ic contact for reverienet

[oculusriffs]

TG: this is going to be fucking stupid isnt it


[want to get in touch with Dave? you can leave a TEXT, VOICE, or VIDEO message — or alternatively, he shouldn't be too hard to track down in person. it's a hunk of junk space house. in space. he's around here somewhere.]

Comments

@skull

[ryuji]

This is gonna sound kinda weird, but... you didn't wake up with anything uh

Like...

Alive... in your cheek right?

I'm kinda worried that I'm contagious

[The awkward unprotected contact text.]

[oculusriffs]

[... is this their punishment for vandalizing a space bathroom. they pissed off the ghosts somehow??]

dude







what
also no
also are you ok

[ryuji]

[Honestly? He wouldn't be surprised.

It's not even a question of "if ghosts..." but more like "those fucking ghosts."]

Oh, good

Cause 2 people I was in close contact with also had things wiggling inside them

It was a bad touch

I mean, I'm ok. Texting you so I ain't dead, right?

[It was terrifying, don't try to be cool about it.]

[oculusriffs]

[maybe Dave shouldn't mention that the dead people he knows are pretty prolific texters — himself included. he's pretty sure that battle with the mutts with swords didn't end in his favor.]

[but he can tell that Ryuji is upset, and despite being the sort of guy where you can't always tell if he's being serious or not, if there is something going on with someone he considers a friend? Dave immediately switches to a mode that's much more sincere.]

if you caught a space-td or something
theres probably like a doctor on board who can check you out
i dunno
but my cheeks are as pristine as ever so im gonna guess sharing it aint a thing anymore
when was the last time it happened

[ryuji]

I dunno about that, man. I'm a virgin when it comes to space exploration. I didn't think my maiden voyage would be filled with such bullshit and here I am, wondering what other stuff could happen to us out here...

Uh

I was talkin about my face cheeks not the ones south of the border

Wait you probably knew that

Forget I said that

It happened this morning. Ren and I got it out, but check this. It wasn't even a worm. It was a wire

Like wth am I a secret android or something?

[Talking it out does feel a hell of a lot more calming than stewing over it. He doesn't say it outright, but thanks, man.]

[oculusriffs]

nah im gonna go ahead and save that butt blooper you just had
you know for posteritys sake

[god fucking dammit, Dave.]

but more importantly than that
youre saying this wasnt a hallucination
you have tangible evidence of it
not like whatevers making noises in the walls
or exploding or pulling some straight up general sassacre slapstick bullshit on us
are you sure youre ok

[ryuji]

Great no oh no stop

More proof of me talking about my ass in public what I am gonna do

[Stares at his communicator as if his straight face can come through it and smack Dave upside the head. Does this thing even have a camera feature? Why has he never explored this option before???]

Ok so I have no freaking clue what the hell general sassacre is but yeah

A real live wire

I kept it on the desk of my room but even lookin at it is giving me crazy heebie jeebies

Why, do you have use for wire? I'll gladly donate this shit

Real, real talk

Like totally real, I guess

I'm still kinda effed up about it? Like what if I wake up tomorrow and there's another one there? What if it's in my heart or something, or like worse, my dick.

[oculusriffs]

[he's glad to be reading that his lame joke went over so well.]

i dont know man
im not gonna feed you some line about how its all gonna be alright and well turn out hunky dory like fuckin leave it to beaver
had that backfire on everyone too many times
sometimes shit just stinks and theres not much you can do but lean in and get a good whiff
just really take in the subtle aroma of coal miners asshole

[but Dave also isn't the type to sit around and do nothing. no matter how many times he's had pretty much everything backfire on him, no matter how many times he's failed, no matter how many times he's died, he can't just sit by and let a tragedy unwind everything he cares about; he has to try something.]

[he doesn't know exactly how well his abilities work here. but he paid his dues, he has the fraymotifs. and there is one that he thinks might help here.]

that doesnt mean you cant have a plan in place though
if you cant be anything else then at the very least you can be ready
so quick question: what all do you know about how time works

[ryuji]

It's cool. I can be pretty dumb at times but I ain't that naive to think that everything's gonna go great. Does it ever feel like when someone drops that lame line on you that it's almost like they're jinxing you?

Like, shit. Don't say everything will be okay, you just probably just ensured the universe is gonna plop a piano on my head in like those old ass cartoons.

[Being the embodiment of the chariot arcana himself, he's supposed to be filled with relentless levels of determination against odds that are stacked up against him. And he is, for the most part. A persistent little shit, if anything.]

