{005} Network Video + Log

[lovesickkiller]

[Misa is obviously freaking out a little. He eyes are wide, she's breathing fast, and she is newly blonde since she last appeared on the network. But her latest echoed change isn't anything that's visible.]

The lights over Tokyo— something is happening, I'm going home. If anyone is coming and needs a place to stay, my apartment is open to you. It's not very big, but I'll make room for anyone who needs it. Bring a sleeping bag or air mattress if you can. Private message me for the address, and if you have a doppelganger either do it in person or by phone. I don't want any uninvited guests showing up.

[[ooc: feel free to handwave Misa giving your character this information, as long as they are not a doppelganger and we have some previous CR.]]

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Who: Misa and ALL THE PEOPLE
What: Crash at Misa's one-bedroom apartment during insanity in Tokyo. SLUMBER PARTY. There will be separate header threads for different weeks, plop your person anywhere.
When: April 10-28
Where: Tokyo, Misa's place

Comments

[oncedevil]

To be fair, Tony sure as hell wouldn't have been able to stand up in front of all of those people. Even if the language barrier wasn't an issue, he'd have frozen up, probably made some really embarrassing squeaking noises, and fled.

Digging through rubble is easy compared to that.

Tony watches, mildly bemused but lacking in any sort of judgement. Mostly confusion, and slight concern, because he knows Nathan's been through a lot lately and Tony's genuinely hoping this isn't some kind of mental breakdown. "Never seen the robots before, that new?"

[solvethepuzzle]

Oh, Nathan had so very badly wanted to do something like that. Though his version would have been clamming up entirely and shuffling out as soundlessly as possible.

"Yes, I've just picked them up recently." Said in that usual monotone, no sign at all that this is unusual. As far as Nathan is concerned, it isn't. While he's perfectly aware that he hasn't been behaving this way until recently, he doesn't think to question it. Playing with the toys feels natural and calming. Really, he should have brought the ones from home, but he hadn't been thinking of it at the time.

He picks up the other robot; it's this one's turn to fly.

[oncedevil]

He did good though, he made it through at least. Whether or not the government was convinced has yet to be seen, but for now the Kappa is safe. That's at least a small victory.

"You sure you're feeling okay?" He's still monotone, but then he's always monotone, so it's impossible to say if he's clammed up over stress, or if this is just the normal Nathan monotone. Mission to food temporarily forgotten, Tony decides to settle on the floor beside Nathan to watch him play. Why not, he's not doing anything right now anyway.

"These your favorite, then, the robots?"

[solvethepuzzle]

He at least looks up at the question this time. "Yes, I am alright. Why is it you keep asking me this?"

And back to the robots. Whoosh. Back and forth. His gaze is focused and intent, much the same way it is when he is working. His objects of interest may be different, but the expression is the same.

"Yes, I suppose they are."

[oncedevil]

"Well, you've never done this before. And you just went through a pretty stressful afternoon, so I'm not sure you're as okay as you say you are?"

He's just trying to look after you Nathan, he's worried. You're acting funny that's all. Although it is almost kind of soothing, the motion, sort of like how some people listen to rain or whales, hypnotizing almost.

"Hm, I'll keep that in mind."

[solvethepuzzle]

"I started doing this before I went to the meeting."

Ever since he'd arrived in Japan, he's found his interest caught whenever he'd happened to see a child playing, or passed by a toy shop. The cause for it has not occurred to him; yes, he'd Echoed upon arriving in Japan, but he'd gotten a memory of traveling to this area for a case. They'd happened in such quick succession that he hadn't even really noticed getting anything from the teleporter.

"Misa took them for a while before I went to speak with parliament, which is understandable of course. It is good to have them back."

And yes, it's very soothing, isn't it? Good way to unwind.

[oncedevil]

"Hmm, so it just came on suddenly? An echo?"

If that were the case, it would make sense. Tony feels like he's been around Nathan in enough high-stress situations to know whether or not playing with toys is normal behavior. Or at least, what was normal.

Well, guess this is a new change.

"Yeah I can see that. Don't think they'd take you really seriously if you had 'em while you were trying to talk to them. How'd that go, anyway?"

It is quite soothing! And has successfully temporarily distracted Tony from devouring everything in Misa's kitchen.

[solvethepuzzle]

He tilts his head, considering. "We're supposed to get one the first time we use the teleporter, correct? I received a memory upon arriving here and perhaps connected it with that instead of what it truly was."

