[semi-open] computer programs + space lsd = ???

[smellslikejail]

who ; the residents of Tronhaus
what ; TRIPPIN' BALLS also trip-sitting, depending on who you are
where ; Tronhaus
when ; Saturday the 14th
warning(s) ; ... computer programs tripping for the very first time?

Comments

[theuserabides]

[Flynn, having already been subjected to every last torment his subconscious could put him through, is having an uneventful trip, as such things go. He's much more concerned about the people who didn't have highly experimental college experiences followed by a trial by fire and eventual enlightenment.

Ideally, the trip-sitter shouldn't be tripping himself, but it's nothing he can't handle, and, except for the occasional distracted look when his altered perceptions really pull out the stops, he's largely his normal self.]

[popcorngifs]

[ Then consider one Alan Bradley, interim trip-sitter. He came in with a bottle of water and because he enjoyed preparedness, a spare, for what good it would do now. He didn't so much as offer to check in on Flynn, as he did inform him that's what he was going to, regardless. Alan saw no reason to offer Flynn an ultimatum when he had already made up his mind for the both of them. ]

Some reunion.

[theuserabides]

[Flynn looks up from where he's been staring fixedly at a spot on the floor.

Alan, you're glowing. Whoa.]

It's not usually this eventful.

[popcorngifs]

[ And everyone is happy you didn't say that a loud, Flynn. ]

No fires, no broken bones or missing furniture. Thought I'd see you before I go around the house again.

[theuserabides]

[Alan's actually too bright to look at comfortably, so Flynn looks at the wall instead, where rivers of texture are running upward from floor to ceiling.]

I'm all right. Tripping hard, but nothing bad.

[popcorngifs]

Not often you hear something like, "tripping hard" followed by, "nothing bad."

[ Obliviously to what a torture his radiance was to Flynn, he meets him at eye level. ]

In the event you do need something, you'll actually call me this time, right?

[theuserabides]

I worked out my issues a while back. My head doesn't have much left to spring on me.

[Flynn closes his eyes against the light radiating off Alan.

...Ouch. Harsh, but fair.]

Learned my lesson, man.

[popcorngifs]

Fair enough, just keep that in mind while you're enjoying...whatever it is your viewing.

[ Alan laid a hand on Flynn's leg, just between the knee and thigh, gave it a small squeeze before getting up to leave. ]

I'll keep you updated, buddy.

[theshirtlessiso]

[Gibson's kind of looking after people. Sort of. Half-heartedly.

... look, he made sure a User wizard lady didn't kill herself. That's his good deed for the day, all right?]

Hey, Flynn. When is everyone going to stop being insane?

[beat]

Well. More insane than usual, anyway.

[theuserabides]

[Flynn looks up at him from his chair. Hey, Gibson. Did you know your tattoos are moving? Flynn's eyes catch on Gibson's chest for a moment before he tears them away from the enthralling sinusoidal motion.]

Sometime tomorrow, probably.

[theshirtlessiso]

[No, Gibson had no idea that his tattoos were moving. Please don't actually mention that to him, Flynn, because he's still pretty sure you're unaffected.]

Oh. Great.

So what do we do until then, just wait and make sure no one gets themselves killed?

[theuserabides]

[Oh, Gibson. Flynn is tripping balls. It's just that he's got hundreds of years of Zen and the 70s under his belt.]

More or less. Not much you can do beyond keeping people from jumping off a building because they think they've grown wings.

[He himself is reasonably convinced he's no longer in phase with reality and thus capable of walking through walls. Intellectually, he's aware this is not the case, but the cognitive dissonance is irritating.]

[theshirtlessiso]

[This is oddly like being back in Bostrum, except there are only two or three people making trouble at any given time instead of twenty or thirty.]

... that forcefield's still up around the terrace, right?

[Don't ask why Gibson knows that's there.]

[theuserabides]

[Flynn is too preoccupied to wonder where Gibson picked up that bit of knowledge.]

Yeah. I made sure to beef up the security on the overrides before the party.

[Still, he brings up an interface window and checks again, more slowly than he normally would through his distorted perceptions.]

[theshirtlessiso]

Oh, so all we've got to do is keep people off the roof if they decide they can fly.

And, y'know, make sure they don't decide to do anything else completely insane.

[Gibson is... probably not the ideal trip-sitter, let's put it that way.]

[theuserabides]

Forcefield up there, too.

[He dismisses the window with a languid wave, eyes following the trails his hand leaves in the air as he does so.]

It doesn't look like anyone here's having a bad trip right now, so they're not much threat. But if someone's trip goes bad, they'll need a person to sit with them until it stops.