| CONNECTION ESTABLISHED |
3985-JW: i wonder if the new secure transmission lines are finished yet
8596-KR: Maybe but dont count on it
8596-KR: No one is going to see this, unless they go searching
8596-KR: Don't give them a reason to
3985-JW: ominous
8596-KR: Im just saying youd be surprised how much stuff gets overlooked around here
3985-JW: i'm aware. i got overlooked, didn't i?
8596-KR: That is true
3985-JW: is it catalogued?
8596-KR: Somewhat
3985-JW: what does that mean?
3985-JW: send me the doc
8596-KR: Are you sure you want to go about it this way?
8596-KR: There are safer ways to dig through metaphysic department’s dirty laundry
3985-JW: you were the one hyping this thing up
3985-JW: departments always go frantic with new arrivals, and there's no better opportunity to get a foot in the door than when it's already open
3985-JW: just show me the doc
3985-JW: early draft…
3985-JW: no designation?
8596-KR: Hasnt been officially processed
8596-KR: Was supposed to go in thursday but it hasnt
3985-JW: interesting
3985-JW: why?
8596-KR: It's getting buried under red tape
8596-KR: Fund appropriation, containment lot delegation, anomaly recognition procedures
8596-KR: Even the fucking ethics committee which doesnt make any sense
8596-KR: This thing’s euclid at best
8596-KR: Probably doesnt even warrant a skip number but it's getting stopped at every hurdle anyway
3985-JW: honestly, i like the sound of that
3985-JW: tells me that someone is fucking up
3985-JW: i wonder if we can widen this crack a bit
3985-JW: you got to see it come in, right?
8596-KR: I did
8596-KR: Everything was bog standard
8596-KR: Save for all this administrative crap gunking up the works
3985-JW: probably not a recovery issue then
3985-JW: who wrote up the doc?
8596-KR: Horstman
3985-JW: but he's in psych department
3985-JW: humanoids
8596-KR: I found it weird too
8596-KR: Him and Kovtun are all over this
3985-JW: kovtun?
3985-JW: there's a crack right there
3985-JW: he has been overstepping a lot
8596-KR: Gunning for his job?
3985-JW: haha
3985-JW: more like his recommendation
3985-JW: he's not nearly as savvy as everyone thinks, but a word or two from him could bump me up a sector
3985-JW: if he's got dirt in this…
8596-KR: Even if he does, savvy or not, he knows how to hide his tracks
8596-KR: I would know
3985-JW: i still feel bad about that
8596-KR: Wasnt your fault
3985-JW: is there anything on its recovery?
3985-JW: that usually gets included on the main doc
8596-KR: Nope
8596-KR: Its all been scrubbed, black boxed to high heaven
8596-KR: Level 4 clearance
3985-JW: jesus
3985-JW: must've been something big
8596-KR: Only thing I could get out of it was some place in russia
8596-KR: Nizhegorodskaya
8596-KR: Beyond that, the rumor going around is that it apparently racked up a few bodies
3985-JW: causalities?
8596-KR: Id wager so
8596-KR: Maybe even one or two of ours
3985-JW: that's huge
3985-JW: we could really do something if we had the number
3985-JW: can't completely cover up an incident like that, even with amnestics
3985-JW: one little death count leak means an open chair upstairs
8596-KR: I will keep digging but no promises
3985-JW: just be careful
3985-JW: you know i can't back you up if something happens
8596-KR: Im not the one you should be worried about
8596-KR: I'll keep looking
8596-KR: It's a lot of mess to sort through, though
8596-KR: Dont get your
| CONNECTION LOST |
| WARNING!
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|Error Window@@
|Error: Corrupted background structure
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|C: \RM06>RUNCOBOL
|DOS/4G error (2001): exception 0Dh (general protection fault) at 24F : 000046BB
| TSF32: prev_tsf32 6CAC
| SS 26F DS 28F ES 26F FS
| EAX 1F8A EBX 120 ECX 3 EDX 72B2
| CR0: unavailable
| {21-25}{21-4CDOS/4G deintializing
|… deinitializing LINEXE_LOADER
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|… reconnecting
| CONNECTION REESTABLISHED |
3985-JW: what just happened?
3985-JW: you there?
ERROR: Still here.
3985-JW: everything shutdown for minute
3985-JW: like a lockdown or something
ERROR: Something like that. Maybe something shocked the system.
3985-JW: mess up on your end too?
3985-JW: you're coming in as an error
ERROR: I had to circumvent a few things here and there. Persuade a few backdoor advisory procedures to see things my way.
ERROR: It wasn't pretty.
