retrospec | (no subject)

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It's been brought to my attention (again) that some of you are looking for compensation for the work you're doing. I'm open to that. So tell me, Retrospecters, what is it that you're looking for? Money? Answers? None of the above? I'm all ears.

The scouting project seems to be working out okay. I don't know if any of you have found a place that's really good to relocate or recover but maybe we should talk about that, too.

…finally, bit of a morality question for you.

What's the priority here, you think? Working on chasing Vanderweele down this rabbit hole of a wild goose chase (wow that is too many animal analogies), or memory recovery of the company itself? Both of them are about as convoluted as you think, but not impossible.

Wait, not finally. One more thing since someone brought it up: in case you haven't noticed yet, you might want to pay attention to the things you've managed to bring back because, and I hate to make it sounds real drastic, but the fate of the world kinda depends on it? Just a little. Welcome to your destiny, everybody.

Anyway discuss. I'm back in the office, so drop by if you need something.

Zee Carlisle
Hiring Manager
Retr

spec Incorporated

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Speaking as the first person to scout down into the sixth layer? We don't know shit, dude. Vanderweele's planning this out so we have to be reactive instead of proactive.

I'm still new enough that I'm trying to piece a lot of this together, but surely enough's happened that you have some idea, right?

[She was really hoping other people had more of a clue than her.]

All right.

We're trying to stop an ancient, crusty wizard named Clarence Vanderweele from harvesting our souls and using them to create his own ideal version of humanity.

Oh. Is that all?

[Not pictured: Asami totally freaking out.]

Chasing him down would seem like the obvious choice. But I wonder if there's an important detail we're missing that we'd learn from the memory recovery.

He's been hiding underneath reality for most of my time here and I think he wiped everyone's memories of him because we caught him. Zee missed it because he was dead at the time, but he's fine now. Working to recover everyone's memories might put a bigger target on his back, since he's the only one we have left who can track Vanderweele -- but he's probably gonna hit Respatrum next, if I had to guess. Maybe we'll get some more fire spirits to give us dope-ass raven wings there.

Probably starting to feel like you tuned in right at the series finale.

It does seem that way. I just hope I won't have to play the confused friend asking questions at every commercial break too much longer.

Given all of that, it sounds as though there's something in those memories he doesn't want us to know. But even as a newbie, I'd be shocked if it were that easy. I can't imagine this guy is going to sit idly by as we get closer to foiling his plot, either. If this really is the season finale, we need to be ready for anything.

Yeah. He can do more shit than any of us were ready for. Wiping all the color from the city, clearing out everyone who's not on the app, pulling people off the app whenever he wants. Changing our memories.

[she will, graciously, leave out the part where he stole her eye.]

And I don't think he's stopped yet. We still haven't seen whatever his "ultimate attack" is.

[That's pretty terrifying, yet Asami just can't help herself.]

So we haven't even seen his final form yet?

Maybe the reason for all these different things is to keep us from finding his weakness, or a truth that would help us all. Full disclosure, though? My only experience with villains like this was playing a hero on TV, so my answers are probably not all that helpful in the real world.

This is definitely not even his final form.

Full disclosure, you've been talking to someone who's an android from the neck down, who owns enough swords to have a preferred sword, and who moonlights as the bassist of a punk rock band. The cheesy TV plots might actually be an advantage for you here.

These are the kinds of surprises I should get used to, huh? I'm starting to think maybe I used a sword in my past life, though I don't know if I had a favorite or not.

And I suppose I have to ask the obvious question now, too. What kind of punk rock? Are you guys more poppy, hardcore or melodic?

Hit me up in the woods one day and we can do some training, if you want to get your sword skills back. Or any other fighting skills.

Right now I'm on a Dead Kennedys kick, but I think I'm converting Eren and Elliot over to Bad Religion, and I want to give this Blackout Problems song a try even though it's definitely not punk. But asking "how the fuck should I know?" and singing about how school can't teach you shit is pretty aesthetic.

That would be great! I have a little fencing experience already, but I think I was a lot better in my past life.

Oh, I'll need to listen to more of their stuff! I'd never heard any punk rock before one of my costars played a Tsunami Bomb album for me and I fell in love. Been playing catch up on everything I've missed ever since!

