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memesville2021-03-10 05:07 pm
robbies) wrote in memesville2021-03-10 05:07 pm
Entry tags:
TDM - MARCH/APRIL 2021
TEST DRIVE MEME - MARCH/APRIL 2021
It's the day the devil in us gets released.
“Help me. Please, help me…”
A child’s voice, calling out for aid. There’s no rhyme or reason for when it comes to you. It’s so quiet, a whisper in the deepest, darkest corners of your mind. Were it not for the sharp, stabbing pain it pulls out of you, you could ignore it. You could even pretend it’s just your imagination.
It all happens so quickly and powerfully. Left in the dust, your brain struggles to process it all. Blacking out is the least it can do, but it’s also all it can do, and it does so before you even have a chance to fully register just how young the voice is, and how deeply, heartbreakingly lost it sounds.
When you finally awaken with your bare feet tangled in soft sheets, a layer of fuzzy fleece or slinky silk clinging to your body like another layer of skin, the sunlight pouring in from the window next to your bed momentarily blinding you, and the cries of happy children playing outside of it carrying faintly, it all becomes very clear—
Something is horribly wrong.
A child’s voice, calling out for aid. There’s no rhyme or reason for when it comes to you. It’s so quiet, a whisper in the deepest, darkest corners of your mind. Were it not for the sharp, stabbing pain it pulls out of you, you could ignore it. You could even pretend it’s just your imagination.
It all happens so quickly and powerfully. Left in the dust, your brain struggles to process it all. Blacking out is the least it can do, but it’s also all it can do, and it does so before you even have a chance to fully register just how young the voice is, and how deeply, heartbreakingly lost it sounds.
When you finally awaken with your bare feet tangled in soft sheets, a layer of fuzzy fleece or slinky silk clinging to your body like another layer of skin, the sunlight pouring in from the window next to your bed momentarily blinding you, and the cries of happy children playing outside of it carrying faintly, it all becomes very clear—
Something is horribly wrong.
MARCH 1st.
 |
It becomes very clear very quickly that this isn’t a simple kidnapping.
By the time you make it down to the living room, you’ll notice that the television is on; someone must have forgotten to turn it off before they went to bed. On it, the morning news is playing. “With their charity luncheon a rousing success, the Happy Home Association later donated all of their proceeds to the Santa Rosita Planning Commission. Debra, a member of the HHA, said the amount they donated more than ensures that 1961 will be an eventful year for us here in our fair town…” |
GETTING TO KNOW THE NEIGHBORS.
| As you get acclimated, you gradually begin to learn more about this strange new world you’ve found yourself in. You’re in a neighborhood on the east side of a town called Santa Rosita located… somewhere in California (wherever or whatever that might be). The year is 1961. If it wasn’t clear enough, your neighbors are more than willing to humor you if you ask. Even if you accost them with questions and demands. Sure, you and your family are a little kooky, and you have a very overactive imagination, but the key to any good joke is playing along! And how could something like “I’m from the future, from another world” be anything but a joke? A. DRINK UP.With March incoming, spring is in the air and everybody seems to be excited to get out of their house and enjoy the good weather. Birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and guys and gals alike are out to take a brisk walk and socialize! Wanting to make sure you’re feeling truly welcome to the town, whether you’re brand new or went through such a wild winter with them, your neighbors will be on their way with gifts aplenty. Delicacies such as tomato aspic and potato salad and bologna cake will ensure that your fridge is full to bursting, and no matter how you try to demur, they’re insistent that you accept their offerings.March also brings with it St. Patrick’s Day, and some of your neighbors are feeling festive! A knock at the door, and you’ll find yourself confronted with a plate full of 7-Up Cheese Aspic, wiggling and bright. “I saw this recipe and just knew I had to try it!” the beaming cook says, pushing it into your hands. “And with St. Patrick’s Day coming up, we should all be getting in the spirit, right?” The combination of cheese cubes, raw onions, and green olives in a mixture of lime jello and fizzy 7-Up might be a bit off-putting to some. But you never know until you try! Go on, give it a whirl! |
 |
B. SPRING CLEANING.
It’s a beautiful, picturesque Saturday in the neighborhood—the sun rising, banishing the dark shadows of night, the birds beginning to peep and tweet, the morning dew sparkling on the grass…“Morning, neighbor!”
