010; (VIDEO) forward-dated to late on the 25th

[andblockbuster]

 [What you are seeing is Topher. Topher looks a little like hell. Someone may or may not have been avoiding dealing with one of his empathy links for SCIENCE (the first one worked out fine- that's how he knows enough to figure this out, but the second one...) ... Also, it's possible he's been occupied running scans and trying to figure out if he's wrong, which... he's still not convinced he's not.]

I've been working.... [He pauses, plants a palm on his forehead, and sucks in a breath.] I've been working on a theory. It's not entirely sound yet, but I was trying to run through every logical possibility before entertaining the notion that it might actually be... that, and... no dice. None. And it was bad enough when it was just memories, but now- now. Oh, it's much worse. 

Whatever this is, it's on a synaptic level- whatever one person feels, the other person feels too. Observe. [He picks up something sharp and pricks himself, which makes him hiss in pain.] Now someone out there felt that. That means that we are doing some serious groupthink weirdness without the whole "all of us are Borg" BS- SO FAR. Who knows what it'll be in a few weeks. Or days. And what was the last thing 90% of us experienced that involved groupthink? Anyone?

[YEAH, TOPHER'S HAVING A BAD DAY. HOW ARE YOU?] I think we might be in trouble.

[He rubs his face.] And is anyone who was fully assimilated on Strela even still around? 'Cause that'd be a start to maybe possibly proving me wrong. Or right. But let's err on the side of blind optimism and assume my fancy medical degrees in neurology mean nothing and I'm just talking out of my... bottom area. Whatever.

[Maybe you should deal with your link first, Topher. MAYBE. There's science to do, okay.]

Comments

[northerner]

[ YES WELL, MOVING ON... ]

Can you lock this feed?

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[andblockbuster]

[HE PAYS ATTENTION, TONY.]

Got it. How can I help you, my... lord? [THAT IS WEIRD TO SAY. So he says it awkwardly.]

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[northerner]

Robb. My lord sounds strange on your tongue, Topher.

[ LET'S NOT EVEN PRETEND YOU'RE A TRADITIONAL BANNERMAN, MAN ]

I saw something. Of you and your world.

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[andblockbuster]

Yeah, I knew it was gonna sound bad before I even said it. Thought I'd go for it, anyway.

[COUGH. ANYWAY.]

You.. Oh. Uh... Do I have something I need to explain? Or...?

[HE SAW SOMETHING TOO. It was just weird, because Arya.]

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[northerner]

I appreciate the attempt.

[ though, shit, sansa is back. robb hesitates a minute, like he's trying to figure out what to talk about first. ]

I believe I saw you preparing a war. Though your world is strange to me, I may have misinterpreted.

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[andblockbuster]

If we're talking about cutting the heads off snakes... yeah, that was a great time.

[He pauses uncomfortably.] It wasn't a literal snake, BTW.

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[northerner]

Had I a small council, I'd ask you to sit upon it and advise me.

[ advise him, not fight alongside him on a battle field. the distinction is important. ]

That's a...figure of speech, aye?

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[andblockbuster]

You'd want Adelle for that, bro. I'm not much with the advising. [Vaguely amused self-deprecation is go. Unless it has to do with the BRAIN.]

Yeah. If you wanna defeat an enemy, you have to go for its head... or the person in charge of everything. So if you wanna destroy an army, you go for the king.

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[northerner]

[ there's a pause, then a chuckle. ]

And is that not sound advice to give, were you to sit at my side?

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[andblockbuster]

[...]

... Huh. I guess all those years of roleplaying really did pay off. And my parents said it wouldn't teach me any life skills.

[I'M THE BANNERMAN TO THE KING IN THE NORTH, MA. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW.]

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[northerner]

Skills for the wrong life, maybe.

[ SHIT'S GETTING PROFOUND UP IN HERE ]

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[andblockbuster]

Let's not get carried away. [Although Medieval settings sound awesome in theory, he doesn't particularly want to die with his head on a pike at any point.] I don't think I'd survive a day in Westeros, even with my skills.