recollecters | NPC INBOX 2.0;

NPC INBOX 2.0;

Zee Carlisle

A wise duck once said: "Let's get dangerous."

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

Zee Carlisle, #55891
~~Retrospec Hiring Manager~~

Newly housed in a remote location attached to the Recollé Public Library, one only has to pass through the invisible door scanners to access Zee's current office. Upon entering, users will see an upgraded suite, three unmarked (and closed) doors along the wall behind Zee's desk, and windows overlooking the city.

-Threads with Zee may be used for AC/bonus points should players choose to do so.
-Threads with Zee may be used to gain mission assignments or discuss plot points, game events, etc.
-Threads with Zee may be cut short if they are irrelevant solely to save on mod-time as well.
-Unless stated otherwise, assume that he is always reachable for Retrospec users.

Old inbox can be found here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Good at sinking, sure, but how good are you at getting back out? I might need you on land patrol but with what's out there it makes sense to send you to fight through the blockades. It's weird. I feel like this has been way too easy but nothing's come to me yet that says "IMMEDIATE DANGER." It's like the guy's biding his time and waiting to lull us into some false security or whatever. So that's to say...I'm fine, mostly, and vaguely paranoid. I've been trying to outsource and still figure out how to undo the mindwipe on the original staff. So far no luck.

Hey, I can fight. I can fight real fucking good. I got you. I'll do all I can.

The paranoia's not much of a surprise. Don't wanna get into the gruesome details, but when I was killing those shadowy fucks in Magatus? Took me a second to realize that they were gonna stay dead and that they weren't gonna surprise me with any post-death parting shots. Honestly, you're real lucky my life was so shit until I got the app.

Which is another thing I've been meaning to bring up with you, actually.

I know. You've always been good about that, actually, so I'm not sure why I even asked. You're one of my heavy hitters and I appreciate that. I'm not sure I'd call that lucky. I mostly find that frustrating on your behalf but maybe that's not my place. Magatus being empty was my main concern but I might go back out there myself and check the area again. See what we missed. I have a feeling stuff is still manifesting out there whether we like it or not. ...but okay. You've got my attention. What's going on?

It's a metaphor as heavy as my fucking hands are right now, but it's hard to ignore that a lot of what I've been through and a lot of what A2 went through have the same story beats. And I heard from Elliot, who heard from a ghost, that the world out there? Where the people who live here now came from, if they moved into the city like me? Is the product of the city.

So it means anyone who lives here now was born to live in this city. So it means I was born to be here and do what I'm doing now, and that's done a shitload to help my self-esteem and actually give me some goddamn direction in my life.

But it also means I was born to be a vessel for A2. Everything I've been through was supposed to bring me here. I don't think losing an eye was a part of it, but everything else, you know? It's like... I don't like destiny. But I can't deny that being destined for something feels pretty fucking good.

Anyway, yeah. I don't know what I'm getting at, asking an oracle about destiny. How much of what I just said is bullshit?

[A very long pause follows.]

You're taking it better than I think some of you would in any case. But. Yeah. That's right. The world as we know it is a product of the city and everything that's being done is to regrow the world as we know it. A world split apart needs to be readjusted. And that's why everything you remember, as it is, not only builds the world but the whole universe. And that's why the world collapsing is the worst thing to happen, because it's like. Like a reverse big bang, I guess. Everything gone. You're all creating your own layers to stabilize the world, and so losing as many people as we have...kinda puts us at a detriment. Which kind of fucking sucks! A lot! Haha! I've had time to think about this and the answer always kind of comes up just out of my reach. You were born to be a vessel for A2, sure, but that's the thing about hybrids, Anna. It's a mixture. All of you were brought here and destined to do something great to actually restructure everything as we know it. But....the company went about it the wrong way and now I'm clean-up duty. So. Not total bullshit, to answer the question.

Guess we're gonna see some of the advantages of being a hybrid. A2's good at killing. Anna Amarande? She's fucking tech support. Cleaning up other people's problems is what I did before this.

We got this, Zee. All of us. No matter how many of us are still awake. I mean it when I say just... point me in a direction and pull the trigger. If there's things I need to hunt down, if there's places you need me to explore, like, whatever. I'm here. I'll let myself have a breakdown about existence when everyone else's existence isn't on my shoulders.

We'll carry some of that weight together. Sound good?

