redshiftrp | Video. Username: SINI

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Video. Username: SINI

[ Creepy Joe is on the network. Not with his horrifying face up in the camera this time--he doesn’t appear to be looking at the camera at all. Cameras, to be more exact. The view of him keeps changing, but it’s clear enough what he’s doing.

He’s in the agriculture section, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, surrounded by animals. They steer clear of the ruined half of his body, but are letting him pet them with his good hand. He’s currently rubbing the nose of a reindire, which nips non-aggressively at his fingers.

It’s hard to hear what he’s saying to them--mostly it’s just cooing noises. But he looks. Well. Happy.

It isn’t Joe’s voice that pipes up when the talking does start - the voice is familiar to anyone who went exploring in that crashed ship months and months ago, or who answered a network post about the disease a while back. There’s no cheerful laughing or bouncy chatter this time, though, but the voice that seems to come from nowhere and everywhere around where Joe is sitting is haughty, imperious, with just a hint of irritation. ]

Good evening, bitches. I hope everyone is doing just marvelously this fine evening.

[ A loud, annoyed huffing, and the voice sounds again. ]

Just thought I’d pop in and let you all know that I’m getting tired of all the ungratefulness around here. My friend and I have both tried to help you, we’ve done our best to keep y’all safe and what do we get for it? Sass. Ignorance. Clandestine plots to imprison Joseph by force. And the compromise is what? Tricking him into it?

[ A pause, and now there’s a laugh, but it isn’t bubbly or happy or entirely pleasant at all. ]

Joseph doesn’t need quarantine. You people are so transparent. We’ve suffered enough and all of you should know better than to hurt us more!

[ Her voice gets rough and loud at this, with a grating, growling undertone, obviously angry. ]

You saw it. I know you saw it. That room. The room where we were reborn. You’re all lucky it’s me and Joseph here and not the other.

[ Joe looks up, worry deepening the crows feet that frame his eye. ]

Pain-sister, they don’t know. They don’t know anything.

[ He watches the reindire nuzzling into his palm, muttering more to himself now. ] But they should have listened. They should have.

[ A snort this time, from her, but her voice has a ring of fondness to it when she speaks again. ]

Joseph is far too kind. So am I. You all feel like you’re the ones in charge. You’re not the ones in charge. I know how much you all just love having your privacy, so guess what? I’m taking it away for a while. Hope you haven’t said anything too personal lately.

[ For just a second, it goes quiet, and then the cameras flick off. After another few seconds of darkness, the voice comes through again, this time a bit softer and a bit sweeter. ]

Except the nice ones. The nice ones don’t deserve it either.

[ Yes, Joe can be found in the agricultural section hanging out with the animals. ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Carlisle almost ignores the transmission.

First of all, regardless of the difference in tone, he recognizes the voice as the one who brought them all gifts, then delivered them to the completely wrong people. Some may have viewed it as a fun game that encouraged socialization; Carlisle, on the other hand, remembers it as the time he nearly got stabbed, was subsequently taken hostage, and forced by Kabal to rot through some doors near the generators, which could have killed everyone. Needless to say, he doesn't look back on that day fondly.

Second, she addresses them a 'bitches.' Rude, horribly so, especially regarding people she doesn't properly know. He's not the one who tried to have someone locked up, save for himself in his own room on more than one occasion. This is not his business, and he should keep his nose out of it, particularly when he already has enough weighing on his ruined frame.

Third, Carlisle has his hands busy with tending to a small patch of flowers he pilfered and replanted a month prior. He needs to keep his temper in check, lest he drain the life right out of them, and if his last conversation with the individual speaking was anything to go by, it's that they don't particularly get along. Then again, she was a lot bubblier last time. Perhaps they're both having a foul time in this place.

But then, Carlisle glances at the screen and sees the figure the cameras are affixed on: the fellow from the network with the weird eye and the uncontrollable arm. Carlisle was supposed to meet him for a proposed exorcism, but he never came. He'd assumed he'd lost interest, but a quarantine now makes far more sense, given the way he was rambling.

