[Not on the Network]-News

[twopercent]

[Essentially the same story has been running during the local news broadcast since Sunday night. Flavor text.]

Police are still on the lookout for their main suspect in the brutal murder of Francis Ben, his wife Janice Ben, and their six children last Friday night. Their bodies were uncovered after the fire department responded to a call at 564 Woodrow Lane. Autopsy results revealed that they died from multiple gunshots and stab wounds. Police are withholding further details while they comb the scene for clues, but they believe that their primary suspect is still in the Locke City area, and that there may have been others involved.

[The news shows a slightly out-of-date military ID photo of Jack, looking suitably grim.]

Today, the hunt continues for Jack Sears, age 29. Jack has blond hair and blue eyes, is 5'10" tall, approximately 160lbs, and missing his left arm. It is unknown what he is wearing.

An officer told Locke City News that Jack may have been having mental health issues since his discharge from the army last year. When asked, neighbors report having heard gunshots in their neighborhood last Thursday night, but so far investigations have come up short on any further victims.

Police warn the public that the suspect is known to be armed and should be considered extremely dangerous. If you do spot this man, do not approach him and immediately call 911 or the police tip hotline.

Comments

[shiromadoushi]

I think I was the youngest, if that's what you're afraid of.

[twopercent]

Well... that's part of it. What were all doing there?

[People from the network meeting up in the real world... Jack's experience that way has been very limited, and he doesn't have a clue who is out there.]

[shiromadoushi]

[[There's a looong pause. He knows Jack isn't going to be happy with him for this]]

Hunting.

[twopercent]

[You are so right, Jack sounds angry when he replies. It's restrained, flat anger, at least, but it's a change from the other times he's spoken to Bakura, that's for sure.]

Hunting... for those animals. What were you thinking, Bakura?

Shall we retcon that Jack's been using audio since it started text? :)

[shiromadoushi]

[[another pause]]

That I wanted to destroy something that caused the the death of someone that I knew. I went after a target I could hit, and with others to help. If I didn't do anything I would have broken something.

OOPS yeah sure >.>

[twopercent]

[another long pause before the response comes, deadly serious:]

Breaking something might still be better. You don't want to be a killer, do you?

[shiromadoushi]

Breaking something won't stop those things from taking over creatures. The only way to do that is force them out and get them before they can move on to something else.

[twopercent]

There has to be some other way. If they're starting to take over innocent people...

[shiromadoushi]

[[a long pause]]

...I wouldn't kill a person.

[[...but he doesn't really know what happened when he dissociated. And he's not about to ask. Because then someone would wonder why he didn't remember....]]

[twopercent]

[audible relief] Good.

But someone... dealt with them, didn't them. If there was some other way to force the, uh, grues, out...

[shiromadoushi]

They turn to steam, you know. When they die.

Anything they go into is ruined.

[twopercent]

There has to be something. Maybe if Dr. Strider could have a look at someone infected...

[shiromadoushi]

If we could get them there...

Because it's not infection. It's possession...

[twopercent]

Is there a difference?

[shiromadoushi]

Yeah. A big one.

[twopercent]

Which is...?

[shiromadoushi]

[[One moment as he's fighting back flashbacks]]

There's no will behind an infection. Possession hangs on, it needs, it wants, it controls. Infection is passive and can be chased out with medicine. Possession won't be chased out by anything but death.

[twopercent]

[...Yeah, let's not talk about that any more.]

Well... we won't know for sure until someone who knows what they're doing has a look.

[shiromadoushi]

[[Yeeeah, let's not. It's a very twitchy issue because APPARENTLY HE WAS POSSESSING HIMSELF and he really doesn't want to try and figure that out.]]

Can always go ask that doctor guy who just showed up.

[twopercent]

That's Dr. Strider. [Jack sighs. If Bakura's going to be out involved with this... and he can't exactly stop him...] Call him first the next time you see one of those things around instead of doing anything rash, okay?

[shiromadoushi]

OK

[[If there's time, anyway]]