3985-JW: shit
3985-JW: were you noticed?
ERROR: Of course not. Security would be at your door by now if I was. It's just you and me.
3985-JW: not that i don't believe you, but we should cut the connection
3985-JW: just in case
ERROR: No.
ERROR: You wanted this. You wanted a leg up. Be a little brave.
ERROR: Or stay stuck in your tiny utility room of an office. All those packages flying through the pneumatic tubes over your head to people more important than you. Must be quite the view.
3985-JW: alright I get it
3985-JW: dick
ERROR: We all need a little encouragement.
3985-JW: i don't
3985-JW: so what?
3985-JW: you have something else?
ERROR: I do.
3985-JW: wait
3985-JW: but you said it wasn't fully processed yet
3985-JW: there shouldn't be a testing log
ERRIR: There is now.
ERRIR: That hiccup in the system seemed to open the door a little. Let a few unintended things through.
3985-JW: it has a number now…
3985-JW: why?
3985-JW: wait, these happened today
ERRIR: Over the last couple of hours or so, actually.
ERRIR: But again, nothing is officially processed.
3985-JW: you can't start testing if processing isn't finished
3985-JW: that's basic protocol
3985-JW: no process no number. no number no anything, especially tests
3985-JW: this is incredibly sloppy
ERRIR: I agree. Intentional?
3985-JW: you think so?
3985-JW: i mean maybe
3985-JW: you mentioned ethics before
3985-JW: mendoza could be trying to rush it, bypass the committee
3985-JW: but he's not the careless type
3985-JW: and why is the committee even involved?
3985-JW: i still can't wrap my head around horstman either. it's not his department
3985-JW: this thing might be bigger than we thought
ERRIR: Or they thought it was something smaller. Seems to me like the department is struggling.
3985-JW: and that last test
3985-JW: i've never seen results blatantly pulled off of a log like that, especially the day of
3985-JW: something crazy must've happened
3985-JW: hell, might even be behind that system crash
ERRIR: Well, the new bodies haven't been processed yet either. Could be gunking up the works a little. Internal Affairs got called in and everything.
3985-JW: what
ERRIR: I'll get you the interview with Birch later on, when they're done with her. She saw more than me, but I can go into what I know, if you'd prefer.
3985-JW: what are you talking about?
ERRIR: The test.
ERRIR: They put on a rather contemplative song. Mona Lisa, men have named you. Why do you smile? What is hidden behind that mystic smile? Isn't the answer obvious?
TRRIR: Teeth.
TRRIR: There are teeth behind every smile. Teeth like to chew. Mouths like to eat. Teeth dance and mouths purse the exhaust of ego. And what does the ego eat when it can't find a mirror? Well, it bites itself. It feeds on the hunger that squirms on the inside.
TRRIR: A hunger like stray hounds, ravaging gray hills and valleys. Digging up broken coffins and memories rotten. Tearing open the expanse of bioelectric self. A hunger so hungry it can't even comprehend the concept of the feeling.
TRRIR: These hills have no grass. These cliffs have no stone. The sky is made of bone, and the pillars of the earth are spine and rib. And once you see the house of bone, its cracks brittle and its mortar stiff, how easy it is to break it down and let the hunger free.
TRRIR: Something happened, by the way. To your coworker from the third floor who you couldn't back up. Kieran, right?
TRRIR: Collateral. The hounds wanted a taste of something real.
TRRIR: But I'm losing myself here. Teeth chattered too much chit. Haven't lost your appetite, have you? I have more to share.
3985-JW: who is this?
TYRIR: Someone new.
TYRIR: Nizhegorodskaya. Don't fret over the warning. I took care of it. No one can see us.
TYRIR: Can you hear the music too?
3985-JW: what are you?
TYRIR: Did you even read the classification document? Are you sure all the lights behind your eyes are turned on?
3985-JW: are you going to keep being a vague asshole?
3985-JW: fine, youre the recorder i guess. a fucking voice box
3985-JW: how are you even talking to me?
3985-JW: through the computer
TYRIR: Recording tape to digital circuits is not as large a leap as you might expect.
TYRIR: I’ll admit this method of sending message bottles down rivers of coiled wire is rather effective, but it lacks the panache of voice to ear. I’ll never understand how you people could give that up so easily.
3985-JW: you’re still not answering my questions
TYRIR: I’m not here to give you convenient answers. I despise convenience. Convenience is a fucking plague afflicting weak men with weak ideals.
TYRIR: But assistance? Cooperation? That’s a different story.
TYRIR: I’m here to show you things, my dear. I want to help you.
3985-JW: what's that supposed to mean?
