snowblindrpg | [network] Day 387 | @beyonce

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[network] Day 387 | @beyonce | Naive [open] [audio]

[There was the usual panic, of course. The usual frantic escape from the bodybag into the cold air of the morgue. No new memories this time, no mistaking this waking life for a dream. No forgetting what had happened--what he had allowed to happen. Stephen isn't even out of the morgue before he gets on the network with a pressing question.]

This is Stephen Strange; I'm alive again. Has anyone seen David? Did he make it out?

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He didn't make it out, as far as I can tell. You both ended up on the Obits together. Haven't heard from him, either, but I'm not exactly in his circle of friends.

I got him killed, then.

[He'd known better than to think David would have made it out when he didn't. He'd seen more than enough at the end to know better. The confirmation aches, though.]

[ Gabriel sighs, slightly annoyed. ] You didn't. David made his own decisions, and it's not like it's hard to die around here. Don't put the blame on yourself, okay?

How are you doing, other than...all of that? Know what your death price is yet?

[That's a hard pill to swallow, but Gabriel has a point. Stephen didn't force David to do anything. He's silent for a moment, still feeling hurt over it.]

I don't know yet. It's probably something mental again; I can't tell that anything's missing.

I should have known better.

[ Okay, he's moving from a sigh to a groan. Why did he make 'hero' friends again? ]

There's no way you could've, okay? Too much of this is uncertain. We'll get it tracked down and figured out, but these new areas are always dicey. It sucks, but that's how it is.

[ -wait, mental death price. Maybe it's a truth thing. In which case Gabriel should probably take back that groan. ] Are you feeling like you've got to voice all your thoughts?

[That's...reassuring to hear, actually. No way he could have known. Right? They'd had a plan. The plan should have worked. He couldn't have known. But David is still dead, one way or the other.

He pauses, thinking for a second that perhaps Gabriel has hit on the price--but no.]

No. No, I don't think so. Not this time. And I know your name, and unless we've had this conversation before it's not amnesia again.

Nope, this is the first time, so it's not any of those...and that means it's something new. So that'll be fun to figure out.

[ Ugh, it's always mental with Stephen, isn't it? ]

We can try to chat it out if you want, but if you want to just wait and hope it doesn't pop up and bother you too much, that's fine, too. At least we can tell from this that it's not interfering with your use of the Network.

[He hesitates again, considering the options. It worries him not to know, but Gabriel's right. It doesn't seem to be impairing his ability to function.]

Tell me what I've missed instead.

Sure. -ah, wait a second--

[ He switches to private, because he always tries to be careful when talking about their hacker friend. ]

Winter contacted us again. She's running on low power, so parts of her message blacked out. But you should still be able to read it on the Network if you look. It looks like Angel handed Andromeda's app to her- we're waiting to see if she can do anything with it.

[Probably best to keep it private on a few counts. Stephen listens with interest.]

I was hoping we'd get another chance to talk to her. I'm glad Angel thought of it; I'd wanted to hand the code over to her as soon as we got it.

Yeah. I mean, it's not just code, for Winter.

Anyway, she's working on that. I hope she doesn't blow the rest of her power trying to do something with it, but we're pretty low on options right now. I don't think she's all that concerned about herself.

I'm surprised she was able to come back. Glad, but surprised. I don't want her to die for us, either, but all we can do is keep working at it from our end.

You're probably right, actually. I guess I shouldn't expect closure in a place like this. At some point, we're probably just not going to hear from her again.

[ He sighs a bit. And then, because he lurks on everyone else's posts... ]

You okay with Vanitas, there? I can distract him off you, if you want.

No, it's alright. He's...he's right. About David. I don't like it, but he's right, I couldn't have...I couldn't do anything about it.

[ As much as he's always wished his more obstinate hero friends would just agree with him, having Stephen do so right now sounds absolutely wrong to his ears. He pauses for a second and then decides to test something. ]

Hey, Stephen, did you know your cloak is actually blue?

Is it?

[He sounds surprised and more than a little confused as he shifts to look at the cloak in question.]

I guess I just assumed it was red. What brings this up, though?

[ And that settles it. ]

The fact that you always get the mental death prices.

This one's pretty worrying, actually. You're believing everything people are telling you. Your cloak is very clearly red. -sorry if I bothered you, Levi, by the way. But you didn't even fight me on it.

...Oh.

[The full impact doesn't hit Stephen for a second, and then he's letting out a long, ragged breath.]

Yeah, that's...that's not great. I probably do need help.

[ Wow, that one came without prompting, even. Maybe Gabriel won't feel terrible by the end of this. ]

Yeah, you do. So I want you to check with me whenever anyone makes a statement towards you that could result in harm. Like if someone tells you that something can't hurt you, or that you should head in a certain direction. Check with me, and I'll be your own personal lie detector.

Everything else- it'll all sort itself out after the death price is over. And if we're lucky, no one will realize what you have and it'll pass without incident. But I want to be here for you if we're not so lucky.

Because that doesn't sound like calling you every two minutes. Or dying if I don't.

[If he believes what he's told, he thinks, won't he have a hard time picking out which things he should doubt enough to ask Gabriel?]

That's why David stayed with me, too. So I wouldn't get myself killed.

[It's depressing as hell.]

[ Yeah, it's a touchy thing, which is why Gabriel is less than confident that he's giving Stephen the right criteria. ]

It was good of him to. It's not like it's your fault you keep getting these damn 'prices'.

I can stay on the line with you, if you'd rather, and just keep listening to what's going on with you. I just figured you'd want some privacy some time in the next week. Is there anyone you trust to tell you the truth and not mess with you, right now?

[ Maybe if it's phrased as a question, they can determine who'd be safe to stick around with. ]

Where are you, anyway?

[Stephen sighs.]

No. No, this could last for days.

[That's a yes, he'd like at least a little privacy.]

Uh...you? Definitely not Nathan, but at least he probably wouldn't get me killed. Flynn's a good man. Peter....

[Sigh.]

Not Peter. I'm at the columbarium again.

[ He feels a surge of pride that Stephen trusts him, even while he wonders if that's part of this death price, at least a little. That's still a very small pool of people to choose from. ]

So not too far from the bunker, at least. If that's where you want to head. You have the option of sticking to yourself and not talking to anyone, which- I don't know if I could do that, personally. If you come to the bunker, we could- hang out together for awhile until this is over.

Whatever you decide to do, you should-- you can-

[ He grunts in frustration. ]

I'm not sure how to give you advice without it becoming the truth to you. You can contact Flynn and let him know what's going on, if you want?

[Stephen lets out a mirthless little huff of laughter.]

You're right, though. I don't do well alone and I don't have many other options. The bunker wouldn't be...it wouldn't be the worst place to put myself until this is over.

[Even if the thought of going back there, to where David died, makes him feel ill.]

Any idea where Flynn is?

No idea, unfortunately. I haven't talked to him in awhile, since the whole red lines thing.

[ That talk afterward hadn't exactly gone well. Gabriel figured Flynn didn't want to chat with someone who embodied his own horror so well. ]

How about this? Vanitas and I could use a restock of our food- we can head out and meet you at the school, if that works for you? It's close to the bunker but you can still keep contact with Flynn that way.

[network] Day 387 | @beyonce | Naive [open] [audio]

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