001 | ( VIDEO. ) | JULY 30th

[pubertytwice]

_{[ The feed clicks on and shows a kid appearing no older than 13 seated back in a chair, curled knuckles against his face. His eyes look tired and expression rather thin. He's wearing a uniform of some sort, though pieces of it look tattered or stained. One of his legs bounces in his seat (aren't his shorts cute?) but after a moment of mulling over what to say, he leans forward, hands folding together neatly. ]}

I already lack faith in gathering information from anyone here, and yet, here I am with inquiries. Serious responses only.

_{[ What could this boy possibly be asking for?? Where is the best place to get ice cream? Hardly so. ]}

Has anyone has ever even attempted hacking into any confidential files that could be in the government's system that operates here? Alternatively, if anyone has ever attempted to assassinate the Queen?

_{[ Oh.. what.. ]}

If not, is there any place on this goddamn planet that serves coffee? Decent coffee. Every place here is a shit hole.

_{[ That's it. No thanks for your time or anything. ]}

Comments

2/2

[pubertytwice]

Look, I know I don't look it, but I'm old. Old like you, actually. Maybe even older. I'm 58, I just look.. some years younger.

_{[ Some years younger he says. He can give Jack an explanation, but sometimes he really wishes people would just accept it. ]}

[mylawn]

I’ll say.

[He looks thirteen, maybe. 76 is a little more willing to believe fantastical things, now that he’s been on an alien planet for the last few months, but he prefers to maintain a healthy amount of skepticism for any given situation.

So how does something like this happen to a guy?

[pubertytwice]

_{[ Here we go. ]}

I have the natural ability to spatial jump, which I improved on my own to where I could jump though both time and space.

_{[ Humble yourself a little, Five. Your guardian helped you pushed your limit. No? Okay. ]}

I do this without the use of any equipment, but instead, pushing my consciousness forward into a quantum state that extends throughout each variable plane of time— it's mathematics. I jumped forward in time— the future is shitty, by the way— and I made a simple mistake in my equation when traveling back in time since I had never gone back in time before.

I ended up back in the time period I had intended to go to, but it effected my physical form.

[mylawn]

[Ah yes, math. Just math. 76 tries to follow along as Five describes what happened to him, and he finds himself wishing Winston were here to explain a few things. Still, he thinks he gets the gist.]

I knew someone once. Got unstuck from time in an accident. We ended up having to invent a device that kept her anchored.

[It’s clear, however, that in contextualizing this for himself, he’s taking Five a little more seriously. Is he a 58 year old in the body of a teenager? Maybe not, but at least it doesn’t sound too far-fetched, now that he has the story.]

That’s about as far as we got in that department.

[pubertytwice]

_{[ God. He could probably handle another talking monkey, actually. They could chat for hours. ]}

Yeah. It sucks when that happens.

_{[ He's talking about this like having an exchange about the weather. ]}

Did she end up stuck in a specific time period or just somewhere incomprehensible-- sandwiched in between where time meets space? 'Cause that's the worst.

_{[ A beat. ]}

Unless you project yourself into the future so far, you find yourself the last man standing on Earth.

_{[ You know. Kind of like the experience he had. ]}

[mylawn]

Yeah, it does.

[76 says that with some skepticism, but mostly because he’s never heard of anyone even the least bit familiar with Oxton’s condition. He imagines if she were here, she and Five might have a few things to talk about, but he pushes those thoughts aside in order to get to the bottom of how similar Five’s experience may or may not have been.]

Is that what happened to you?

[So far into the future that there wasn’t much left of anything, he thinks.]

[pubertytwice]

Yeah. That's exactly what happened to me, only I couldn't get back. God, I was so young and naive back then..
_{[ ???? ]}

My old man was right, but I guess I wanted to prove to him something. He always acted like none of us were good enough for anything.

[mylawn]

As opposed to now?

[76 takes a slow sip from his glass with an eyebrow raised. Apparently he can't resist getting one last jab in there, even if Five's assertion that he is an old man trapped in a teenage body is starting to seem not so crazy.]

I thought we were here to talk about overthrowing the government, not your daddy issues.

[pubertytwice]

More like reflecting on my youthful mistakes. Surely a seasoned person like yourself has plenty of regrets.

_{[ He's got a Feeling, okay. ]}

In any case, I won't hesitant to use any of my skills to do what needs to get done. I'm a new arrival, though, so I was hoping there was at least and idea for a starting point.

[mylawn]

A few.

[Not any he’s going to voice out loud to a stranger, that’s for sure.

But 76 has similar frustrations about lack of progress. Still, what is it they’re supposed to do? They’re in a bad position to make any moves.]

Seems to me that these people will only be interested in us for as long as we’re useful to them. After that, well, there’s no reason to keep us around.

[So, death. Probably.]

[pubertytwice]

They'll have a hell of a time making any use out of me. I'm not really for all of this Chroma-shit they're asking. No offense if that's your thing, though. I can use other skills to get myself some money.

_{[ Only problem is, his only marketable skill is killing people and spatial jumping, so that's an issue. ]}

I take it nobody here has been threatened to conform to the rules here yet?

[mylawn]

[Yeah, 76 is not a big Chroma-producer either, and he’s not keen on finding out what happens if the Prismals decide that everyone needs to be contributing. Suffice to say, his thoughts line up with Five’s almost exactly.]

If they have, I haven’t heard about it. Wouldn’t put it past them, though.

[The Moon Knights keep asking for their help on missions—that’s not necessarily Chroma production, but 76 is certain it’s just a ploy to use them as a scapegoat if something goes wrong.]

[pubertytwice]

A harmless way to rebel is to go on a Chroma strike and refuse to fuel what they encourage. Though, this placed seems to be filled with a lot of hormonal youth— that might be asking too much to get everyone to cooperate.

You know what I mean? It would be worth a shot to at least see how they react, though.

[mylawn]

I think if you don't generate Chroma, you shut down.

[And die, probably. He's certainly gone without it for more time than recommended, and he'd become ill--asking the locals about it wasn't exactly encouraging. Five's idea isn't bad, he's just not sure if it's at all practical.]

So, not sure that's going to work.

[pubertytwice]

We'll see about that.
_{[ why is he??? so stubborn??? ]}

Have you experienced negative effects from not generating Chroma?
_{[ He's pretty skeptical of everything the Prismals say. ]}

[mylawn]

[76 shrugs. Enjoy death, he guesses.]

Yeah, actually.

[He was skeptical too, but there’s no denying the loss of energy that happens when you let yourself go too long without contact.]

I don’t recommend it.