“Hello, pal!”
“Time to brush off the cobwebs, huh, fellows?”
“You said it!”
And as one, several lawn mowers come to life with a synchronized roar, breaking the peace of your quiet Saturday morning.
All over the neighborhood, windows are being thrown wide and the mops and brooms, hedge clippers and lawn mowers, gardening and carpentry tools alike are being brought out as the townsfolk set to combing every inch of their house and yard (and in Mr. Martin’s case, literally!) to bring it to order after a long winter. Everybody has a job, from the oldest old man to the youngest child, and everybody’s pitching in to do their part and ensure Santa Rosita enjoys another beautiful year.
And don’t think they’ll leave you, their new neighbor and best friend, out of the picture! You might emerge from your house one day to pick up the paper and find there’s a Robbie in your front yard, whistling cheerfully as he prunes your front hedges. One of your neighbors might make a cracking joke about how they can’t have you feeling left out as he rolls his lawn mower into your yard, or you might receive some new gifts in the form of seedlings and sprouts all ready to be hardened off and planted (you do know what that means and how to do it, don’t you?). Careful—if you let that salt linger too long on your car, one of the well-meaning neighbor kids might take some initiative and wash it for you! Watch out—first they’ll come for you with the hose for a laugh, but then they’ll come for your wallet when they beam and hint that, “Oh, it was nothing… I was happy to do it…”
HAPPY FAMILIES.
 |
It becomes very clear very quickly that this isn’t a simple kidnapping… Hey, hold on a second—haven’t we been through this already? When your eyes open to the sound of your alarm, there’s something pinging at the back of your mind—you might not be able to place what it is right away, but something’s wrong. Maybe it’s the feeling of your pajamas, or maybe the sheets are a slightly greener shade of blue, or maybe your alarm is a tiny bit shriller than it usually is… but whatever it is, it’s got all your senses on alert. Getting up and out of bed, it may become immediately obvious—or maybe not, if your “spouse” has already woken up and gone downstairs for the day. But sooner or later, you’ll find that your loving family is no longer your loving family. Something weird is going on with Santa Rosita, and whatever force brought you here seems to be on the fritz. Your “family” can change by the day—you might go to bed in your home on Mockingbird Lane and wake up in an entirely new family on Loomis Drive. Curiously, your belongings seem to travel with you… most of the time. Sometimes they’ll be lost in transit, and that lovely little black dress you bought at Honeybee’s has somehow ended up in one of your neighbors’ closets. Hopefully you’re on good terms with your neighbors so that you can get your stuff back! Your neighbors seem entirely nonplussed by the frequent swapping of households. Ask any of them and they’ll say you’ve always lived there, that your son has always been your son, and you’ve never had a daughter, silly! As all the photos in your house seem to change along with them, it’ll be hard to find anything that might prove them wrong. |
TOPSY-TURVY.
While your families are constantly shifting, that doesn’t seem to be the only thing going sideways. The entire city of Santa Rosita seems to be in a state of flux—days might go from mild at dawn to scorching by noon and back to December snow by dusk. Winds howl in single gusts before dying down, and rain falls such that you can stand on one side of the curtain of rain and stay dry while you stick your hand into the deluge two feet away.
Doors in your home cannot be trusted; similar to December, it’s possible for them to open up to entirely different locations. However, unlike December, the doors don’t all lead to a singular place—where they’ll lead at any given moment is anyone’s guess! You might find yourself on the other side of town, back at the site of the now-gone Christmas village, or even in one of your neighbors’ houses. Maybe you can use your bedroom for a quick commute to work or school if you get lucky or are persistent enough? Curiously, locations like city hall and the police department never pop up when you find somewhere new on the other side of your door; neither will NPC households.