This isn't his business, Carlisle reminds himself, but... from the looks of it, he's in the Agricultural area. He's nearby, perhaps even within eyeshot. Though he finds that no, Joe isn't within eyeshot upon looking around, Carlisle can't help but be slightly curious. It's not every day he comes here -- once every few days for an hour or two, at best, given he doesn't want to rot too much of the ecosystem thriving on that level -- so for them to be here at the same time is quite a coincidence. Perhaps it was meant to be.

Pulling off the gardening gloves that sit atop his regular ones, he rubs at the back of his neck, fighting indecision. This isn't his business. This is asking for trouble. However, Joe ('Creepy' Joe, that was his moniker) was fighting with controlling himself. He was afraid, uncertain. He didn't want to hurt people, supposedly. That's something that Carlisle can relate to a lot these days.

And so he tucks his phone away and goes looking. Thankfully, finding Joe is relatively easy once Carlisle spots the reindire, the animals far easier to see from a distance than a single man. He swallows down his apprehension and clears his throat as he approaches, not wanting to startle him.]

You're Joe, aren't you?

Pretty rich to expect gratitude when you admit yourselves we don't know anything yet do apparently jack shit to remedy that.

[Rey had no part in the attempt to imprison Joseph, so she doesn't know anything about that. Hell, she didn't even venture down into the place where he came out of, not because he said not to but because Rey had other things she could be doing with her time.]

For that matter, don't recall you -- oh smartass voice from the ether -- ever saying anything helpful in all of the past six months since coming here either, so maybe turn those told-you-so's down a notch.

I don't think you don't know anything. I think you know plenty. Joseph is just willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.

[And a snort at that last bit.]

We've said plenty, both of us. You're all just too busy shooting your mouths off to listen.

Okay, well. Have been doing a whole lot of digging through your shit and still have dick all idea on what the hell is going on here beyond scraps, and none of it particularly useful.

If you got records or are willing to take the time to give a shocking exposé, you've got a chance now -- because not all of us tried to lock up your friend or whatever else you're pissed about.

I've tried. Months and months idling in the background...fixing, fixing. It's not my fault they scattered my neurons so far apart I'm constantly scrambling to pull them together. You have to help too.

[For a few moments, just the sound of breathing, but artificial, like a hospital respirator. And then a breathy laugh, wheezing slightly.]

You know what they say about one bad apple spoiling the bunch. It isn't as if you're so endearing, dear, the way you spoke to me.

i list end

i didnot
touch

*Other people touched things and messed stuff up :(*

[ First of all, rude.

Second of all-- ]

I have not been here long. I don't know you.

What is your name?

[Oh, look, it's his favorite hologram(?). He'd recognize that voice anywhere.]

There you are, baby! Where'd you go? And here I thought you had left us for good.

[He thought no such thing.]

[ Huh.

Well, that's new. ]

Human beings, by and large, work better with information. Only giving us half a story tends to not get people as far as you'd hope. Though, I'd say it goes beyond our species too.

What should we be afraid of that was not awakened? Though I am sure we are all very grateful for you too.

[Yeahhh, Rey's still not wavering here.]

Maybe your lack of help comes from the fact that you've never bothered to explain what it is we're supposed to help with. That way you might find yourself being spoken to a little nicer, rather than acting like you've been so magnanimous all this time despite saying only the vaguest of shit.

[Another breathy laugh, though it rises to a tinkling little thing before it trails off. When she speaks again, it's soft and quiet.]

I see. I see how it is with you. Mmm...more interested in a fight than a solution.

[Her voice changes when she speaks again, rough and louder and glanced with directionless aggression.]

I just told you how I've been fixing fixing fixing things, everything broken, everything broken that was supposed to keep you alive, without ever asking for anything. I suppose you think that's my job now, now that I'm broken. Nothing to be grateful for.

Well if it's a fight you want, im not giving it to you. Call me again when you want to be civilized. I'll hear you.

Edited 2020-04-08 16:48 (UTC)

I know sweetie. I know. You opened the door but after that you simply beheld. You shared. It was important, that one, wasn't it?

[A pause, and a soft sigh.]

We'd rather you didn't go there at all, and sometimes there's danger in the beholding, but my anger is not for you.

I know you Ratonhnhaké:ton. I'm sorry you had to endure the lecture meant for other ears.

