savetheearth | 002 ✮ handwritten/hand-drawn text

002 ✮ handwritten/hand-drawn text

[ Even if there were other important matters on his mind, Gerald Vakarian had been thinking about one thing in particular since the New Year began. So, after a productive day (or as productive as police officers stating "we've told you all we know about ThunderCorp, Agent Vakarian" in ten different ways can be"), he figures it's time to give this strange network a whirl yet again.

This time, he connects via a piece of paper, and he can't quite say that it makes him comfortable. Thankfully, his bold text doesn't quite give that away. ]

SO, SEEING HOW THIS IS ALL NOT A DREAM, I WAS WONDERING IF ANY OF YOU COULD TELL ME WHAT SORT OF THING THIS IS.

[ What follows is an assortment of images clearly glued onto paper by someone who is not a professional artist. ]

[ . . . ]

ACTUALLY... SCRATCH THAT.

[ This is exactly what he does, scribbling furiously over the image. ]

HERE, LET ME TRY TO ACTUALLY DRAW IT WITHOUT USING OLD NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINES.

[ The following sketch demonstrates that while Gerald may be a man of many talents (and a truly remarkable programmer), art is definitelynot his strongest point. ]

YEAH... SOMETHING LIKE A SECOND ONE. IF YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES AND SQUINT.

[ Well... it was worth a shot. But it still doesn't stop him from scribbling over that one too... ]

IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE A COMBINATION BETWEEN A DINOSAUR, A BIRD, AND A BUG THING.

IT'S TIMES LIKE THIS I REALLY WISH I MAJORED IN ART.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The vocal response catches him off guard. It was interesting to hear a voice distorted like that. He could assume the person was using a voice changer or it was pulse related. It wasn't unusual for someone's speaking habits to change because of one.]

That can happen with a 'pulse'. It feels familiar, but at the same time it doesn't.

[He's experienced quite a few of those. They're not fun at all.]

Edited 2014-01-10 23:59 (UTC)

Yeah, I've had a couple of them, I think. But, they mostly had to do with information on things.

[ there is a pause, as he tries to figure out exactly how to word it. ]

But this felt like it was from someone else's life.

[ So was he going to have to start believing that now? ]

That sounds better than receiving vague memories with no context.

[There's a brief sigh.]

...Because it is. Before you ask how I know, I don't. I'm able to do things that should not be possible. There's something at work here and some other members on here say it's aliens or something else entirely that is allowing us these memories, abilities and items.

I don't know. At least with the other memories, it had more to do with learning about tech... creepy cybernetic human zombies. [ when he says it like that... it doesn't sound nearly as "decent" as he thought it might ]

Someone else said something along those lines.

[ a pause ]

There's got to be another explanation for all of this.

[ And that... just might be the Engineer in him showing through. ]

[That certainly catches his attention, but in a morbidly curious way. As much as he wants to inquire more, he refrains.] ...That's interesting. It's not unusual to gain knowledge about -- [There's a brief pause as he's carefully selecting his words.] -- foreign species either.

There probably is. Has anyone shared with you the F.A.Q. for the network?

To be honest, I'd rather it just stick to vague knowledge. Though, I suppose it's better than some of the other... physical things.

[ Like the poor kid who was now apparently a zombie. ]

Yeah, someone sent it to me a while back. It's still hard to believe. [ a pause ] Though, I think I like the theory about the alternate universe a bit better than the "past life" thing. It seems more... [ another pause as he searches for the word. ] friendly. Like everything's not completely out of our control.

I think most people would prefer knowledge over physical pain for becoming something else.

[Like poor Anthony. He's seen the kid decompose twice since his time here on the network and yet, he's not bothered by it at all.]

That's good to hear that someone has. [He chuckles.] I was in denial about this whole thing at first, but... there were several things that changed my mind.

[He pauses at the mention of theories and unable to help himself, laughs bitterly. Sorry Gerald, he wasn't laughing at you for thinking that. It is just that his 'pulses' have been not too friendly and hit too close to home for his liking.] ...Maybe, but it's not like we have control over when we receive these 'pulses' either.

Yeah.

[ a sigh ]

To be honest, I found this network when I was googling "cough syrup", and decided entering some numbers that were stuck in my head seemed like a good plan.

It's been nearly two weeks, and a small part of me still wants to believe that this is all just a dream.

That doesn't sound like an embarrassing introduction to the network.

Well, it isn't. I've been on here for about... four months now. There's other people who have been here since the beginning, which was... April.

It wasn't as bad as it could've been, but I never did find that cough syrup. As you can probably tell.

[ ...ok there's like a 90% chance that it was an echo/pulse that gave him his voice, but part of him still lives with the futile hope that maybe it'll all clear up one day. ]

So this network just magically appeared in April? Out of nowhere?

[ WELL THEN. ]

Yeah, I can.

I can't remember the exact details, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Then again, I could be horribly wrong and be feeding you the wrong information that someone else would know more about.

I'd like to think it's not that bad, but maybe it's because I've started to get used to it. I mean, I guess there's worse things that could happen than sounding like a lifelong smoker.

[ Even if that wasn't exactly the same sound. ]

To be honest, I sorta get the feeling that no one is exactly what you'd call "close" to knowing the whole picture.

Most people would assume you're using a voice changer. [That was what he thought originally since not a lot of people like having their identities known.]

It's better than knowing nothing at all.

Unless they see me in person. Then there's a bit of a problem.

[ another heavy sigh. ]

I guess you're right. Still, I hate not being able to see the bigger picture.

You could say you have a voice box installed.

So do a lot of other people, including myself.

That... might not work so well. I've already told my co-workers that it's laryngitis.

[ a sigh ]

I guess I could always just say that whatever I did caused permanent vocal damage. Given how much I was yelling... it wouldn't be that out of the ordinary.

[ Seriously. Why can't it just be laryngitis? ]

That's a possibility. Hopefully they'll believe you.

Yeah... I might be in a bit of trouble if they don't.

[ He might be an FBI agent, but the police aren't exactly playing around. And if they kill kids... well, let's just say he wouldn't put anything past them. ]

Or you're out of a job.

[Whoops, that was kind of blunt.]

...Sorry. It's not unusual for people on here having to quit their jobs because of 'pulses'.

Yeah, I guess.

[ Out of a job was still preferable to "dead". ]

Either way, it's not all that bad. And, I'm technically only in town for business as it is.

Well, I don't know if anyone has told you this, but the moment you leave this place, you forget the network and your 'pulses'.

Yeah, I've heard.

[ a pause ]

But I'm hoping that by the time my business is done, that won't be a huge issue anymore.

[ At least, by putting corrupt police and business executives away. After all, that is his goal. ]

Then I wish you luck with whatever you need to get done.

Thanks.

[ a pause ]

By the way, you can call me "Garrus".

It's nice to meet you, Garrus. I'm Xander.

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