savetheearth | 04

[The webcam feed opens, and Mort looks a bit ashamed of himself.]

It would seem that I...well, I seem to have forgotten everything about these numbers and this network for the past couple of weeks. It's somewhat alarming, really.

[He sighs.]

I apologize if you came in looking for help with anything and I gave you a difficult time about it. I'm now leaving a few notes for myself in the event it happens again. Don't worry--it's nothing personally identifiable or dangerous to keep lying around, but it should be enough that I won't immediately start treating anyone talking about numbers and strange powers as delusional.

My office usually isn't open on Sundays, but given the circumstances, I'm here now. If you need to talk--or if I may have made things difficult for you this past week, please, stop by. If anyone's experiencing any new developments they're having trouble with, again, please feel free to stop by.

[There's another pause, as though what he's about to say next rubs his sense of ethics the wrong way.]

If circumstances call for it, I can...er, I can reassure your family members that everything's under control and that they've got nothing to worry about with these changes.

[There. He didn't outright say he'd lie for anyone, but that's basically what he means, loath as he is to admit it.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I can't say I've experienced anything new that I've noticed. What did you get?

It takes a lot of hard work, but it's worth it.

i see... it sounds kind of scary, but it's gotta be worth it!

here, let me show you.

[ hello! the video is zoomed in on her left hand. the change that she's gotten becomes clear very quickly - her hand glows, then comes alive in a flurry of cell medals to become, uh, mezool's hand!! she wiggles her black fingers, her blue finger nails shimmering in the light, before changing it back. ]

sooo... yeah.

[There is a significant delay in Mort's response. Why? Well, he's dealing with a sudden onset of memory, of having not one, but two hands similar to that, monstrous and purple all the way up to his elbows...]

That must have been startling to deal with. Are you all right?

I suppose there's nothing I can say that would make all of this even stranger, but I remember having hands similar to that. They were purple.

[ suffice to say that azure got a little concerned during the interim. :( doctor friend. ]

yeah, i'm fine! it happened when the lights came up in the sky a while back, so i was about to go to sleep when it happened. it took me all night to calm down and figure out how to change it back, haha.

you too? then maybe we might have been going through a similar process. do you remember how it was supposed to feel like? because i don't really know how to explain it, but things feel a little... different in that hand? like i can still feel things, but even when it's normal, it's... different. i don't know how to describe it. [ MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE SHE CAN'T FEEL NICE THINGS WITH THAT HAND ANYMORE AND THAT'S A HARD THING TO QUANTIFY ]

That must have been horrible.

The memory is fuzzy, but I suppose numb is a good word for what I recall. It's not a perfect way to describe it by any means. Still fails on some level.

[Some sort of difficulty of feeling, some sort of absence...]

If you're worried about possible neurological problems, I've got connections at the hospital and could very likely arrange for a quiet test.

There's also the LSR Clinic if you'd rather avoid the hospital proper.

it was kind of scary for a while, but i've been dealing with it! i just have to be reeeaaaaally careful with dad's car. i don't want to scratch the paint. [ it's... still... pretty scary, but one of her talents is to take the unexpected in stride! right? right...? ]

yeah... that's about as close as i'd be able to get too. [ ... WELL UH. hmm. on one hand, it'd be nice to get her hand tested. FOR SCIENCE!! on the other hand, the local hospital is pretty... public. she doesn't want to put her family in danger. on the other other hand, she is still a tiny baby and she does not think she could realistically go into the dead zone without getting shanked. ]

i WOULD like to get this hand tested, if only for reference's sake, but i don't know if i could make it to any of those locations safely. the hospital is a little too public for what i'm comfortable with, and i've never been to the dead zone by myself before. i guess i could find a chaperone though?

At least paint's easy enough to have fixed.

I'd be happy to accompany you as a chaperone, if you'd like.

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