savetheearth | 6. Video. Laptop.

[Hello Network! Guess who's face pops up after like a month of being MIA? Yup, it's good old Mr Locke, now wearing spiffy new glasses. Behind him, a bit of his fancypants living room can be seen. He stares at the screen momentarily, clearly hesitating, before finally opening his mouth. Boy does he have a lot to say.]

As of Monday this week, my memories of the Network and everything associated with it returned. Nearly a month of unawareness has made me realize how necessary it is to divulge certain information. Not only do you all deserve to hear it, but certain details may prevent unnecessary problems on the chance my memory fails again in the future.

[He takes a breath. Okay, time to do this.]

First of all, in regards to myself: Richard Locke is an alias I go by. My real name is Karl Aurion. I am a Deputy Superintendent on the Locke City PD and have been on the force for 18 years with an additional 3 years served in Boston. To affirm that this information is not another practical joke, here is my badge [said badge gets whipped out and held up for a good while before being set aside] and several individuals here can confirm this information, as well. For those unfamiliar with police hierarchy, my rank is the 6th highest position on the force. I will state for the record that my position does not gain me special favor with Sherman, Edwards or anyone else.

[This is a nice segue into topic two. The seriousness falters briefly before he continues.]

Which leads to the second matter: Miki Kaoru and his death. Unlike the media and the police department claim, Miki was not a victim of gang violence and obviously not of terrorists. The culprit behind his death had been another police officer. That officer had given Miki chase for reasons unknown to myself. Upon noticing the chase, I followed. When I arrived on the scene, Miki was cornered and the officer had his gun raised. I attempted to interfere but to no avail. The officer incapacitated me before killing Miki. [a sigh] I apologize for my own elusiveness on both this matter and everything associated with the drug bust on the high school.

In regards to the bust itself, I admit to being the one behind it. I had been stationed at the high school since last year to help bring this bust to fruition, among other less noble reasons; however any Network arrests were done without my knowledge. I had not assumed my investigation would be used to bring in suspected individuals and I take full responsibility for this oversight. Though it may be difficult to believe, I did not provide my superiors with any information pertaining to the Network or those associated with it, nor do I intend to do so long as I can help it. I, unfortunately, could not help it during the past several weeks and was more than willing to take note of suspicious behavior. This is why I ask for caution when approaching me in person as I can potentially end up endangering lives should this occur again.

[He actually looks apologetic at this. Any seriousness, however, is interrupted by a teeny kitten suddenly popping up on screen, jumping up on Karl's head and plopping itself down for a nap in its new favorite bed. A brief, if somewhat exasperated glance gets spared up at it before the seriousness returns full force at the laptop]

Finally, during the last month, I managed to speak with both Edwards and Sherman, gaining the latter's trust enough to be given details of his investigation and offered modification. [a heavy pause] I accepted this offer a week after my memory of the Network was lost.

The modification process as I experienced it went as follows. It was done at a farmhouse outside of town. A robot greeted me and informed me to lay down on some sort of an operating table. Then, by use of an [insert a very unsure pause] old fashioned, pink perfume bottle, it rendered me unconscious. By the time I awoke, the procedure had been completed. I was handed a pamphlet and a... mint before being sent on my way. Here is the pamphlet in question.

[The front and back of this flower sticker monstrosity get held up to the screen for a few moments before being set back down.]

I have not experienced any significant side effects and can provide further details on the modification if asked. Should there be any other questions about any of this, they will be responded to... honestly.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's what I'm afraid of. [she might have been talked down by Nick, but she's still not super enthused about all this.]

About a week and a half. [So literally right after her mods.]

[How enthusiastic she is about this doesn't escape Karl's notice. Not that he could blame her considering the timing of everything.]

Rather fortunate timing. [a pause] Or not, depending on your perspective.

[That's a thinly veiled question about what she thinks about, well, everything.]

Honestly, I haven't figured out which one I think it is yet. [Because seriously. having all this thrown at her right after modifications? Way to call into question everything she thought she knew, network.]

The people here, the ones I've spoken with anyway, are good people thrown into a messy situation without a say in the matter just as you've been. They are not terrorists or vigilantes as Sherman or anyone else involved believes.

[Whether or not his words may have any impact, Karl doesn't know. He means all this though. They are not bad (some might be difficult but still good). Really.]

So I've been told. [and she kind of wishes people would stop it because it's making this harder.] I've talked to a few people like that. [and then plenty who are definitely crazy vigilantes.]

Then you've seen the truth yourself.

[It has to be unpleasant, to not only get told all this about the supposed terrorists that she's been told to apprehend but also see it for herself. Even so, despite that she'd sworn to help Sherman, Karl trusts her. This trust is why there is no authoritative tone or any distrust in his next words.]

Should you still feel uncertain then I ask, as a personal favor, for your silence about all this. Please.

I'm not going to say anything. [pause] I kind of said I might in my introduction, which was not the best PR tactic on my part but I was a little... irrational after my surgery. [Karl probably knows what she means by that.] But yeah, I'm not planning on saying anything. [too many people she likes on here.]

Thank you.

[And he means it.]

And understandable. [He pauses, a small bit of concern crossing his face.] You haven't experienced any side-effects, have you?

A few. Suddenly gotten really jumpy about fire- even someone using a lighter freaked me out the first time I saw it after. Other than that and probably a little bit of my being a little more rash that usual, no. You?

Aside from the issue with my hair, my need to blink has greatly decreased. Nothing severe like sudden onset recklessness.

[Is he trying to be funny? Maybe just a bit.]

[there's a slight chuckle out of Melissa.]

I hope I can get a handle on both of them. Being trigger happy and freaked out by fire is probably not a good thing to combine with everything else.

Stopping to take a moment or long to think a situation over ought to help with the former; the latter will likely prove more difficult to overcome.

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