LOADING...

[recollecters]

[ At 9PM on the 1st, all phones or Retrospec-enabled devices will show flickering screens, until a static-filled image appears. It seems to be a security camera shot, in black and white from a high angle, of a simple computer room. Inside is Joanne Wiseman who many of the users may recognize - she looks young, blonde curls loose around her shoulders, and she also looks tired still. A young man who looks only slightly older than her comes in. He's dark-haired with a sweater and glasses, but a white labcoat that matches hers as well. Maurice comes over to stand nearby, watching the screen Joanne is looking at. Neither of them seem to realize they're being recorded. Joanne looks up, and speaks first. ] Did R and D know anything? [ Maurice shakes his head, says: ] No. They can't track them down either - it's almost as if... [ Joanne: ] They have to be somewhere. [ Maurice: ] Jim's trying to figure it out. You know we don't have anyone better at...ah, "creative" solutions? [ Joanne: ] No, I know, just...what if their souls are just, just - [ Maurice: ] I don't think they're gone. I mean - well, they're gone, but I don't think they're gone? You remember August, the one before last. They're, uh, pretty tough? [ Joanne: ] We're usually able to at least try to help them when we can, though! [ Maurice: ] Jo - look, we're doing everything we can. We'll find them. [ Joanne: ] Before they do? [ Maurice: ] Right. I mean...we have to, don't we? [ They both look worried. Before they do was said with a certain inflection - and hey, Retrospec. It looks like the employees have lost track of you for the month. How do you feel about that one? ] As of this post, character usernames are back to being their own names - or rather, characters will be prompted to put in their name as a boot screen loads. Now's your chance to change your preferred name, Retrospecters - but it appears whatever you put in will be locked in as your choice. Hope you didn't put in something ridiculous! 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. As a friendly reminder, you may also claim one of this month's freebie by submitting a thread from this mod post. This thread must be 10 comments from you and submitted before AC closes.

Comments

[thesettingsun]

They should really fix that, but it looks like it's either an accidental broadcast or pretending to be one.

Basically: they can't find us anywhere and they're worried, and they need to find us before an unspecified "they" do.

[sunnyspot]

I got whatever I could gather visually, at least, but not much else. Thanks for always helping me out, Shuji.

If they're really saying that they can't locate any of us, that definitely spells even more trouble for the month. Just what we needed.

[thesettingsun]

Any time.

Cool, I absolutely wanted another painful month after the bullshit from October.

[sunnyspot]

Haven't they ever heard of recovery time? If they're going to make our lives hell no matter what, they should at least give us some time to recover every now and then. One month on, one month off.

(I'm joking, of course. If only it was that easy.)

[thesettingsun]

Would that we were so lucky.

I'm at least going to hope for no bodily harm this month.

[sunnyspot]

It's pretty bad when our standards have been lowered to the point where "no bodily harm" is an improvement.

[thesettingsun]

Do you have a better suggestion?

[sunnyspot]

No, and that's the sad part. It really WOULD be an improvement over last month to not have anyone get hurt.

[thesettingsun]

A small improvement is still an improvement, right?

[sunnyspot]

That's probably the best way to look at it. It's something to pull us out of the negativity we're always tempted to slip back into.

[thesettingsun]

Good, because I'm being especially negative right now.

Last month was Bad.

[sunnyspot]

...Sorry. I don't mean to make light of it or make it worse. I'm still not very good at dealing with this kind of thing.

I hope you're doing alright.

[thesettingsun]

You're okay, don't worry.

I'm picking myself up again. That's what's most important, I think.

[sunnyspot]

That's commendable on its own.

[thesettingsun]

It's not as easy as just saying it.

But the alternative is worse.

[sunnyspot]

You're right.

I don't know if this is weird or not, but if you ever need to let anything off your chest, feel free to message me. Sometimes it's good to just talk about things. So even if I can't always offer advice, I'm a good listener.

As long as it's through text, anyway.

[thesettingsun]

It's not weird at all, and I really appreciate the offer. I might take you up on that later.

I prefer texting to phone calls, anyway.

[sunnyspot]

I'm glad to hear it. From one person who's better with typed words to another, I can at least promise you that much.

thread wrapup?

[thesettingsun]

At least I know one person won't judge me.

SORRY, I LOST THIS SOMEHOW. But yes, this can be the end!

[sunnyspot]

You can count on it. Talk to you later, Shuji.