savetheearth | o1. → voice ; action

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o1. → voice ; action

[A new voice pops up over the network, older than the usual fair, very obviously female. Also very obviously exasperated.]

The logical side of my brain keeps telling me that this is some kind of terrible practical joke. Weird flashes, numbers suddenly assaulting my brain, an entire catalog of information that reads more like a science fiction novel than real life.

If I hadn't already tried the 'paper trick', then I would think this whole thing was crazy. Honestly, I'm still not convinced, especially not after today. Everything is too coincidental, fits a bit too neatly together to not be planned.

[She sighs.]

I should probably stop being so vague. Suddenly, without so much as a warning, I'm part of a secret organization, assaulted with memories that I can already assume aren't mine, and what's more is that one of them involves a classmate of mine. One that I'm now in a group with. Along with one of my roommates--but she has nothing to do with this, I'm just generally frustrated that I can't get away from her at home or at school.

So, to recap: Bizarre memories, conspiracy theories, and no way to get away from the person I can only assume triggered this in the first place.

This whole thing is unnerving, and honestly I don't have time for it. I start applying for graduate school in less than a month, the last thing I need to do is play with conspiracy theorists.

[Someone's had a very, very bad day.]

[Not thirty seconds later, this appears on the network.]

[Action; around LCU campus]

[Elly will be wandering around campus, in a bit of a fog. These last few days have hit her hard--school things obviously, but more importantly the fact that she could not shake of the weird feeling that she got when she met Daniel in the woods. Or the idea that she, or other her, or past her, might have shot someone. If anyone has a class with her, she'll be a ghost of her usual vocal self, lost in thought.

At times, she'll also be seen either sitting at a bench, in the cafeteria, the library; really anywhere she can have a moment of peace. One earbud in her ear, she'll appear to be studying. However, the videos coming through her computer screen aren't medical videos; it's archival footage from the network. Her screen is relatively obscured, and she does appear to be keeping at least a somewhat close eye on her surroundings, but she's also taking quite extensive notes.]

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[She looked around. While the police presence around here was fairly low, it still didn't feel comfortable talking out in the open like this, even in somewhat vague terms. Besides, she had questions she was dying to have answered, and now that the initial shock was gone, she felt a little more comfortable.]

Somewhere that's not here. Somewhere where we can talk. The library maybe? I could get a study room.

That's probably our best bet for now.

[ Though he couldn't say he felt personally targeted at all over the past few weeks, he can't say he's entirely off his guard, even now. No matter how secluded. Turning on his heel, he makes to move back up the steps. However, he stays close enough to where he can lower his voice and still be heard. ]

I don't know what I can answer for you, but I'll try my best.

Anything you can tell me would be helpful.

[Heading over to the library, Elly left Banagher to sign out a study room. She almost expected him to not be there when she returned, keycard in hand, ready to go.]

[ True to his word, he's right there waiting by the time she shows up with the keycard. Once they enter and the door closes securely behind them, he slides his books and slightly-rumpled papers onto the table inside. ]

I'm guessing you probably haven't had your number very long, right?

[As soon as the door clicked shut, her composure changed. It was painfully obvious that the front she had been keeping while they moved around campus was exhausting, and, as she sat, her posture was a lot more loose, more natural.]

A little less than a week. I've been trying to do as much reading as I could. In between classes, after studying. I even managed to pull an all-nighter archive diving.

[She ran a hand through the front of her hair, letting her elbow rest on the table.]

So has everything the news been feeding people about "eco-terrorists" been a lie? I'm assuming that's you gu--us that they're talking about.

[ Just looking at her makes him feel exhausted. Glancing a flinch off of her expression, he eventually takes a seat too. Though he remains fairly neutral, it's easy to pick up on his inability to really stay closed off. ]

It's a lot to take in. I've had all this time, and some of it still sounds too incredible to believe, when I try to explain it.

[ Leaning backwards, he looks down, pressing one of his thumbs into his opposite palm. ]

The news tried to gloss over it at first. When nothing really big or dangerous happened. Like these little creatures that appeared all over, making normal animals look weird. Things that were easy to just write off, if you weren't looking. But it's like both sides are trying to push back without being noticed now, only it's impossible. We're...

[ ...just not equipped for stealth at the moment; that required time, knowledge, and discipline. He leaves that sentence to hang, before moving on. ]

I don't know what the news is trying to do, but it's a lie. They're trying to cover up how big this is getting, and who's involved. Our — enemy. [ A face. ] Our enemy, they have resources on the inside like that. The news, the police, even the military.

Magic powers, past lives, monsters. You'll have to forgive me if I still feel like this is a bit unbelievable, even after everything I've watched and read.

[She had a suspicion that that was what went on behind the scenes, and to say the least it was troublesome. Not unheard of, but it did make things a bit harder.]

I didn't realize it went that far. And our enemy? I've seen a lot of things thrown around. ThunderCorp seems to be the front runner, but it almost seems like too big of a scope to be just one organization, in my opinion at least. I could be entirely off-base here. But if the police and the media are involved, especially if there's some kind military involvement like you say, I think it would be silly to think it's just them.

Thunder seems like it's some kind of face for all of this. There are just as many unknowns about it as anything else we've had to deal with. Our true enemy... I don't know. A few months ago, a bunch of us went down into these mines, to meet with someone who called himself the Sage of the Earth.

[ While it sounds promising, if not in line with everything being pretty unbelievable, he looks sore. ]

He told us that our enemies were inhuman. Alien, I guess. That somehow, we were 'chosen' to defend the Earth from them.

