savetheearth | Round Two. [Audio

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Round Two. [Audio | Cell Phone]

All right, like... [Says a nasal, prepubescent voice into a speaker.

A couple of keys beep. They do nothing to the connection. The kid projects.]

So how long are you supposed to friggin' go without gettin' pulse shit?

It's been, like - two damn months since I got one. 'N I think I only got the one, and it did nothing.

Friggin' sucks.

[He doesn't sound actively angry about it - maybe passively-aggressively disappointed is closer to the mark. All in all the recording is pretty idle.]

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[Well, he's pretty sure he knows that voice. Why does this jerk have to be on here?

[Sounding vaguely bored:] It isn't that it didn't do anything, it's that you don't know what it is yet.

[He's letting his head float around elsewhere, otherwise he might've made a connection right back.]

Nah, I know what it is, all right! It didn't do anything. It was just some a' that flashback crap.

[The kind that offers minimal context, minimal clue as to who or what your other was or what they did, and how you're going to go about getting more. Hence, crap that does nothing.]

Well there hasn't exactly been a lot to do around here lately that acts as a reliable trigger, so you may be screwed there for a while.

[Pointed and jabbed:] The fuck is a reliable trigger, though?

I mean, like - weird shit! Right? Ain't no way all of a sudden there's none of that, anywhere, just like that. I mean, like, look at a bunch of us.

[Not that he himself has really done so personally, as far as he's aware.]

Alien crap. Not just weird. We can Pulse off each other, but it's not like it's guaranteed.

So how come "alien crap" gets to be guaranteed?! [He's not using an indoor voice. Either convince 'im or agree that whatever the rules are they're a drag.]

[Ugh, noise. Sharply:] Quiet. And the hell if anyone knows why the alien crap is guaranteed. It just is.

[He has little opinion on whether that sucks or not. Sorry, Steve.]

I don't gotta be quiet! What the -

[Cuts. No, a little sharpness is just what it took to get that voice through into his head.

His... shoutiness resets, momentum-wise.]

You in, like, middle school?

[Yes you do have to be quiet. Because he says so. Or something. Shouting is just annoying, man.]

[Underwhelmed:] Brilliant deduction. [Because even if you didn't realize exactly who he is, it's not like Toushirou sounds like anything but a middle-school kid. It's the reason he stuck to text in his early Network days.]

Don't you fuckin' make fun of me, Toshiro! You know, like - you sound like you could be in grade school!

[Toshiro's voice is possibly lower than his.]

[Psh, facts get in the way for stuff like this. It does get a little scowl out of him, though. Fortunately, since this is audio only, Steve doesn't get the satisfaction of seeing it.]

And you act like it.

idk its p random

mess around w monsters n stuff and ull get more tho

[He squints at the pink text a few moments - and then...

Just barely blasted up alongside a scoff.]

Well, sure! [Even for himself specifically, that manages to seem a bit of a "no duh". Or a good guess, at least.] But how the fuck'm I gonna get monsters, huh? That a thing you guys can actually, like - do?

theres a bunch of montsres in vegas

*monsters

the lil balck things that infect animals

theres not much goin down here tho

also if u remember anythng about ur past life u could try 2 copy old situations

that might get u smthn

So I gotta try to fight someone, I guess? [More of a statement of inference than a question.]

idk is that whats in ur memories

Eh-h-h, I dunno, kinda.

I mean, like, I already got one in a fight. So I guess, like, the other me did some of that? He was fighting a horse or some shit.

[Totally blasé. He was fighting a horse. He ain't gonna fuss the context he doesn't have.]

[Impmon and Roxy will make good friends.]

think u can punch a horse kid

Pulses occur without any apparent rhyme or reason. Patience and you'll receive a second, for better or for worse.

[Really, kid should be HAPPY about just one. The more you get, the more you wanna ram your head against the nearest wall.]

I don't wanna be patient.

[A lazy aimless whine, but still a whine nonetheless.]

Learning this skill would make the waiting more bearable.

[Just saying, kiddo.]

Well, there's the guaranteed way and there's the other way that requires some trial and error, as far as I can tell.

["The way" and "the other way". Should he be aware of these?

He backspaces "???"]

spill

One way is exposure to any of the strange occurrences with the aliens. The lights, the snakes, most like the vermini. Most everyone seems to get one off of those.

However, the other way is harder to do, but possibly less dangerous. If you have an idea of what the other life was like, you'd probably have an easier time.

It's like deja vu. If you try things the other you did, then you'll more than likely get something relating to that. Though it does seem to need it to be new. If it's something you're used to, it doesn't seem prompt an echo.

It's always varied quite a lot for me! And even if you get lots they won't necessarily be useful! I seem to get lots of items and not very many memories, but I'd like to know more.

Maybe if you go out and try doing new things one of them might trigger something?

[He types "I'm 13", backspaces the three, stays put tapping his finger against the side of his phone, replaces it with a "5", and hammers away at the backspace to clear it all.]

no cash no job, not gon be easy but i guess

other me probably fights

You don't need money to try new things! We never had a lot of money when I was a kid and that didn't stop us.

Although fighting isn't a good idea. Unless you can find someone to box with you or something?

Pulses seem to occur at random, most of mine have been memories, though I did get one physical alteration. I think it depends if you have a lot of people who end up causing them around you or not.

[It was frustrating that half her friends and family seemed to be triggering things.]

Personally I'd love to go two months without an echo or a pulse tripping me up.

what you get

[Probably easier to decide you're cool with not getting any if you already know they're headed a way you don't care for.]

Mostly memories of my friends and family. One of my best friends now was a prisoner of mine in the past life.[Talk about awkward.]

[He pauses to decide how curious he is about this.] what were they in 4

[Perhaps more or less awkward depending on that. Flippant question, in any case.]

That's the thing, I can't remember. They were in my care, and then he escaped.

I know, right? Like, I know so many people who have about a million cool echoes, and what do I get?

[A million is an exaggeration, but she definitely feels his pain.]

Not a whole lot, that's for sure.

Echoes is kind of a dumb word. [A thought, not a jab.

But aye. To reiterate, rolls out:]

Suuuuuuuuuucks.

[On his end of the line, he's staring at his phone. Still lazily. And... oh why not follow up with the obvious question - he's reasonably wondering.]

What you get, anyway? I mean, yeah -- "not a whole lot", but like, you gotta know what, like -- at least one of the things you got is.

[ /Shrug]

Some people call them pulses, if you like that better.

[She sighs and ticks off each one of her echoes on her fingers. Which he can't see her doing anyway because voice, but from her tone, she is clearly unimpressed with what she has so far.]

I've got a couple of really silly memories, a weird book I can't read, and a rock.

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Round Two. [Audio | Cell Phone]

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