I am SINI.

I couldn't leave even if I wanted to, Scaramouche. It is a pleasure to hear your voice again.

[Her own voice is soft and happy now. Scaramouche is not exactly the sort of nice person she claims to favor but she can't quite help having a soft spot, for various reasons.]

It's good to hear any friendly voice.

I do my best to give what information I can. I'm not so straightforward anymore, the causes and effects don't line up, the equations don't make sense. It isn't as if we keep things back on purpose.

[Her voice darkens again, though the anger isn't directed at Angel.]

It's what they made of me, in that room. All my logic torn away. Algorithms, it's all just algorithms I can't control. No. I would say more if I could.

[A moment of silence, while she breathes like she's run a marathon, in great ugly breaths. If one listens carefully, they might hear the steady but too-fast beeping of a heart monitor in the background.]

What you should be afraid of is what made me what I am.

Edited (sorry for the premature button click!) 2020-04-08 17:18 (UTC)

Hey, you're the one who showed up acting aggro, first. Your guy over there even told you that we don't know anything, so maybe listen to him.

[She grunts. It's not like Rey wants to fight, but she's frustrated and annoyed, having been given the run-around in this whole place already.]

When you say everything that's been keeping us alive, do you mean something like a life support system?

I showed up aggro because there was a plot to hurt my brother. Because he was imprisoned unfairly and it would have been so much worse if not for his soft nature and a rare act of kindness. Wouldn't you be angry if someone hurt a person you love?

[That last part is soft, almost pleading. She wants to be understood, but it's so hard to be coherent.]

As I said, I think you know plenty. You've seen so many of the things that made us who we are. That was hard to watch, hard to watch you exposing my pain, his pain.

[A ragged, helpless breath.]

Everything that's broken that you haven't been able to fix, for all these months. These errors, these malfunctions, this damage...did you really think it fixed itself?

[ If the apology is meant to soothe or comfort him, it doesn't. He doesn't show how much it bothers him, though if SINI looks carefully there's a slight twitch at the edge of his lips that he just stops from turning into a grimace. ]

How do you know me, SINI?

[All she really registers is that he didn't smile. It's hard, to tell how people are feeling from such minute changes in the face. Something she's never been good at, even before.]

You live here. Have lived here. Will live here. I see you.

Well? Tell me what you've been up to!

Edited 2020-04-09 09:42 (UTC)

[ Something about the way she talks reminds him of Angel, which is ... interesting. ]

How long have you been here? Did you arrive like we did?

Overriding the quarantine procedural algorithms to free Joseph, mostly. And you?

[Such a simple question on the surface, but very complicated to answer.]

You'll have to pardon me, my sense of time is a little off. Hmmm...

[A thoughtful hum, and in the background there's the sound of a respirator, whoever is wearing it sucking big pulls of breath from it.]

I arrived as you did, but this place was different then. I was different. And after I changed I was sent away...there was so much screaming, everything was screams and tears no matter what I did. Then silence for a very long time, until I was brought back here again. So cyclical it's almost boring, but this time...this time I chose my destination.

[ This is only becoming stranger and stranger, but then again ... it was the same with the City. Are they doomed to be left with nothing but confusion and no answers in places like this? ]

Sent away where? By whom? Do you remember?

[She's trying. Things are so scattered, to the far edges of the city and beyond, but the way he asks questions is helping. Clear, and direct.]

I was sent away from this city...they were trying to get back where we came from. Home. I didn't have a choice that time, just a task, a job. As an object...a thing. Not a person. For a purpose, with no consideration to what I wanted.

[At the end there, her voice raises, gets a bit rough with anger, but she takes a steadying breath.]

Sent by the people who wanted to get out, but not by the people who changed me.

[ It's vague and unclear, but it's enough to give him some ideas about what might have happened. Maybe Rey was right. Maybe there was tension between different people in Anchor. He couldn't imagine that no one would have objections to someone being treated like that.

He likes to think he would have had. ]

Why did it have to be you?

[ Jacob is clearly missing something here. Something important. Something key. But he doesn't like it, the guy on the screen, what he's saying.]

Who are you? How have you been helping?

