you're not dumb. Lazarus and Nathan are just weird. And are both people who will forget to eat unless you put food in front of them and tell them to.]

I'm feeling much better, honestly. I would not be able to speak so much about it otherwise.

Edited Date: 2015-10-02 03:29 am (UTC)

From:

oncedevil

[He feels dumb. They're so astoundingly intelligent with such useful brain skills and he has... Some muscle? Though he has managed to stand up and shine a few times, he still gets it into his head that compared to them he's worthless.]

Good point.

From:

solvethepuzzle

[Intelligent people that forget a basic life function unless they're told, Tony. Come on.]

[He feels kind of awkward bringing this up, but . . . they need to know.] Hey. Since we are already talking, could I ask you a couple of things?

From:

oncedevil

[Still. Their skill set is considerably more useful than his.]

Eh? Yeah, I guess so.

From:

solvethepuzzle

[And yet if nobody told them to eat, they would starve.]

Something unusual happened on the network on the twenty-fifth. It wasn't viewable to everyone. Did you see it? If you weren't watching the network that day, please check back.

[Nathan, you are dreadful at not sounding ominous.]

From:

oncedevil

["Is sanity the price you pay for power?" Maybe that means common sense is the price you pay for really ridiculous intelligence, too?]

Can't say I did. What, something go down I missed out on? Looks like the usual fair to me. And nothing on the 25th, network was quiet. Why, what's up?

From:

solvethepuzzle

[That's a no on the informant, then.]

Did anyone from Thundercorp personally approach you recently?

[Again, Nathan. YOU ARE FAILING AT NOT SOUNDING OMINOUS.]

From:

oncedevil

You gonna tell me what's going on or are you going to keep with this mysterious act? 'Cause I gotta say right now I'm not in the mood for playing 20 questions.

From:

solvethepuzzle

[He actually flinches a little at that, reading some harshness in the tone.]

I'm sorry. I'm just worried.

On the 25th, someone in Thundercorp, not a Numbered, gained access to the Network, warned us that the company's real leadership hasn't changed and neither have their real intentions. And they have a way to track us one by one. That the unusual recent events are a result of their tampering with something. This person was discovered while speaking to us and was . . . killed.

I realize there are many factors here to consider, but someone in there is up to something.

From:

oncedevil

[He doesn't mean to be that way, there are bits of his other leaking into his personality that he hasn't been able to stop any more than anyone else has. His just happens to be a little more on the surly and impatient side, especially when he feels like he's being jerked around.

More reasons behind his temper and attitude in SH leading up to his departure.

Still he feels better when he's actually being let in on details.]

Wait wait, someone without Numbers got on the network? How does that happen? So the slimes, the ghosts? That's them?

[Okay well since Nathan was up front with him...]

In that case yeah, I was approached by someone from Thunder Corp. Was trying to figure out how he found me, but he wasn't real forward with any answers. Offered a job. Why would they go through all that trouble to offer us jobs?

From:

solvethepuzzle

[In that sense, it's actually good that Nathan flinched, because that means the personality of his Other isn't leaking through. No relentless, callous questioning, uncaring of how it makes the other party feel or whether he gets any hostility as a result.]

Their scientists must have been working on it; this informant said it was something they'd personally developed, but the connection only went one way. The way they'd phrased things caused me to wonder if people had been personally approached outside of the press conference, and if anyone was both approached and saw the network message. I'm trying to figure out how much of what's been told is accurate.

[Hence why he'd asked.]

It was implied that their research triggered something. Their words were: "We've broken something."

To keep an eye on us? To get as many of us in vulnerable positions as they can? Anyone who didn't accept . . . the informant said they would be hunted down.

[He's kind of holding off the other question he wants to ask, painfully aware of how it may sound.]

Edited Date: 2015-10-03 02:16 am (UTC)

From:

oncedevil

[It's getting increasingly difficult keeping the past separated from the present. Once upon a time Tony was so sure it wouldn't be a problem, but that was a year ago and he hadn't grown in fangs yet.

Now, well now it's hard to say where the line is.]

Yeah, I asked him about that. Said they needed to work on their PR department. Usual political bullshit double speak, you know how it is. So, how do we know the guy who accessed and was 'killed' wasn't trying to mislead us? What if it was a show put on to confuse us even more? Or an enemy of TC doing the same thing they were doing to us, a smear campaign. Not that I trust those guys any further than I can throw them, don't get me wrong, but there's a lot of questions here and not a lot of answers. Hunted down? Bring it on. It's about time I've had something fun to do for a change.

[Shit there's that other personality leaking through again. Ugh.]

Sorry. I know I haven't been myself well. Probably since I took a bullet to the face, let's be honest.

From:

solvethepuzzle

These are things under consideration. As I said, I am trying to figure out what is accurate about the report and what isn't. We do still need answers, but at this point, I can only work with what has been said. This needs to be looked into.

[He curls in on himself a little when the tone starts getting vicious, even though it isn't directed at him. Well, that isn't the only reason he's curling in. He has ask this question, much as he hates to do so.]

Tony. Please understand that what I am going to ask is out of concern for your safety. It is not an accusation, I know you would never mean us harm. What did you tell them when the offered you the job?