caughtinanetwork | It Could Be Worse

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It Could Be Worse – 01

I've been laying low since I arrived here, watching you people on the network, learning what I could about this place. I've watched the bubble go crazy with a body swapping curse, watched friends, acquaintances, lovers, enemies find each other after being torn to this new reality. I've watched ad-hoc cross-dimensional families discuss their plans for the evening. I've watched trolls hate flirting, magicians planning, and self described geniuses trapped in some sort of Moriarty and Holmes like mental cat and mouse. Mostly I've watched people go about their lives, their relationships, their hobbies. Very few of you seem to be at all concerned with what this place is, or how it works. So many of you are focused on the here and now. I've learned what I can from passive observation, I think. I have decided it's time to start writing again. It's time for me to do my job and get out there, back on the streets.

My name is Spider Jerusalem, and I am a journalist. I write articles for a living. I write about the things that make us, society as a whole, great. I write about the things that make us pathetic and disgusting and worthless.

I write about The Truth.

One month ago, I was born again.

Not in a religious sense, fuck no. I landed in a strange world, wet, cold and naked. Nothing from the place I came from mattered beyond how it shaped me to enter this one.

The mammals out there in the audience know what I'm talking about.

So here I am, taken from my home in The City, and dropped here in the land where nothing matters. None of the rather serious shit I was dealing with back home has any affect here. None of the banal bullshit going on here will ever have an effect when I go home.

A brand new life.

And what a new life this is! Every need provided for! No hunger, no homelessness, and with a touch of the coral, no disease. We are told that we are effectively immortal here, that we will be brought back less than a week after our death! Is this not liberating? With all worldly needs taken care of, with even death a fear of the past, who can deny the fact that we are free to spend out lives in pursuit of whatever art or entertainment we could want? What an astounding new freedom to live a life solely dedicated to what you want to do without need to work mindlessly to afford menial, petty, mortal things.

"If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold." Sure. This seems like freedom, like paradise. Quite the gilded cage we're in.

Just what will happen if any of you produce offspring in this world-disconnected? What happens to a pregnant woman who gets sent back home on the capricious whim of some scientist, or the coral, or whatever fucking forces are out there controlling all of this?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We aren't staying here for free. Far from it - we're experimental subjects and batteries for the coral.

Just my point. How many people see the Truth, and how many are treating this like some sort of vacation? People should not forget the Truth just because it's not currently inconvenient.

You've been looking into this all though, maybe more than anybody else. Mind if I ask you some things about the real nature of this place?

[Oh? He speaks as if he already knows her. Not that she's ever tried to hide what she does around here, she wants people to be able to find her if they want to work together.]

Not at all. Go right ahead, sir.

You've been tracking the energy levels of the Coral, excepting when you entered your coma. You've got at least two people working on or already utilizing machines to help with this, but that's not your method is it?
You use magic. I've got plenty to ask about that particular subject, but really, that can all wait.
You've been studying the coral, making you somewhat unique here in that you're trying to learn about the conditions of this place.
In your opinion, is the coral really sentient?

It appears you've done your research on me.

[Should she be flattered or creeped out? She didn't notice him studying her. Then again, everything he's said, she's said on the network before - and not privately. She's always hoped that someone would bother to look at the information presented to them, but it's been so long since anyone showed a hint of initiative that she's caught off guard.]

The coral may or may not be sentient, but in my opinion, it is not the one controlling things here. I think it is being used as much as we here. Take a look at these.

[And she passes him a link to some documents, now rather old.]

Edited 2012-06-28 23:49 (UTC)

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zelda_hylia - 2012-07-15 06:15 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

trust_the_fuckhead - 2012-07-19 16:49 (UTC) - Expand

You know the drill, I was lame, ignore backtags if you want, etc

zelda_hylia - 2012-08-16 20:35 (UTC) - Expand

Nope. Same with kanaya, I can't avoid this response.

trust_the_fuckhead - 2012-08-23 00:44 (UTC) - Expand

seriously, backthreaded with Cal and the last thing was Matthew giving Zelda his SFC. Aww yeah

zelda_hylia - 2012-08-23 00:50 (UTC) - Expand

Oh... Oh man. Well, this explains Spider's lack of activity as of late.

trust_the_fuckhead - 2012-08-23 23:53 (UTC) - Expand

YUP. She was inactive for awhile after that thread too 8D

zelda_hylia - 2012-08-24 01:34 (UTC) - Expand

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trust_the_fuckhead - 2012-08-28 13:56 (UTC) - Expand

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zelda_hylia - 2012-08-28 21:10 (UTC) - Expand

That moment when both my characters have some level of attraction to Zelda for the same reasons

trust_the_fuckhead - 2012-08-29 11:44 (UTC) - Expand

and Zelda is oblivious! well, not to Kanaya anymore

zelda_hylia - 2012-08-30 02:40 (UTC) - Expand

Everything's reset when you're brought back to your world from Vatheon and you don't remember your time spent here.

