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So
You've met Jack huh that's cool
Could you please like
Never mention me to him again

He brought you up first, actually. Why?

Oh no reason nothing at all
Just, you know
He definitely tried to strangle me to death before and may or may not do that again in the near future
I'm just saying if I wind up dead I feel like it would be okay to blame you like at least a little
Not that it was YOU doing it but
Oh my god I am so dead Rosalind I'm so dead

Why the /hell/ did he try and strangle you?

Because he's an insane megalomaniac who only cares about himself?
But uh if he asks you didn't hear that from me
Look it's along story alright? It's not important
The point is if he finds out that I killed HIM in the future I'm toast

Maybe actually don't tell him that part either
Don't tell him about any of this
Oh my god what is wrong with me I need to stop talking

Too late, you've already said it. Though I think we'd best have this conversation in person rather somewhere where it might be read, hm? Where are you?

Wyver, at my place. He doesn't know where I live yet.

You're lucky I'm still here. Give me an address, please, I'll be there soon.

[ Insert address here!! ]

The door's locked so just...knock twice, wait for 3 seconds and then knock again okay?
Just in case.

I'll call my name.

[She takes about half an hour, and though she doesn't do that secret spy knock, she does call out:]

Rhys? It's me.

[ Rosalind's logic > Rhys's. He is fully expecting his secret spy knock and he's a little disappointed when she doesn't use it? Like what if Jack has a disguise and is using the digistru...oh. Right. Those aren't a thing anymore. It's probably okay then?

But...still. Secret knocks.

Rhys peers through the peep hole anyway to make sure it's her before the sound of the lock is heard and Rhys opens the door. ]

Hey. You're alone right? No one, uh, saw you come here?

No.

[Honestly, she has no idea, but nor will she tell him that. He doesn't need to know. Slipping inside, she spares the apartment only a brief glance before turning to him.]

Now. Tell me what on earth is going on. You killed him?

I...yes? Sort of? It's complicated.

[ Rhys locks the door behind he and follows her into the main area of the apartment, dragging one hand over his face and letting out a heavy exhale. ]

He...he lived inside my head. For a bit. Or at least, his AI did. Do you know what an AI is...?

No.

[Her mouth twists. She dislikes admitting that, but now isn't the time to posture and fake competence.]

He possessed you?

No, or...yes? You know how I've got this thing on my head right?

[ Rhys brings a hand up and points to the the ECHO port on his temple, a small metal circle with a circular opening for cable connections. ]

It's an ECHO port. It means I can upload data directly into my brain. It's connected to my eye and my body and when I was trying to put someone else's credentials into my, uh, sub-systems I accidentally uploaded a digital copy of Jack into my brain's cybernetics.

[ It was as horrible an experience as it sounds. ]

[It takes her a moment, but . . .]

And then you . . . what, deleted the file? That's not precisely killing him, is it? I mean . . . what would be the difference between that and deleting a, a video of him?

It was a bit more than, um, deleting. Jack was dead in the flesh at the time. His AI was all that was left of him aaand I sort of pulled that out of my head and crushed it?

[ Jack begged him not to when he did it. He told Rhys there was nothing there, just darkness. He didn't want to go back, Rhys couldn't send him back.

Rhys chose to destroy the eye. ]

An AI is an artificial intelligence. They're basically their own people? So once you kill them, if theyre's no copy they're...y'know. Dead.

[ Robots may as well be people in the Blands universe, honestly. Ethical and moral treatment of them hasn't quite caught up in all places of the universe but no one doubts their sentience or autonomy when it comes to thought. They're not lesser in a cognitive sense.

Just, you know. More expendable. ]

. . . ah.

[Well, that sheds a bit more light on it. And certainly explains why he chooses the words he does.]

And he doesn't know that happened . . . he doesn't know he's dead. And he certainly doesn't know you killed him, but if you give it away . . .

[The man is capable of seeking revenge. Hm. That's worrying, given she just pledged to work with him, but then again, it seems her life is constantly filled with murderous men.]

Well. What do you plan to do now?

I don't know... Kill him again? I guess? I mean that's what I should be doing. He made things awful back home, he was insane.

[ And Rhys is worried he might do the same here. It seemed straightforward and easy when he'd made his network post months and months ago. ]

Angie wants me to play along and pretend I still work for him. But so much happened. He...used me. All of us back home. And when he's finished with you it generally doesn't end well.

Is her name Angie or Angel?

[Which is literally the least important point here, but Rosalind still says it-- for clarification, yes, but also because she's trying to think.]

. . . it's a good idea, though. What other option do you have? You're in no position to confront him.

...Angie?

[ Rhys makes a noticeable pause at the name "Angel" and for one brief moment he can't help but think back to the last moments he spent with Jack, both on Helios and in its remains. The little girl's portrait. How Jack found out she'd killed herself.

He still doesn't know how to feel about that. How much of it was real, how much was Jack trying to manipulate him? ]

I don't know anyone named Angel. And I know, I just...

[ Rhys lets out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his hair. ]

I wish he'd stay dead, you know?

[Are they speaking of the same girl? They must be. But perhaps not, and Rosalind frowns slightly. She'll chase after that thread in a moment. For now, she crosses the room, heading to sit.]

There's no one here who doesn't have ghosts from their pasts hovering around.

There was someone on the network . . . before I woke up, frankly, but I couldn't sleep one night and I was scrolling back. They wondered if you could kill someone who was still asleep. I'd wondered the same thing. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the answer was no.

There's two still up there I'd murder if I had half a chance. They died once, and it would've been better if they'd stayed that way. But as they didn't-- as he didn't-- you've simply got to stop wishing and start acting.

Oh...okay, uhh. Confession time haha. Thaaaat was me.

[ Rhys lets out a weak laugh as he brings a hand up through his hair and offers a very weka grin. ]

And I was sort of definitely talking about Jack. I dunno how much you read or anything but Jack's...he was--is bad news. Which doesn't really mean a whole lot here yet but I'm not kidding when I say he really, really wanted me dead before. he hasn't acted like it yet but I feel like he knows, you know? Is that me being paranoid? That sounds a little paranoid doesn't it.

It does, yes.

[But it's only paranoia if they're not out to get you. And Jack, for whatever homicidal faults he might have, seems very clever. Rhys might be right; he might just be on to him. Rosalind hums, tapping two fingers against her lips as she contemplates this.]

Have you given him any reason to suspect you'd want to kill him?

No...? I don't think so. It's not like--like I want to. I just feel like I should.

[ It's Complicated. Rhys pinches the bridge of his nose. ]

I'm from his future and he's started to notice. That part I'm definitely not just overthinking things. He told me. He just hasn't...asked about it yet. And when he does I don't even know what I'm going to begin saying to him. The first time I tried to tell him he was dead he tried to rip my throat out.

The guy has anger issues.

[ ... ]

Everything issues.

Edited 2017-12-07 03:29 (UTC)

text; dec 5thish

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