victory_road | 001 ♟ audio/video

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001 ♟ audio/video

[There's no video for this broadcast, just audio. Well. There's background noise, anyway, for a few seconds. Then someone awkwardly clears his throat.]

Um, is this... working? [Huh, funny. Isn't that voice familiar? The tone's a little off, but the sound of it's definitely the same as that Jack guy, right?] How... How do I know if it's...

Oh! Wait, the light's on, that probably means people are listening and... hearing me talk to myself... like an idiot. Great. Cool.

[...He quickly clears his throat. Right, yeah, let's not keep talking to himself like a moron, that's no way to make a first impression.]

I mean. Hello there, youuuuu, ah, lovely... people. Oh god, that was terrible. This is... Jack. Handsome Jack. That's... me. In the flesh. I mean, not that you can see that, but--

Just. Just got a quick question. I... These Pokémon things, they're supposed to be like... animals, right? Um. I'm just gonna turn on the video for this, one sec... [And then the video feed clicks on, showing off one very excited Ditto, smiling right at the camera.] So... Seriously, what the hell is up with this thing? This is just... I don't even know. Someone used some jello for a science class and something went wrong or whatever? It's kinda freaking me out a little...

[The Ditto doesn't seem bothered being talked about like this, still looking as happy as can be.]

I... don't really know what to do with it. Do I like... feed it? Does it eat? It doesn't look like it eats, but... don't wanna kill it by mistake.

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[Tim's just been waiting in the agreed upon location, his gear out as he's still talking to people, because... well, what else was he gonna do, really? At least most of the people are friendly.

Y'know. Except Jack. Talking to Jack's been less fun.

He immediately puts the gear away when he sees Athena, though. Hell, he actually seems to relax a little when he sees her - and for a nervous wreck like him, that's saying something.]

Seriously? Man, that's good to know. The fast travel we got always made me feel kinda sick.

Nice to see you, Athena. I mean, y'know. In person, not just on a tiny screen. [And... Wow, yeah, that's a floating sword, alright. He can't help but stare a little. This is gonna take so much getting used to.] ...Ha, man, so that's yours, huh? Pretty fitting.

Isn't it? I'm still not sold on how this place works, but I can give them credit for picking something appropriate.

[Whatever weird sound the sword makes, it certainly sounds happy! At least Athena's acknowledging it, instead of how she kept pushing it away when they first met...!

... Of course, Honedge's happiness doesn't get much attention for long, because Athena's eyebrow is raising as she gets a look at Tim.]

You look paler than usual. Did something happen?

Yeah, apparently that happens a lot here. Turns out mine's kinda fitting too, as it turns out. Man, a living sword's way cooler though. [...Quick glance at his Ditto.] Uh, no offense, buddy.

[The pink blob isn't offended one bit, at least.]

...Oh, do I? I, ah... I dunno. Mostly I've just been talking a bunch to... people.

[And by people, he means you know exactly who.]

[... Right then. You don't have to be a genius to make a guess as to what he means by that.]

What did Jack say to you?

I don't know, a bunch of stuff. Lot of, uh, ordering me around. He wants me to go to Goldenrod and get right back to working for him. Lots of uncomfortable staring at me too. Which he always does anyway, but... I dunno.

[There's usually more weird flirting with that. Which... you know... ugh.]

He talked about you, too. Figured you should know that.

[Athena just rolls her eyes.]

I'm not surprised. Let me guess, he's trying to make it out that I've completely lost my mind and that I'll probably skin him and anyone else with him alive the moment I see them. Does that sound close at all?

[Not that the idea doesn't sound tempting, but now that she's actually... you know. Not completely lost, she's cooled down marginally.]

You're not going to Goldenrod, right?

Yep, that's about the gist of it. Actually asked me to talk to you and see if I could sort things out, I mean, what the hell's he even expecting there?

[Right. That question.

The fact that he's hesitating probably isn't a good sign. The answer to that question should just be "hell no, of course not". But...]

...I don't know.

[Athena just snorts at that, because wow. She likes this kid, honestly, but there's no way he can say anything that would change her mind. She doubts even Janey could convince her to not deck Jack square in the nose if they ever met face-to-face.

... Her amusement doesn't last long, though, when she notes his hesitation.]

