.002 [video]

[savethebullshit]

[it's been a while since Anne has shown her face on the network, and she doesn't look any less grumpy now than she did last time. She's sitting with her back up against a wall, and she's not wearing her uniform jacket, so with her short-sleeved buttonup, her forearms are visible. She's stating at the identifying tattoo there, and then after a moment she holds her arm out to make the mark readable to the camera]

So a while back, I joined security, and the next morning I woke up with "sec" added to the beginning of this thing. But how exactly do they do it? Because I sure as hell don't remember it happening. Does anybody else? I know these numbers are basically an ID badge. But what I want to know is how they get to us to change them. Any information would be great.

[with that, she cuts the feed]

[Private video to Murphy Pendleton, sent out some time later]

How're you holding up, Pendleton?

[she knows he's a grown man (hell, he's probably ten years her senior), but she can't help feeling a little responsible for him, after how much her father cared about him]

It's been a while. Just want to check and see how you were doing. I might stop by and see you, if you wouldn't mind.

Comments

video;

[anthropos]

The numbers are formed by nanomachines. They form an electronic identity unique to yourself, updated by the crew roster, and as you have no doubt observed, permit access to your quarters.

[ He presents his own arm, with SCI inscribed on it. ]

Re: video;

[savethebullshit]

[Anne looks both perterbed and relieved by the explanation. She just pauses for a moment and then when she's gathered her bearings she glances between him and the tattoo]

Nanites. Alright then. Sounds like something of out science fiction but I guess I shouldn't be surprised around here. So you're telling me you think these things just change on their own?

video;

[anthropos]

Negative. The nanomachines are programmed to respond to changes inputted into the ship's computers. They change automatically, yes, but they are not implementing those changes individually.

video;

[savethebullshit]

So they're controlling them remotely or something? Hell, I don't like where any of this is going. Sounds like a bad horror movie just waiting to happen.

Video

[walksonrooftops]

I'm not sure. Mine's like that too.

[He holds his forearm up to the screen to show his own number, SEC001-088.]

I was thinking...maybe the tattoo is alive. Somehow. So it knows when it needs to change.

[Presenting: one cat-man who doesn't understand how nanites work.]

Re: Video

[savethebullshit]

Alive?

[Anne raises an eyebrow, still studying the tattoo]

Nothing'd surprise me around here really, but that's still a little too weird to believe. Better than thinking they get into my room and mess with my arm, but... you being serious here?

Video

[walksonrooftops]

I'm serious. It could happen, couldn't it?

[He shrinks back a little and doesn't sound quite as sure of himself as before, though.]

Re: Video

[savethebullshit]

Well yeah, I guess it could happen. I've seen weirder things.

[she's used to people's certainty leaking away around her. Anne has that sort of effect on people. She doesn't necessarily enjoy it, but she's realized it by now]

Anything can really happen in this weird-ass place, now that you mention it.

Video

[walksonrooftops]

Yeah. Anything can happen. My mark changed too, and I don't know how it did. I don't know how anything happens here.

[His ears flick back just a touch.]

But I think the tattoo is alive. Maybe. Because anything can happen.

[private to Anne | video]

[yardbird]

Mn. Same thing happened to me when I signed up for the support staff. [Just felt like he should address that, since it caught him off guard as well.

[He pauses, because yeah, he finds it a little funny how she "checks up" on him like that. Not that he minds it; it's nice. He can't place why, but it is.] No, I wouldn't mind at all. I mean... I'm fine, I just...

[Murphy feels his shoulders slack. He didn't want to tell Anne this, but he figures she'd probably find out sooner than later. And it's better this way than her finding out now than knowing after doing a head count later.]

...One of the birds didn't make it the last jump. Guess it got sick or somethin' and I never noticed. I dunno.

: [private to Murphy | video]

[savethebullshit]

So it happened to you too. I guess I should have expected it, but... I guess it's good to know I'm not alone in this.

[She guesses she shouldn't be surprised; Murphy's basically the reason she isn't alone in most things. If it weren't for him, she'd still wonder if she was crazy for seeing monsters and chasing the Bogeyman through an abandoned prison. He was, in an odd way, like a lifeline]

Well, fine's a little hard to come by here, but I'm glad you're managing. I worry about you. Not sure why, but I can't really help it.

[a little shrug of her shoulders, but when he tells her the next part, her expression softens, customary hardness filtering away to be replaced with sympathy]

Oh.

[her shoulders slump a little too. There are so many things she wants to say, because those birds... they are something they're both invested in, and she knows how it must feel losing one. Those tiny birds are one of the only rays of sunshine in this bizarre place, and the look on Murphy's face almost makes her want to cry. But she doesn't because she's Anne]

I didn't notice either. Shit, Murphy, I'm sorry. Those birds are...

[she's not sure what she means to say there, so she just looks at him dumbly for a moment]

I'm coming down there. Now. Dammit.

[and she's out the door with the feed still going. She's not sure how to feel right now, but it's an odd amount of emotion over one little bird]

[private to Murphy | video]

[yardbird]

Mn. You... weren't ever alone in the first place.

[It's weird, hearing himself say stuff like that. Hell, if he doesn't feel just as responsible for Anne as she does for him, he doesn't know what. He isn't not sure how long she's been holing herself up, too, and that disconcerts him a great deal.

[Murphy then stops to look directly at the feed, which he doesn't really do all that often.] Y'know, uh, you'd... might worry less... if you just... [--"if you just", what? What are you about to suggest, Murph? Fuck. His eyes dart away again:] ...Never mind.

[Maybe he'll save it for later. He'd rather not be alone right now, anyway. While it's silly, small, insignificant -- it's just a bird to some. For Murphy, he hates having to bury things again. All it does is unearth something even heavier that he's tried to keep tucked away on the back of his mind, dead but somehow always screams at him...

