[network] @CaptSteveRogers; voice; Morning 82; Survival Guide [open]

[starsandtights]

Good morning, Norfinbury.

Quark and I have both used Winter's app; I can report the same results as Steph—a strange, cold feeling in my head, and then I started to remember—something, a memory about me and Buck, that I now can't seem to get to. It's just gone. I believe Quark experienced something similar. Both of the anomalies that hounded us have... dissolved, like you saw happened with Steph's. ...Anyway, just thought it would be useful to report that.

[There's a brief pause.]

...I know it's only been a few days, since—since the anomalies got to Al, and Ed, and Greed. But if things keep to their usual pattern, we should be getting a batch of newcomers very soon, and I believe we owe them the best help we can give them. To that end, I've taken the liberty of making myself responsible for editing and updating the Survival Guide, unless and until Al comes back to us.

I'll attach the updated guide; I welcome any suggested edits you might have. I also welcome anyone with useful skills or just the willingness to help who would like to volunteer to be on the contact list. We're down to a very few again.

Take care of yourselves, Norfinbury, I know it's been a rough couple of days.

[Attached to the message is SurvivalGuide.doc.]

Comments

text; @zd

[swatsflies]

I get you're trying to help but it's only been two frickin' days since their obituary went up.
They can still come back in time for anyone new who might show up.

voice

[starsandtights]

[Steve doesn't switch to text like he usually might, because he knows how intent and meaning and feeling can get scrambled, and that's the last thing he wants.

He takes a deep breath, lets it out slow, tries to pick the words that he needs.]

You're right. They can. I sincerely hope they will. God, I hope—I hope they will. I just—I'm sorry, I guess this must look—crass. I know it's bad timing. I just—I wanted time to make edits if necessary, for people to give feedback, in case there's anything important I missed. Even if Al and them do come back today or tomorrow, they're gonna have other things on their minds, you know there's always—difficulties, when people came back.

...I am. I am trying to help. I'm sorry.

voice;

[swatsflies]

[He finds whatever flash of denial irritation deflating pretty quickly at that]

I get it. [He sounds pretty worn down for a moment before he bounces back to more normal.] He would want to make sure the Newbies get in case he doesn't make it in time.

[starsandtights]

[Steve lets out a tiny sigh of relief. If he's gonna hurt people he sure as hell doesn't want to do it accidentally. He smiles a little bit, thinking of Al.]

Yeah. I think he would. I can't claim to know him all that well, but that's the one thing I do know about him. He helps people.

[swatsflies]

He really does his best to save everyone. He's pretty great.

[Al Fanboy #2 right here.]

I still keep finding his messages written in buildings.

[Which both hurts and builds up hope he can come back. He has to come back.]

[starsandtights]

Heh, yeah. First thing I saw when I got here.

[swatsflies]

Same. When I first started, I kept seeing his name in places. It was kind of neat seeing if I can find it every house I went to. It made it less lonely, you know?

[Whoops. That's sharing a lot.]

I'm going to send him a song soon enough. I found a violin in the school.

[starsandtights]

...I found a harmonica a little bit ago. I was going to teach myself to play, and then Rickroll him.

[swatsflies]

You mean that song he was playing before? What does that even mean?

[You mostly normal world people and your memes]

[starsandtights]

[Steve chuckles.]

It's... kind of hard to explain. It's an internet meme, it's—this weird kind of self-referential humor where you have to understand what's happening to get that it's funny. It's a prank, it's called Rickrolling—the song is "Never Gonna Give You Up" by this guy named Rick Astley, which I guess is why the name. It's not really about the song itself, could've been any song, really, except the song and video are kind of hokey and dated. Anyway you set up a link, in an email, on a blog, on social media, whatever, and you make it out to be something important, the point is to get your victims to click on it, and instead the link takes them the music video for the song—boom, they've been Rickrolled.

It's completely baffling until it happens to you a few times, and then it's funny because you're in on it, and then you're busy Rickrolling other people, or laughing along when you get pranked again. My teammates did it to me a bunch of times.

...If that doesn't make any sense to you, I don't know what to tell you, the internet is weird. You learn to roll with it.

[swatsflies]

Huh. So, like an inside joke, but for your world. It sounds like it would get stuck in your head pretty quick.

[Which makes it pretty evil when you think about it.

There is a bit of a shuffling sound as he puts the tablet down on a surface and gets the instrument out. There a thump sound from tapping the instrument. Then he's going to play the first five seconds of a song]

Still learning it. It's a little hard with only have a ukulele to go off of. It would be easier if I could find actual sheet music.