[network] @ASolomons; audio, afternoon of 347 [open]

[devoutish]

[The recording starts up and Alfie says in a rough, no-nonsense voice:]

Where are you? You're alive?

[There's a brief pause, and then he continues, his tone markedly different - it's a bit softer, but also more tired. Less guarded.]

Where are you? I'm in one of the newer areas; I'm in a funeral home I've never been in. Fucking cultist markings all over the walls-- answer as soon as you can, mate; please.

[Another pause, and then:]

Hello.

[He almost sing-songs his words, but only enough to just barely hide the hardness that lurks underneath.]

Do you know who I am?

[Once upon a time, this disjointed, confusing post was several separate messages. Unfortunately for Alfie, once he hit send, all privacy filters were removed - a consequence of his current death loss. For a guy who prefers private conversations over public ones by a large margin, this will not be fun.]

Comments

[devoutish]

Vanitas died, and you came in his place.

[Just guessing.]

[darkincrement]

[ Hearing the name doesn't get easier. ]

Yeah, something like that. I don't know why or even how. No one really seems to know.

[ Or they aren't telling him everything. ]

[devoutish]

No more than we know why my messages aren't showing up properly.

[darkincrement]

Is that what happened? Were you trying to send them privately?

[devoutish]

Yeah, but that's fucked now, innit.

[darkincrement]

[ You're talking to a half Disney, Alfie :O ]

If you want, I could send you one to see if it's working now.

[devoutish]

Yeah, give it a go.

->private

[darkincrement]

[ Give him a moment! He double checks with clippy before he sends it. ]

There. How's that?

[devoutish]

Yeah, I can hear that.

[But his own reply comes through public.]

[darkincrement]

You can hear it, but you can't send one in turn.

[ Huh. ]

Could the private function get blocked on someone's tablet?

[ He wasn't told about the death price thing. ]

[devoutish]

Clearly it can, yeah, seeing as how it's happened to me.

[darkincrement]

[ He's dumb about tech :< ]

There any way to fix it? Maybe the admin can help?

[devoutish]

How do you know about the Admin already?

[darkincrement]

There's a message from them on the network. [ And then quietly: ] It had his name on it.

[devoutish]

You're talking about the obituary.

[darkincrement]

Yeah, I was trying to find his friends or at least a clue as to how this even happened. [ And that gets him to thinking about the dying part.] Is that what happens, though? Steph says they are just hurt.

[devoutish]

Steph's sugarcoating things for you. They're dead. They may come back to life, but they are dead.

[darkincrement]

Oh. [ Well that sucks. He knows loss, but all of those bodies? And those names?

And then realizing that Steph was trying to baby him. ] I'm not some sort of kid. [ He's fifteen! and is old enough. ]

[devoutish]

And you know the truth, now. It's up to you to prove that you can handle it.

[darkincrement]

I will. [ \o/ He's stronger than he seems usually. ] Hey, if you can't figure a way to fix it, I can send private messages to anyone you want. [ And the reverse. ]

[devoutish]

They'd need to be messages I wouldn't mind your friend Vanitas seeing. He'll come back and they'll be under his username.

[darkincrement]

[ It takes a little longer for him to respond because something doesn't feel right about friend and Vanitas. ]

Oh yeah. I don't know what kind of person he is. He does have friends, so he can't be all that bad.

[ Still doesn't mean anyone could trust him. Hmmm... ]

Maybe you could do it in a code? Something your friend might know.

[devoutish]

If I'm gonna do that, I might as well do it publicly.

[darkincrement]

Yeah, that's a good point. I hope you hear from them soon.

[devoutish]

You know by now that you won't be hearing from yours, I expect.