These beings he called 'old ones.'

[ A rueful sigh punctuates this information, however. ]

I wanted to believe it, just to have some kind of truth to hold on to. We all did. Later on, someone hacked an email conversation between some Thundercorp guys. They said that they made it all up, to throw us off track. We were even attacked down there, so it could have just been to try and slaughter a lot of us at once.

But there are things about it that don't make any sense either.

[So many different factors, so it was no wonder that things either got muddled or fabricated along the way. She did remember reading about the Sage incident, but even that seemed a bit more complicated than the postings let on.]

All right, a better question, then. What do we know?

Thunder is our main threat, no matter what they're trying to hide behind them. I don't remember everything that well, but there was something about their CEO suddenly gaining a lot of power he shouldn't have had. They bought up territory in the Dead District and chased all the homeless out. First with security, then with these wolf creatures.

[ His words are slow and deliberate, so as not to mix up details, or get anything wrong. While he does have a flair for the dramatic, he's not embellishing, either. ]

I don't know if I believe Thunder is directly responsible, but they're making way for something. I can sense it.

And then it got bombed.

[Propping her head up with her hand, she thought on that a moment.]

I don't know, don't you think that seems a little odd? The CEO thing seems weird enough, but buying up all that land for what I assume would be gentrification, only to have it be targeted by something. [A beat.] That wasn't any one of us, was it?

No, I don't think so. [ He shakes his head. ] None of us were harmed, and I know someone who lives right next to it. The only things that disappeared in the bombings were these weird statues that showed up there a week beforehand.

[ Yeah, that had been a fun run-in. ]

But Thunder has wanted that place since the beginning. Maybe if we could figure out why, or get close to it again...

That makes it seem even more suspect. A set up maybe? Has anyone been able to get close enough to take a good look? [Probably not, but it was worth asking at least.]

I assumed to try to expand operations in Locke City, but I see what you mean. There's been no investigations around that area or the cause by other organizations? That seems a bit weird, don't you think? Something isn't lining up.

Not that I know of. A lot of us had brushes with those things there, the statues that went up with it. And now the cops have a watch on it, so we can't even get near it without looking suspicious.

[ Not like anyone would memorialize a crumbling outcrop of wasted architecture anyway, so none of them could even loiter in mourning for anything. ]

Getting anything to line up is the problem! But yeah, it is weird. Now it's just sitting there, and no one's doing anything about it. What if they want to put something underground there too?

[Whoa, she didn't mean to strike a nerve there. She backs off a little.]

Something like that would probably take certain permits, equipment and the like. I think we would know if they were trying to build something underground. Something like that wouldn't stay a secret for long. It could very well be that they're regrouping.

[Or waiting for things to cool off before continuing operations. But she already wound him up with her last comment, so she'll keep that to herself.]

[ Apprehension floods him, and he winds down too. ]

I know it's not really logical for something so big to stay a secret, but that's exactly what we've had to deal with the whole time. And... it's been a really long few months.

[ Which he tosses in by way of apology for his sudden edginess. ]

There's already something underground, that Thunder calls "Target-1." Not to mention that they're building massive amounts of planes. Jets, like fighters. Something like that happening shouldn't be such a big secret either, right?

[ He's no pro at this stuff, but he's pretty sure just one military aircraft was something upwards of a million dollars. ]

No it shouldn't, especially considering what probably goes into building planes. How many companies are involved. Parts. Suppliers. Storage. How are they keeping all of this under wraps? Even if it's a military job, these things should have some kind of paper trail.

[A beat.]

"Target-1?"

Right, but it's the military. Thunder has been pretty easy with the paper trails, but if it's working with the military, or... something worse than that, it's not like just anyone can find out what they're up to! The only reason we found out is because a few people have access to the base. Even that has to be getting dangerous for them...

[ He looks off to the side. ]

No one knows what Target-1 even is. The story about the Sage... that was just to throw us off the trail.

Point.

That's what I heard, that the whole thing was a rouse. That it caused a lot of trouble for people. How long have people known about Target-1? Is there really no information on it?

A lot of people were hurt.

[ It's not without a somewhat bitter inflection that he delivers that bit; people he cared about were hurt, badly. ]

Nothing, just that it's underground. It came from some Thunder employees themselves, the ones who were responsible for the Sage in the first place. We went back to the mines a few times and didn't find anything. Now, with the buzzing, and Tuning Towers...

[ Well, it was the next logical hotspot. And completely overrun with law enforcement. ]

[She seemed to be making a habit of putting her foot in her mouth when it came to him. Elly lowered her gaze slightly.]

I imagine you've looked under Tuning Towers and the surrounding areas then. You still haven't found anything? What about evidence of something living down there? [Assuming that it was living.]

[ He nods in response to her question. Though he has a hard time betraying whatever he's feeling at the time, there's very little ill will, for his part. ]

Tuning Towers has been harder to get to lately. After the bombing, security tightened up everywhere. Like our campus. But Tuning Towers is like... it's like they're guarding it, or something.

[ Which meant one thing: there was something there worth protecting. ]

Then obviously there's something that they want to protect there.

I think so too. It's not so easy to just say we're going to find out what it is though. Every decision like that, we have to think of what we're willing to risk at the time.

[Again, Elly nods.]

So it's a stalemate, I'm guessing. Unless there are things going on that the news isn't talking about.

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o1. → voice ; action

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