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[recollecters]

Hello Users, For those of you who are new: Welcome to Retrospec™, the last social media network you will ever need. You are one of the few selected to test this exciting new platform based on our cutting-edge algorithms. Membership is not currently open to the public. However, we hope you will come to see how useful Retrospec™ is, given time. We have for your use a variety of features such as text, voice, video, and image posts. We encourage you to explore our many options. For all, new and old: Please be advised that should you go above and beyond the call of duty for Mr. Halloway's little game in the coming days, there may be a reward granted or information given. 100% completion would be the goal for that, should you have an interest. If you have no interest in the matter, please feel free to carry on as usual. R&D will not be handling further communiques for this month, or possibly the next few months. This should not, of course, have any impact on your usage of Retrospec™. The first milestone for the second of the colors lost has been met, and accordingly we have diverted resources to fix what could be fixed. R&D has alerted me that a bigger loss may occur in the near future, and I would advise you to be careful, though I am afraid neither they nor I can be much more detailed than that. Finally, I would like to extend congratulations to those of you who have now reached your sixth month. We hope you will continue to accept our assistance in these trying times. Thank you for your patience, Janet Wiseman Human Resources Retrspec Incorporated As of this post green fruits and flowers of this color regain their pigment. (Note: this is not all plants. This is just for flowers and fruits!) 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. Any new characters will find that the first photo they upload is locked as their profile picture for the rest of the month. Characters who have been in game since February will find their profiles now have a 6 months badge. It does absolutely nothing of note.

Comments

[doitrockapella]

Well, that's what I'm here for. Show me.

[Technically she's here for a lot of things, but the fruit is allegedly the primary one.]

...I see they're quite spirited, already.

[originallutece]

They're bloody psychotic. Good luck trying to eat apples anymore.

[She's kind of annoyed about that, actually. Rosalind frowns as she reaches for a pancake and some duck.]

Beyond that . . . let's see. Do you remember everyone being a few inches tall two months ago?

[doitrockapella]

...Why, my dear Rosalind, are you suggesting that an apple a day has, in fact, kept the doctor away?

[God help us all, she's always like this. But it's an attempt at getting Rosalind to laugh, probably, so at least there are good intentions.]

...No, I think...I do remember something like that, vaguely, but it's distant. As though it wasn't really consequential enough to be worth remembering, at the time, so I didn't bother to.

[originallutece]

[Oh, for fuck's sake, Carmen . . .

Actually, she's struggling to bite back a smile, so well done.]

I'm not surprised. No one seemed to pay it much mind, really, despite the fact it was quite frankly insane. That was the first incident I experienced.

[doitrockapella]

That must've been difficult to cope with.

[Good, a success. She likes successes. Moreover, she likes chasing as many of them as possible, so she'll just have to see if she can't continue to keep Rosalind's spirits up.]

How did you manage?

[originallutece]

Sleeping in my office, mostly. The upside is that alcohol goes a lot farther when you're six inches tall; a companion of mine and I got drunk off a few drops of wine and passed the time that way.

[doitrockapella]

Really — I didn't take you for the stuporing type. So you slept off your miniaturization?

[originallutece]

For one night, at least. I eventually had a friend escort me home, which also led to me shooting my first gun. To kill a beetle, you understand.

[doitrockapella]

[She makes a hint of a face at the mention of the gun — just a slight purse of her lips and a hint of a twist at the corner of her mouth — but otherwise does her best to give the impression of taking it in stride.]

Beetles aren't typically carnivorous, are they?

[originallutece]

[She shrugs very slightly in response to that. She isn't all that fond of guns either, but nor does she regret using one on an insect.]

No, but at six inches tall, you don't really want to risk it, do you? In any case, it hardly mattered: we ended up being chased by a spider and leaping into a sidewalk crack for safety.

[doitrockapella]

I've never been much of a fan of violence, at any size. And preemptive maneuvers are still a little different than classic self-defense.

[But that's not the point.]