As if that wasn’t enough, ghosts and goblins seem to appear and disappear with the changing of the hour. Paranormal activity of all types run rampant, ranging from innocuous to intense. You may return home to find that everything in your kitchen has been shifted by two inches… or you may wake up to find your dresser floating midair and coming back down to the ground with a resounding crash! Ghosts appear, dressed in any style and fashion up through those of 1961 (or sometimes, strangely, in clothing that’s odd and futuristic for Santa Rosita’s quaint streets), and it might be possible to find other mythical creatures around the town from time to time, though the storybook unicorns and witches seem to disappear whenever you get too close. Further, there’s something that seems to have taken up residence under your bed, though it’s never there when you try to look or catch it. But how else do you explain its cold, withered, knobbly fingers as they lock around your ankle if your leg hangs off the bed at night? Its sharp nails scratching at your heels as it tries to grab you when you get out of bed in the middle of the night? The sound of breathing that fills your room at night and the faint clammy breath on your face in the instant before you open your eyes?
Wandering packs of zombie children may show up in your neighborhoods in the night—surely you’ve stocked up on pumpkins to make a new jack-o’-lantern, right? Doppelgangers and ferthurs appear and disappear in shifts; you may be looking out the window when it happens: A slight shift in the air, almost like a video ripping, and they’re gone, transported back to wherever they came from. Maybe they were chasing you when they disappeared; you might turn around to find that nothing is there (was it ever?).
Still other are the mysterious figures you might see around town. You’ll find that no matter how often you see them, you’ll never be able to describe them to someone else; the words will escape you every time. Are they short? Tall? Stout? Petite? Dark hair? Light hair? Smiling? Frowning? Nobody who sees them can agree, but one thing is for sure: They’re watching you, and they’ll appear at random, whether that’s standing in your corner watching you sleep or trailing after you through the grocer’s. None of the NPCs will notice these figures, though they do seem to give them a wide berth if possible—almost like they can unconsciously sense the prospect of danger.
The only respite from the chaos seems to be that not everything happens at once, and at other times of the month the city is downright peaceful. There’s no reason or rhyme to the starts and stops of the monsters, the figures, the doors or the weather; check the almanacs and mark the night skies (when it isn’t hidden behind snowfall or turbulent clouds), but try as you might, you won’t be able to find a pattern.
All you can do is hope that this passes quickly.
Doors in your home cannot be trusted; similar to December, it’s possible for them to open up to entirely different locations. However, unlike December, the doors don’t all lead to a singular place—where they’ll lead at any given moment is anyone’s guess! You might find yourself on the other side of town, back at the site of the now-gone Christmas village, or even in one of your neighbors’ houses. Maybe you can use your bedroom for a quick commute to work or school if you get lucky or are persistent enough? Curiously, locations like city hall and the police department never pop up when you find somewhere new on the other side of your door; neither will NPC households.
As if that wasn’t enough, ghosts and goblins seem to appear and disappear with the changing of the hour. Paranormal activity of all types run rampant, ranging from innocuous to intense. You may return home to find that everything in your kitchen has been shifted by two inches… or you may wake up to find your dresser floating midair and coming back down to the ground with a resounding crash! Ghosts appear, dressed in any style and fashion up through those of 1961 (or sometimes, strangely, in clothing that’s odd and futuristic for Santa Rosita’s quaint streets), and it might be possible to find other mythical creatures around the town from time to time, though the storybook unicorns and witches seem to disappear whenever you get too close. Further, there’s something that seems to have taken up residence under your bed, though it’s never there when you try to look or catch it. But how else do you explain its cold, withered, knobbly fingers as they lock around your ankle if your leg hangs off the bed at night? Its sharp nails scratching at your heels as it tries to grab you when you get out of bed in the middle of the night? The sound of breathing that fills your room at night and the faint clammy breath on your face in the instant before you open your eyes?
