retrospec | (no subject)

[ For the past few days, Retrospec users may have noticed that Zee has been unresponsive. On the 29th, a message from Delta#68422 appears - for once a network connection in video form. The girl on the screen is recognizable to some as Joanne Wiseman: a blonde teenager with blue eyes and curls tied back, in a Retrospec technician's white labcoat. Far from her usual bubbly appearance, she looks upset and stressed out, her eyes red-rimmed. ]

Hi... [ She scrubs at her eyes for a second, then tries to smile. ] Um. So! The thing is - the thing is, I can't tell you exactly, but one of you - someone got something back, and it's...

[ Joanne pauses. There are voices in the background, and she glances off-screen to her right, lips thinning before she turns back. ]

We can't take it back, you know, we reroute items - Maurice does, I mean - but it's not like we're giving things on purpose. I mean, those we are. He takes them back now if you don't want them but it's not like you can take back things you can do, and - and. Someone did something, but I can't say who, or how, 'cause of restrictions. But I can tell you something happened, and - with all those deaths recently.

[ She takes another breath, deep and slow. ]

And. Our liaison, Zee, he - he wasn't on the same level, you know? Mid-level management. Like - so he didn't have the... [ another pause as she scrubs at her eyes again. ] So - the news, the normal news, it probably said already but you might not have known if it was real but he's. He's dead, and it's the permanent kind, and we can't fix it. I'm so sorry, he already - he'd already, we'd already done it before, and he ran out of - he ran out. My Aunt doesn't want to send anyone else in until - the, the issue. With one of you. Until something's done, but even then...

[ A helpless little shrug. ]

I never got to clear up the mess last month, the message. I'm sorry, we've been a little - it's been hectic. I'm not sure this won't get messed up before I send, but I think I can route it around - well, anyway. Jim said it would work, he helped me with it, and...that's. That's it for now? We're trying to - this is bad, but we're trying to avoid something else right now, so. I can't - we can't - focus on this. I'm sorry. I'll try to contact you next month as soon as I can - we're trying to avoid a repeat of August. I mean, last August. God. Stay safe, and -

[ And with that, the message ends in static. ]

As of this post, Zee is no longer in play until further notice due to player plot and game plot reasons! He may make a reappearance in the later months and player action can change this outcome if characters come up with a solution. Anyone who goes to look for information about this death will find out that Zee has been killed and his body was found staged in front of the Wiffle-Waffle waffle house. What a bad break.

We are now entering the final phase of the summer event; please be on the look-out for September's plotting post with details for the next month!

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. Characters IDs will be comprised of the following: The date your character first appeared on Retrospec (so in Zee's case, that was 02/01/18) and the last four digits of your character's IC inbox as found in the HTML (in Zee's case, 8329.), not aliases or chosen nicknames or usernames, and seemed to have filled themselves in; nothing characters do can change or obscure their names currently.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Permanent... So that's what she was saying after all. Horrific as it is, it does unfortunately make sense, since he was only an employee of Retrospec (at least as far as we know).

If there's something going on that's more important than this, I'm even more concerned than usual for the beginning of next month. I got Retrospec right as August ended, so I remember the aftermath, if nothing else.

Thank you so much for typing this out for me. It's really appreciated.

I meant them, but us too. Is there anything we can do but try to watch our backs?

Alpha#02014597 I think that's a good idea. Do you know if he drank at all? He always struck me as a beer kind of guy, but I bet he'd appreciate the sake I've been saving.
Alpha#02014597 And... Thank you for thinking of him, too. This is the other part of our duties to the departed, as strange as it might seem.

And one of the times we need it the most, too.

[ Not surprising. He knows that Retrospec knows. But they're playing it cautious. Good. He might have the advantage, but he should still be cautious. ]

I'm confident they keep inventory of what they send to whom and when. They do have to notify us and address things appropriately, don't they?

That is surprising, isn't it? After everything that's happened to the city, this doesn't seem nearly as difficult to correct in comparison.

