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[senseandcecilbility]

[And so Cecil Keller finally fed the number to his perfectly safe Windows 95 and hoped the madness would go away.

He was, of course, terribly wrong.

As a result, you are now looking at the nonplused face of a young man in his late twenties. Unfortunately, the image resolution is not that great and unlikely to get any better. But he seems to be wearing a USPS uniform. And there are so many paperbacks and potted plants in the background that you might wonder why he has not been entombed yet.]

…Hello?

Hello?

[Cecil’s voice is smooth, though perhaps a little too even. He is not a particularly good liar and anyone can notice the underlying shock at the surrealistic situation, but he is trying his best to keep his feelings under control.]

...Excuse me. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it seems that I am having a... er... psychotic episode? Numbers and...now this.

I-I am quite aware that one should not indulge in their own hallucinations. [Particularly those inspired by irresponsible and sensationalist journalism, no doubt.] However, in the event that you are real and watching this, I would be most grateful if you called emergency and let them know there is something odd with Cecil Keller at… [he states his Vegas address, clearly and carefully.].

If my condition becomes permanent, I would like to declare that everything that belongs to me should be used to support my neighborhood’s public library after my death...everything but the penguin figurines. Those should be inhered by Mrs. Halifax on the first floor, who once expressed interest in them and also taught me how to remove mustard stains. Oh, and only if it is not too much trouble, could anyone look after my ferns?

Comments

[Video]

[scramasax]

[The words are "hrmm"-ing together just a bit.] You're not having a psychotic - episode, sir... ermm - prob - probably; you've...

[Coughs. His voice is thrumming a little less - gone to dry and husky instead.] You've -- found -- the... network.

[Probable first-time connector. He'll wait to offer any explanation until the metaphorical axe of whatever reaction might possibly be coming drops.

Mumbles an obligatory:] -- I-I apologize -- ...

Re: [Video]

[senseandcecilbility]

[Unfortunately, the reaction in this case is less along the lines of a metaphorical axe, and more along the lines of very literal SCREAMING.

And more SCREAMING.

In Cecil's defense, it is not as shrilly as it could have been. Still, in spite of the abomination's kind reassurances there is no doubt in his mind now. He is having a psychotic episode, and it's not even a nice and peaceful one.]

[Video]

[scramasax]

[And that's a good slap across his brain's strings! Winces down tight - ]

Please don't -- please don't; I'm sorry, I'll - turn it off. [Fell to stilted monotone by the end but hold that thought, no, why doesn't he do that now? Pushes back from the table, gets himself out of sight - and with a couple of edges back he stumbles a moment into the wall, hopes that didn't wind up onscreen, but now to wait to hear if the screaming dies down...]

[senseandcecilbility]

[The scream does die down, but mostly because a very stern part of Cecil's brain has reminded him that The Living Dead Don't Exist. ]

Are...Are you all right? Sir? Sir!

[So here is a new hypothesis: yes, he is still hallucinating, but perhaps his hallucination is suffering from some really aggressive kind of skin disease, in which case he has just made a fool of himself and behaved like a total bastard. And why is that unfortunate person stumbling into things?]

I-My apologies! I was not prepared!

[scramasax]

[Sir, who -- oh.

That's... the man's voice again. He's being called back - careens forward once, drops himself onto the edge of the table. Still just out of sight of the feed, though he skims his hand over the table to confirm its position and push it further out of one for his face to get in the way.]

N - no...! [Quavering high to a crack.] My apologies - sir. Most - err, peop - people often -- aren't, uhmm. I'm sorry, I - should have said something... first...

I - I'm not a sir -- also; I'm - I'm only sixteen...! [He's picked up just a little more tentative, hopeful, politely-conversational clarity.]

[senseandcecilbility]

[ Cecil doesn't wish to pursue this exchange of apologies any further, mostly because he believes that "I thought you were a zombie" doesn't quite work as an acceptable excuse. Instead, he draws near the camera, actively attempting to get a better look at the person who is talking to him. ]

S-Young man...[ He hopes he has not mistaken the person's gender either.] It seems you need a doctor more than I do. I'm calling 911.