[He doesn't say anything after that last thought at first. His eyes just move around for a moment. He definitely doesn't have plans on going anywhere else anytime soon.]

Right. See you... soon...

Yeah.

[He cuts the feed before she can say anything. Only because he'd much rather talk to her in person, anyway.]

Re: [private to Murphy | video]

[savethebullshit]

[Anne keeps her device out even after Murphy cuts the feed in case he needs to contact her for some reason, because she's worried. She's been through enough loss to know that the bird is a big deal, if not only because they both love those birds, because of some deep trauma attached to him. She doesn't know much about his past but she's seen those shadows in his eyes. The same ones she's seen in the mirror. More and more, she's starting to see she and Murphy are cut from the same cloth, in a sense. It's hard not to understand him. You werent ever alone in the first place. That means more than he'll probably ever realize. When she reaches his room a few minutes later, she knocks but doesn't wait for an answer, just comes in and closes the door behind her. For a moment she just stares at him, and then closes the gap between them and pulls him into a fierce hug. She hasn't hugged anyone since she hugged him in Silent Hill, and it feels good to have human contact again. There are things to talk about, questions she wants to ask about his comments in the video, but for now he just gets a hug. He looks like he needs it]

I'm so sorry.

[she's not sorry because she feels like the bird is her fault, but because she's sorry it's dead. And there are other things she owes him an apology for]

video;

[sweetmotherofgod]

Right? I go all this time not getting a tattoo I might actually want 'cause my dad would've freaked, then I volunteer to pull some weeds and all of a sudden I'm literally branded a science nerd. I know it's kinda redundant to say at this point, but this place sucks.

Re: video;

[savethebullshit]

Yeah, my dad... sorta had the same feelings about tattoos.

[her mouth twitches a little, almost like she wants to smile because she recalls her own teenage years going similarly. Even if she had gotten a tattoo in the end after he died. Honestly, she's not sure why she's talking about her dad with Heather. She doesn't mention him much to people she's not close to. A shake of the head and she drops it]

Saying this place sucks is an understatement, I'd say. Any idea if there's a way to get outta here? I guess people'd leave all the time if there was though. Stupid question. Forget I asked.

[and she looks at Heather for a moment]

Didn't realize they abducted people so young. How long have you been here?

video;

[sweetmotherofgod]

It's not as stupid as not asking. People leave all the time. Just not on purpose, and we don't know how.

[Some of the sarcasm drains out of her voice there - she's thinking of the empty bed in her room, Kitten who arrived, left, couldn't tell her anything about where she was in the meantime and left again. It's not high on her list of Very Favorite Topics.]

I've been here seven months now. Second jump. And trust me, it's nothing. I'm twenty, there are kids running around here. Youngest I've seen looks about ten, tops.

Re: video;

[savethebullshit]

Yeah, guess it's always better to question everything than to run around accepting everything like some kind of damn drone. I know they're just used to it, but I feel like everyone else is content with just letting it all happen. We can't just... put up with it. But there's not much we can do, either. Frustrating as hell is what it is.

[she would never have guessed twenty, but she doesn't say so. There's nothing to be gained from it. She shakes her head in disbelief]

Ten. Jesus. There is something wrong with this place. What's the point, that's what I wanna know. It makes me wonder why somebody would do all this.

video

[doismelllikeroses]

... I never thought much about it. Maybe while we sleep?

Re: video

[savethebullshit]

While we sleep? Makes sense, but it's not pleasant. Then again, not much about this place is.

Re: video

[doismelllikeroses]

It's the only thing I could think of. When I was in district 13 in my world we had a similar thing- but it was a tattoo.

And we were fully aware when we made it change.

video

[savethebullshit]

Well, the least they could do is let us be aware of it, then. But then again people probably wouldn't put up with it here.

[she knows she wouldn't]

[unsoldiered]

The tattoos can change, huh...? [He really needs to read up more than that thing they posted a while ago.] Not surprised at this point, I guess... Lotta' weird things happen around here, from what I've heard.

[yeah hi i'm new]

if you could see how much I screamed when I saw a comment from Alex XD

[savethebullshit]

Yeah, guess they can. When I got here mine just had three dashes at the beginning of it, then I joined security detail and woke up with it different. This place is pretty screwy, I'll tell you that much. Never can really be sure what's gonna happen.

[and then her expression softens just slightly, and she looks a little less like she's on the verge of going postal]

I'm guessing you're new around here?

I live to serve :|b

[unsoldiered]

Yeah, I haven't been around long. Just a little over a week by now, I think. But I can't say I'm not used to crazy things like this happening... [She seems like a very stern woman, authoritative—like his father, but without the awful things that came with it.] I'm Alex. Uh, Alex Shepherd, ma'am.

[She's only a couple years older than him, but... well, if she's on security and all, it seemed appropriate.]

XD <3

[savethebullshit]

A week? I remember my first week. It's worse than all the time after. Until you've been here a few months, and you get too sick of it and start going nuts. But if you're used to crazy stuff, you should be just fine.

[Anne would know; she's at that stage at this point. If it weren't for Murphy and those birds they're playing surrogate parents to, she'd probably have lost it by now. She gives him a small nod when he introduces himself. Alex Shepherd. She'll keep that information stored]

Officer Cunningham. Nice to meet you, Alex, even if the cirumstances are shitty.

[she figures it can't hurt to be friendly. He seems like a nice kid. It's a little silly to think of him as a "kid" since he's probably not much younger than she is. It also makes her feel a little strange to realize that she's been a CO for so long that she instinctively doesn't even introduce herself with her first name anymore]