( 001: text/smartphone)

[handcuff]

Animals have far more sensitivity to their surroundings than humans do, they can sense changes in the environment that we can't. Canaries in coal mines. domesticated pets warning their owners of natural disasters to come. Survival of the fittest. "Natural selection conceived of as a struggle for life in which only those organisms best adapted to existing conditions are able to survive and reproduce." ... the point being that when things start going wrong, we're usually the last ones to notice.

... by the way, I heard that there were a lot of freak animal attacks last month. [ that, and he volunteers at an animal shelter. ] I can pretty much guess that's not unrelated to whatever all of this is about. [ although, to be sure, the details are still rather hazy for him. he can only make inferences and guesses at this point, though his are more or less in the right direction, at the very least.

and now for something completely different: ]

there's an animal following me around when I'm not in public places. a bird. I don't really know why ...

[ he won't directly come out and ask for it, but this is his way of soliciting advice on what to do about it. ]

Comments

( text )

[argents]

[ The last time animals started following people, things Escalated Quickly. ]

Can I ask... what kind of bird?

( text )

[handcuff]

[ there is an attachment of a blurry jpg image, taken from his phone. ]

It looks like a warbler.
... but I think it can imitate human speech.

[argents]

[ ...Looks normal. ]

Just speech? There aren't any other weird features?

[handcuff]

In Japanese, to be more specific.

None. It doesn't really bother me. it just follows me around.

[argents]

That does sound crazy. But a lot of stuff does right now. The last animals that were following people around had these mutations... birds with teeth and fingers, or squirrels with human eyes. They got violent after a while.

Your bird doesn't sound like that though.

[handcuff]

No, it doesn't. it doesn't feel like it's aggressive or violent. i'm just not sure why it seems so attached to following me ...

it's not domesticated, but it's not wild either.
and I'm not even sure it's native to this part of the country.

[argents]

[ Hmm... ]

That sounds like

Did it appear around the same time you got the numbers you used to connect to this network?

[handcuff]

More or less.

[ there's a follow-up about half a minute later: ]

ah, I get it. the two are related, somehow.
that one thing caused the other to happen?

[argents]

[ Bingo. ]

I think so. There's no solid name for it yet, but it feels just like a pulse when it happens. You get the numbers the first time, and something else. Like a memory, or a skill. I've never heard of an animal before, but I wouldn't rule it out.

[handcuff]

Memories and skills... ones that are supposed to belong to you? Or ones that are unfamiliar.

[argents]

Both, in a way.

[handcuff]

So whatever one gets is meant specifically for that person to receive.

[argents]

So far, yeah. Is there anything about the bird that feels familiar to you? Or "right"?

[handcuff]

Well. it's not annoying, I guess ...

[ that is like acceptance, in his angry little heart. ]

[argents]

[ Wuh-oh. ]

...It's a start.

[handcuff]

I don't mind if it continues following me, at least.

... what sort of thing happened to you? when you first got the numbers.

[argents]

Then /it/ recognizes /you/? In that case, the reverse could still happen.

[ A noticeable break, then: ]

It was just a touch that I remembered. And some pieces of this crazy speech. But

After a while, and more of those things happened, it started seeming less crazy.

[handcuff]

I think it must. or else I don't know why it's so attached to me.

... Because of all the stuff happening now?

[argents]

I don't know why anything is happening to us at all, but the things I remember are beginning to feel like clues.

...except for the robot. I'm not sure about him.

[handcuff]

Clues about what, exactly? about why these things are happening?

... And aren't robots usually an 'it'?

[argents]

Clues about a life that I don't actually remember, but somehow... it's still mine. I mean I got this little robot, like your bird, but everything else has been a memory of some kind.

[ Well, almost everything. ]

True, but. It just seemed right to call it a "he."

[handcuff]

And I guess we should all expect for that to happen to us, sooner or later? Memories of some other life.

... I wonder if it's all supposed to connect somehow.

[argents]

Feels kind of like I'm being the bearer of bad news now. But probably.

There's no telling what makes it happen. Sometimes it seems completely random, other times like a parallel to something that happened once before. And then there's the statues.

[handcuff]

... maybe it's best not to overthink ... and just let things happen as they will.

[ that, and he's not really cut out for deep thinking to begin with! ]

The snakes, and the wolf. I've heard about them, a little bit... I guess they're worth seeing in person, though.

[argents]

They feel weird.

Touching one makes it happen, though. That pulse process.