IC Contact - Snowblind

[phaseshifter]

This is Angel. Leave a message.

Comments

@hjack69; voice; day 116

[youarethebandits]

Angel. Is there anything you want to tell me?

[Uh oh, it's his YOU'RE IN TROUBLE NOW dadvoice. Busted?]

@guardian; voice

[phaseshifter]

[ ???? HOW DOES HE KNOW ]

Uh, sure. The AI has stolen Rhys' body, I've effectively been abducted, he's currently tripping ba-- tripping hardcore on a supply of Dr. House's meds that I didn't know Rhys still had, and I tried to kill him this morning.

Which, um - which part are you. Referring to.

[youarethebandits]

What.

[Annnnnd out goes the stern voice because WHAT THE SHIT]

[phaseshifter]

[ No message, just a selfie of herself tethered to a pipe in one of the houses with a drooling Rhys in the background. A drooling Rhys with a bandaged head and grody vicodin dust arond his dumb snorey nose, even.

Also there is duckfacing and she's flashing the peace sign because look that's just how you DO selfies ]

[youarethebandits]

Oh my god.

[He is facepalming so hard. ALL THE FACEPALMING. And it's mostly even unrelated to vicodin envy!]

Where are you.

[phaseshifter]

Iunno. We were definitely travelling south at one point, but I was kinda unconscious for the first part of the journey.

[ And, checking once more that Jackrhys is definitely asleep: ]

Since he hit me. Knocked me out. Congratulations on not being the worst father in Norfinbury.

[youarethebandits]

[There's a moment of silence as Jack tries to process what he just heard. He must have misheard, right? It couldn't have been what he thought he heard? Because that would be unimaginable.]

He. Did. What?

[phaseshifter]

He hit me. On the head. Intentionally.

He did use the non-cybernetic arm, at least. I think my ports are a little dented nonetheless.

[youarethebandits]

[Well, that's that. The AI has to die, as painfully as possible. No one - no one - hurts Angel and gets away with it. Never again.]

Hold on tight, sweetie. I'll find you. And when I do, he's going to pay for this.

[phaseshifter]

I can - I can deal with it. He's going to let his guard down sometime. I'll be ready.

[ Although. A backup plan is always good. The sooner this ends, the sooner she gets Rhys back.

Hopefully. She's not going to think too hard about those revival statistics Kunsel posted. ]

Though I'm not going to say I wouldn't appreciate the assist. If you stumble across us, I mean.

[youarethebandits]

[She plans to kill him herself.

Jack wants to protest, to spare her from that, but he holds his tongue. He can't protect her like that anymore. As much as he hates it, the most he can do is help her protect herself.]

I'll do what I can.

Be careful, Angel.

[phaseshifter]

Don't sweat it, D-- wait.

If not this whole - whole situation, what the heck were you even calling about?

[youarethebandits]

[Oh, right. He'd already forgotten about his actual reason for contacting her. It seems trivial now in comparison to what's going on.]

I found a dose of Eridium in the pharmacy. With your name on it.

[Okay, maybe he's still a little upset about that too.]

[phaseshifter]

Oh.

 

Is that not okay with you? Considering how much of it you've been happy to expose me to in the past.

[youarethebandits]

Angel. You died because of how much of it I exposed you to.

[phaseshifter]

[ Wow okay. Congrats, Jack, Angel is rendered speechless for a few seconds. IN A GOOD WAY

MOTHER OF FUCK

It's one thing to know he'll vaguely admit a level of responsibility for her death, but hearing that is something else entirely. No bullshit. It's almost enough to make her worry. ]

Well - yeah. But I only used one dose and don't plan on using any more. It didn't work. Uh, not the same way it did back home, anyway. You may as well dispose of the dose you found.

[youarethebandits]

[Getting to the point where he's able to say that with no bullshit was not easy and he is not happy about it, but there you go. He's grown more than she might have realised.]

I can't believe you even- have there been any side effects?

[He knows exactly what the stuff can do. It's not pretty.]

[phaseshifter]

An initial violet glow consistent with one-time eridium usage, followed by a mild - um, very mild - energising effect. Like drinking a cra-- a gross energy drink. Nothing else.

It was worth the risk. If I had my abilities back, I could get us all out of here. You know that.

[ She hasn't genuinely felt the need to justify her actions to him in a long, long time. But there you go. He's kinda sorta earned that much. ]

[youarethebandits]

[He breathes a deep sigh, considering the options. A large enough dose might be enough to give her full abilities back, but- no. It's not worth the risk. He's not going to lose her again.]

We'll find some other way.

[phaseshifter]

[ We, huh. ]

 

[ No. Look where putting faith in Jack has got her and Rhys. He - they - have had more than enough chances, and this is obviously just more bullshit. High effort bullshit, but bullshit. ]

Mmmm. It isn't like we have a lot of choice.