So an Echo? It would make sense. He pauses briefly, his brow furrowed. He'd recently realized something unsettling about his Other, a callousness that he abhors. Being completely absent of feeling. But the toys . . . a calming influence, something that soothes anxiety thanks to an Echo . . . Had Near really been unfeeling, or had he simply buried everything and indulged his obsessions to help keep them down?

Nathan himself tries to show an apathetic face to the world to keep it from hurting him, and people tend to mistakenly assume he has no feelings. Has he been making the same mistake with his Other? Or is he just grasping at anything he can find in order to reassure himself that his Other hadn't been as bad as he's been fearing?

But those are thoughts for another time, for when he's alone.

"It was . . . stressful." Without the toys and out of respect for Misa's efforts to make him look presentable, he hadn't been able to indulge in any calming behaviours that entire time. "But they appear to be giving serious consideration to our arguments, at the least."

[oncedevil]

"Yeah, that's right! That does happen," Tony almost forgot, since it had been a while ago. So many strange echoes, so hard to keep track of them all. Of course it would make sense that with multiple in quick succession some would be lost in the jumble. Especially with all the excitement of going to Japan in the first place.

While Tony can't possibly tell what's on Nathan's mind, he can tell that there's something he's temporarily lost thinking about. The train of thought would certainly make sense, and maybe someday they will share their concerns about turning too much into their others. Tony has long thought it important to not let yourself get sucked too far in, and to remember that even though their power helps them now, they don't have to be that other person to use it.

"I can imagine," Tony rumbles sympathetically. Certainly not a place he'd volunteer to be. "That's good, hopefully we can protect this one. I never thought we should've killed the snake or crab in the first place, the just didn't give us a lot of choice."

[solvethepuzzle]

Well, 'excitement' perhaps would not be the word Nathan might use to describe it. For someone who only travels out of his place of residence for very specific purposes, going all the way around the world -- no matter if the trip is instantaneous -- is incredibly daunting. At least knowing the language had been a comfort.

He's spoken of his concerns with Lazarus, and they've made a pact of sorts to be better people than their Others. But the worries will always be there, at the back of the mind. That's simply how it is for people like them.

"Both were before my time, so to speak. But the actions everyone took back then are understandable. The actions they wished to take here are understandable. This time, we simply know more than we could have at previous junctures."

[oncedevil]

At least Nathan had that much to fall back on, Tony's only recently figured out how to greet people without insulting them and can almost bumble his way through ordering the same dish from the same food stand. At least the owner has been patient with him, helps that he helped to pull him out from under some rubble.

Maybe that's why they can get along so well with the monster squad. Different kinds of monsters.

"Yeah, definitely. Back then we were still scrambling to figure out what the hell we even were and why people were out for our blood. I mean, we don't have a much better idea but we're a little more used to it at this point."

[solvethepuzzle]

People being out for their blood had been a rather large reason why Nathan had spent so much time laying low even to other Numbered. Between normal people and the network leak to the mafia -- the first thing he'd done upon accessing the network was look through backlog; he'd found out what was going on -- it just hadn't felt safe enough. If nobody knew who he was, he couldn't be a target.

He picks up the other robot in one hand. Apparently, it's time for both of them to fly.

"There have been many waking up in a short period of time now." A pause in the playing. "... I wonder if something's coming."

[oncedevil]

That had been a large part of why Tony had tried to stay out as long as he had. But then he fell in with Lazarus and that all went right out the window. L has a talent for getting himself in deep. Guy just can't let a good cause go, not that that's a bad thing. Even if sometimes terrible things happen. Of course those terrible things are exactly what spurred Tony to be more proactive, rather than reactive.

"Yeah... it's definitely picked up in pace. Maybe we should be preparing for something."

Something big, by the feel of it.

"I don't like it."

[solvethepuzzle]

"From backlog research and experience . . ." And here he counts them all off. The robots are moving through the air again; he ensures that they swoop past one another rather than crashing them together.

"Approximately one year before a second boundary became active. Nine months later, two more open. Two months later, the next. Then three weeks later. Then two. Then nine days."

How close he passes the robots by one another coincides with the length of time he notes between the rise of Echo boundaries. The narrower the timeframe, the closer the pass.

"... I don't like it either."

[oncedevil]

"So following that pattern, we might have less than nine days before the next light goes off. If one goes off."

Which it might, it very well might given the pattern they've witnessed so far. But why, why so many, and why so fast?

"We're building up to something." But what is it, and why haven't they had any real clues to their mission aside from continuing to survive? So far they haven't done too great, but given that everything has been guesswork you really can't blame them.

This doesn't look good. Also the robots totally help to emphasize the point.