[Something practical to do at last! You've found the network. No, no he didn't. Such thing doesn't exist.]

[scramasax]

Nuh -- no -- ! [Oh God not again!] It - I'm dead. It's fine - [ "I'm dead, it's fine"] -- I mean it won't do -- ! Anything, please, uh -

[Tries to pull his voice down - rather than stabilizing it sort of slips and plummets to a bumbling hush.]

Please stay here; please, I'm trying -- to... explain... [Don't be pushy, blast it, the man's frazzled.] -- Oh my God, I'm - sorry.

[It's not an all-new apology; it's a bit of a compounded one.]

[senseandcecilbility]

...Dead? [ And it's fine?]

[The poor thing. He doesn't want to have this hallucination anymore, and is about to turn off the computer when he realizes that the power cord was never plugged in to start with.

Bloody hell.]

If...if you explain...Will everything go away?

[His plea is nothing but pathetic and he knows it, but he must at least give it a try.]

[scramasax]

Uhmm. [Should he answer that honestly...

Twitchy head-shake, and a scratchy, somber:] Prob -- probably not... -- I'm sorry.

-- But uhmm. [Quickly edging back in, no, he is not finished yet, please don't do anything rash, sir - ]

Uh -- did you - did you, umm. [He pulls the page he's using over closer - winds back up onscreen, but he can't tell, alas, and taps at the top edge, roughly where he wrote his own numbers - ] -- the numbers, did you... did you use -- some...?

[senseandcecilbility]

[Oh man, is the kid blind on top of everything else? That keeps his attention on the computer screen more than anything, even if he would much rather run away screaming. One should not disappoint a blind kid suffering from a terrible disease (he refuses to process the whole walking dead business for the time being).

The answer is disheartening, though. And so are the numbers.]

...It was a mistake. They wouldn't go away.

[scramasax]

[Slips to slurring and stumbling through his sounds again, but nevertheless - ] It's probably better that you used them, uhmm. Sir. Yy - you had them with a "pulse"; we - we all have - them...

-- And you would have kept having them if you had used 0 the numbers or not, uhmm. If -- now, if you know that - the network's - here, then at least you can -- talk - to... the rest of us...

[He lost any steam he might have had starting off in the trail-offs, he knows it, and he's cringing a tad on the edge of the frame, but he'll see if he gets his chace to fill in any blanks.]

[senseandcecilbility]

[ A pulse, that is right. No, it was only a false memory. Perhaps the onset of his psychosis.

But here is this...child talking to him, trying to convince him, even, and he looks like he has enough troubles of his own. That is, assuming that he is real.]

L-listen, aaaah...I don't think I caught your name? Why don't you lie down and rest. You don't look well.

[scramasax]

My name's Anthony -- er. ["Doesn't look well", that might be from him having come on in the first place, but still, double-checks the position of the page again, angles his head one way and the other as if he's "inspecting" nothing.]

I'm sorry, um. Am I on the screen...? I can - I can get back off, if... - it's best.

video

[sunshinethatwarmsherup]

[Linda usually wouldn't have done something with video, but well, considering this guy was using it and apparently he was in Vegas and thought that he was going nuts, it might be a good idea to use it, right? --No Linda it was probably a bad idea--. ]

Yeah, sorry. But this network is completely real and you're not going nuts. So I don't think that you're going to have to worry about it much, Mr. Keller.

So... what's this odd thing that's going on with you?

[senseandcecilbility]

[Kevin lets out a small sigh. It is obvious that his hallucination can't see. The poor thing. How does he manage through life? How old is him? Does he go to school? Does he have a job? Does he even have a mom that loves him in spite of his zombie ways?]

I- No, Anthony. It is all right. It is all right. I am just a little concerned about you. Are you sure calling 911 is out of the question?

Re: video

[senseandcecilbility]

[On the plus side, the young lady is not a zombie.

