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[recollecters]

Ṭ̢͕̲̫̬̫̜̘͈͓̜̣̪͖ͅḩ̴̫̲̰̞̜̻̪͝͞e̵̛͍̭̙̹̜̥̗̻̫̝̬͔̩̪̭̣r̴̸̲͍̫̳̹̟̩̤̝͇̭̯̻̼̜ȩ͍̯̼̲ ͉̮̠̙̥̹̹̤̭̮͖̝̕͟ś̯̺̥͉̝͉̻̘̕e̴̼̠̖͓̯̻̪̥͓̻̱̪͓̯͝ͅe̶͘͞҉̖͕̳̻͉͍͍͈̝̭̱̘ͅm̶̧̪̩͈͍̖͈̀͡s̢̛͉̻̦̺̣̹͉̻̠͚̘̪͓̰͜͞ ̱͍͎͚̮̯̲̕̕͜t̢̨̝̝̮̫̫̀o̧̠͕̻̹̟̭͉͢ͅ ̗̲͇͓̟͈̜̜̝̣͇̻̟̥͚̥͢͜b̨͍̪̥̻̜̻̥̟̩̝̙̠̹͠ẹ̢̞̥̝͈̣̗̱̰̩̟̘̫̻̤̹̦̼̕͜͡ ̵̡̞͕͍̲̥̖͚͎͈̖̝̠̝̟̬͙̗̝ͅa͏̭͔̙͖̘̀n̩̥̪͕̳̱̟̜͟͜͡ ̢̤̬̹̬̤̤̳̯̣̳͇̜̺̭̕errore̛̛͢҉̣̣̤̦̥̟̠̜̲̘̮̦̼͉͇͕̠͈ͅr̢̛̲̳̟̹͡r̨̕͏͇̭̠͙̥̪̜̳̟̞̤̥̗̠͜͟o̶̱̳̯̰͈̖̳͍̦̙̙̙̟̝̼̪̩̟̕͢͜r̸҉̞̲̞͕̻̜̫͚̤͍.̡̛̗̰͙̗̗͖̥̩̳̩͔͖͙͔͢͠͞ ̷̙̤̜̺̖͇̜̤̦̳̗̳̮̲C̷̹̜͚͎̬̰͎̜͖͈̭̲̕á̵̸̡̛̝̭͕̖̰̘̮̻̫̻̳̰͔͔̥̟̤̬ͅn̢͖̥̰͔̣̬̭̟͝ͅ ͘͢͞͏̻̠͚͕͈̖̖͔̹͢á̡̞̯̞̣͙̥̕͢͝n̨̜̳̺͙̞͘͟͞ͅy̢͘͢͞҉̝͎̲̬̭͍̜̝ ̵̧͉̣̳̻͖̻̹͎o̡̠̘̦̤̗̜͙̬̼̦̻̤͍͉̹̮̖̪̬͢f̸̫̠͔̙̥̻͇̺̪̜̤̫̗̳͜͢ ̶̧̛̝̖̠͓̹͜͝ý̸̛̜̠͖͈ọ̧̬̭̙̼͓̪̝͕͢͜u̧҉̫̝̳̩͙͕̺͇̣̺̪̫͔̹̲ͅ ̡͉͈̜̳͕̳̬̝͖̭̪̀ͅr̸͈̺̞͎ȩ̯̜̻̺̺͘͝͞à̶̪̜̭͉ḓ̴̪̜̬͓͕̀͘͠ ̀҉̱̣͎͉͞ͅread-onlyt҉̷̴̹̮͍̦̹̟̲̲̲̘͢͝h͏̸͍̱͖̼͖̻͕̮͚̭̪͉̦͖̺͠i̵̵̢̪̱͈̻̺͔̻̣̯͕͖͖̣̼̖̠͇͜͢ͅs̵̨̨̤̮͖̦̳̰̱̙͕̦͈̗͢?̵͚̱͇̮̤̖̜̥̲͖̣͙̻̦̫͔̝̤̪͝ ̮̲̼̻͚̩͓͔͘͠ͅI͔͔̹̞͍̥̭̣͜͝͡'̶̞̺͍̻͖͔͖̟̩̬͈̖̬̘͚̞͉͢m̛͖̤̟̖̦͈͓̀͡ͅ ̴̢̧̛͚̪̦͔̱͖̠̹̫̥͉͉̘̖̠͎̱ͅs̵̢̬͉̩̜̪̣̳͚͇̮͈̜̘̰͞o̢̧̡̮̺͚̼̻͍̠̪͈͍̝̜̣̞͈̭͖͘͠ ̶͈̹͍̱̖̪͙͙̻̝͕͓̟̲̙́͢͜͞ş̛̗͓̠̣̮̳̩͙̬͡o̩͔̳͓̩̭̠̜͕͈̼̻̘̬͓̭̮̫͚͘͟r̷̷̰̜̺̫̦͚͚̯͉͍̙ͅr̸̡̩̳̗͎̼̣̞̭̹̟̣̘̤̺ỳ̴̵̱͇͇͚͓̝̬̥̤̗̞̲̥̣̗̼̫,̶̴̩̫̲͍͖̪̲̝̖͈̯̯̼̕so sorry ̴̵̵̶͔͓͖͓̺̘̙͠ẁ̵̢̢̨͖͎̙̝e̷̢̳͓̲̝͙̳̫͓̯̭͕ͅ'̛͎̭̯̮̯̟̖̦̪̘̙̫̦͇̘́͞͝ṛ̶̴̷̨̡̥̹̝̭̰̖̱͙͇̗̗͙̝̦̙e͢͡҉̢͈̦͔̭͍̭͇ ̴̡̨̛̹͉̫̣̩̰̣̮͔͖̠͙͈͖͎͉͡h̸͍̖̭̟͕̳͇͓̜͉̪͈̩̤͘ͅá̛̪̼̩̳̘͎̳͎̲̤̙̩̫͇̗̳͕͖͡ͅv̸͈͈̠̟͈̱̤͟ì̡̙͕̥͎̜͓̻͙͢n̵̗͍̥̯̟͕͇̫͍͘͜͡͞g͏̨̛̝͔͙̲̝́̕ ̧͉̣͓͈̝̟͙͚͈̳͚͍̙̺̰̭͢͝t̠͚͙̥̠̬̯͚̗͜͡r̥̙̼̬̹͠ͅo͏̛̘̘̲͎͎̙̼̠͈͙̜͎̳̜͎̘͡͠u̡̮͍̰͍̟̕͜͟b̶̟̲̻̱̤̺̣̜̪̬͓̮̕l̡͡҉̷͍̘̪͍̱̕ͅe̵̵̞̗̣͎̻͕͍̯̞͜.̵̧̨̮̩̝̙̟̺̼͚͙̘͉́ Joanne Wiseman Technician 2nd class Retrspec Incorporated Per the mod plotting post, you may use this post to obtain one of this month's freebies! This month's freebie can be earned by turning in a thread on this post that has 10 or more consecutive comments from you. Please feel free to use this post as a network mingle. Every toplevel can be considered a new post, and threadjacking is permitted. No NPC response will be given. Usernames are the character's full real AU names, not aliases or chosen nicknames or usernames, and seemed to have filled themselves in; nothing characters do can change or obscure their names currently.

