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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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

Quite the opposite. I think if they're wise they know better than to broadcast their intentions. The killer is aware of them just as they are aware of the apparent killer.

so they ARE doing something to catch the killer but they don't want to reveal what so the killer doesn't get wise to it?
yeah okay but then why say anything to us at all

That's my best guess, or maybe I should say it's my hope. They might just want everyone else to be careful. Do you think we're all at risk?

from the killer?
maybe
idk
depends on their motive
if they're mad at retrospec then probably not
if it's another reason why they're doing this then yeah maybe

Given the manner of Zee's death, I'd say that either it is directly at Retrospec, or they're making a point to everyone that they can do what they want.

what do you know about the manner of his death

[ because the post sure as hell doesn't say how it happened. So what does this guy know about it??? ]

Check the news for "Wiffle-Waffle".

[ He'll wait for James to get back to him. ]

[ oh shit. ]

damn
that's messed up
not like it answers our questions

Raises more, more like it. Zee's death was clearly purposeful.

yeah no duh joanne already confirmed that anyway
but it does mean that whoever did it wanted the body to be found
that or they're just really that stupid

It would definitely be something of a cartoonish battle on the rooftop of the Wiffle-Waffle to get him up there, don't you think?

yeah
but it doesn't sound like there were witnesses
so some kind of magic or superpowers must have been involved in getting him there

Most likely. Which aren't in short change around here.

yeah
so it doesn't really help narrow things down at all

Not at all. The perpetrator might even be engaging on this announcement and we'd be none the wiser..

[ something about the tone of this strikes James as weird, but he can't figure out what. ]

uh
yeah
i thought that was obvious

Maybe not to everyone. But it should be, right? We should be cautious about what we say here even more than usual.

then we limit how much info about the killer we can share in the first place to try and figure out who they are
it's one of those things
what are they called
hang 22s?
where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't

Pretty much. Hopefully they will release more info soon.

you think retrospec is gonna tell us more?

I'm not sure, but I think it would be the right thing to do.

yeah well
no way to tell if they will or not
here's hoping