caughtinanetwork | It Could Be Worse

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?

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[Hopefully he's dressed by the time the princess gets there. She's the picture of prim and proper, not a hair out of place or a wrinkle on her clothing. She knocks twice, then folds her hands in front of herself and waits.]

[He's about as dressed as he ever gets, wearing black pants, shoes, socks, and an open black jacket, sans shirt. Of course, he's also wearing his glasses. He checks the peephole in his door before unlocking the deadbolt. When he opens the door, it still stops on a security chain. He doesn't say anything at first though, as his more clear view from the cracked door seems to satisfy him. He's seen video of her before, so he knows who he is dealing with. He closes the door, and undoes the chain before reopening.]

Come on in. Zelda, right? Some sort of princess where you come from?

[His apartment is... sparse. Certainly messy, but it looks like an effort was made to tidy up a bit. Some fast food boxes sit in a corner, but not dirty enough to be anything worse than an eyesore. The studio seems empty of personal decorations and furniture. What it is not lacking in, however, is entertainment systems. What possible use could six televisions be? They're all off at the moment, but over in another corner is a glow from his desk. His typewriter styled laptop forms the center of the set, but an array of four extra monitors is arranged around the device. Each screen is currently showing text and video from the SFC network.]

Yes, I am Hyrule's princess. That holds little meaning here, though, so please just call me Zelda.

[The state of his apartment is mostly ignored, but the observation of the network...]

Goodness, that's efficient. I wish I was better with technology, it's difficult to keep track of everything.

[It doesn't stop her from trying, though.]

Have you gotten a chance to look at the communicator of someone who has been here for awhile, yet? They only go so far back before your own arrival. You can look at mine, if you have not.

That... would be- hold on.

[ After she enters the room he closes the door, resetting the deadbolt. He pulls a cannister out from his pocket, something blue with a ring and latch on it. Looks a awful lot like some sort of grenade... which he then pulls the pin on, dropping the device on the floor. It flares up with a bright blue light, making a sputtering sort of noise. There's no shrapnel, no heat, just flickering light and poping sputtering noises as the cannister seems to disolve. In a moment there is nothing left but a wisp of blue sparkles burning out in the air, then nothing at all.]

Soundproofer. High tech toy from my homeworld, care of the nook. The level of tech required to evesdrop on us right now probably exceeds even that of the people running this place. It's no guarentee, but better than nothing. That sfc of yours would be a great help, by the way. I should be able to dump its archives onto my laptop.

You're in luck. I just so happen to have done the same with mine, and I connected with someone who has been here since the first reported arrival of a foreigner.

[Zelda has absolutely no problem sharing that information, either. She takes out her SFC and holds it out to him with a smile.]

There were a few appearances on the network by some rather important people before my arrival, so it's been quite a handy thing to have.

Wait, really? That's... amazing. I could really use that. Thank you.

[And here he thought this little meet up was going to be just about organizing their efforts. This could be a potential atom bomb. At the very least he can have his data miners rolling on that for the next week or so.]

So I have to ask, why do you feel the need to dig into things here?

[Zelda doesn't have anything like a data miner, she had to go through and read all those posts manually. Still, she learned a lot.]

Why? We are being forced to live outside of our worlds in a bubble under the ocean. Not understanding how it works could mean our deaths. Does there need to be any reason other than that? If you must know, though, I need to return to my people, and I believe some of the things I have learned from other worlds here would benefit my country. I cannot afford to be sent back at the leisure of a possibly sentient coral, and I will not let it take my memories.

[Spider's world does more with information than just about any other world that has a connection to Vatheon. Even his basic laptop can automatically dig through the data here in moments, pulling up correlations, connections, and making assessments. In the end though, he trusts his own eyes: the multiple screens allow him to watch what's going on in the network as it happens, even between many different postings. It'll get some good use out of the whole archive of the SFC network.]

A fair and pragmatic assessment. It seems your goals are none to dissimilar from my own. Figure out what's going on here. Take control of whatever mechanism sends people around. Send back those that wish to go back, and prevent others from leaving if they prefer it here. Learn what we can. Spread the Truth.

[In all her time here, no one has ever expressed the same initiative that Zelda has. There are people working to get back, yes, but they don't seem to give a damn about the people who would want to stay in Vatheon, or finding out the cause behind everything. They just want to go home. She tilts her head at Spider in appraisal before nodding.]

That is precisely what I seek. I cannot say I've met anyone else pursuing the same goal, though...

It's a rare event for me as well. Here, or back home.

[It's fairly true. He's worked with people to the same ends quite often, of course, but usually with different reasons. Royce, his editor, for example. They worked to find the Truth together, but as an editor he was interested in the bottom line, the sales numbers. Spider serves the Truth as it's own ideal. In this case, it's about finding the best possible solution for everyone involved. Except the scientists, or whatever bastards are behind this. He's ok with them not getting any benefit.]

We should keep in touch, make sure we update each other with what we find, maybe help organize out efforts a little. We're better off working together on this.

[Zelda has impressed him yet again. There may be other people who have a similar level of kindness, but so rarely is that paired with a pragmatic willingness to do what it takes to help people. Last time he saw that... Well. It did not end out so well. Is he really over her? No way of really knowing. He would never forget her, but this is a different universe. No point in worrying about ghosts of his past, not till the job here is done and he can go back.]

Hey, you want to come out to dinner with me?

[She might be well versed in many matters, but when it comes to any sort of romance, the princess is absolutely clueless. If she had to guess at why Spider would invite her out, she would think it's so his computers can finish analyzing her SFC.]

Certainly. Did you have any place in mind?

It Could Be Worse – 01

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

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

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

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

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

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

and Zelda is oblivious! well, not to Kanaya anymore