Video

[a_sin_for_him]

[Lust simply looks tired when she comes on the network. There's a dark skinned, bespectacled man with red eyes behind her, smiling pleasantly.]

Has anyone discovered the reason for these...visitations?

It's not as though it's very disruptive, but...it's a bit unnerving, I suppose. No matter what I do or say, he won't leave.

Or do much of anything else.

[She'd thought perhaps he'd vanish by the second day, but...no. Whatever his name is is still 'haunting' her.]

I think he watched me sleep last night...

Comments

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[shiro2hero]

He's not... real? You're sure?

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[a_sin_for_him]

Well, an apparition that appears as someone exists, but it's being done by Pokemon.

I just haven't the faintest idea why!

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[shiro2hero]

Bad senses of humor?

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[a_sin_for_him]

Or misplaced good intentions.

Pokemon are Pokemon, after all. Sometimes it can be maddening, trying to understand them.

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[shiro2hero]

They seemed simple enough to me.

But... looks like I have a lot to figure out. [He pauses.] Maybe if you try capturing it?

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[a_sin_for_him]

They're not. Oh, some of them are, certainly. But they're possessed of a surprising depth of emotion and intelligence, constrained by the differences in our species. So few of them can speak our language...

That...well, it may resolve the immediate problem...

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[shiro2hero]

I noticed the personality part. But didn't think they could do something like... 'good intentions, bad choices'. If that makes sense.

Better than nothing, right?

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[a_sin_for_him]

No, I understand. You'll find yourself repeatedly surprised by what they can do.

I suppose it's worth trying.

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[shiro2hero]

Can't wait. To be honest, I'm glad to hear they're not just fancy pets.

Good luck with it.

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[a_sin_for_him]

They're hardly pets at all, really. They're our companions in this life.

Oh, you're the one who should be wished luck. I'm not throwing a Pokeball at my dead fiance.

It seems...rude.

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[secondhandsome]

Really wish I had an answer for that. Right now I'm starting to think they're here just to make us feel bad.

[Okay, maybe that's not it, but... he sure as hell feels that way, anyway. As does Athena and most other people he's seen on the network.

Tim is keeping his video angled away from his ghost, but every now and then he's just barely visible behind him.]

Ignoring them doesn't seem to work, but hell if I know what else to do...

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[a_sin_for_him]

No one seems to understand their purpose. I can't say mine makes me feel badly...but he doesn't exactly fill me with cheer, either. I don't even know his name, for goodness sakes!

They don't speak. But they obviously have some intention. What do you want???

[The last is directed at the man behind Lust, who only spreads his hands and offers a hopeful smile.]

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[secondhandsome]

A real fun time for everyone, huh? Damn, that's gotta suck, though. I mean, I don't... I don't actually know a lot about mine either, but I at least know the name.

[If he didn't, this would be even more uncomfortable.]

Yeah, feels like this would be a lot easier if they just said anything. Then maybe we might have more to go on. I mean, there... there has to be something we're supposed to do, right? Because if there's not some point to this, it's just messed up for the hell of it.

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[a_sin_for_him]

I know...well I know who mine is. In theory. It's...a complicated situation...

No, there must be a reason. I don't mean to pry, but is your ghost...are they anyone of importance to you?

video > private video;

[secondhandsome]

That... sounds like it. Not sure I really get it, but uh... Someone you know, but... don't really know personally or something?

[That question... It's... well, it's not like any of this is really a secret and it's not something he wants to hide. But he doesn't feel entirely safe just talking about it openly. Not where everyone can see it.

And by everyone, he means Jack.

So he quickly just switches the conversation over to private. Just in case he accidentally says too much.]

I... I mean, yes and no? It's not like we were really close or anything like that, but we sorta... worked together for a while. And I... [He trails off there. Trying to figure out if there's a delicate way of saying he may have been kinda sorta partially responsible for the guy's death. He's... not sure there is.] I don't know. Guess you could say he was sort of involved in a... a big moment that really changed my view on some things.

[Yeah, okay, that was not the way to phrase that, but god, it's the only way he can think to say it. He can barely even bring himself to look at the ghost.]

private video;

[a_sin_for_him]

It's alright. My situation is rather unique. I did know him personally. But I don't remember. I once had a much different life than the one I've mentioned to you. Before my master. But she...ripped that away from me. She took my face, took my life, took my name, took my identity and made me into her tool. I have some fleeting memories of that first life, and that man, but...

[She shrugs. It isn't as though she dislikes talking about these things, but...there's that old fear that he'll think differently of her. She knows she has no reason to assume, he's been nothing but surprisingly understanding.]

Hmm. Again, I'm not trying to pry, simply searching for commonalities. Do you have strong feelings, about them?

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[secondhandsome]

[Tim finds himself staring at the screen for a while at that. Surprise and shock, well, Lust probably expects that. The recognition? Probably not so much.

But some of this hits awfully close to home.]

Wait, you... your whole identity... Shit. I mean, I actually kinda... know how that feels. That's... It's rough.

[He's slightly in shock about it, because this is, what, the second person who knows this feeling? What the hell. But her, of all people, that's...

Holy shit.]

Strong feelings. I mean, uh. Sorta. Yeah. If guilt counts.

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[a_sin_for_him]

You do?

[That's...well, it shouldn't be that surprising. She's met others who can, on some level, understand. This place gathers the broken, she thinks.]

Yes. It's...been a struggle. I know what my life was. But I don't remember it beyond fragments. That man behind me? He was my betrothed. I don't even know his name. For god's sake I practically married his brother!

Who's...also dead now.

And my master...well. You already know she wasn't a good woman. I wasn't a tool for anything good. Needless to say, I have...identity dissonance and a great deal of guilt. Perhaps that's it. Old guilts, revisiting us.

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[secondhandsome]

Yeah, the name part and the... face part... and also the everything part, I guess, minus the memory issues? Let's just say there's not a whole lot of myself left here.

[That came out way darker than he intended, but it's... accurate. Sadly accurate.]

That's... wow. That's quite the life. I mean, I know you said you'd been through a lot, but that's something else. Whole lot of death there. I, ah... I'm sorry. That's gotta be... well, uncomfortable doesn't seem strong enough, but let's just go with that.

Guilt. Yeah, might be it... Sounds about right from what I've seen with a friend, anyway. Not that that helps a lot. I mean, there's not a whole lot I can do about that guilt, seeing as it's not exactly like we can bring these people back to life or anything.

[That's all he can think of that'd make things better, anyway. Just... undo what happened.]

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[manlycharms]

...They must be illusions. Perhaps some trickery akin to the dreams some time ago?

[There's a furrow in his brow and a figure lurking behind him.

For now, he pays it no mind.]

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[a_sin_for_him]

Oh, I'm sure that they are. But to what ends? If there even is one.

So many of us are afflicted...

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[manlycharms]

It's... troubling, isn't it? By all means, these people should not be here-- at least in this particular form. And they won't even speak to us!

[He tries to keep his voice level. Tries not to think of the possibilities, but it's hard.]

I just wonder what it means...

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[a_sin_for_him]

Something like that. They're only...projections. Not real. But the way they follow... I do wish I knew why this was happening.

If it's like everything else, it won't last long.

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[manlycharms]

I wonder if there's a specific purpose to them. That they even know of our loved ones is troubling enough... Is this their way of making us confront a bout of homesickness?

[He'd... rather no consider he alternative, given who his ghostly visitor looks like.]

Re: video

[a_sin_for_him]

They may be Psychic types of some sort, able to glean the images from our minds. God knows what they're trying to do...

I barely even know the man they're showing me, and I'm certainly not homesick. This is my home.