Oh, hell yeah, dude. Tsunami Bomb is a hell of a way to get introduced. I started with... christ, definitely nothing with nearly that much cred. I'm switching more over to hardcore now, but I'm never gonna get tired of some of the classic punk stuff. First time I heard a Kim Deal bassline? Jesus shit, dude.

God, see, this is why we gotta get rid of Vanderweele. I wanna sit down and learn how to play every Pixies song and I can't do that if he's gonna be stealing people and body parts all the time.

Sometimes I wish I had that kind of musical talent. I had a dream of singing like Agent M for like, two minutes until my friends politely told me my talents lay in other areas. Don't be surprised if I pester you for more recommendations now, though!

Gosh yes. There's so much to do here, it would be nice if we could enjoy it without, you know, the threat of looming catastrophe.

((Because of this, I just found out TB has reunited with a new lead singer and has put out a few songs... This thread is awesome!))

Oh, absolutely, dude. Just check with Eren, if you know him -- everyone seems to around here. Once I get started talking about music, it's kind of embarrassing how hard it is to get me to stop.

That's the kind of stuff I'm fighting for. Not that inspiration's in short supply around here or anything, but I miss the days where I could keep track of the bands coming to the Atrium and see every last local act that shows up. Vanderweele's making it real easy for me to do my part to save the scene and stop going to shows.

((i'd actually not listened to TB before this thread and oops i love them now, so it really IS an awesome thread!!))

I don't think I've met him yet. But I don't mind! I love music, and it's just fun to talk to people about their passions too! And at least music is cool... I get caught up talking about retro JRPGs.

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm fighting for, I guess. I like performing and all, but it seems like such a silly, selfish thing. Maybe that's the sort of thing I'll sort out once I start remembering more.

((Awesome! Always glad I can share them with someone else, they're SO good.))

Oh yeah? I wish I was more of a gamer sometimes. I know the memes and everything else that got thrown into pop culture, but I'm turning into something that feels like it's out of a video game, or like a tabletop campaign or something. I should probably be more up to speed on them.

You'll figure it out. I didn't really feel this way until I started getting a bunch of memories back from A2. And if you don't know if you have something to fight for, I mean. As long as you keep fighting, then I think that's probably okay.

It's never too late to get started, and there's plenty of casual games that you can play too! But 'm starting to think in my past life I was actually trapped inside a game. I'm not sure how, but ever since I remembered that, I've half worried it's happening here too.

If nothing else, I want to help everyone here. If I can make a difference, then I want to do whatever I can. And there might be... something I want to fight for. I've still got a lot to sort out, though.

What makes you think that? You don't have to tell me if it's too much. Just curious.

You definitely have the right idea. When in doubt, fighting to help people is probably the right answer. You're gonna do okay here.

I met someone here from my world, and she remembered something bad happened with a game called Sword Art Online. Not long after that, I remembered some creepy guy in a cloak announcing something similar. I don't know a lot of the details yet. I get the feeling I was there for a while. Maybe a week or two!

Thanks. I'm still a little nervous, but everyone has made me feel welcome despite all the craziness.

Sounds wild. Lucky for you we've put that whole "living in a simulation" theory to rest for the city itself. Probably. If you go back through the network and see us talking about him hacking us, I'm pretty sure that was just shorthand for his weird brand of reality-altering magic.

Either way, you got this. If you're here now, it's for a damn good reason.

Oh thank goodness. I remember reading about simulation theory at one point and one of the scientists pointed out there could be multiple levels and I... just don't need that level of brain break in my life.

I'm definitely a lot less scared about it all than when I first showed up. Hopefully, that confidence doesn't abandon me when I need it.

There's definitely multiple levels. I went down into another layer of... reality, I guess? We all have by now, I think. It's how we know that something's weird, and it's what happens when we get the app. Or... I don't know how it works exactly. I should ask Zee.

Anyway. Yeah. If you run out of confidence, I have enough to go around.

I'll get really confused if I end up going the route of a friend from my world. She actually looks like her in-game character now. And my version apparently looks like the character from my TV show.

...I don't know what's worse, that I typed all that or that it makes some kind of sense.

I'll have to remember that the next time things get extra weird.

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