[network] @dulcedeleche; A Message [MORNING 284][filtered from @ADMIN, @robertmiller]

[snowblindmods]

Errors are starting to build up in your network. If they keep building up like this, the network might need to shut down. Have you noticed any effects? I don't know the limits of your network.

Comments

[rubikscomplex]

I'm a monster fighter? That's awesome! I mean... it's bad I died and a girl lost her hand, but you have to admit, that's pretty epic.

[mrcreamsicles]

no house
its not
and im saying that as a dude who has fought different monsters of the kind that can actually be killed
stay away from the monsters
and dont tell anyone else to go near them

[rubikscomplex]

Why would I tell anyone else to go near them?

[He's the monster-fighter. Like a superhero, or something. Except one who dies... a lot. Apparently.]

[mrcreamsicles]

house
if i go telling you what happened its not going to be a good story
youve got the memories of an 11 year old right now
this is heavy shit even for someone your real age

[rubikscomplex]

[House bristles.]

I've seen dead bodies and horrible things before. Whatever happened, it won't matter. It's already happened. I can take it.

private;

[mrcreamsicles]

[He doesn't really like this, but he doesn't have a better reason to hold back than "I still don't want to", and it's not much of anything. House probably won't get the point if he doesn't.]

a long while back a thing happened where we couldnt contact the administrator
you talked with people and the idea of trying to bust all our tablets at once came up to see if that would get her attention and to provide cover for some other people who tried to hack the network
when we busted our tablets a voice told us to leave the pieces where they were so they could be collected
but a bunch of them including you went fuck that and kept trying to grab them even after being temporarily paralyzed
even when cloaked figures made of static showed up
most of the people who tried to fight them died
the girl who lost her hand did it because the wounds she got became too infected
a kid involved with the hacking got shrapnel in his face when his tablet blew up from overheating
and after you revived you lost whatever regard for other people you had
because you didnt seem to regret it and just kept pushing people to try other experiments that could get them killed
you went back to normal eventually
but youre not very good at apologies
and for a while i wanted nothing to do with you until we talked enough for me to give you a second chance

private;

[rubikscomplex]

[House reads over that a few times, more than a little horrified. Is that really him?]

I'm sorry.

[What else is there to say?]

private;

[mrcreamsicles]

i cant hold you accountable when you havent done it at this point in your life
and we already made up so im not really looking for apology number whatever
i dont know how much i should be saying right now
you dont really like to talk much about why you are the way you are when youre older
but ill put it like this
i know how much it sucks to wake up in a weird body that looks nothing like you think it should
and to be told about all this crazy terrible shit that happened that you arent even close to remembering
and then how much it sucks to wake up and remember it all again and see how much everything has changed
youre going to have a lot more to remember than i did too
if you want to tell me then that theres too much sap in this tang or whatever go ahead
but if you actually do decide you want to talk about any of it then
my inbox is open

private;

[rubikscomplex]

[House spares a brief thought to wonder why this guy would refer to himself as tang, but sap in tang gets the point across well enough for saccharine sweet. Still, it's weird and extremely specific.]

I know, I just wanted to say sorry. If I'm bad at apologies when I grow up, then I guess I stopped apologizing somewhere. Dad doesn't really like it when I do, anyway. He just tells me not to do things in the first place.

[And apologies never sway him when it comes to punishments, so House can envision a world where he'd just... give up on them.]

Thanks for telling me all this. I guess it won't matter too much when I get my memories back, but I'll try to remember it. And the offer. I can't say I'll take you up on it if I'm like you say, but you know?

private;

[mrcreamsicles]

[Seeing House talk like this pulls something painful in his chest. It's fucked up to see how much he's changed, and to infer from it how much he had to go through to become the bitter, prickly person he was as an adult, so wary of letting even a little of his guard down. He's kinder now and more open, still just a kid in his own mind, and he has enough of an idea of House's father to guess he didn't help even beyond a dislike for apologies.]

[He's still sorting out how to feel about Bro, and probably will be for a long while to come, but it reminds him still of himself.]

apology accepted
officially and for real even when you get your memories back so no take backsies
your dad was being a douche because everybody fucks up sometimes
and take it from the literal actual time traveler that you cant ever undo what already happened
maybe theres another timeline where something else went down or it got prevented or whatever else
but theres always going to be the one where it did
and the important thing is just to do better than that
to realize your mistake and go ok not going to do that again sorry guys i fucked up
and you dont always know whats going to go wrong from the outset
youre not a mind reader and you cant see the future because magic and psychics arent real where you come from
i was pretty pissed about things then because it felt like you were trying to dance around actually saying what you meant
but if this is the reason then i get it
so @ future house
if something happens again and you mess up ill take a straight apology so long as you mean it
i wont pull this bullshit your dad did
promise

private;

[rubikscomplex]

[Again, it's something that seems to be meant more for his future self. House can appreciate the sentiment behind it, but mostly, he's a surprised and a little terrified for Davesprite. He's a grown man and his father isn't here, but if he heard the things this guy was saying... House doesn't like to imagine what might happen to him. It makes him shiver just thinking about it.]

Just be straight with you. I think I can manage that, even if I'm a jerk when I grow up.

I'll let you get back to talking to Winter. It seems like you guys have an important conversation going on. Talk to you later, bro.

[He closes out of the conversation quickly after the message, feeling embarrassed. 'Bro'? That's so lame. He'll have to come up with something better.]