Ria: pester everyone.

[twintimes]

You are once again RIA POLOLANIK and you're currently pretty upset. This is because upon waking up from PROSPITIAN SHENANIGANS the Land of Rifts and Echoes has once again changed, and the cave you napped in is now completely void of beautiful sparkling and horrifyingly pointy gems.

Ria: panic.

Ria: contact everyone who is currently online.

You just went to sleep for a few minutes. It wasn't your fault, was it?

-- disjoinedCulinarian [DC] has signed on. --

DC: uhm I hope I'm not InterruptIng
DC: I just hAve one quIck questIon
DC: hAve you tAlked to MA recently??
DC: And I meAn mIsterArchImIme
DC: not methodologIcAlAnalyst
DC: just to be cleAr

Comments

[apiarycryptonaut]

Oh, look, a message from Ria! You decide to answer... only to be very confused. Though you've got a bad feeling...

Oh, hello Ri4, hello!
Wh4t, w4it, mister4rchimime, huh?
I h4ven't, no, um!
Why, um, m4ybe, huh?

Ria: attempt to dodge the question a little.

[twintimes]

oh uhm
I see
well
.. uhm he's my server plAyer And I need to speAk to him
I just hAven't seen hIm onlIne lAtely

Avispa: Take Ria's response at face value, probably, yes.

[apiarycryptonaut]

Oh, I wonder wh4t... he might be doing.
If I see him... I'll let him know!
Th4t you're looking for... him, yes, I think!

Two sets of eyes are better than none, after all!

[twintimes]

I don't know..
but yes thAnk you
I would be reAlly greAt

[apiarycryptonaut]

Good luck, Ri4, yes!
He c4n't st4y lost... forever, not 4t 4ll!

[austereastronomer]

I don't believe I've seen him online lately, though we've only spoken once.
Do you have a message you need to pass on?

[twintimes]

well uhm
he Is my server plAyer
And some thIngs recently hAppened In my lAnd thAt I wAnted to Ask hIm About
so If you see hIm could you tell hIm to contAct me?
me or CD, one of us Is gonnA be onlIne for sure..

[austereastronomer]

I'll make sure to mention that if I ever see him.
...what happened in your Land, exactly, that you wanted to ask about?
I know some people who've been experiencing some anomalies.

[twintimes]

thAnks A lot!!
Ah, my lAnd chAnged
It seemed lIke It hAd bIts And pIeces of A whole nother lAnd In It for A whIle
gemstones And wAx lAkes And the lIke thAt were totAlly out of plAce And just sort of AppeAred one dAy
..but they vAnIshed
but the plAce stIll Isn't bAck to normAl

[austereastronomer]

That's interesting—that's very similar to what someone I know experienced.
She actually had a block of water just sitting on the surface, apparently.
I wonder if it's still there...
I found some doors that I could swear hadn't been there before underground, too.

[artful_transgressor]

dont think iVe eVen talked to them once
or if i did it was long enough ago in terms of shit happened that iVe forgotten
who the hell is that

[twintimes]

I see..
thAt's my server plAyer
I uhm
hAven't heArd from hIm In A whIle

[artful_transgressor]

oh
yeah kinda imperatiVe to get on that
how longs a while exactly

[twintimes]

I sAw hIm onlIne when I put up my lAst memo but he never responded
..And now he's no longer onlIne At All
I've been tryIng to fIgure out who hIs server Is so I cAn Ask them to check but It seems like everyone's pretty busy

[artful_transgressor]

yeah
that was awhile ago wasnt it

so do you need him to do something
or is this a random check-in

[polygraphing]

oh you mean zparkz
i talked to him a kouple timez
before thiz game zhit hapened
why whatz going on

[twintimes]

yes hIm
well uhm
he's my server plAyer And I've been tryIng to get A hold of hIm for A whIle
but hAven't hAd Any luck so I
..got worrIed

[polygraphing]

wel
iz hiz name ztil around on your chat klient'z lizt
and iz your view window thingy ztil working
or iz hiz name gone and your window blakc
though i guez your window kould be zhowing zomeone elzez hive by now
anyway if the later iz the kaze
then hez probably dead

[twintimes]

well I don't hAve A vIew wIndow for hIm
cAuse he's my server so he cAn see me not the other wAy Around

[polygraphing]

oh whoopz
man thiz game terminology iz zo fukcing dumb
anyway then
i guez you zhould be azking if anyone elze kan zee you then
bekauze thatz how it hapened with me

[tetchytmesis]

You sigh and rub your temples, willing away the oncoming headache. Not another one. You really hope it's not another one. But who are you kidding? Hope has nothing to do with this; it hasn't been on the menu since forever. At least you can say you don't WANT this to be another one.

But it probably is.

ria.
again.

[twintimes]

It takes you a little while to respond to this. You have to walk away from the laptop for a little while. Just. Just do something else for a minute, fiddling with your strife specibus as if you haven't done that enough already. But when you come back to the screen, the message is still there.

..
....yes
I thInk so, AnywAy
I'm pretty sure
I wAnted to Ask fIrst And not jump to Any conclusIons but
well..

[tetchytmesis]

ok.

Okay, what are you going to do about this. You haven't the slightest.

did. you. figure. out. who. your. new. server. player. is.
has. the. game. decided. or.

[twintimes]

I hAven't gotten to tAlk to everyone
It does seem to hAve decIded
but I don't know

this hurt to write :c

[celestialcavalier]

You read the message,
pause,

No.

cut down the last of the nearby imps,
and read it again.

God, no...

You flip through windows on your KARMIC COMMUNICATION COMBAT H.U.D.SET until you reach the SERVER-CLIENT WINDOW-

NO

...and see the twins, as opposed to Sparks.

no god fucking dammit WHY

You're glad the H.U.D.SET picks up your voice, because you are in no shape to type anything.

hes gone
the fucking fag is gone
i
hes really gone
its my fault
i should have kept a better eye on him
it was my fucking JOB