bottlebay | ♠ audio, 01

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♠ audio, 01

[ Perrin is still suffering from the nightmares, mind you, with this being the last day of them. So that's why this message first goes out quite late at night. Oddly enough, the message seems quite focused, though. Perrin knows how to handle his brain. But his voice is choppy, each word practiced. There's also a slight echo. (In real life, he is saying each word out loud before saying it in telepathy.) ]

--didn't know being a psyker was something technology could help with. Which is pretty impressive.

I know those were real people. Pokemon? Those guys who vanished. It's not like when I see people and then I'm the only one seeing them.

I know the doctor said they'd keep records, but we should too. Keep our own, I mean - and we can also figure out if there's a connection between us. First thing's first.

Where are you all from? I've heard that not all of you are American. Or from the same time as me - oh, that's right. I'm from the year 2281. [ Oops, his thoughts are spiraling. He's not saying this part out loud in real life, anymore. And sounding more casual. ] You know, it's pretty fascinating to meet people who are pre-War. I would have thought you would have been a lot weirder, but you're just like me. Without the survival instints, I mean. I wonder if it's true that people were just the same, and it was the governments and corporations that wanted to mess stuff up. Oh, but they didn't cause the Resource Wars, the lack of resources did... sometimes wish I'd read more up on history. I mean, pre-War history. Not just shit that happened near to me.

[ He seems to have forgotten this is telepathy and his thoughts are being broadcast for a while. Until-- ] Oh. Right. So I'm gonna be keeping a list of us. Uh, in a book. We don't have terminals here, and terminals could get messed up if some of the electricity messed up or if we forgot the password. And I'm not the best hacker. I'm also not the best at lockpicking, honestly.

So! Guess this is me asking about your home and what year you're from!

[[ This post can also be used as a mingle post, if wanted! The OOC post for the record keeping is here. Perrin will let anybody check it out, which is why he hasn't listed his real name in it. ]]

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It's strange. There was another from my world, I'm sure of it. Perhaps she's simply returned home. If so, it's likely for the best.

[Yet there's still a tinge of disappointment in his tone, if only because it was another familiar face who lacked the friction of the other Phantom Thieves.

Well, there are other matters to discuss.]

At any rate, I'm from Japan, circa 2017. I can't say that our timelines will align, but I can't say it surprises me to hear that another great war took place. History comes in cycles, and humanity has developed so many weapons of mass destruction that it's a wonder we haven't experienced World War III.

Then again, we did nearly face an apocalypse around late 2016, to say nothing of the false reality that followed.

I am from a world with Pokemon in it as well! I'm fairly certain it is not this one, but most things I have seen so far seem similar enough. The region I'm from is called Hisui, and the year was...

[A sudden uncertainty cuts his words off. If Emmet sees this, will he perhaps be bothered? Ingo did come here from Hisui. It might as well be the region he's from at this point, right? He can't even picture Unova in his mind.]

...ah, do you mean the year we came here from...?

[Emporio is not touching that pearl. He knows precisely what will happen when he touches that pearl, it is why there is a faint echo coming from the bedroom. And wow. Imagine that. A bedroom. With a bed.

A Bed, Not A Piano.

Honestly the other two probably watched plenty of that kind of awe on day one, followed immediately by being woken up in the middle of the night by horrible nightmares. Magically induced? Not? Mysteries.]

...Did Polteageist tell you where there's tablets to use? I haven't really seen too much paper-wise, other than on the bulletin board... ...And the archives all use stone. Possibly because of how fragile paper can be here...

[No comment on weirdness scales.

....Oh alright he'll get his pearl.] ...Well, I already told you what you said you'd need for the records, but I guess it would help if everyone had examples...

[And so-

Through the Pearls, comes the following-]

Uh...hello. I'm going to try and keep this short, so that everyone isn't mixed up; these pearls seemed to grab onto thoughts easy, so it'll probably take a lot of practice to get used to. I remember, Anasui commented on talking through his Stand...

