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]

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

[secondnature]

Lance, seriously. He isn't helping. He doesn't even make any sense here.

I'd rather work with the people who are actually offering help.

[hedonistic]

sorry for your inability to comprehend words*





*not actually sorry tho

[competing]

so you just like picking fights

[competing]

youre not wrong
but we cant exactly pick and choose who were supposed to work with here keith
its not like alastair goes by some mystical magical alien bond like voltron does

[secondnature]

This isn't picking and choosing.

What he's suggesting involves hurting our teammates.

Neither of us are gonna do that, so we can "thank him" and move on.

[competing]

[ hrrrrrrrhghghhguuhghhghh it all sits wrong with lance "makes friends with everybody" blue lion but keith is right.

can they really afford to be having this kind of philosophical discussion when action needs to be made instead? ]

fiiine
im sure theres a card for this or something

[secondnature]

Well I doubt the looters are stealing greeting cards.

Maybe you can find him one.

[competing]

well i sure as heck aint making him one!!

[ that's keith privileges. ]

[secondnature]

That's the point. He deserves something generic and unwanted.

[competing]

like one of those musical pop up cards!!


actually wait those are kinda cool...

[hedonistic]

haha what
you mean like, telling you how my country built an entire social structure around this shit, which oh, i did in the second comment?
while you were busy being righteously offended?

but sure, let's take the time to baby everyone because it's So Hard to accept reality
i mean, it's probably going to be harder for anyone who actually gets murdered if someone refuses, but at least everyone will feel respected!

[competing]

[ keith is telling him to stop, and he should.

but sometimes keith isn't the only one who doesn't listen. ]

okay so your country did all the things youre telling us to do
howd that work out for you guys

[hedonistic]

well i mean
we are the only ones at least on our hemisphere not at war
so, u kno
it works
for the people not considered dangerous, anyway
but that's the important thing, right?
protecting all these poor, innocent people who did nothing wrong?
or maybe you guys are all talk, and you care about your comfort more than that
it's okay, you can admit it
there's no shame in being selfish
just maybe some death, nbd

[competing]

hang on
are you saying the people infected arent poor and innocent too?
they did nothing WRONG they just got SICK

[hedonistic]

sure
but you/they ARE going to have the urge to murder people
that's inevitable
and sure, we can debate philosophically about if that'd be your fault or not
but if you kill someone they'll still be fucking dead
if we wanna talk about hurting people
since it's real cute how you guys seem to think being locked in a room with supplies and entertainment and constant access to human contact at your fingertips is somehow torture

[competing]

look man im trying real hard to have a legitimate conversation with you
because i honestly think you do have something to say here
so can you maybe do the same thing and not make every exchange an attack here

no one said it was torture
were making plans were taking the steps
the first one is getting it all out in the open, know whose affected and who isnt
because without that then we got nothing
theres no way to know until its too late
so the sooner people talk about it, the better
but thats not gonna happen unless people feel like its safe to

[hedonistic]

i thought we were "all freaking adults" here
i didn't know adults needed every other word to be sugarcoated

you might wanna reread some of your buddy's comments over there if you think no one said that though
all i keep seeing is whining about how locking people up is hurting!! our teammates!!! oh noes

what the hell's unsafe about anything i said?
if anything, it's more safe?
because there isn't the possibility of you guys eating each other??

[competing]

whys it gotta be one or the other for you?
im not asking you to sugarcoat anything
im just telling you not to be such a raging jerk about every single thing you say
believe it or not theres a middle ground

anyway telling people were gonna lock them up in separate rooms like some kind of prisoner
essentially forcing people to confine themselves
isnt exactly creating a safe space for people to want to admit to something theyre likely already not comfortable with in the first place

but hey why dont YOU try YOUR way and see how many people come forward to you
if your way even lets them