Of course, if they're right and it is a Retrospec user, making sure they're not showing their hand on the network would be the smarter move if they do have a solution.

so you think they aren't doing anything to catch the killer
or else they wouldn't have said anything in the first place?

we could try to catch the killer ourselves

I'm just an ordinary guy, so I didn't even think of that, but... If someone has a power or some sort of ability that could help locate them, that could be an option.

[ how does he make Goro type in succinct sentences or bullet points ]

thanks. you should write a guide or a book.

i have a skill that might come in handy later, but i’ll tread carefully. 🚶

Beta#1101171543

That's so horrible... poor Zee.
So
It was one of us who did it, and
they used something that they regained from the past.
And I guess it was a guy?

Ugh this is awful
I'm so bad at mysteries. I could never even solve those Encyclopedia Green stories.

Oh ummm
This is Hanatarou by the way

It sounds like maybe for whatever reason there isn't much they can do themselves, but
She's hoping we'll be the ones to take care of it, maybe?

I mean
If she really couldn't say anything, and didn't want to give us information, then she could have just announced that Zee had passed away, and they couldn't bring him back, and they wouldn't be able to replace him for a while.
But she DID tell us things...
So maybe it's like
She can't just tell us, but she wants to give us whatever hints she can?

potentially is the keyword. being able to kill one of them must have been the last straw.

if they somehow got him to meet with them, then that’s a miracle. it’s been a while since i’ve seen the Retrospec staff in person.

Edited (how did I forget a whole word and somehow come back to it hours later shhhh ) 2018-08-31 01:44 (UTC)

Oh I kind of figured they can monitor everything we do. (I mean since the app can follow us around and they send us weird creepshots and stuff sometimes)
So after he died they just, like, reviewed the security footage or whatever, so now they know exactly what happened and who did it.

But I wonder why she can't just tell us?
:/

He was normal looking? What do you mean?

unfortunately, i would rather keep my identity a secret with all this going on. i also understand not wanting to air your theories out like this.

hopefully, we can put a stop to this before more bodies drop.

BETA#1101171755

I know we're all pissed at retrospec but Zee was the closest to being one of us. Was he just an easy target or something?

Hate the idea it was one of the people on here. It's difficult to rally together when there's a rat in the mix. Bad enough what we deal with month to month. Now we're all going to have to keep paranoia in check?

[ Alpha#05011622 ]

I wonder if that's the extent of either their company policy or their mission statement. Oh, or layers, actually. That's possible too?

But no, I doubt they will based on this response.

[ Alpha#05011622 ]

Which is really potentially dangerous, honestly! Given the capabilities some of us have at this point.

[haha funny joke, him being to the point.]

Oh, certainly not. I ramble far too much to be an enjoyable read.

[He's Aware. But also pleasantly humble. Self-deprecating.]

Good. I'm certain your presence would be missed by those around you if you weren't, so they'll thank you greatly for your care.
Anything else you'd ask of me? I seek to help where I can, as a humble servant to the public. ♪

It's no trouble at all. If any others like this come up, then assuredly I will provide a transcript for those in need like yourself; we need to all be on the same page when it comes to things like this, after all.

... It has something to do with him being nothing more than middle management too, but I can't think of what it might be.
Are those in higher ranks given "extra lives"? How many do we have ourselves, if any? It isn't anything I'd like to test, of course, but it'd still be good to know how many "second chances" we may have.

And you can consider yourself fortunate in that case, actually, about August... though I ended up enjoying myself very much as a pirate. It might've been the first time we were in true danger as far as Retrospec was concerned, becoming nonexistent in the eyes of those without the app and split among four regions.

like how everyone's replied so far, they could've kept track of the items they've been sending out to us for a while now

inventory and all that

the fact that it's still a breach of privacy is more than a little annoying though

Zee helped me out when I remembered dying. I know it's not the same, but if you need anything I can do, or if I can just send flowers for the funeral or something, let me know.

[oh man. he has like, an actual response to this Somewhere in his body, like in general that sucks

but a lot of other people have covered it and leo's sore.]

f

F?

are you grading this post, or

oh you poor uncultured soul
it is how we say "rip" now

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