[Ah, already distracted-]

...Well, that isn't important. My... ...My name is Emporio Alniño. I lived in Florida, in 2012, in a world...mostly inhabited by humans?

[what does one qualify a colony of plankton? That's a question that might faintly echo in the background.]

I didn't see a lot of it, [He finishes. End pearl transmission!]

[ There's a telepathic gasp from Perrin, and a slight flicker of... green? In the thoughts. ] That's a whole 60 years before the Great War - and that's even before House was born! But, like, I don't know if we would have heard of any weird shit happening in Japan, even if stuff had been recorded.

Because of the nuclear war. Which we should have called World War III, except it lasted less then a day, and we still don't know who fired first. Doesn't matter, though, in the end. You know, I spoke to another guy from Japan--

Wait, you thought about the weird green d-- cat earlier, didn't you? That guy.

Hisui, huh...

[ He is scribbling this down. But also, thoughtfully: ] That's what I was thinking. To see who's from the past or future or--

--I never asked what year it is here.

Well, no. [ Perrin said, looking at the bundle of scraps he'd gotten together for now. ] Turns out that when you hang around the mail center, you find other guys who leave half-finished shit around. Just gotta trim off what they wrote, and you've got fresh paper.

[ post-apoc thinking. ] Used to have a machine that'd take all the ink off of books. Never figured out how he worked, though - but he'd be handy to have here. More handy then Muggy. Or the toaster. [ Said with a snort, but it's all playful. He's seeming rather calm, even if he looks beyond tired. ]

[This is a lot of information to take in on so little sleep, but if she focuses, Shoka swears she can hear a voice behind those thoughts—and it's a voice she recognizes, too. Maybe because of that, she barely hesitates before answering with her own voice.]

From Shinjuku. But it's gone now, so... guess I'm from nowhere, technically. Shibuya's home. It was 2021, last I checked.

[A series of thought-images are sent to him then, in rapid, disorienting flashes: a city intersection, lively and teeming with people, another city crumbling to dust, then a person—a woman with long, dark hair—crumbling in the same way. The images abruptly cease with a hiss: Seen that enough, thanks.]

Don't you sleep?

[ He is trying so hard not to show images, but one does flicker though. Standing inside a large spire of a building, a half-destroyed city below them, the desert spreading out endlessly beyond it - blocked out by artificial light. Before his thoughts clear again, and it's just his voice. A little quiet. ]

Well, the Mojave ain't where I'm from, but it's my home right now. And it's better awake then asleep right now.

Yeah... I get that.

Never been to the desert. [Let alone a post-apocalyptic one, obviously. It looks rough to her, but...] You miss it?

[Unbidden, with a squeak-]

You strip ink from books?!

[aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa] D- Do you record what was on the books somewhere first at least..!?

[As a matter of fact yes he's discarding everything else that came up just now to focus on this.]

[ Blink blink. ]

Well, they're only books the Followers already have. And communist ones. Which is a lot of them, to be honest.

[ one: the machine thinks all books are communist. two: perrin you're technically a communist. ]

Phew.

[Okay he'll tolerate clearing dupes out.

But.

He cannot. Ignore that bit.] ............how could there be...that many 'communist' books..?

[Not to say what he thinks on the topic itself but uh, that's a surprising topic to have a lot of books on!]

[ There's a quietness in his voice. A softness. ] ...yeah. I'd just moved there, you know. Recently. I mean. Getting shot in the head means you can't really on before getting some revenge, you know?

[ --shit. He had not meant to think that, to mention things about himself too openly. His thoughts are quiet. It's not like she'd know him. She's from the past. One which - to him - looked like she witnessed a nuclear explosion. (His reference pool is limited, alas.) ]

[ Perrin pauses. Tilts his head like a confused puppy. ] Well, th'machine helping me with it said all books are pretty much communist. Too many ideas that the reds might also have.

[ you are so glad this is in-person and not though telepathy. because imagine his rambling then. ]

Then again, he's probably a bit biased. But who isn't.

[Emporio blinks.

And then blinks again.

