dualisooc | TDM 001. WELCOME TO THE CITY

» 01. WELCOME WAGON

Wow, what a bunch of new faces! The city of Dualis hasn't seen anything like this in a long time, and they've seen some pretty crazy things. Chances are you're seeing some pretty crazy things, too, unless you're used to a lot of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in juuuuust fine. But for the rest of you, the Head knows this has gotta be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis, and welcome to your first monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating! Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask queries and receive results, or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship! But don't be too shy, you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, then the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right?

» 02. A BUG IN THE CODE

Remember how the Head mentioned that whole plague thing? Well, don't worry, this isn't that.

It is, however, a really, really terrible flu circulating through the residents of Dualis. Symptoms include fever, chills, vomiting, hallucinations and even in some cases seizures. Bad news, all around. Luckily, this is something the Head knows how to deal with! Time for vaccinations, everyone~

The vaccination process is pretty straightforward: just head to your local clinic and get innoculated! You'll be in and out in less than ten minutes, MedDualis is pretty efficient that way. There isn't even a copay. The MedDroids will tell you, however, that there might be some minor side effects** to watch out for, including physical reactions and odd dreams, but don't worry--those will wear off within forty-eight hours. Nothing to concern yourself about! Of course, if that worries you, you could always run the risk of getting the flu--or passing it on to your loved ones...

**Possible side effects include: Gender or sex change, positive or negative size change, appearance alterations, shared dreams, and mild telepathic links, among others. Please contact your local MedDroid if these symptoms become too severe, or other side effects such as death occur.

» 03. TANSTAAFL

Well, you're settling in just fine, and the basic accommodations and amenities are okay, but maybe you've got a hankering to see that new VR Film: SHARKS IN SPACE 85: BLACK HOLE SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO DO. Or maybe you want some sweet new duds to wear around town, or even just an actual slab of steak. Sorry, those cost extra, pal, which means it's time for...

JOB HUNTING.

Fortunately, Dualis makes this pretty easy! There's a job fair on this week, down at the Central Hub! Plug your certifications and skills into any of the EmployMe terminals in the Dualis Central Hub, and the computer will auto-generate a currently open job that it feels you'd be best suited for. No resume writing or lengthy application process required! Of course, whether or not this job sounds like the right job for you is another matter...but hey, how could an AI with millions of years of learning be wrong? Time to get started, or try and switch waivers with another unhappy new employee--but be warned, some unforeseen consequences may occur if you try swapping identities with someone else...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not really. I just care about them coercing us into sayin' somethin'. I figure the dry useless shit is enough to keep them occupied for ten minutes.

[He'd much rather have some whiskey. God, what would he do for a bottle of Black Lamb right now. Cheap nasty stuff that can destroy you.]

Not quite ready to raise my fists in uprising over a boring as fuck meet and greet.

Boring is right, [he mutters, rolling his eyes and turning his head to the right to take in the other tables full of people chattering away. hank may notice the plain tattoo of an upward-pointing triangle on the left side of mello’s neck, above the vest’s collar.]

Mello, [he finally answers. yep, that is his name.]

[If it's a prison tat, it's pretty clean. And not like any triangles he's seen, he doesn't look like the mi vida loca type.]

Hank. [He says simply of his own (and automatically assumes Mello's name would have a 'w' at the end. A great shame.]

[The next question on the list has "How old are you" and Hank fuckin' hates to think how old he is compared to a good half the people he's seen here. So he just abandons the cards in a hateful plop of resentment on the table.]

Okay, Mello. Tell me what the fuck you'd rather be doing than this shit. Answer can't be 'anything'. Too fuckin' easy.

[mello huffs quietly, almost amused.]

Oh, nothing super important. Just saving the world from a homicidal child who fancies himself a god.

[and beating near to the finish line. that’s the most important part. mello turns back to face hank, absently tugging at his collar near the tattoo. it’s not prison ink - it’s a magic tattoo, much like the ones available to buy here, though mello acquired it elsewhere, months ago.]

I was yanked away from my work a year ago, and I was supposed to be returned to it. But this sure as hell isn’t Los Angeles.