On the minus side, he'd much rather be going nuts than having people telling him all this network nonsense is real. Next, they will be trying to persuade him that the pink light in the sky was real too. And then what? Aliens? He is an honest mail carrier. He doesn't desire or need a life of adventures.]

I-Hello. T-There is nothing odd besides this...number business. [Though that is not quite right, is it?]Well, there was a false memory some time ago. Rather, a hallucination, but it was very brief!

video

[sunshinethatwarmsherup]

Well... I...

[ She pauses for a moment, not really sure how to explain the whole 'false memory' thing. ]

That 'false memory' that you're talking about. It... isn't really all that false. From what I've read, anyway. The only one of them I've had so far happened a couple of years ago, and it was pretty brief too. But that's something called an 'echo'. Or 'pulse', depending on who you talk to.

[scramasax]

[At a weary but hush:] It -- definitely... definitely is... Ahh --

[Jerks a hand up to his mouth, suppresses a cough.] Uh - you still - you still don't, err...

[Don't go and put it that way, Anthony, it'll be too easy to sound as if you're pathetically attempting to guilt him into taking it.

Drops - to a back-and-top-of-his-throat boyish tone, draws it out thin and padded.]

A-anything you need me to do to - prove...?

[That he's a zombie, that this man's not hallucinating, anything else.]

[senseandcecilbility]

[ The false memory thing was very personal. What with the crying child and the double burial. That, and the most strange feelings associated with it, is why he would much rather keep the memory false.]

I appreciate the explanation. However, I-I cannot help but have doubts. Mass hysteria is more likely than echoes, wouldn't you agree? For instance, where would those so called echoes come from?

[ Perhaps now that he finally used the numbers he will be able to take a nap and go back to life as usual.]

[senseandcecilbility]

[ Anthony might hear the sound of Cecil picking up the phone. Landlines are still a thing in his apartment. ]

You could...give me your address?

[Apparently, Anthony has indeed guilt tripped him... into calling emergency.]

[scramasax]

[He isn't a hundred percent sure that sound's what he thinks it is or what the intention for it is but he halts out a response fairly automatically.]

Er - it -- isn't my house. -- Apartment, uhmm... - What if I -

[He did offer to prove it. He slowly lowers his head to press his fingers against his temples.]

I -- [Voices a throat-clear. A disconcerted "Hrrm". Releases a knot with the next word, and then thins and drags out.] -- remember the way out, uhmm.

-- I could step outside... Tell you what street I'll be on. If -- that would work - ...

[Video]

[brotimaeus]

If we're real and watching this - which we are, by the way, hey there - there's really no reason to be callin' emergency services.

[The faintly Texan-accented voice belongs to a blond, hazel-eyed thirty-something currently arching one eyebrow at the poor bewildered young man.]

I was in your position about a month ago. [A small grimace.] Iiiiit takes some gettin' used to.

[sunshinethatwarmsherup]

That's... not really something I think I can answer. [ Linda sighs, leaning back a bit as she tries to think of something. But well, there's another point that she needs to bring up too... ]

So... how would you explain all of us who've had them who got super powers then? Or do you think that giant snake thing that happened in Locke a few months ago was a mass hallucination too?

video

[featherduster]

[ ........... Bless you, stranger. There's going to be a lot of explaining to do. But first; ]

You're gonna see a light real soon, but don't panic, ok? Don't go toward it either, though! Run away from the light at all costs!

[senseandcecilbility]

[ Yes, step outside, Anthony. Come to the light.]

That would be preferable, but do be careful. [His hand halts over the phone, fingers moving nervously.]May I ask who are you living with? Are they...are they aware of your condition?

[They must be. Which brings Cecil to the next logical question: why has Anthony's host not called a hospital yet?]

Are they... are they mistreating you?

[ Perhaps the boy's appearance is not the result of a terrible disease, but horrific torture. Cecil has read one thing or two about Stockholm too..

Oh no, the poor child!

Assuming, of course, that Anthony is real.]