And squints.] ....can you define 'communist' for me?

[SUSPINCH]

[ Uh.

Fuck. He crosses his arms. He closes his eye, his tail swishing a little. He really has to think about it. ] Well, it was the commie threat from China, mostly, that began the Resource Wars since their sharin' with all their people caused us to run out of oil. So they're the baddies. Probably fired the first nukes.

But as for communism itself? Well, they're bastards that corrupt peoples' minds and fuck them up, to weaken the American way. [ ... ] Uh, not the NCR way, the actual American way.

Record-keeping? Good idea. Count me in. And terminals- terminals. If we find or make one, I've got a good sense for technology.

[There's a couple stray thoughts in the background that seem to be him rotating ideas on how to hook up a input/output system to the grumpearls. Nothing concrete or even anything he's certain works off principles that exist.]

Whatever. Here from Nevada. I'm not telling you my home region because I don't have one. The year is sometime after 2002. No, I don't know the exacts. Look, you try tracking time without a day/night cycle and tell me how it goes. It's after 2002.

Never heard of America being a place, though. Looks like we're not from the same universe.

[The transmission cuts off fairly hard. Not violently or anything, Doc's just trying to make sure nothing goes through past what he intends to go through.]

[Emporio just. Has to cover his mouth for a moment.

Is he hearing this? He's hearing this. Holyshit, he's hearing this.

Where does he Even Begin-

No wait he knows where to start. Emporio takes a deep breath.

And also moves takes his helmet off to move Perrin's pearl immediately out of reach. To be safe.]

The definition of 'Communism' is as follows.

The creation of a society without need for private property, social class, money, and 'state'; a society that becomes self-governing, focused on distribution of goods according to the needs of everyone within society. The people become able to support each other, without being beholden to a higher power.

...That's the idea, at least. I won't lie, and tell you that at least by the time I was born, it was a political ideal that was abused; most of the time what happened was the lower and upper classes still existed, with the people on the bottom being given bare minimum amounts compared to those on the top- but that's getting into a lot of detail that might not really matter here.

The point is...I don't think nearly as many books would have been about 'communisim' as you think. At least not if your country hated it enough to make comments like that, [he adds dryly. Don't make him break out the Cow Chart.]

...There's a lot more I can unpack here, but I think it might be better to ask yourself a few questions first.

The biggest one- because...most people definitely won't see the people you call 'baddies' as that, [Delicately put, pat yourself on the back Emporio,]

How many people does it take to fire a weapon?

[He looks up- up, and up, at a dragon who looks large enough to swallow him whole. One of the strangest aspects of being a pokemon, perhaps.

He looks up with severity in his gaze.] At least where I came from...China had the largest population of people on the planet. I can't speak for what 'sharing' entailed, but something tells me they weren't actually sharing that much. More than that, it wouldn't take over a billion people to make that choice; and I don't think they'd bother asking if over a billion people agreed with it either.

['Don't blame the country, or its people', Emporio doesn't say.]

The next one...What 'is' the American way? ...because I can't speak for your America either. I can only speak for mine, the way I can speak for the world I knew. I don't even know what the 'NCR' is- which means most likely...it didn't exist when I did.

But I at least know what a pattern in history looks like- and...a lot of what you're saying sounds familiar.

[...But, that's perhaps why he's having trouble saying this next part.]

...but America lied, back then. Maybe that isn't the case for you but... [He shakes his head.] If I'm being honest, a lot of what you just said felt like something that was said half a century before me.

[Which. He hopes he doesn't have to explain why that's bad!]

[ Who are you, that do not know your history?

Those words seem to echo though Perrin, as he listens. Perhaps it is because he feels his eyes on him, from afar, always watching. Even now. Judging. And Perrin feels ignorant, as ignorant as those from the Old World, those who simply destroyed things.

He is quiet. You notice his single eye closing, a simple sigh coming out. A silent apology to a man not here. (For there are no men here, are there?) But he still repeats it, quietly. ]

Who am I, that I do not know my history?

