[network] night 320 @curiouschloride | video | Surely heaven waits for you [open]

[motherserpent]

[CW character death; pet death]

So, um.

[It's hard to tell time of day from a video when the sun barely sets for a few hours in the middle of each night. The sky is the same cold gray as ever as the video, the camera directed outward rather than at Tess herself, pans across the sealed door of the grocery store downtown.]

I'm...not going to make it to that seance tonight. Mistakes were made. Couple of mistakes. Maybe a lot of mistakes? Maybe just one big mistake. I'm good at those. So, uh, guess I'll be trying out that revival mechanic, huh?

[She's worried enough to babble, but her tone's surprisingly light. This still doesn't feel real to her. Apart from the malaria, none of this has ever felt real.]

Or hey, maybe I'll finally wake up from all this.

Comments

[swatsflies]

Summon GFs. You know, Guardian Forces. [ Oh yeah not everyone calls them that. ] It's what we call summons where I'm from. I heard of worlds where you don't even need a junction system.

[motherserpent]

I don't...know what that is...?

[A rare experience.]

He's just an animal. What's a guardian force? How do you summon it?

[swatsflies]

[ OH. she might be from one of those worlds like GH's then. ]

Just an animal, huh? He's a summon where I'm from.

[ Buckle in for ff levels of bs. ]

Guardian Forces are these creatures who we form a pact with. They have a physical form, but once they join up, they can reside objects or people. We can call them out during a fight and they'll kick some major ass. There are some drawbacks though.

[motherserpent]

That is...really cool.

[And sounds a little like the spirits of the dead some of her kind can summon. She wonders if it requires blood. So many things do.]

What kinda drawbacks?

[swatsflies]

They can't be out for a long time. And they eat some of your memories.

[ He almost taps his own head, but he's on audio only so she can't see. ]

I only have a couple of memories left from when I was a kid. The rest of it is a huge blank.

[motherserpent]

Thaaat's a pretty big drawback. But...stuff has a cost, I guess. You couldn't just...I don't know, give them blood?

[All supernatural entities like blood!]

[swatsflies]

I don't really notice until I stop to really think about it.

[ How can you miss something you don't really know? ]

Not really sure. It's still pretty experimental. We're the only Garden who does junctions them on to use magic.

[ So it's a mystery. ]

[motherserpent]

I feel like more of those words should have made sense to me.

[swatsflies]

Hmm? Which words? Garden or Junction? [ He keeps forgetting that not everyone has heard of either. ]

[motherserpent]

Yes? Yes. Those ones.

[She's sounding a little more distant. She might not be able to follow an explanation at this point.]

[swatsflies]

Hey. Stay with me. [ Come on gurl. Stay awake. ]

Garden is a facility that trains people to become elite mercenaries. That's what I am. A mercenary.

[motherserpent]

We both know I'm as g-good as dead.

[Let her rest. It comes out sharper, more unfriendly than anything else she's said. Even so, there's only a brief moment before she's asking questions again.]

Why's it called Garden?

[swatsflies]

[ :( ]

You'll come back.

[ He believes. ]

That's what Matron came up with. I don't know where she got it from. Maybe an analogy for sowing the seeds of the future? [ Since the Merc group is called SeeDs ]

[motherserpent]

Sounds like p-propag-ganda.

[Sorry, Zell, she's rapidly losing tact as her body temperature drops.]

[swatsflies]

I guess it does, huh?

[ Not going to argue. And it's okay, he'll keep talking until she's no longer there... ]

There was a lot of things were weren't told, but it's going to be different when I get back.

[motherserpent]

Yeah? You going to -- revolution. No, reform?

[swatsflies]

Started one already. My friend is going to start running the place.

[motherserpent]

Aw hell yeah. Love a good revolution.

[swatsflies]

It was fun kicking the crap out of the last dude. I'll tell you the whole thing next time we talk.

[ There will be a next time \o/ he believes ]

[motherserpent]

That's just what you gotta do sometimes, sometimes you just gotta kick some people in the dick.

[She's enthusiastic about this topic, at least, even if she's losing the thread.

Meantime, Tess is switching back and forth between conversations, still playing her word game with Steph. It's only a matter of time before she forgets to switch back to this one.]

[swatsflies]

[ Snickering at that. ]

Yeah, and he deserved it. Big time.

[ The good mood does slip and trepidation replaces it the longer it takes for her to answer. He has to remind himself to think positive, and not the numbers Kunsel shared. ]

[motherserpent]

[And, sadly, at some point she just...doesn't come back.]

[swatsflies]

[ Bye friend ]