Time?

Wth, this is like

The most non follow-up follow-up I've ever heard

But I dunno, things just move forward and that's kinda that?

[oculusriffs]

goddamn exactly
thank you
you are in the general sports arena of how a timeline works yeah
time is something thats infuriatingly my thing
im not suggesting actual time travel here
not interested in any back to the future sort of shenanigans
i mean that was a pretty great movie but it was also completely unrealistic
but one thing ive got the fraymotifs to do is stop time on a target
im not gonna get into details on how it works
but you can think of it as hitting the pause button on yourself
not long enough to cause any weird blips in the matrix or anything though
youve got my word on that

[was there a point somewhere in this rambling text message, Dave.]

look what im saying is
haunted space wires cant murder you and also you cant be murdered if the seconds arent ticking by for either of you
itd be a long enough pause that someone could get the thing out before it did any real damage

[ryuji]

[It was a great movie. It also sounds more foolproof than what Dave's talking about, or... at least taking his sweet time getting to, at least.]

So you can stop time?

I don't really understand it, fraymotif?

Listen, I'll take your word for it, the more you explain the less I'm gonna follow you

But if that's the case, holy shit, that's cool.

You'd do that? Like, if I was in trouble? Does it have an infinite supply sorta thing or a limited number of uses? If you can only do it a few times, I don't want you wasting it on me when it could save someone more important. Or save yourself, you know?

Sorry, I'm probably asking like a million questions at once

[oculusriffs]

sure dude ive got your back
this is easy shit like
first spell you get in the first dungeon or some other dumb video game analogy like that
so dont worry about it getting wasted or anything

[the only caveat is that it's physically exhausting. save the day, take a nap, as all lame not-heroes such as himself do.]

[also, he's not sure, even if it were that limited, that he'd bother using it on himself? Ryuji probably has somewhere more important to be than on a haunted space station — better to focus on keeping him and everybody else alive instead.]

[ryuji]

That seems kinda like the last spell you'd get since it'd be SO OP.

Oh, you're about to be hit with a giant lightning bolt from the level 99 wizard trailing your ass? Hold on, lemme fix that real quick, I got a cheat code

[When it comes down to it, though, Ryuji is of the same mindset. He'd absolutely sacrifice himself and his own needs to make sure everyone else is safe.]

I can get behind it

You gotta show me one day

But you gotta promise not to use to it like, freeze time and draw a penis on my face or anything like that

Cause I'd totally kick your ass if you did

[oculusriffs]

[see, this is why Dave likes Ryuji. they are operating on the exact same wavelength on pretty much everything.]

[also, that probably wasn't the best idea to be giving to Dave "shut up and draw another penis" Strider.]

hahahahaha
youd probably get along with rose
yall could sit there sipping tea and churning out weird wizard fanfiction
i dont mind showing you how stopping time works
ill even be charitable and make that promise for you
but even if i didnt
how do you intend to prove that i was the dick artist

[ryuji]

One of your friends back home? I came with some of mine, but we're all split up now. I hope they're doin okay

Don't look at me dude, I can barely sit down to write a high school essay, nvm a treatise on forbidden wizard/human love

UH......... How's that charitable? Oh thank you great one for not mucking up my face with your great artistic talent

Hah, bullshit

I'd know, man

I'd know

[oculusriffs]

see thats what im saying though
all you have to do is sit there spouting shit like "forbidden human/wizard love" and shed spin out some completely longwinded flowery yarn about it
that sort of stuff is like her aesthetic
but yeah rose is my sister
who are your friends here with you
and also
its not like you know how good i am at drawing
you could be beating up a completely innocent man for someone elses hypothetical cock calligraphy

[Dave, for the record, is a goddamn terrible artist. his drawings are deep fried on a level that's almost painful.]

[ryuji]

Sounds like we got the makings for a really trashy teen romance movie in the works. I'm not gonna read it but I'm sure someone would eat that shit up.

Guessing she ain't here, huh? Sorry, man.

Ren, Makoto, and Haru. We're all from the same... uh, dimension? Time ain't right, because some of us came from different points. I'm still tryin' to wrap my head around that

[Leaving Akechi out, it's a sore subject.]