[ It is said in an oddly nostalgic way, before he tries to appear calm again. ] Maybe it was a lie. Maybe not. The closest to the American Way I know is from the NCR-- Uh. [ Right. ] New California Republic. And I decided those guys didn't know what's best for the Mojave Wasteland. [ There is a lot left unsaid, as he still feels those invisible eyes on him. ]

[ There's a little pause. ] The NCR aren't the remnants of the American Government who took part in the Great War, mind you. But... they follow the same ideals. But that's what we have records of - all th'way up until 2077. And from those who survive on.

Edited 2025-02-11 09:02 (UTC)

[ Perrin is glad that this other guy is fine with just Hanging Up Thoughts because he's the same way currently. ]

Nevada? Really? Y'know, that's what people called the Mojave before everything. But-- yeah, timekeeping is a bitch sometimes.

But-- what do you mean, different universes?

[It's a question that resonates. Emporio finds himself slowly nodding his head.

Tale as old as time, for the USA, isn't it?]

...I think that's a problem a lot of Americans had. That's not really most of the people's fault; it's the responsibility of those in power, those who can teach, to teach their people otherwise after all. I guess, what matters here is...

...We're both in a different world now. And all of us here are just...'people', of some sort, trying to survive like you've been. No matter where we came from.

We all live here now.

[he can hear a nightmare

h i s s i n g

be

hi

nd

him]

So...whatever was real, whatever wasn't, I guess...

[h

i

s

s

i

n

g]

...at least now you know what 'communism' actually means? ...And I'm sorry about any books that might have been good to read, that got ruined.

We're in this place. World. Whatever. We're here, and unless you're telling me you think we got magically displaced and turned into pokémon but we're just across the ocean from wherever the hell we used to live, we've got to be in a different universe.

[There's a quiet thread of the fact Doc knows he doesn't have an ocean in his world, but it's not really an intentional transmission.]

Also, I met a guy who claimed to be a cat. Cats are extinct- for me, anyway. I could assume it's time-related, or I could assume that since this universe exists and isn't the one I'm from, he's from a third, separate universe.

I could make a point with you and I, too, but we've both got Nevada. So it's not as good a point.

"Whatever was real, whatever wasn't, we're all here now"... But what about the people who didn't make it over...?

[ The Mimikyu sounds like he might have missed a bit too much sleep.

Also hi, the Mimikyu is here now. When did he get here. He has himself propped in a corner like a tired ragdoll. ]

...Is using the Pearls important for this survey shit? I do not trust myself on a mental connection right now.

Edited 2025-02-11 09:38 (UTC)

[ They're stuck here. Good or bad. Perrin knows he just needs to... do his best. Not be like who he is and--

Oh! Their other roomie! His voice grows casual again, trying to CHANGE THE SUBJECT. ]

Well, no. I just thought it'd be better t'not stand out in th'center of town and call out us wanderers. We already stand out a lot.

Courier Six is the one taking record, so you can just tell him here at least.

[He's trying not to think about the question that Ring Spirit came in with. Or, well. Revealed himself with, rather. He's pretty sure the mimikyu has been there since he started monologuing dictionary definitions. But, he's trying very hard not to think about that question on people who...Didn't make it.]

In hindsight I don't think any of us should be using the Pearls right now. I don't think anyone's been sleeping enough for it.

[Which, for all that he opened that one up, he does hope neither of them point out that that's likely His fault, having screamed a few times in the night.

He is also ignoring the fact that his hallucination is doing that for him. Shut up. Buzz off.]

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♠ audio, 01

P5R spoilers warning for lurkers

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ACTION FOR LUM -> 'AUDIO'

no spoilers for fallout here just silliness

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action!

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cw 1950s attitude about communism--

[emporio voice] YOU DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT WORD MEAAAAAAAANS

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cw sinophobia, 1950s attitudes

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yah killin him perrin Also to be safe uhhhh CW for. Discussion of communism and nuclear war?? weeps

same for all the CWs above also lonesome road spoilers

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[action in Lum]

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