Comments

[windeity]

hopefully if she's still able to read this she can see it.
she at least seems like she's always trying based on past experience.

[hauntedsavior]

She does. I have not interacted with them frequently, but those working in service of Retrospec try, I believe, much harder than most give them credit for.

If she cannot see it now, I would like to imagine her going back and reading our reactions after we discover a solution to this.

[windeity]

i haven't spoken with them much either, but from what i heard the original guy who used to leave messages on the app actually wasn't helpful. it was when they brought in the new people like joanne that things changed.
i do wonder how often they get to come back and read what we have to say.

[hauntedsavior]

They listen to us, then. Presumably there was some sort of outcry for better PR. So they have read what we say at least once.

Get to? Do you suppose they are told to ignore us?

[windeity]

i'm not really sure. i think it's weird that they are clearly reading stuff but not answering, and they take the time to warn us about stuff, but why else wouldn't they talk to us more often?

[hauntedsavior]

Perhaps they have more going on behind the scenes than we are even aware of. Perhaps even making this monthly communique is something that takes time and effort that they do not always have.

Or perhaps none beyond Zee are capable of speaking to others in a professional manner and the relative radio silence is an attempt to save face. Though that did not seem to stop... Wendy, was her name?

[windeity]

wendigo, yeah. or wendy guo, whatever. it also didn't stop that jim guy according to really old posts.
you might be more accurate with the first idea. i still have no idea who these guys are or what they're doing.
i'm not sure anyone does. outside of making our lives more difficult even if it is on accident.

[hauntedsavior]

Perhaps it would be worth organizing a meeting with them when they have... slightly less on their plate. Doubtless I am not the first to have this idea, but as time goes on it becomes harder to deny how necessary it has become.