I can only assume that if, for example, I aged and was about to have a child...when I'm brought back to my world all of that time and change will be lost. Similarly, the children that already exist would become wards, waiting for their parents to come back, only to find that the coral brought them back as children too if that time comes.

It's a disgusting thought.

Better to share the thought and make sure people think about it than for someone to go off and stumble into it the hard way. It's just one example of what happens if people forget about the nature of this place and try to treat this like just some other life.

I wish they wouldn't. It's bad enough that we're basically told to sit still and wait for what the coral does next, but things *have* actually happened to prove how awful this place is.

Some might not remember it since it's been so long or have "forgiven and forgotten", but people have been abducted and come back maddened by some unidentifiable source. People have died at the hands of those "patients."

I can only describe them as patients because they came back in sterile white clothes, no shoes and I.D. bracelets.

[There's about a five minute delay before the next line comes.]

You know, Mr. Jerusalem, sometimes people leave Vatheon and come back. Sometimes they actually remember their time spent here. It's happened to me twice, actually, and I can tell you with most certainty that it's frustrating accommodating all those extra memories, rebuilding relationships here, putting your "other life" back together.

Thank you for telling me about this. I'll look into it.
My job as a journalist is to find the dirty little secrets and bring them to light, so that this sort of thing can be stopped.

I'm sure the shock of transition is a hard thing to endure. Reminds me of something from back home. I might just reprint an older article of mine here to help give people a little perspective.

I'm glad that I was able to help in some way.

And I'm relieved that there are still people that won't give up on finding the truth.

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trust_the_fuckhead - 2012-07-02 14:31 (UTC) - Expand

Hey, I like that quote. It's a good one.

And it's accurate here, but it's hardly a gilded cage. We KNOW we're here to be sold.

Some people do. Not everybody though. It wasn't explained to me right away, and far too many people seem disinterested in learning just what we're here for. Fuck, some people have been here for months and have never been told why they need to touch the coral.

We are indeed products, subjects of some experiment. I intend to make sure people don't forget that.

Well of course. You can remind everyone all you like. The same people will ignore this as those who don't care.

I'm probably the only one who remembers that the high priestess exists somewhere still. There's a lot to be wary of here.

Maybe. Maybe not.
I saw someone else talking about a priestess a few weeks ago, so I don't think you're the only one. You do seem to have a good eye for detail and an excellent memory for the things others deem unimportant, and those are both admirable traits.
You can see elsewhere in response to this article someone telling me about "patients"
You know anything about that?

Yeah. I was one of them.

And it's my job to notice these things. There hasn't been anything I've missed in my 2 years, 4 months and 16 days of being here. But you're right. Most people don't care to know, because they're comfortable here.

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redcloakedthief - 2012-07-10 15:39 (UTC) - Expand

-Well, Sir Spider Jerusalem, in exchange for this new life, we're part of an experiment; as well as giving energy for the Coral to provide the barrier around the city. As for your pregnant woman scenario, I'm told all time is lost from here, so the woman would likely be the age of when she'd left her world, as well as not having her child any longer.-

First of all I'm no "Sir". I would have turned down the offer after the war of the verbals anyway, even if I did end up helping England win in the end.

Second, that's just my point. Many people here seem to just accept this new life without even realizing there is a cost to it. There's a welcoming committee, hoards of people trying to help new arrivals, and yet still some people end up forgetting or not learning that they need to touch the coral.

And that's something I want to get across to people. If you forget just where you are, then you might run into something like that. The unborn fetus would cease to exist. A newborn might be left in one of these apartments without parents. These are some hazards that may occur, especially if people decide to just live out their new lives here without thinking about the fucking consequences of this place.

-Those who don't care to know or simply don't know the full situation, yes. Ignorance is rarely rewarded, but here, it is. There's only the Coral sickness to remind you of the strange environment, and if you want to ignore it completely, you may move to the island. It does a fair job of distracting us from the issue of being kidnapped interdimensionally in the first place.

As for the child, I don't imagine people are here long enough or get that comfortable to begin a family; not from what I've seen at least. Even the more accepting people I've met are still wary and see it as temporary living while we figure out an escape route.-

Edited 2012-06-29 04:46 (UTC)

Ignorance is rewarded everywhere.
There's always someone in control, someone in power.
Someone who benefits from the ignorance of others.
Evil fucks like that are my greatest foe, and I wield the weapon those shitlickers fear most.

