text | username: xXx_trueblue_xXx & redlion

[competing]

[With all the information coming out, it's apparent to Keith and Lance that one big elephant in the room has been ignored: the infection among the recruits themselves. Keith is tired and on edge, as he needs nothing to do with the infection to be cranky. Lance is jittery, too. But they have to talk about that elephant before it gets too late.

And for some of them, it might be. That's what Keith is really afraid of right now.]

Hey. It's Keith.

and ya boy, lance! [Because things are already pretty doom and gloom as it stands, and maybe things could use a little lightening up? Or something...

It’s a little more difficult to differentiate between people in a group message like this, but it’s a better idea to get something down on text in case they need to refer to it later, and anyone who knows either of the boys can probably tell them apart pretty easily through diction alone.]

we know your mind-phones have been pretty busy lately, but theres something keith and i wanted to talk to you guys about.

Before we get a move on in attacking Zymandis' agent, we need to look at our own numbers. A lot of us are sick. Maybe less than I thought. Or maybe more. Either way, we have to know who's sick and make a plan to help our own. And I'm serious about HELPING. Not putting someone out of their misery or any of the other stupid stuff I've heard from some of this team. We need to stop this disease. We need to help our own. Once everyone's BETTER, we'll make a plan for what to do next as a team.

[It's harsher than necessary but likely less harsh than how it might be normally, given Keith's frequently frustrated tone of voice. Text mitigates some of it, even if his frustration definitely does become CAPITAL LETTERS.

Lance, meanwhile, is quite eager to gloss over that sharp reprimand because seriously guys — kumbaya.]

yeeeeeah, so — helping! getting a head count is definitely ideal. we cant afford to be silent on this and we definitely CANT be alone right now, cuz every one of us affected and on our own can be a huge risk to everyone here. so we were thinking… since the city shut it down, we can use the middle school. those of us infected can stay there while we wait for our people to find that cure. like a quarantine safe house.. i know its not ideal, but its something. especially for those who dont have any other contingency plans.

[A pause. Well. May as well get the ball rolling, right?]

ill be there.

( ooc; p.s. there is an information plotting post for the quarantine space! )

Comments

[competing]

its the best we can do right now with what weve got
and we thought about that, obviously, thats why i mentioned all the separate classrooms in the first place
but were not gonna lock people up until they get to a point they cant control themselves

[hedonistic]

[Ha ha ha...wait until people go from being a potential threat to when they cause actual harm? What a radical fucking idea. He laughs bitterly on his side of the magitek.]

and what happens if too many of u lose ur minds at the same time, and the sane ones get eaten?
or u guys like, fuckin trigger each other or something, we don't know how this shit works
at least have some of the immune fuckers like the robots come by and play prison guard

[competing]

some of those people have offered

[ the more he listens to this guy, the less he's believing that "not trying to be a dick" argument. ]

we have precautions
we have time
i dunno what you were doing while all this was going down, but some people were actually paying attention to how this virus goes down

[hedonistic]

[Kagari's thresholds for "intentionally trying to be a dick for the sake of being a dick" and "being a dick" are pretty different, unfortunately, and the latter is much, much lower. Like resting bitch face, but with his attitude.]

yes ok i'm sure u all are aware of exactly the time u got infected and there won't be any unforeseen complications when a virus meant for humans gets a bunch of other species too

there's absolutely no way any of this could backfire and unleash a whole goddamn swarm of zombies with superpowers on the city at the same time

congrats on ur guards tho
maybe that will be enough
if ur lucky

[competing]

people with powers are already infected
so i dunno why youre talking like this safe house is gonna make that any worse than it already is
taking those of us who can spread the virus away from the others is one way to make sure it doesnt continue to spread
so do you actually have anything useful to say
or are you just gonna continue to be as unhelpful as possible
because if so no one told you to respond to this dude

[secondnature]

Lance it's pretty clear that he's one of the many people who doesn't actually care about what's going on with our team.

If we're lucky, maybe he'll be transferred out before long.

He seems like the type of guy no one would miss.

[competing]

[ omg keith that's so savage ]

i think hes just scared

[secondnature]

Where are you even getting that?

[competing]

most people who lash out are

[secondnature]

Did you forget who you're talking to?

[competing]

how could i
youre sitting right next to me

[secondnature]

Yeah well here's a tip from someone who lashes out: it isn't just fear.

[competing]

buuuut you admit that sometimes it could be

[secondnature]

Yeah from what I'm reading it's DEFINITELY not fear.