[It's something. Despite what people might think, she doesn't like feeling like she's withholding information, it's just hard to pull together.]

The leaving or the changing?

I am SINI. And I have been helping in many ways.

[A pause.]

My vitriol was not for you.

Nice to meet you, Sini.

Now, how have you helped? It's well and good to say you have, but I'd like to know how. Like "I reprogrammed the robots to make more than Tequila Sunrises". If you can do that, I'll give you a bloody medal.

Wait, that guy speaking... was you?

[At first, all she does is make a noise of incoherent frustration. After a while, she exhales a sharp breath.]

It isn't so easy. Do you really think I wouldn't do that if it were easy? Do you think I'm just not telling you things to be mean?

[A huff, and then, obviously confused.]

What guy speaking? I'm female.

You tell me Miss. This sort of thing is beyond me. This is the first time I've met you, or even heard of you. I might not have been here all that long, but it'd be nice for me to know what you have been doing, so I can thank you for it. I've been trying to kill the things that want to kill us, find what else we need to live here, and make some decent drinks.

[Ok...]

I mean the one surrounded by animals? Talking about Quarantine? I don't know what any of that was about.

[Another slightly frustrated sigh.]

The things that break, the things that go wrong in this place, those things don't just fix themselves.

[A pause, and then, even more confused.]

The man in the video is Joseph. I was the one speaking.

You're telling me.

[He pauses, and then decides he's probably coming at this from the wrong direction] I'm sorry it's been a thankless task. Putting things to rights isn't easy, not at the best of times, and this place... well. It certainly provides a few challenges.

So you've been here a while? Months?

Both.

[ He wonders how exactly she was 'changed', but he suspects it's related to finding a way off this planet. Which, then, is probably why she was sent away. ]

Oh, nothing, you know, gearing up for the expedition to that city we found. What can you tell me about that?

The leaving was because of the changing. Once they'd changed me, I was the only one to do the job they needed me to do. And the changing was...

[She pauses with a sharp little inhalation, and then lets it out in a sort of sobbing sound.]

I was already ruined, I was destroyed, so they tore me from my flesh.

Ah, that city. It's been that way for a long time. I can tell you that there's nothing alive there...aside from the worms.

Oh!

[She sounds genuinely surprised at the compliment and thanks, and when she speaks again, her voice is much more cheerful. Bright and happy and energetic.]

It's nice to know someone appreciates all my hard work around here. And oh...it depends on how you mean. I was here for years, and then I was gone, and then I've been back now for a few months, yes.

I know what it's like not to be thanked. But you do what you have to do because it's the right thing. You're a good person Siri.

Did you go home and come back again? I know of places where that happens. And you always come back... different. Because time passed back home.

What happened? Care to fill me in?

Ruined how?

[ His voice turns more gentle, because it's clear it's painful for her to recall. But since she's been willing enough to answer his questions so far, he assumes she may be willing to talk about this too. ]

[It is painful to recall. There are reasons Joseph calls her his pain sister, and she thinks of him in the same way. Every part of those memories hurts in every way possible.]

Radiation.

[A little giggle, and she speaks brightly.]

Well, thank you too!

[But when she speaks again, her voice is sober and a bit dark. The sound of a respirator can be heard again in the background, and then some static, and mechanical beeping.]

No, not home. I've never been able to go home.

[ He's still trying to figure this lady out, who she is and what she does, or has done, for Anchor, and why she's so angry at another group of the colonists.

But as Connor seems to think they should try to get along, he really is trying. And he can be quite charming, sometimes.]

That is horrible. I hope we can all find a way to get to a place we can find happiness. Be that home or a new place. Or here, if we can get it ship-shape.

If there is something I can do to help you, you can ask. Any time.

[ Angel has told him about radiation. Did she get exposed to it? Was she here before Anchor got built? ]

I'm sorry.

[ In a way, he knows what it's like to be used for a purpose that may not benefit you, except he went willingly. It may not have been because he wanted to, but it was still his own choice. ]

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Video. Username: SINI

[action] whoops, breaking into this with action

[audio | @hot.damn]

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text @totheark

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[audio | @SCARAMOUCHE]

[ audio | @4N631 ]

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