Wandering packs of zombie children may show up in your neighborhoods in the night—surely you’ve stocked up on pumpkins to make a new jack-o’-lantern, right? Doppelgangers and ferthurs appear and disappear in shifts; you may be looking out the window when it happens: A slight shift in the air, almost like a video ripping, and they’re gone, transported back to wherever they came from. Maybe they were chasing you when they disappeared; you might turn around to find that nothing is there (was it ever?).
Still other are the mysterious figures you might see around town. You’ll find that no matter how often you see them, you’ll never be able to describe them to someone else; the words will escape you every time. Are they short? Tall? Stout? Petite? Dark hair? Light hair? Smiling? Frowning? Nobody who sees them can agree, but one thing is for sure: They’re watching you, and they’ll appear at random, whether that’s standing in your corner watching you sleep or trailing after you through the grocer’s. None of the NPCs will notice these figures, though they do seem to give them a wide berth if possible—almost like they can unconsciously sense the prospect of danger.
The only respite from the chaos seems to be that not everything happens at once, and at other times of the month the city is downright peaceful. There’s no reason or rhyme to the starts and stops of the monsters, the figures, the doors or the weather; check the almanacs and mark the night skies (when it isn’t hidden behind snowfall or turbulent clouds), but try as you might, you won’t be able to find a pattern.
All you can do is hope that this passes quickly.
OOC INFO
Hello, and welcome to We're Still Here's third TDM! Here's a few things we'd like you to keep in mind:
We’re Still Here is taking a short pause for the months of March and April. This TDM will span both months and we encourage everybody to tag out, tag in, backtag, and start new threads as you please! Apps will reopen in May.
The TDM is canon. You can treat this as a real game-wide event and pick and choose what threads you would like your character to remember when they enter the game. For characters who app into the game, the events of the TDM will be treated like a dream.
Please note that there is a lot going on in this TDM — this is intentional! We wanted to give you, the players, a full world and event to play with that could last beyond the usual event or TDM cycle. You may cherry-pick from the above prompts as you please and take reasonable liberties as you would like; if you have any questions, you may use the mod top-level below to ask them.
For current players, the Housing page has been updated with new assignments! These assignments are temporary and will be subject to shuffling once more at the end of the pause. As detailed in the above prompts, you may play with shifting housing as often as you would please; for those of you who do not want to make use of this prompt, the new Housing assignments are there for your convenience.
There is no Network prompt listed, but feel free to wildcard one for your characters anyway.
Please be sure to label any threads with relevant content warnings as necessary. Any questions for the mods can be asked in the mod top-level below (please note that due to the pause, these questions may be answered more slowly than normal!). For new and prospective players, please make use of the Prospective Rolodex!
We’re Still Here is taking a short pause for the months of March and April. This TDM will span both months and we encourage everybody to tag out, tag in, backtag, and start new threads as you please! Apps will reopen in May.
The TDM is canon. You can treat this as a real game-wide event and pick and choose what threads you would like your character to remember when they enter the game. For characters who app into the game, the events of the TDM will be treated like a dream.
Please note that there is a lot going on in this TDM — this is intentional! We wanted to give you, the players, a full world and event to play with that could last beyond the usual event or TDM cycle. You may cherry-pick from the above prompts as you please and take reasonable liberties as you would like; if you have any questions, you may use the mod top-level below to ask them.
For current players, the Housing page has been updated with new assignments! These assignments are temporary and will be subject to shuffling once more at the end of the pause. As detailed in the above prompts, you may play with shifting housing as often as you would please; for those of you who do not want to make use of this prompt, the new Housing assignments are there for your convenience.
There is no Network prompt listed, but feel free to wildcard one for your characters anyway.
Please be sure to label any threads with relevant content warnings as necessary. Any questions for the mods can be asked in the mod top-level below (please note that due to the pause, these questions may be answered more slowly than normal!). For new and prospective players, please make use of the Prospective Rolodex!
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No longer satisfied with merely looking at his lieutenant, he makes his way over to the bed and takes a seat next to him. ]
You are no longer alone.
