raisetheearth | Entry #A-3: "Ask" [Video] [Shepherd's Haven]

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Entry #A-3: "Ask" [Video] [Shepherd's Haven]

[It's getting easier to tell Ryuzaki and Lazarus apart; the latter looks significantly thinner and more unhealthy than the former, and instead of breaking into easy smirks, his face is placid and serious. The two share a Number, but little else.]

Regarding recent events, Saretha has given these aspects thought and is asking you to do the same. Please pay attention to what she has to say, whether or not you've missed these events in real time. It's all important.

I'm one of the people who was contacted by the informant from Thunder Corp, and I know of some others, but there's a question I'm very interested in at this time. I want to know if anyone was both contacted by this informant and approached by a representative from the company, and if there are any Numbered currently active on the Network who experienced neither of these things.

If you're not comfortable sharing this information on the Network, especially considering that I have a particularly destructive and untrustworthy doppelganger who can see even my private network messages and just took a job with someone I have a very bad feeling about, I can meet with you in person to discuss this regardless of your location, or speak with you on a private line. If you've agreed to help Thunder Corp, I'm not not here to judge harshly... at this point, I just want the data I've specified, and your answer one way or the other is something you're welcome to keep to yourself.

To reiterate: Were you contacted by Thunder Corp's rogue informant, or a recruiter? Were you contacted by both? Were you contacted by neither?

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[It's ignorance that Lazarus wouldn't ignore or tolerate, under better circumstances. But his rail thin frame and haunted, hollow eyes say clearly enough that he's spread out too far, attempting to handle more than he should alone by any right. He is not substantial enough for the workload he's trying to wrap himself around.]

I'm not hungry. It's fine.

[He insists on it; he won't lie about having eaten when he hasn't, but he is not about to just leave and find food that he's not sure he can even keep down when his stomach is tied in inhospitable knots.]

People have been reporting in and the results are what I expected; while some people have not been contacted at all, it seems that no one who saw the message was approached or otherwise contacted by recruiters. It's useful information, even if I haven't figured out where it fits just yet.

[He waves a hand permissively, and that's the closest Nathan will get to Lazarus admitting he actually does want and appreciate the help that's being offered.]

There used to be more Numbered children. It would be useful to ask and see if any of them were approached, but you might be the youngest on-Network right now, that I know of.

But if it was because of the mess before, I would think that they wouldn't have approached as many as they did.

Something before the end of the day, please?

[It's about the closest Nathan will get to fighting him on this. Just a little bit of food, just once before the day is over. Perhaps all Nathan has a right to ask of him, considering his own eating habits.

[He takes a seat, slides one of the stacks in front of himself.] It's interesting that there is no overlap. [The theory holds up even with what he cannot talk about.] Releasing the information to those that recruiters had not gotten to, but not to those who have been. Why not a more direct warning, I wonder.

[His eyes scan over the report.] Who is this person you are concerned about your doppelganger having taken a job with? [That, at least, is a very legitimate concern that he has. He'd rather sensibly chosen not to engage with Ryuzaki on his latest post, knowing what little good it would do (and frankly not wanting to hear what the double has to say about him), but he'd seen the post and noticed the far more luxurious accommodations than usual.]

I was approached by one of them.... right here, in Shepard's Haven.

[Judging by the way Rakka averted her eyes from the screen, it wasn't a fun time for her.]

[Lazarus exasperation is mild, but fairly clear, before he manages to void it out of his features with a resigned sigh.]

Before the day is over, I promise.

[He allows Nathan to take the stack of papers, and keeps working on his own which is subsequently much smaller. He nods agreeably at Nathan's input regarding the Thunder Corp situation... but his eyes darken at the mention of his doppelganger.]

I don't know as much as I want to. I talked to him; he uses a voice scrambler and I don't know his name or what he sounds like. He...

["Threatened?" Is that the right word for that bizarre exchange?]

I think he means to try to hurt us if we oppose him. I doubt very much that Ryuzaki would try to discourage this. Don't worry, though... I'm going to handle it, OK? He won't touch a hair on your head without going through me first.

You haven't been around for very long, all things considered. At least, not in the way that matters to them. I would not take it personally.

First of all, are you OK?

Second... did he say anything at all about how he found this town? Or you, for that matter?

Yes... I remember speaking to you at the time, about Locke City and the map.

[He seems vaguely annoyed by her candid observation, wanting to stick to what he considers the relevant topic.]

I'm hardly a vampire. Just stretched kind of thin these days. Have you heard anything else, aside from what we already know? I'm trying to discern if anyone was contacted by both a recruiter and the rogue informant, and if my theory holds and that wasn't the case, what might have driven the distribution.

Thank you, Luca.

No one got in touch with you at all? I see.

Hopefully there will not be a need for that. Maybe that's too optimistic to hope for...

[Looking after other people is often easier than looking after one's self. How often would Nathan try to pass that off? "I'm fine." "I'm not that hungry." "I'll have something later, I promise." And he always means to, but . . .

[He frowns a little, hearing that, and without conscious thought, he reaches one hand up to twist his fingers into his hair. That old, obvious calming habit. A threat from yet another side? From one of their own, so to speak. They do not need this.] And a number you do not recognize. Either new, or someone who has kept silent and just observed until now.