Dude, phrasing. Cock calligraphy? Really paints the wrong type of picture. But anyway, since you're promising, I'm gonna hold you to it. Good people don't break em, so

[oculusriffs]

["good" isn't really the word he'd use to describe himself. but Dave does at least try to keep promises.]

that mental image is all on you dude
your situation with your friends isnt really all that strange if you think about it
then again i did just get done sayin that times my thing
but if a haunted station could pull in random people from across who knows how many dimensions or other pockets of space
it makes sense that itd be able to snatch people from different points in time too
space and time dont look all that different if you view them from outside their normal mo
at least thats what ive always been told

[earlier he'd been missing Rose. now he's missing Jade, too — thinking about her is always a reminder of the things he wasn't strong enough to do. he hadn't been able to save her.]

i met haru though
she seems nice
pretty serious about tea

[ryuji]

[Ryuji has a pretty warped definition of what "good" really is... he's spent the last year weeding out the corruption in peoples' hearts, and he's seen some pretty rotten shit inside of them. And even then, those who think that they're doing good rarely really are; something he's even guilty of.]

I'll leave the time stuff up to you. Shit, I've always wondered about this kinda stuff. Ren told me about some stuff that happens in the future before we actually do it, so does knowing that change what's gonna happen when we get back home? I mean, assuming there's a way outta this mess.

Like I dunno, let's say I'm supposed to go to a track team meet. He tells me that I win nationals, so do I get cocky and stop training, knowing that it's gonna work out? Then I'll probably lose. Not that I run anymore, but... just an example.

Ah, screw it. It's makin my head hurt.

[Cheesy, dumb smile at him meeting Haru.]

Man, she's serious about everything. But in that good kinda way. And a great gardener to boot. Maybe you can give her a hand with your time magic powers and speed grow the crops she's tryin' to set up.

Think about it, man. Vegetarian burritos!

Wait, that's probably worse

[oculusriffs]

if youre saying theres something about your future that you know
then its vital that you make sure it happens
because from your friends perspective it already has
to do otherwise would create a paradox
and thats the most dangerous thing you could have happen

[when timelines start splintering, when there's an offshoot that's different than what is supposed to happen ... that's when the dead bodies start piling up. and nobody likes piles of dead bodies.]

knowing your future aint all its cracked up to be
it can put a lot of stress on you to make decisions you probably would have made anyway
but on the bright side
there are a lot of really long hallways here
lots of spooks to run away from
getting your training in shouldnt be a problem
maybe dont use bean burritos as your training diet once haru gets the garden going though
kinda feel like thats a gastronomical tragedy waiting to happen
and thered really be no winners there

[ryuji]

Wait are you forreal? Shit I'm gonna tell him to not tell me anything. That's too much goddamn pressure!

The thing we're kinda meant to do is something we gotta do anyway, so maybe I'm safe in just... making sure we do that thing.

[Oh...

He thinks about this for a moment. Ren told him about something else, something that's really kind of depressing. The fact that his best friend moves out of Tokyo to go live back home to live with his parents. Which means, as Dave had put it, it has to happen. Ryuji had this wild hope that his friends would be there after all the dust settled, together and onwawrd. It meant a lot to him. They were the only thing that made him feel like he had purpose- made him feel like he wasn't the same aimless punk without a chance at a future.]

IDK, these punk ass ghosts are probably sticking their legs out waiting for trip you up... hah. I'm not much of a runner these days anyway. Broke my leg a while ago and it hasn't really been the same since

[Too busy working on those guns]

Anyway, I'll save the raging explosions for something cooler than a toilet. What about you? It's kinda like we're drifting with nothing to do. Haru's at least got the garden

[oculusriffs]

[if there's anyone who understands what it feels like to know some part of your future turns out shitty, but also know you have to go through the motions of it anyway, it's Dave.]

sounds like youve got your timeline squared away then
sucks about your leg though
personally
i like spinning mixes of the unbelievably ill variety
i dont have any of my equipment here though
so ive just been writing some equally unbelievably ill rhymes

[ryuji]

Oh... a poetic type

Didn't take you much for that type

Drop me a beat! I'll beatbox for you

[Sadly, he's decent at it.

A little more than decent, actually.]

[oculusriffs]

["And if the inspiration strikes, you won't hesitate to drop some PHAT RHYMES on a mofo and REPRESENT."]

oh man
sorry for leading you astray like that
my raps as completely ill as it gets
only dude who is more tuned into this sick word science is goddamn obama himself
ill drop you a beat sure
you free right now im interested in seeing what sorta beatboxing chops youve got

[ryuji]

[That'll scare the ghosts away.]

Yeah, considering the options here are... clean the pool, stare at the ceiling, or eat questionably edible stuff, I'd say my calendar's pretty damn empty.

Come on and slam and welcome to the jam