[IC Contact -- Snowblind]

[bookofnope]

[There is a click noise. It sounds as though it might be judging you.]

Comments

voice;

[headjacked]

Biased in what way?

[ Hello, Mr. Slow on the Uptake. ]

And, hey, dunno if you noticed, but you sound like total crap.

[bookofnope]

Yes. At which point I told you that you aren't a very good liar, and a few more attempts at hedging later we were talking about alchemy. Not much of a track record.

voice

[bookofnope]

[Beckett sounds distracted and slightly out of breath. Gravedigging, you know. It may be enough to conceal that he is also very worried.]

Nothing since what Handsome Jack posted. No response to my messages to either of them. Is there still no word?

text;

[bookofnope]

I see. Thank you for the information.

There are two obvious options. The first is that we are not searching in the right place, and NIMA is located in its own, separate facility.

The second is that we are not searching for the right thing. It may not be a machine as we conceive of it at all, and we will not recognize the relevance of anything we do find.

Re: text;

[0thingsonmymind]

ilooked for labels

i think prob ably inits own
cannot know where
nowyet



you are search ing digging
bodies dead park?

[bookofnope]

Well. There is always the possibility that NIMA is simply not labelled, but that would be boring.

I'd say I agree, but I can't help but feel that we are missing something crucial about NIMA's nature. That is cannot simply be a machine and perhaps its attendant AI.

My companions have had some delays, but we're setting out to the site tomorrow. I will share any interesting finds. Would you prefer to be informed first, before we make them public?

[bookofnope]

Why, no, however did I not realize that I am coughing my lungs up, again. [Say one word more and he will strangle you, says his tone. You know strangling, right, Rhys?]

The effects of a Vault possibly being involved on Angel's judgement should be obvious, especially since she theorizes the Admin to be a Siren. In my case... [he hesitates briefly.] I'm finding it difficult to depart from the idea that this is still, in some way, my own world.

[0thingsonmymind]

yes, thereis
but ido not know whatit looks like
so lookedfor
la be ls

wedo not even know what
NIMA
means standsfor
or MN
or manythings here

*And its really frustrating.*

ifit is
same
information itdoes not mat ter
when

[armoured]

But being able to use alchemy doesn't make you any more than human, it's just a type of science.

[That much, at least, is true. He still sees himself as human, even if his body isn't exactly conventional right now.]

It's not my fault that you don't believe me.

voice

[swatsflies]

[He's moving away from the group, before responding.]

Nah, haven't heard anything at all. Asked around yesterday and no one heard anything. On top of that, frickin' Clayton is taking that loser's word.

[bookofnope]

Was there any signage in the hospital at all - department names and the like? Or was it missing, like so much other mundane information about this town?

If NIMA is related to medical treatment, I wonder if there is a way to bait

[Abrupt stop here. Bad idea, terrible idea.]

[bookofnope]

Fine, a human with an unusual ability. I stand corrected. [He does not sound corrected. Potayto, potahto. Magic is magic.] I believe this. But I also believe that you were trying to hide it.

[bookofnope]

That is not so surprising. Epps really does not like conflict. [And he isn't sure how much Zell knows about Angel's own mixed feelings about her father. That she insisted that he not be harmed.]

Do you have any reason to suspect what Jack is saying?

[0thingsonmymind]

there were signs, yes
ido not knowif any were miss ing
i donot know what signs shouldbe there

to bait?

*Too late, he wants to know.*

[swatsflies]

A friend told me he's not to be trusted. [There is a pause as he thinks about what the doctor said yesterday. From his interactions with Beckett so far, he knows he's going to have to lay down the facts.]

And that's he's probably a shitty dad. [Zell sounds pretty frustrated when he says this. Reeling in his emotions a bit before he continues-] He also didn't seem that concerned when he was responding to Al's post the night they were separated.

[Sending him a link]

[bookofnope]

I wouldn't know, either. We should see what our resident doctors have to say, perhaps.

[He turns the thought over in his head a number of times before deciding to tentatively proceed with it. Brian is no fool, so perhaps it's better to stop him from coming to his own conclusions.]

I may have an idea. But I need to know that you can be trusted.

[0thingsonmymind]

nonehave said
to me
or wherei have found
on net work



trust ed for what?
ican keep sec rets

*He may or may not actually do that, but he knows how to keep secrets, at least.*

[bookofnope]

I agree. But should he not be trusted about this? [Beckett is the first to consider paranoia justified in most cases, but he is not sure he likes where the implications of this are going.

Other people's lives. Bloody hell.]

This was after lockdown. He would not be the first to try to take his mind off a problem he can do nothing about. I hardly disagree with your judgement of his character, but I don't think he ever actively meant Angel any harm.

[bookofnope]

Trusted to follow instructions and carry out a plan. Trusted to keep your word if you give it.

[0thingsonmymind]

that de pends on
what
theplan is

[swatsflies]

My friend said not to trust him and I trust her. When I was in the group, she was the closest one to Angel besides Rhys. She's also really smart. If she doesn't like someone then it's definitely for a good reason.

[Beckett might hear his sneakers on the wood floor as he shifts from foot to foot.]

He could, but then we don't really know what kind of person he is. I still don't like that we haven't heard from Rhys or Angel yet. Think they both happened to break their tablets? [Or both got eaten... yeesh.]

[armoured]

I'm sorry if you got that impression, because I have no reason to hide alchemy from anyone and I'm always happy to talk about it.

[That, at least, is the truth even if he knows he's just obscuring something else with it.]

[bookofnope]

Not in this case. To trust you with information, I must know that you will not use it against those I consider my allies. Your word, and a guarantee of its worth, or this is as far as we go.

[0thingsonmymind]

*He's never really 'given his word' on anything before and only has a basic grasp of the concept...but he knows that its something that can be broken if need be. He doesn't know if he'll be willing or able to comply with this...but he needs to know whatever this plan is. And keeping silent was pretty much what he did best. At least if he tried to tell people they wouldn't understand him.*

fine
igive it

[bookofnope]

[For someone who's so bad at lying, Beckett has to admit, Al is fairly good at dodging. And Beckett dislikes being dodged even more than he dislikes being lied to.]

You are asking for trust while hiding something. I know it. You know it. Are we going to run in circles all day? I have things to do. Not freezing to death is a harder job than it looks.