[He shifts a little uncomfortably at that proclamation. It isn't that he doesn't appreciate the sentiment. But.] You are spreading yourself very thin on all of this.

That's true. Well, I'll just have to get more famous then.

Obviously not. You're looking too pale.

In any case, only the informant contacted me

I'm always pale...

[He's insisting on this, because it's true, even if it's not to this concerning extent. He clears his throat.]

Do you have any thoughts on this? I'm working with Nathan and Saretha to come up with a decent conclusion, but any input is helpful.

Not that pale.

[ Emi sighs at that. ]

I'm not sure, but I make no secret of my... dislike for Thunder Corp.

[It was such a ridiculous circumstance - almost like it was too good to be true. Which it was, as it turned out.

Her expression held a mixture of confusion, still at everything that had happened that afternoon. And horror at what may have happened, had she not stalled and ultimately set off her decision.

Still, the frankness of it all made her breathing tense up for a few seconds.]

I-I'm fine, thanks. He didn't try anything... I just had to let him in and we talked for a little while.

....No, he didn't. I don't know how he could ever find me. [She frowns, blinking a bit.] Unless... my parents...

[Lazarus and Nathan are painfully similar in a lot of uncomfortable regards, and this is one of them. They both have a tendency to miss the forest for the trees, and fail utterly at seeing when they have to let up on their neglect and abuse of themselves while being able to see what others are doing all too clearly. Lazarus very much sees the corpse staring back at him when he looks into the mirror, but solutions are not as obvious. It means changing, after all, and change is no guarantee of success. It's too much to worry about when he's barely holding on and making ends meet as it is. Since his illness after the cataclysm, he's been more afraid that ever of upsetting that delicate balance.]

I recognize them all at a glance if I've seen them before, so this is significant.

[He looks like he's trying to think of where to go next with it, and whether or not he can bounce ideas off of someone who's on his level intellectually. And then Nathan hits him with a gentle bombshell that he can't just gloss over and move past.]

Sometimes there isn't another way. Unless you're implying that you think this is beyond me, Nathan?

[He keeps his tone neutral, questioning without being accusing.]

[The tone may be neutral and non-accusatory, but the question is a loaded one. Nathan isn't trying to make accusations himself; he's just concerned. In light of this, maybe it is actually better that he keeps what Tony is doing quiet for now. Lazarus is in bad enough shape already without having to worry about that. He's got his own investigation of Thundercorp, Ryuzaki's troublemaking, this new unknown threat, looking after him after all he's had to witness over the past two weeks . . .

[It is a lot for anyone to be handling.

[His fingers twist more tightly into his hair.] That isn't . . . I am just concerned about the state you're in; it isn't good for you. It isn't necessary for you to do everything on your own. I can help.

[Lazarus didn't intend for it to be like this, but the fact is that it is a loaded question. It's actually kind of unfair for him to trap Nathan that way when the young man is unsuspecting and especially when he's just concerned and trying to help. But the last time that was the case, Lazarus was out of his mind, reduced to a shell incapable of taking care of himself or being left alone for any amount of time, and he wants distance between himself and that unfortunate situation. He doesn't want to be that person curled in the bathtub while Tony washed his hair and soothed him while the walls were closing in.

In short, he still wants to be the person in his echoes, even if he knows that he was far from a good man. It would at least be better than the helpless, damp infant cut-up with glass and shaking.]

I'm not in a state. You know what that's like, and this isn't it. I won't say you can't help, but the second things get dangerous or look like they will, you leave it to me, understand? I won't have you getting mixed up in something that can cost you your life.

Your well-being matters very much to me. I'm glad to hear that he was at least courteous.

Can you contact them? See if they talked to anyone unusual or told them anything about your whereabouts?

Listen, it's not like that. Believe me when I say it would be better to be left in peace.

[Normally, Nathan would not contest things like this. He hates conflict. But Lazarus is not the only one dealing with accumulated stress lately and things that he would usually just take and internalize are instead setting him further on edge.]

I'm sorry. But you are exhausting yourself and it does you no favours for your health or your ability to adequately analyze things. Perhaps you are not in a state but I do not want you to put yourself into one.

[Part of him appreciates the concern. Honestly and truly. He's been accepting the comfort that has been offered in the aftermath of what he's been witnessing lately. He's needed it. But it's only gotten increasingly strong over the past several days. And frankly, it's starting to feel like walls closing in. "You will leave it to me, understand?"

[And that wall just pushes in again, after that. He wants to say something about it, but just sets his jaw. He gives no confirmation one way or the other. No clear acquiescence.]

Edited 2015-10-06 22:46 (UTC)

[He pinches the bridge of his nose and looks like he's just trying to shut the world out for a second or two. He's so horrifically overwhelmed, but there's business to attend to.]

Has that ever come to bite you? What I mean by that is that have they ever sent anyone to personally mess with you, unrelated to this particular set of incidents?

Not at all, but that may be a matter of time.

Hmm..you have a point..then I dunno why they didn't contact me.

I might do that...Maybe we can figure something out!

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Entry #A-3: "Ask" [Video] [Shepherd's Haven]

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