@andy.anderson

[scythias]

Anyone here choose to not use the ability they were given for whatever reason? Or is it sometimes impossible to avoid using it?

I haven't figured out what mine is yet but I thought I'd just check in to see if they're easily controlled when you have figured them out or if they just pop off without preamble. Might be a little bit of a mood killer in certain situations if that were to happen.

Can you turn them off even if you can't actually turn them off?

Comments

[notathreat]

Somebody tried to deck me and it kicked in. Don't worry, everybody's fine.

You worried about somebody losing control?

[scythias]

Not really. I can take care of myself.

I'm just wondering what makes these abilities suddenly come alive. If it's something common to everyone or if it's different. I don't know how I feel about the whole ability thing anyway.

I didn't need one before so I don't know why I need one now.

[notathreat]

I didn't need one either, but I can't deny it's come in fucking handy.

But from what I've seen? You probably won't have to use it if you don't want to.

[scythias]

Good to know.

( she thinks she'll decide on what to do when she figures out what it is. )

You used yours for anything besides when you first discovered it?

[notathreat]

A couple times. Figured that if I ever need to use it on purpose, might as well know how.

I'm used to being outgunned, so I'll take anything I can get.

[scythias]

That's valid. I typically have a team behind me so I haven't needed anything like that.

( and also immortality and all. )

What can you do, if you don't mind sharing?

[notathreat]

Must be one hell of a team if you're turning down extra firepower.

[That WOULD do it. And Ellie is quiet for a few minutes before she responds, trying to figure out whether she does mind.]

Ask me again later? I don't want to sound like a paranoid asshole, honest

[scythias]

That's fine. It's not my business, I'm just interested in this sort of thing.

Extra firepower's a good thing but I'm a little bothered that I was somehow given it without having a choice.

[notathreat]

Thanks.

[It might be a simple bit of understanding, but it speaks well of Andy, and Ellie will remember that long after this conversation's over.]

Bothered more by the implant shit and being drugged than I am about the extra powers. But I guess everything about this is fucked up.

[scythias]

Yeah, that bothers me too. I don't like that something was done to me to make this happen, no matter how beneficial.

I didn't want it.

[notathreat]

[Pause, for a second here.]

Something like this happen to you before?

[scythias]

Have I ever been given an ability that I didn't ask for? Not really.

But I've definitely been forced into things against my will before.

[notathreat]

Fuck that. Hope you got out.

[scythias]

I did.

( they hadn't. )

But it's why I have a slight aversion to people doing things to me that I didn't ask for. Bad memories.

[notathreat]

Good.

[And double good.]

This whole situation is fucked no matter what way you look at it, and the more I read back on the network the more tangled up things get. Doesn't look like spitting out the answers any time soon.

[scythias]

That's the feeling I'm getting too. So much for thinking this would be a short trip.

( considering so many people had been here for long periods of time, she doesn't think getting out is going to be easy. )

I don't really like being kidnapped either. Very low on my list of priorities even if I'm not in a cage.

[notathreat]

It's my first time in another universe, but yeah. Looking like we're gonna be stuck here a while.

[But why dwell on that when you can joke about trauma?]

Never did understand the cage bullshit. Is it just for effect, or what?

[scythias]

Keep people in line, probably. Show what kind of power they have.

( everything can be performative when you're the one in power. )

Where are you from?

[notathreat]

Gross. Not even that effective.

[... probably not a good idea to go into detail.]

Boston originally. Was in Wyoming right before I woke up here in the back of a van, but unless "clickers" means anything to you, it's probably not the same one most people are thinking of.

[scythias]

Clickers doesn't mean anything to me.

( but something about the word sounds foreboding. )

What are clickers?

cw: body horror/gore in the link

[notathreat]

[Ah fuck. How to explain clickers. Thankfully Ellie's explained the infected a couple of times, so Andy's getting the smoother summary than most.]

There's a parasitic fungal infection back home, takes over the brain. Clickers are infected people that have been left alone so long the
fungal plates
start coming out of their faces. Makes them blind. We call them clickers because they make a clicking sound. It's how they find you.

[scythias]

( well, that's disgusting. )

How's the infection spread? Touch? Airborne? In the water?

[notathreat]

Airborne, if it's inside and the spores are dense enough. Takes years for that to build up though. Gas masks work.

That, or if they bite you.

Don't worry, no word of them here. We'd know.

[scythias]

Anyone know where the whole thing came from? I haven't heard of a disease that pervasive before.

( she'd lived through plagues and pandemics but never anything that sounds as serious as what she's describing. )

[notathreat]

Sudden mutation in cordyceps. It used to just infect stuff like ants.

It came on so fast nobody had time to study it or anything. Once somebody's bitten it can turn them in just a couple hours.