You did make it out all right, then. In the end?

[originallutece]

With all my limbs intact, yes.

Compared to that, the loss of colors is irritating, but not nearly as bad. I'm hoping we won't have to face something like that again. More importantly . . .

[Her frown deepens.]

I still haven't been able to solve the mystery of how they're doing all this. The best theory I've heard is that it's all some kind of virtual reality simulation, but I'm not entirely sold on that.

[doitrockapella]

Is that the reason behind your choice in reading material?

[She nods at the textbook.]

[originallutece]

Precisely. I don't know enough about them to properly assess that theory, hence my learning about them. It's going to take more than one night, though.

In the meantime . . . at least this app offers an easy way to get information.

[doitrockapella]

Well, I'm flattered you've taken the time away from your research to have dinner with me. And I appreciate the catch-up on this app and the state of the world's affairs, too.

[originallutece]

It isn't a hardship, I assure you.

[It's never really a hardship to eat dinner with Carmen, frankly.]

. . . as selfish as it sounds, I'm glad you've gotten the app too. The more intelligent minds on here, the better.

[doitrockapella]

Oh? Don't tell me there's a dearth of those on the app — though I suppose such is the fate of all social media, in one way or another.

[Why, Miss Sandiego, that's a little bit shady of you, isn't it.]

Has it been hard for you, being different and having to keep it under wraps this way?

[originallutece]

[Her gaze snaps up, and for a moment she looks at Carmen, trying to determine if she's mocking her. But when there's no glint of cruel amusement in her gaze, Rosalind shrugs.]

I don't know if I'd call it difficult. Frustrating, perhaps, especially when it comes to people I know. You're a prime example. There was no way I could tell you, and yet I wanted to, because I knew you were a sharp mind and could bring all kinds of theories to the table. And--

Well. On a more personal note, it's frustrating to very simply not be able to tell one's companions something so life-changing has occurred.

[doitrockapella]

I understand. I'm sorry you had to keep something of this magnitude to yourself.

[Which is an interesting Carmen-ism, there — because she says "to yourself", and what she means by it is, "a secret from me".

But there's a genuine fondness, and a lighter concern, in the way she's watching Rosalind at this point — evidently, the thought of being kept out of the loop by necessity has hit her particularly strikingly.]

I'm afraid the best I can offer at this point is simply to make up for lost time.

[originallutece]

It's a generous offer.

[It really is. Time is something valuable to the likes of her and Carmen, and it's not a gift Rosalind herself ever gives lightly.]

How are you finding it so far?

[doitrockapella]

I'm a generous person.

[AND SO HUMBLE, TOO.]

...And, well. I miss having blue eyes already, and there's a great deal of beauty lost in the world without blue and green as a part of it. But I'm not afraid of this — whatever this is. Whatever game is being played with us, my only concern is getting to the bottom of it.

[originallutece]

[She nods shortly in agreement and sets back in on her meal. So that's decided, then.]

I don't know that one ought to be afraid, anyway. For all our wild theories on the true nature of this app, the fact of the matter is that nothing truly malicious has occurred yet. Irritating, yes, life-disrupting, absolutely, but nothing that outright harms or hurts us. So when you call it a game . . . I'm inclined to think of it that way, really. A game, or some kind of social experiment: something intended to make us react, but not to ultimately kill us.

[A beat, and she realizes something.]

Your appearance may change further, you know. In the coming months. That's another thing they're inclined to do.

[doitrockapella]

In what capacity?

[Despite herself, she absently raises a black-gloved hand up to the side of her face, fingertips resting lightly against the curve of her cheek at the mention of her appearance being altered.]

You mean above and beyond just stripping color away?

[originallutece]

Yes. It doesn't happen to everyone, clearly, but there are some people who report changes. Sharper teeth, for example, or their eyes and hair turning different colors. My friend's nephews had their eyes and hair go completely grey.

[doitrockapella]

And there's no pattern to who it happens to or why? No trend that changes like that seem to follow?