[competing]

[ what was it that keith asked him to do... trust his judgment more... ]

...alright maybe you have a point

[hedonistic]

yeah people with powers are already infected
but the problem is ur putting them all in one place
so when u guys start going full zombie if ur not already locked up its not just gonna be one zombie that gets out
its gonna be ALL of u
u can outrun one zombie, sure, but ten? twenty?

this wouldn't be a bad idea if u did the classroom thing from the start
it's the part where ur like no we can't do that until they lose control!!! that's going to fuck everything up

[competing]

if people volunteer themselves to do that early on, then yes obviously well do that
but im not gonna force anyone anywhere either
its not supposed to be a prison
its not about being reckless
its about trusting people who are infected to make the right decision and do what they can

[hedonistic]

why the fuck not!
it's the motherfucking zombie apocalypse, dude
you literally fucking know, you KNOW it's fucking inevitable that you're all gonna start to try murdering each other soon
if there was ever a fucking time to force people to do shit against their will, it's when they're about to L I T E R A L L Y lose their ability to make decisions for themselves!

[competing]

but they havent yet
thats the POINT

[hedonistic]

oh my god are you even trying to listen to me
it's a terrible point, that's MY whole point!
there's literally no reason it SHOULDN'T be a prison
because you fucking know exactly what's going to happen!

we don't have the time to worry about everyone's fucking feelings right now
if we really want to keep this goddamn virus from spreading through the entire fucking multiverse we SHOULD be rounding up every person with symptoms and locking them up until we've got this shit sorted

if i were infected i'd expect nothing less and you should too or all you're really doing is just trying to make yourself feel better about what's about to happen to you

[secondnature]

Hey, here's an idea.

Why don't you back off? How the heck did you go from telling us that this was a stupid idea to telling us that we should be forcing people to lock themselves up against their will?

None of this even makes sense. But what I can say is that you aren't helping. I'd be willing to bet that you haven't helped the entire time we've been here.

[hedonistic]

haha wow could you get over yourself for like five seconds
funny how the TEAMWORK!!!111 guy is the one who can't deal with other opinions
last i checked this team didn't have a boss so stop acting like one and try actually reading

i said from the beginning you guys should lock yourselves up individually
AND i said the classrooms were a good idea for that, but you should do it from the beginning instead of waiting for people to go full zombie

[competing]

dude youre telling us not to act like a boss and then telling us to force everyone to do something that isnt even entirely necessary all in one breath
why are we supposed to listen to you if you arent even listening to yourself?

and no it ISNT entirely necessary because were all freaking adults here (sorta) who know what our bodies are demanding more than anyone else would
im not gonna strip someone of their agency because i think they cant make simple decisions not only about their own safety but everyone else around them
part of this whole post is to get people comfortable with the fact they arent alone in suffering through this
whats the point if were just gonna force them to be alone when we dont have to just yet?
so maybe it IS to make us feel better about whats gonna happen to us
if were being safe about it — and we ARE, there ARE failsafes and contingency plans and guards and barriers — whys that so bad
were trying to do this so we dont accidentally kill people fortunate enough not to be infected
like you
so the least you could do is spare a little compassion

[hedonistic]

man
you think being locked in a room with full access to the network, where you can text and call and fucking video chat is the same thing as being alone, huh
that must be nice

do you have any goddamn idea how much of a luxury it is to talk to people?
cause let me tell you, it's really fucked when you can't
when you don't get to talk to or even SEE another human being for years on end

but here you are whining about what, not being able to hold hands? for maybe a couple weeks?
it's not like i'm saying let's just shoot everyone and be done with it, fuck
you even know its GOING to come to using the classrooms, but you're still willing to take a risk on holding off, with a virus that incidentally -- shocker, makes you slowly unable to make those simple decisions!

[competing]

[ omg he knew this was coming from somewhere HE KNEW IT, TAKE THAT KEITH

okay so it isn't exactly fear but it's still something.

he's still being kind of a jerk, tho, but at least he's stopped being so aggressive about it. ]

dude im not whining about anything
im just saying that asking people to come forward with something thats really uncomfortable and scary for a lot of people is already asking for a lot
and yeah maybe it is a luxury for some
but its not for others
and maybe theres no point in trying to find that balance
but if we dont try that now then any time something like this happens we will just always be pitting ourselves against the other

why didnt you just start with all this in the first place?
started with actual reasons and experience to share
you cant blame us for getting defensive when you immediately start in on the offense like that

so why dont we all just take a breath right now and actually work together huh?
as soon as people come forward, ill mention the classrooms, ill mention the enchantments
they should at least know what theyre getting themselves into
and yeah we will start to lose ourselves later we get it thats part of the pill we gotta swallow okay
but while were still ourselves while were still people
we deserve that much respect to be treated as such