18. [image]

[ifightfor]

[A flashing status icon followed by a question mark.

Those familiar with mirror!Rinzler would recognize this as a "how is everyone?" post.]

((ooc: HRBGLRHB. MAYBE LJ WILL LET ME EDIT THIS POST THIS TIME.

Rinzler is affected. Mirror!Rinzler is a network ghost who keeps mostly to himself and leaves cryptic photo comments on things, except when it

Comments

Private- audio

[no_fastolfe]

Unscathed, my friend! Did you weather the turbulence well?

I've been meaning to tell you--I have a new encryption schema to integrate if your warden threatens system integrity again. Tell me when you want it- we can meet at our usual place.

Private, Rinzlertalk.

[ifightfor]

[Green status icon! Image of his room in good order.

Screenshot of the system clock with the immediate time stamp, image of mirror!Toshiko, red status icon. System clock three hours from now, question mark.

He'll be happy to meet with you then if he survives talking to his Warden, Vasilia. :c]

Private, Audio

[no_fastolfe]

[unseen :( Her voice is troubled. ]

Understood.

Be careful, dear Program.

[OOC: correct icon? WHO NEEDS IT]

Private, Rinzlertalk, post-Tosh.

[ifightfor]

[Infinity symbol. He's always careful.

Repost of three-hours-out time; he knows he can make it now.]

Private, text this time.

[no_fastolfe]

I will be there.

I will do my best to repair the damage.

[As she always does, with her limited resources. She's having one of those depressive attacks that come more frequently without her meds and she didn't want him to hear her upset]

[OOC: Wants a spam? If wants a spam, figuring their usual meeting place is the garden because it reminds Vas of home or something but other suggestions are A+? ]

Private. I LOVES A SPAM.

[ifightfor]

♥

[He's in the garden when he said he would be, an incongruous black shape among the greenery. At the very least it's quiet here, and an easy place to have a private discussion.]

((ooc: a garden is excellent. ♥))

SPAMS IGNORE ABORT RETRY

[no_fastolfe]

SPAMS HIT R TO RETRY

AWWW I LOVE YOUR SPAMS ALL THE WAYS THEY ARE

[ifightfor]

((ooc: and i'm sorry i kind of vanished there for a while. ;; ♥ family time called.))

He lifted his head as Vasilia approached, the usual engine-at-idle thrum of the growl that accompanied him everywhere smoothing out into something more welcoming on recognizing his friend. Her familiar concern was welcome as well, even if that first question brought him up against a hard choice.

One that the Program had been sitting here in the garden brooding over while waiting for her to arrive. Ultimately, it was Vasilia's worry that decided him as she described the purpose of her latest code--something that he listened to with rapt interest. She was someone he'd trusted with his sanity time and again; she deserved to know what had happened between him and the...other version of Toshiko that was now on the Barge.

"She has a brilliant mind." It was true; and Rinzler nodded sadly to that, reaching back over his shoulder to retrieve his ID disc. He keyed it into display mode, then offered it to Vasilia in exchange for the data disk she held out to

WHY ARE YOU THE MOST PATIENT PERSON

[no_fastolfe]

She took it and read, at first with horrified anticipation and then with growing confusion. For a moment she thought that her comprehension was failing her, that her capacity to intuitively understand patterns was stuttering.

"Rinzler, I don't understand. Did you do this? How? It's-- oh, you're thoroughly beautiful." She brought a gloved hand to her mouth. Seeing his code, uninjured-- without deliberate bugs, without subroutines corrupted-- she'd never seen him so healthy, so himself. "Who? How?"

[it's cool! Thought you had hit bed, not sure what time zone you are in. <3 ]

because i am full of love <3

[ifightfor]

He tucked the little disk she'd given him away against future need, circuits brightening faintly with the compliment. It wasn't something anyone had ever said about him; he had no real response to give, but for that little flush. Easier to focus on the practical things.

Producing his communicator, he fanned out a set of images across the screen with the brush of one hand: Toshiko, Heero, Bruce Banner, a handful of other Inmates and Wardens who'd abruptly changed in the wake of the violent disturbance of the Barge that "wasn't a flood". There was a pattern to it, his silent display implied.

He picked out the image of Toshiko, then, banishing the others and pulling it up to take up the full screen. This one was newly taken, and seemed...different, if the question marks Rinzler had attached to it were not enough. This version of the Torchwood hacker hadn't been marked by cruelty the same way the version they knew had.

"She did," the Program breathed, voice barely above a whisper. He could hardly believe it himself, even now, but she

Re: because i am full of love <3

[no_fastolfe]

Without cruelty in her face, Toshiko was another woman entirely. One who... well, Vasilia might also have called her beautiful but not been sure whether it was at the idea of that brilliant mind turned to restoration and creation or... simply that she was an attractive woman and that was quite evident without the mar of hostility in her eyes.

"I cannot even thank her without risking her safety." Vasilia said, with deep regret. "But it explains the strangeness on the network. Mozenrath, do you have him-? He is not himself. He is... healthy. I understand now, that was the difference I saw."

She took a deep breath. "This ...absence of flood. Who knows how long it will last. Can we help her while it is sustained, this Toshiko? We must protect those who don't understand our barge, warden and inmate alike."

[OMG no wai I am also pacific happy dance. SO RARE THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT IN BED THREE HOURS BEFORE ME.]

Re: because i am full of love <3

[ifightfor]

He nodded, regret every bit as heavy on him as he dismissed the image from the screen of his communicator. It would be nearly impossible to do anything for the--changed among them without calling undue attention, and that would lead to a rapidly disintegrating situation. Still...

Because it's Vasilia, he found it easier to use real words instead of symbols to communicate. He pulled up a picture of Rhade from the communicator's memory, typing out a careful caption: «Some of them seem to remember this place. Rhade is making his plans still. The best help might be escape.»

((ooc: hooray! yeah it seems like everyone on the game is either east coast or further. ;; RARE INDEED.))

Spams

[no_fastolfe]

Vasilia nodded slowly, not suppressing but modulating the surge of hope in response to that. Nearly anything seemed possible with this new development-- and yet to betray that hope would be to destroy it. "You know the Nietzschean best," she said in an undertone. "His plans should not be widely shared-- even as far as myself. I will do all that I can; trust me as a resource to offer if you feel it is needed and restrict communication otherwise: my new warden is... extremely perceptive."

Her mouth pulled into a line. Something about young Holmes raised the hairs on the back of her neck, and her carefully-won supply of anti-anxiety medication had begun to disappear almost as soon as she had been sorted to him.

"He knows something of programming but is hindered by his timeline. Positronic logic is still unknown to him. But he is fond of mysteries."