And now it's all about cleaning up other people's problems while maybe killing others. Doesn't that sound fun? (Sarcasm doesn't translate well in text, but you get my point.) I know. You're pretty much my right hand right now which is helpful. There's a lot of you that're coming up with ideas and starting to put things together. Togusa's spoken to me a lot, too. But maybe let's avoid the breakdown for, like, ever. I'm a semi-qualified psychologist on top of being an oracle. I can maybe help with that later. But yeah. Sounds good. It's the one thing the company didn't account for, so I'm trying to make up for that. ...but I definitely owe you.

Not surprised. Togusa's got a real good head on his shoulders. Little bit of a pacifist, but, like, whatever. He'd probably call it diplomatic.

Tell you what. We make it out of this alive and in some brand new world where we don't have to worry about Clarence fucking everything up every month like clockwork? Let me get dibs as a client if you open a psych practice and we'll call it even.

[ooc: sorry for the delay! My WiFi/data situation wasn't what I'd thought it'd be while out of town.]

A lot of the time I sort of just nod and let him talk because it's a lot easier than the first couple of times I met with him. I think we're finally at an understanding and...well, I don't mind pacifists when I have people like you jumping into the fray. But you've got yourself a deal in that case. Pretty lofty goal, but..even if it doesn't feel like it I think we're making progress anyway.

Hell yeah, dude. Every day, one step at a time, in psychotherapy and beating back the darkness.

My old psych wasn't the most talkative person in the world, but I tried to solve it with pills instead. -Iatrist, not -ologist, you know? Wouldn't mind picking up some stuff about you when we've got the time to relax. You're a good dude just doing your best out here, same as most of the rest of us.

((oh my gosh no worries, you're good!!))

I've never been big on Iatrists which is why I went the Ologist route. Pills can help and I think that branch of medicine's great for what it is, but I want to be able to help really dig into stuff. I assume it has to do with being an oracle and knowing how the mind works now but before that I think I just wanted to. You're still giving me way too much credit, but thanks. ...there are some things I want to try that I'm doing further research on. It's going to take time, and it might get convoluted, but...we might need to meddle with time a bit, too.

Come again?

I could play dumb and pretend that question's about my career choices buuuut we're on a bit of a crunch. So yeah. Time travel is an option if I can figure it out. Feel free to tell me I'm crazy because I definitely feel crazy thinking about it.

We'll talk about your career choices when we finish off the Vanderweele problem.

Time travel. I've heard crazier, but not by much. You got any ideas on how that'll mess with the future yet? I mean, I assume we're going to the past to kill Vanderweele before he can start all this shit.

You'd think that, but not exactly. You can't kill him in the past because that'll disassemble the current present which is that past's future, but there are other things that can be done. Taking away his powers, reorganizing how the company structured things...it's basic time travel lore. I got to thinking about the past and how people wanted to be able to change how things were. So I dug around in the notes. It might be the way to bring the Company back, too. Get their memories fixed and stuff. I've been studying the programming to install on the app itself.

[this next message takes a bit to come through.]

How much changing of the past are we talking.

We'll still be the way we are by the end of it, right? Us rank and file people.

That'll be up to you, Anna. ...think of it like temporary time travel. A sneak peek into what could have been before we make final decisions and plug them into the programming and rewrite history. Those who want to stay the same can, and those who don't can fix things. But it's a tricky balance. We can't change too much about ourselves but the city and Vanderweele and the founders? That's all free game as long as Vanderweele's still alive in 2019.

This is a lot of dangerous power you're giving us, Zee.

I'm glad you trust us with it, but this is going to be a lot. And I don't know if I trust everyone who's left to use it responsibly, but that's a risk you've got to be willing to take when the reward is this big.

I think you're giving me a lot of things to think about right now. I'm still here if you need me for anything this month, but... god, that's a lot of power.

I know. Trust me, I know, but I can't and don't want to be the one doing this myself. For something this drastic? ...it's a dangerous idea, but I want to believe the people who're left won't abuse it. I get it, it's a lot of trust in you guys but...well. We're still here, aren't we? I'm open to other suggestions and I can't even guarantee it's going to work. But that's my project for the month while you guys are exploring and stabilizing other areas. If they're stable on this end, they should be stable on the other end.

You don't know how many times I've thought about being able to go back in time and change things.

We're both lucky that there are bigger things in play here.

For now. I'd like to hear those thoughts anyway though when you have the time and inclination.

We'll save it for our first couch session. See, there's another reason for both of us to get through this alive.

How could I ever say no to that? I'll keep it in mind. And in the meantime...I'll focus on timejumps and alternate universes. See if anything sticks out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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