-I don't think the Head Nurse or the Coral fear your writing. Regardless, it'll be nice to have a newspaper of sorts.-

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trust_the_fuckhead - 2012-07-10 12:52 (UTC) - Expand

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bootsweremadeforcasting - 2012-07-12 21:55 (UTC) - Expand

YOU WATCHED SOME OF US HATEFLIRTING?
WHO?
AS FOR THE REST
1) I HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT THE MECHANICS OF HUMAN PREGNANCY, AND EVEN THE ADULT TROLLS HERE ARE INCAPABLE OF REPRODUCTION WITHOUT A MOTHER GRUB, SO THIS POSSIBILITY IS OUTSIDE THE REALM OF FUCKS FOR ME TO GIVE.
2) FOR A "GILDED CAGE", AND DON'T GET ME WRONG BECAUSE I KNOW IT IS ONE, IT'S STILL BETTER THAN WHAT SOME OF US WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE.
SOME WOULD ONLY HAVE DEATH BACK IN THEIR WORLDS.
AND WHEN WE'RE STUCK HERE FOR MONTHS OR YEARS AT A TIME
I'VE BEEN HERE LIKE AN EARTH YEAR AND A HALF, ALMOST
SETTLING IN AND FORMING A LIFE IS BASICALLY WHAT WE HAVE TO DO.
TRUST ME, I KNOW THERE ARE CHANCES TO FIND SHIT OUT ABOUT THIS PLACE
BUT THE LOCALS ARE TIGHT-LIPPED AS FUCK, THE PEOPLE IN THE KNOW ARE SECRETIVE BASTARDS WHO ONLY HAND OUT THE OCCASIONAL CRUMB OF INFO, AND THE SCIENTISTS ARE AS EVER A COLLECTION OF SHAMELESS COWARDS HIDING OUT WHEREVER THE HELL THEY ARE WHILE THEY RUN THEIR SO-CALLED "EXPERIMENTS".

I saw two instances of trolls flirting, one of which involved the phrase hateflirting. I really didn't care enough to see who they were, as you're the only troll I've really met.
As for point 1, fair enough.
As for point 2, excellent counterargument. It's worth examining things from that angle as well I think. What exactly do you mean by only having death to return to?

TEXT QUIRKS OR HORN SHAPES ARE GENERALLY DISTINGUISHING ENOUGH, BUT WHATEVER.
BACK ONTO THAT POINT, I MEAN IT LITERALLY.
SOME OF US, IF WE WENT BACK TO OUR WORLDS, WOULD EITHER BE ALREADY DEAD, OR ELSE WAITING TO DIE IN SHORT ORDER.
I HAVE FRIENDS HERE WHO ARE CORPSES BACK ON OUR PLANET OR IN THE VEIL
OR PEOPLE WHO, THROUGH KNOWLEDGE GIVEN BY TIME SHENANIGANS, WOULD ONLY END UP DYING A CERTAIN WAY.
AND I DON'T MEAN FROM OLD AGE OR ILLNESS OR "NATURAL CAUSES"
I MEAN BEFORE THEIR TIME
WHETHER OR NOT THEY DESERVED IT THEN, BUT WITHOUT THE CHANCE OF REFORM THIS PLACE GIVES AND SOME HAVE EARNED
OR JUST WITHOUT THE CHANCES THIS PLACE IMPARTS ON US.
SOME OF US WOULD NEVER HAVE MET BECAUSE IT'S A CHRONOLOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY.
OTHER TIMES FRIENDSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND SO ON WOULD BE TORN APART BY ONE THING OR ANOTHER
SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, OTHER CHAOS, DISTANCE, SEPARATION BY WORLDS
WITH NOT ONE THING WE COULD DO ABOUT IT.
SURE, NO ONE REMEMBERS IF THEY RETURN HOME
I HAVE ONCE MYSELF
BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I WANT TO LOSE WHAT I HAVE HERE
AND I KNOW PLENTY OF OTHERS WHO FEEL THE SAME.

[Spider just chuckles to himself. He had hoped someone would offer a dissenting opinion, and he just happened to get it from someone with a good gift for words.]

Well done kid.
You've convinced me.
I'll look into this side of things more, probably even make that the subject of my next article.
There are many people contemplating escape, return to the places they came from.
Maybe I can at least get them to think of more than just themselves. I wouldn't doubt that many of them would send everybody home without stopping to think of what other people might want.

GOOD.
FOR SOME SUPPOSED SEEKER OF "THE TRUTH", YOU OUGHT TO DO THAT ANYWAY.
AS IT STANDS, IF I DO FIGURE OUT HOW THESE JACKASSES IN CHARGE ARE PULLING AND PUSHING US BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE UNIVERSES
I WANT THERE TO BE AN OPTION TO SEND BACK PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE SENT BACK
BUT LET THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO STAY REMAIN HERE.
UNFORTUNATELY THAT'S STILL A LONG WAYS OFF.

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Text; Filtered. Paranoia is Fun

Text; Filtered. That makes the both of them, haha

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[TEXT] so long as you don't mind a late tag, now that I've got my app out of the way

Sure, as long as you don't mind me derping on it for five days. whoops.

it happens!

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