text; video;

[searchforpeace]

[It's near three or four in the morning when this one comes in on the network. It's not elaborate.]

I believe it saw me but I'm not sure. Whatever it was, when I tried to get close to it... it made some noise. A chirp maybe? I didn't attempt to fight it; I wasn't armed in any way at the time.

[The video isn't until sometime in the afternoon the next day. The girl in the video is neatly dressed and put together. There's soft hints of sleeplessness around the eyes but she doesn't seem too bothered by it. Not right now at least.]

I'm sure several of you were privvy to the 'negotiations' thread. Forgive me, I haven't gone over the network as I had previously. I've... been avoiding it, to be honest.

[A vague bit of guilt rises on her features. She hated this number, hated this network, hated what it was doing to her life.
... But she didn't hate the people on here. They weren't asking for any of this any more than she was. They all deserved better.

She just jumps straight in after a moment of conflict.]

These entities, whatever they are, believe we are a mass of individuals unconnected. If this is what they are expecting then, uniting together might be some brief surprise to them.

[Her expression turns serious, guilt easing away. For the briefest of moments, she's almost regal in her air.]

I would like to organize a 'collective', if you will, among those among the numbered - those on this network. Through it we will be able to share information with one another as well as offering support in both physical and emotional senses.

I am not looking to play leader. I am not looking to craft troops. What I wish for is a collective gathering of people cooperating with each other and working for each other to stand against this invasion and to ultimately save each other as well.

[She pauses there and the feeling of a moment before evaporates like a mist. She smiles faintly and nods.]

I will be planning a gathering then for anyone who expresses interest at a currently undisclosed time in the future. Please contact me over the network, private messages or through my phone [here she gives her cellphone number without hesitation - she's tired of hiding].

Thank you.

Comments

( text | laptop. )

[jests]

That's a noble want and aim. Let's hope it has success.

Video; Laptop

[searchforpeace]

I hope so. If it doesn't, I won't be disappointed. We have to try rather than simply hiding in fragments.

[jests]

I gather you're a believer of safety in numbers.

Video; Laptop

[searchforpeace]

Do you mean finding one's own safety through hiding within a mass of others or deriving safety from many working in conjunction with each other?

[jests]

Are they entirely mutually exclusive, do you think?

[searchforpeace]

One is taking and one is giving. Though I do suppose at the core of the issue, they are both more similar than different.

[jests]

Which was more my point, I admit; the cause may be different, but the result, one would hope, is more or less the same.

...Though one is certainly less noble and with less, I suppose, assured safety.