[It's too clean, too, he sees in the moment it's briefly shown. Most people who get tattoos on the inside are limited in the free time they have to receive said tattoo, and they're done using substandard tools. And even where they do use adequate tools in retrospect, they're still not that fuckin' clean because normal tattoos don't have fuckin' edges like that. That is weird.]

See, yeah. That's something that's better to do.

Like the whole fuckin' world? A kid serial killer or mass-murderer? [He seems to consider the difference between them valid. And he'd argue the weight of the world being a problem for one killer (being a god seems like a stretch, but then again who the fuck is he to know, androids fuckin' believe in one now.] Also, I'm from Detroit. And to be perfectly fuckin' honest? This neon cyberpunksploitation hivemind shit is probably what Detroit wants to be.

Detroit ... I passed through there once. [the hint of a smirk curls his lip.] I kept going.

[he seems to be relaxing a little, at least, arms finally uncrossed and his tone no longer outright hostile. mello silently considers for a moment how to answer hank’s question, how to explain his world, kira, the war he’s fighting to end kira’s reign of terror. gloved fingers drum lightly along the surface of the table separating them.

what the hell. it’s not like he’ll ever be forced to see hank again, right? and it’s a good way to kill their remaining time.]

He’s not an actual child, just acts like one - and mass murderer is probably the better descriptor. Since he rose to power, he’s murdered thousands upon thousands. He calls himself Kira.

[mello leans back in his chair, slouched, one foot brought up to rest on the edge of the seat. his arm is slung over the back of the chair as he begins his tale.]

You probably won’t believe any of this - frankly, it sounds too ridiculous to be true, and I have no evidence I can provide that backs up any of this. Kira’s murder weapon is a notebook that belonged to a shinigami, a god of death. All you need to do to kill someone with this notebook is to write their real name on the page while picturing them in your mind, and unless you specify the cause of death, that person will die of a heart attack forty seconds later. [he gives hank a languid one-shouldered shrug.] It sounds like complete bullshit, I know, but it’s not. Kira had more than one notebook, and I stole one from him. [“extorted” is a little more accurate.] I’ve held the murder weapon in my hands, seen it put to use with my own eyes, and I questioned the shinigami who originally owned the notebook about how it’s used and what its limitations are.

Yeah, the only good thing is the pizza. Pizza's actually pretty nice there.

[He listens to this hell of a story though. Hank doesn't really speak Japanese, not much of it. But.]

Shinigami, I've actually heard of that one. Know it from a homicide case I was on. Admittedly, not from an actual death spirit but some incel white guy with a house full of cheap ass katanas that was pissed he couldn't get laid.

[Hank sits back then, though, drumming his fingers on the table.] That's a hell of a story. But then again I did wake up on some monolith slab waiting for orders from the giant illness purging intelligence. Does it work if people write their own name in it, or does it have to be someone wanting to kill someone else?

[There's a dark thought that flickers through his mind. Seems more effective than Russian Roulette. Then a more comical one that acknowledges that, as drunk as Hank gets when those attempts flit by, he probably wouldn't be able to write his own name.]

Edited 2019-06-01 01:30 (UTC)

[he hums quietly, derisively. he doesn’t know what an incel is because he doesn’t spend much time on the internet - he has people to do that for him - but the guy sounds like a wannabe loser.]

Unsurprising, for an American.

[though he speaks with no foreign accent, mello is not american.

his mouth purses slightly as he consider’s hank’s question. it’s not a scenario he considered when interrogating sidoh - he has too many people to prove wrong to consider killing himself. he shrugs.]

That wasn’t a question I was interested in asking. I assume you would be able to commit suicide by writing your own name down, but I don’t know of anyone inclined to use it in that manner. I’m certainly not.

Eh, we got good music going for us.

[He makes a so so motion with his hand. He's ambivalent on his country, hates politics, does not hate it.]

But you know a kid has the book, which makes it especially dangerous because someone might be working off hormonal reactions and not considering the consequences. Or are they doing that creepy as fuck thing where they're absolutely considering the consequences and just forging merrily ahead?

[Hey, talking really odd casework is, at the moment, better than the other conversation topics he could mull over. Like favorite bands or dogs or whatever. Jesus, way to make himself miss his fucking weird partner.]

TDM 001. WELCOME TO THE CITY

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CW: Suicidal ideation

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