text ❖ cause the kind of girl like me, they're running out of in the market

[doitrockapella]

Carmen Sandiego 9/3 near *̸̗͈͔̺̙̥͐̏͐͊̅̀̇͊͌͞/̴̛̼̦͍̟̑̀̆͋͜*̵̠̣͍̓̏̋̌̑̌̐͜͜͝ͅ|̸̻̪̰͔̇͗̊̃͋͊͢͝͠*̸̢̧͓̦̫̞͖͌̈́́̎̇͞͡͝|̘̤̩͙͇̯̱͊̔͐̚̚*̡̧̜̹̗̆̿̂̄̃̀͠͠͠ͅ\̴̨͉̱̼̜̭̀͑̇̇͆̔͜͠*̢͓̯͕̩̙̬̏̽͂̃̅̃̂͡

A few brief notes: 1) Good luck and best wishes to all the students gearing up to start school this week. While I know the end of summer vacation and the onset of the school year may seem like an event to anticipate with a sense of mounting dread instead of enthusiasm, remember that — in the words of South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela — "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Increasing access to education is one of the main pursuits of the Sandiego Foundation, and we share American statesman Benjamin Franklin's opinion that "an investment in knowledge pays the best interest." We pride ourselves on the number of scholarships we're able to offer to students of all ages and educational goals, as well as grants and other financial support. If you're getting ready for school and finding that you'd welcome some additional financial assistance in the coming semester, please don't hesitate to make contact; we still have plenty of scholarships as yet unawarded, and will continue to accept applications for them through the end of this week. It's your job to chase your dreams. We at the Sandiego Foundation want nothing more than to help you get there. 2) Speaking of the Foundation, we're still in the process of getting our fall calendar of events fleshed out, and I'm always open to new ideas for community functions that people might like to see and take part in. One can only attend so many dinners, socials, and golf outings before things start getting tedious. So, a poll for the masses: what sort of event would you most like to see come to Recollé? (At the risk of invoking a verbal cliché, I really would like to put the "fun" back into "fundraiser" on a much more regular basis.) 3) The usual daily mail contained a number of packages that I was expecting to see delivered, and a few unexpected ones marked with what seems to be the Retrospec logo. Experienced recipients, is there anything I should be particularly concerned about before I open these? 4) On a more personal note, I'm interested in hiring the services of a sketch artist, for a certain project I'm hoping to further. If you have the skills, time, and interest — or know someone who may be available for hire — please feel free to get in touch with me at your earliest convenience.

Comments

[doitrockapella]

...Weapons, is it.

[Well, these are about the size of a shoebox, each, and all of a sudden she's remembering the guns she found in a drawer during the plot and not feeling so great about these boxes anymore.]

I can't imagine why I would've had any of those, in my prior history OR in my present one...

[thisloveisjustice]

I just wanted to mention it, because sometimes it can be an unwelcome surprise.

[doitrockapella]

No, it's a good thing to mention, and I'm glad you did. It's just that now I'm a little less eager to open these up than I was before.

[thisloveisjustice]

Do you want someone else to take a peek first?

[doitrockapella]

Is that an offer I hear?

[thisloveisjustice]

It is, if it's alright with you.

[doitrockapella]

I'd welcome it, actually. Are you willing to come by the house, or should I meet you somewhere in town?

[thisloveisjustice]

I can come to you. What's your address?

[doitrockapella]

Directions are on their way. I think it's fairly easy to spot, once you get close?

["fairly easy to spot". yeah. you could say that.]

Text me when you get close to the gate, so I can let you through.

[thisloveisjustice]

On my way.

[he'll just have his uber drop him off at the gate, and then text her]

[doitrockapella]

[She's waiting for the text when it comes, which is good, because it means that Tatuso's wait at the gates will be short; indeed, soon enough they part to admit him, which is all well and good but on the downside he'll find that there's still a fuck lot of driveway to walk up before he actually hits the terrace and the actual area around the house proper.

Oops.

Still, he'll spot Carmen sooner rather than later, because for Tatsuo she'll actually come walking down the driveway to meet him halfway, rather than making him come all the way up to the terrace before heading out to greet him.]

Made it all right, I see. You didn't have any problems getting over?