[windeity]

it's not a bad idea. how would we even go about setting up a meeting though? what if they don't actually talk to us long enough to get the message across?

[hauntedsavior]

Very good questions. Zee seems to be our closest liaison, correct? If we are able to broach the subject with him (again, at a time when Retrospec is less preoccupied), he may be able to get the metaphorical ball rolling. There is no way to guarantee that they listen, of course, but diplomacy should be any two states' greatest weapon.

[windeity]

this all sounds very diplomatic and probably one of the more helpful suggestions.
like no sarcasm at all.
we could ask him, i guess. it might give us an idea where retrospec really is within their own team, too.

[hauntedsavior]

Oh? Do you suspect that they may be held in less than stellar regard by their superiors? It would explain why they seem stretched so thin as of late. They clearly do not lack the resources; perhaps those resources are being withheld deliberately.

Inter-office politics is not precisely something I expected to have to manage.

[windeity]

maybe. i remember someone saying a while ago that august was the first time they ever met any of the retrospec employees because they finally admitted they needed our help.
but if we have to be a bridge between them, then...we'll figure it out somehow. prove ourselves or whatever.

[hauntedsavior]

I would like to think that by surviving this long, we have proven ourselves many times over, but perhaps living with this app has given me an overinflated sense of self-esteem.

Perhaps we can find a way to save them from whatever is happening. That seems like a strong enough foundation.

[windeity]

instead of them rescuing us, we turn around and rescue them?
i like that idea.
it would give us answers at least...i hope.

[hauntedsavior]

Yes, I thought you might. I've seen the amount of organizing you've done, especially in the past few months. It is admirable.

The issue is, of course, having enough answers to begin with to know how to rescue them. All we have now is guesswork unless Clarence deigns to show himself, provided he is even the one behind this.

[windeity]

oh. um. thanks! i am still working things out to make the most use of our troops but thanks.
guesswork is how we've been doing most things so we might be heading in the right direction at least.
do we have any proof that it is/is NOT vanderweele? that'll help us, too.

[hauntedsavior]

I have studied military strategy extensively, if you need help at any point. What you have formed should not be called a military, but the principles should be similar.

That seems to be the biggest issue. We do not know who is attacking us. Vanderweele is merely our best guess, and he may be using a proxy. He may have already infiltrated Retrospec, for all we know, or he may have perished in prison years ago.

[windeity]

i didn't know you were military. the principles should be just as organized, you're right.
did you ever see this post?

[hauntedsavior]

I am a military historian, to be precise. I have never put any of my knowledge into practice, but I have never had need to.

Mm. Admittedly, it has been some time. I skimmed it when it was first brought to our attention, before I decided that I could no longer sit idly by and allow Retrospec to happen to me.

[windeity]

i hate to say "now's your chance" but...here we are.
that's pretty cool though. i've never met an actual historian. it sounds more impressive than what i'm doing.
i think a lot of us are getting sick of sitting around. but according to those notes that they found, vanderweele's still alive and somewhere out there.
so i think it is plausible.

[hauntedsavior]

Dr. Annalise Lehmann, at your service. (The title is slightly premature, but the world as we know it may be in grave peril and I believe the committee will understand.) And with all due respect, you would do well not to sell your own contributions short. Organization is as important a skill as anything else.

If the time comes for us to wage war, I will be glad to provide tactical support. But if our opponent is Vanderweele himself, this may be a war the likes of which history has never seen.

[windeity]

a pleasure, dr.
i guess you have a point. i've been remembering more and more about the battles we fought in my universe and being my team's leader, so i am trying to be as organized as that guy.
if it IS vanderweele, i think we would then have to consider that it's magic of some kind rather than physical combat like we've been facing. i would like to see if anyone's taking notes on the possible things this guy could be doing linked to what we are experiencing, but it's hard to say what he's doing and what someone else is causing.
but with that staff that was being remade or whatever i would guess it's magic and he is rigging the system.

[hauntedsavior]

Mm. You are doing well. Were that I had such a positive relationship with the person I am remembering.

It would never be anything simple, though. Magic seems as good a guess as any. I will be meeting Derek for drinks next week if you would like me to bring the subject up with him. His investigative skills seem like they would benefit us all greatly, as they already have once before.

[windeity]

truthfully it kind of helps that i have someone here that also thought highly of me back then and thinks highly of me now.
oh. yeah, if you think that would help i would be glad to hear what he has to say about it. he and tatsuo found a lot of good information that even spitballing ideas might generate something new to look into.