You don't have to. Jack doesn't have even a tenth of the power he had as the CEO of Hyperion. He can't do anything to you here.

Right... I know. I know, it's not the same at all here. Like... logically I know that.

[No Hyperion, no weapons, no real power. So long as Tim isn't in the same location as Jack, he should be safe, in theory.]

It's just that... man, he talked a whole bunch about being betrayed? It seems to be on his mind for some reason, he got pretty pissed going on about that. Honestly, kinda freaked me out a little... And...

...I don't know, maybe I'm paranoid.

[... Well shit. A look of guilt... may briefly cross Athena's face at that. She's the one that told him about Rhys after all, and if he's hung up about that.... whoops.

But no. She's not going to get hung up on that now.]

I told you before, didn't I? If he wants to do anything to anyone here, he's going to have to go through me first.

...Yeah. You did.

[And honestly, he really just needs to decide what's stronger. His trust in Athena or his fear of Jack.

It's not an easy call to make.]

...

God. Jack is gonna be so fucking pissed.

[Good. Good. It's not just a petty feeling of victory - that even Jack's body double would rather join up with her than him - that makes her feel good about this. It's... it's nice? Having one of her old vault hunting companions back with her? She's not sure if nice is the right word. She's sure there are better words for it.

The point is, it's a Good Thing that he's with her now.]

Maybe we can use that. If everyone else here can see just how unhinged Jack is, then he likely won't have as many people blindly following him anymore. After all, this is supposed to be a planet of pacifists.

[Don't think about it too hard, man. Athena can't wrap her head around it either.]

I don't know, do you think he'd go off like that where people can see it? Cause he seems to at least be trying to keep a good reputation.

[He crosses his arms, trying to think over his whole conversation with Jack again. See if maybe anything in there could be useful. But uh... instead, well...]

...Man, you know he seriously thinks we're buddies? Like, he actually said that. How oblivious can one person even be?

[Instead a bunch of salt just spills out. Sorry, Athena, that one's been sticking with him.]

If something really pisses him off, I doubt he'd be able to hold it in for the sake of appearances. I don't think even he could've stopped those fits after Lilith screwed him over twice.

[She just shakes her head. Those outbursts had been a bit surprising, yeah, but looking back on them now... it was like a kid throwing a temper tantrum.]

He thought the same thing about me, apparently. He thought we were friends, like I would even have thought that back when we worked together. [She may have respected him at first, but that's... a completely different thing than friendship.] Seems like there's no part of his life where he isn't deluded on some level.

True enough. That involved attempts on his life, though. I mean, I don't know if I'll rate anywhere near that level of-- [And then Tim remembers how Jack basically just sees him as an extension of himself. Right.] ...or... no, it actually might, come to think of it.

[Yeah, Jack's not really the type to react with anything resembling chill.]

Oh, yeah, he said that too, about you. Threw in something about how it could be just like old times. He just... really doesn't get it. It's almost incredible.

...Not like the times are really all that old for me yet, though.

[Well that's.... an interesting comment.]

What do you mean by that?

...Well, uh. You know that mission to get the H-Source, right?

How... long ago was that for you?

[... she has an idea of where this is going...]

A bit over three years ago.

Yeah, so... That was like a few days ago for me.

What?

[Yeah, that's what she was expecting when he asked her that. It's like what happened with Rhys, who didn't even remember their battle with the Traveler. But for the last thing for him to remember being something from so long ago...]

You've got to be joking.

Yeah, kinda wish I was, because it's kinda messed up hearing I'm apparently so behind the times? I mean... Three years is a long ass time, I have no clue what's happened in that time. Well... I mean, Jack mentioned a few bits and pieces, but not really all that much.

[And that's all told with a whole bunch of Jack's bias, so... Who even knows how much of it's legit.]

So uh. Yeah, guessing we probably got a bunch of catching up to do, huh?

I bet he forgot to mention that he died in that time, huh?

[Nope, she ain't gunna hide anything. Have fun with that revelation, Tim!]

Right. Well. I'm not going to pretend I know what the hell is going on here, but if you want to catch up, I'll fill you in on anything you want to know.

Nah, he didn't mention anything about--

...

[Wait.]

[Wait.

Wait, what.]

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1/idk yet let's find out

2/???

3/???