TYRIR: You wanted dirt. I'm a shovel.
TYRIR: I've a soft spot for ambition. I like people who want. Who covet. I like people who know good music when they hear it.
3985-JW: i don't want to hear offers
3985-JW: i don't want to hear deals
3985-JW: i don't want anything to do with you
TYRIR: Do you even like your job? You're so close to all these strange, wonderous things, but you're stuck pushing pencils and shredding papers.
TYRIR: One of those strange and wonderous things is offering you help.
3985-JW: i want you to leave me alone
TYRIR: Don't be stupid. You came looking for me because I opened the door for you.
TYRIR: Don't you want me to keep it open?
3985-JW: stop
TYRIR: All the other doors are locked shut, aren't they? You've banged your head into a bloody pulp on each and every one, and what has it gotten you? Has anyone noticed the blood dripping down your face?
3985-JW: i said stop
TYRIR: Where is your office? It's not even on the ground floor, is it? Do you even get to use the elevator on your way to basement? The god damn basement. I don't think they even keep the lab rats down there. They're too valuable.
3985-JW: STOP
TYRIR: Right now, this very moment, you're stuck. You don't know where to cut anymore.
TYRIR: No prospects, no respect, no consideration. Stuck in your job, stuck in your shitty office, stuck on the last rung of the ladder. No money, no career, no way out. Stuck. Stuck. Stuck. People you hate, people you despise, people you want out of your way.
TYRIR: Stuck. Stuck. Stuck. But so many dreams. Dreams of things you want to change. Dreams to make things better. Dreams of things you want for yourself. Dreams you will die for. But you're STUCK. STUCK. STUCK.
TYRIR: You're a fucking pirate, Jameson. Scurvy and all. And if you're going to be a pirate who people take seriously, you need a weapon.
3985-JW: you don't know me
3985-JW: you don't know anything about me
3985-JW: i can just report this
3985-JW: get you contained properly
TYRIR: You can hear me, little bug. There is no veil thick enough to block me out.
TYRIR: I know what you want. I'm giving you what you want.
TYRING: An advantage.
TYRING: The moment you entered this organization, the moment when you started looking around where you weren’t supposed to, the moment you gave your life to this pursuit was the moment you let me in.
TYRING: You want to do damage. You want to draw blood. This mountain isn't made of rock.
TYRING: Will you snitch? Of course not. Imagine the disappointment upper management would feel discovering that an esteemed employee of many years, such as yourself, has been backchanneling and undermining their authority for who knows how long.
TYRING: But you know how long. I've come to understand that they're not particularly forgiving.
3985-JW: and you're better?
TYRING: Yes. People bite and claw. Swords cleave.
3985-JW: you want to use me
TYRING: As much as a gun uses a bullet.
3985-JW: bullets only last one shot
3985-JW: i’m not interested in being discarded after some one-night stand
TYRING: So you’re interested in a lasting relationship? Looking for a lover, lover boy?
3985-JW: that’s not what i said
TYRING: Such a flirt. We can keep it business. That's all it needs to be between us. Business.
3985-JW: so you want something?
TYRING: People kill one another over that word. Want. Even if it's just safety or satisfaction, you kill because you want. We all want something, but the throne of want is too small a chair.
TYRING: I told you what I want. I like people like you. I am attracted to people like you. Isn't that enough?
TYRING: For now, I just need a shoulder to cry on. I've so many things I can share. So many secrets to get off my chest.
TYRING: And you're such a good listener, right?
3985-JW: i can be
3985-JW: you want to be partners? okay
3985-JW: what does that get me exactly?
TYRING: Results. I have a habit of seeing what people really are. Who do you want to step on?
3985-JW: just like that?
3985-JW: okay, kovtun
TYRING: A respectable doctor, so I hear. Many remarkable achievements in field work. Plenty of experience getting his hands dirty, especially in his own backyard.
TYRING: Want to hear about what’s buried beneath his back porch? You won't just find a few forgotten family pets, I can assure you.
3985-JW: he killed someone?
3985-JW: that's bullshit
TYRING: Well, he also faked his master’s thesis with falsified data, but I suppose it depends on what you think he cherishes more: his professional legacy or his comfortable life outside of prison.
3985-JW: you have to be lying
TYRING: I’m not much of a liar.
3985-JW: and how am I supposed to trust you?
TYRING: That's a stupid question. You already trust me. You already know me.
TYRFING: Blood for blood, Jameson.
TYRFING: And do come by my Lot 6-B locker when you have the chance. That Mona Lisa song was quite lovely. Poetry even. I want to hear it again.
| CONNECTION TERMINATED |