[thisloveisjustice]

[From the address, Tatsuo had known he was heading to the posh part of town. Not exactly an area he went to frequently. He'd expected a driveway, but this was a little longer than he's expected.

So he's kind of glad when he spots Carmen.

Still, even if he'd known how long the driveway is, he'd have still had his ride drop him at the gate, out of respect for Carmen's privacy.]

Not at all. Map apps get more accurate by the day.

[doitrockapella]

Amazing, what technology can do.

[She smiles, nodding slightly in greeting, and then pivots and falls into step beside him for the rest of the walk up to the house.]

How have you been holding up, since last month? You've gotten back into the swing of daily life by now, I hope?

[thisloveisjustice]

I'm doing alright. Getting back to work was good, even if I did lose every scrap of my vacation time when Retrospec covered up my disappearance. I don't know what I would have done if I'd come back to no job.

[It's all true, at least the job part. The 'alright' part... he's working on it.]

[doitrockapella]

That is strange, isn't it? The way that they covered for our disappearances. No one I spoke with took it as any particular oddity that I'd been gone, either.

[She takes him up toward the terrace, where there's a pair of chairs waiting, and also a set of two boxes with the Retrospec logo emblazoned on them, stacked on the table between them.]

[thisloveisjustice]

I think there are two schools of thought on this. Either they covered up our disappearance to make it easier for us to return to our lives, or there is a limit to how many discrepancies those off the apps can tolerate.

[Tatsuo tends to fall in the second school of thought]

So these are the packages.

[He reaches into his pocket for his pocket knife]

How do you want to do this? I take a peek and confirm whether or not they've sent you some sort of weapon?

[doitrockapella]

That should be fine. They don't seem very heavy, and with no visible airholes I doubt there's anything alive in them...

[Helpfully, she reaches for the top box and moves it to the edge of the table for him, placing it easily within his reach.]

It's not packed very well, either. I can feel something shifting inside it when I move it around — sliding, you know.

[thisloveisjustice]

Well, at least we're fairly certain nothing is going to jump out at us. Good to know.

[Tatsuo opens his pocket knife and slices through the tape keeping the first box closed. Then he reaches over to pull the second box closer and slices through the tape on that one. That done, he puts his knife away.]

Okay, let's see what this is.

[opening box number one]

[doitrockapella]

[And box number one proves to be...a perfectly normal pair of red high-heeled shoes, resting in what seems to be an actual shoebox.

How utterly anticlimactic.

Carmen, of course, can't resist being nosy about the package even despite the fact that the whole point is to shield her from being exposed to whatever is in the box right off the bat, so once the box is open and nothing's exploded or lunged free of its confines, she scoots in to try to catch a glimpse.]

...Shoes?

[thisloveisjustice]

[On the one hand, thank goodness it was something mundane like shoes. And not like... a severed finger or ear mafia style.

On the other, shoes? Kind of boring Retrospec.]

Well, at least they're your favorite color?

[Just... going to slide the box of shoes over to Carmen for further inspection while he moves to look at the second box.]

[doitrockapella]

They look like they're just my size, too. I'm not sure if I'm flattered or a bit unsettled.

[She takes the box, though, reaching in with reserved interest to examine the shoes.

Meanwhile, Tatsuo will end up discovering that the second box is far more interesting, being that it contains a wrist-mounted powered grappling hook. Intriguing!]

[thisloveisjustice]

They probably fit like a glove. I've seen my other-self in a few of his memories, reflections in windows and mirrors sort of thing, and I'm fairly certain he's physically identical to me.

[while she looks at the shoes, Tatsuo checks out the second box... and let's out an interested whistle]

Now that is different.

[doitrockapella]

[Okay, well, whatever he's looking at is certainly more interesting than shoes, so let's just take a gander here — ]

...What is that? It looks like it straps on to your arm, somehow?

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo pushes the second box closer to Carmen.]

That would be my guess, too. There, doesn't that look like a motor?

[doitrockapella]

It does. So this little gadget clearly does something...

[She picks it up, frowning slightly, and then almost absently holds it against her wrist like she's experimenting with the placement of it.]

That looks as though it would fit, too. Wrist-mounted?