[ It feels strange to say out loud what he would normally convey through nothing but an abstract feeling, a gentle nudge of the mind. ]
I will not let you be buried anywhere but among the stars we both belong to.
[ Now more than ever, it feels important to curb Angelo's self-sacrificial instincts. He is the only resource Frontal has in this world and unless things go horrifyingly wrong, this is not a place in which he will need to be sacrificed. Not here, not in a world neither of them care about. ]
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... which means they really have to figure out a way out of here.
angelo, rather quietly: ] Char Aznable once spoke about our souls, being weighed down by gravity.
I think of all people, you cannot - and should not - be left to such a fate. [ angelo looks up at him in worry. ] Not here, in this foreign planet .... or anywhere else.
But there are moments here to rest. [ his hair, so golden over his shoulders, are tucked nicely behind his ear and to the back of his neck gently with his fingers. ] And .... you will find them useful, I hope, since you have always been working so hard.
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Unfortunately, I find myself quite bad at sitting still.
[ He's never done it before. All his life, there has been more work than one person could reasonably hope to achieve in a day and he's doing nothing but rushing to catch up and make the impossible possible. Now, he's lost. ]
Maybe I should ask you for advice on how to rest - provided you have figured it out for yourself, Lieutenant.
[ HE'S NOT THE ONLY WORKAHOLIC IN THIS HOUSE! ]
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[ captain .... how cute ..... angelo does not pout (he does) at him as he shakes his head. ]
I'll have you know I've been acquiring other skills, even as a civilian here. [ a pause. ] I have been forced to learn so many new things again, as if I was experiencing everything for the first time.
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Tell me all about it, if you will.
[ They haven't been split up for so long since before the mission to steal the Sinanju. A long long time. ]
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still, he wants to tell him. he hasn't been lazy. he's been working hard on making himself useful because he knows he would say the same thing. so he nods, and then tries to start with the more important things. ]
.... I have been attending school. And .... learning how to garden, for the weather starts getting better. I have also been participating in other excursions around town, to figure out the secrets of it .... but that's more difficult and progress is slow.
[ another pause, and then, he adds in a smaller voice, ] I've a regular circle of people that I'm well acquainted with.
[ ... he doesn't have nightmares about them dying. angelo folds his hands over his lap, one over the other, clutching them. the shaking has subsided, but there are some days he notices them be awful. ]
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Frontal imagines school, after. It is maybe amusing that this is now an experience Angelo has ahead of him - a man who isn't quite a man who has had all knowledge he could need implanted within his mind without ever having to study. They'll have to be careful about this institution though. A school run by this town is bound to be full of falsehood... but if anybody knows how to recognize propaganda, it should be Angelo who only believes in the propaganda they themselves spread. Maybe that can be a useful source of information in the end.
And then there's... people. The shift in volume is enough to give away that 'well acquainted' might not quite cut it in reality, but Frontal finds himself at a loss on how to interpret it further. There's a moment of silence as Frontal also stares down at Angelo's clasped hands, pensively. ]
It is good of you to gather alliances.
[ That's what he comes up with after a beat. Whatever else this is, surely 'alliance' can't be a misnomer entirely. ]
Fielding this situation without exchange of information and resource with those in the same position would complicate matters immensely. I will likewise need to make some acquaintances...
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[ especially since neither of them are the friendliest. nor are they the type to willingly invite others into their circle; for as long as angelo is aware he shared the captain with neo-zeon, with the princess, and yes, even that gundam pilot, but for the most past it's just them. there is no-one allowed to be closer to either one given the nature of their relationship.
and there is no danger of that now, even here, but the possibility of it is strange to think about and makes angelo the slightest bit anxious. ]
People are more responsive without the military aspect attached to the name, but that also makes them more difficult to deal with.
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[ And he does not look happy about it... His only real civilian interaction prior to arriving here was getting Angelo out of that shithole of an establishment and that was... hm. He could presumably have communicated a lot of things better in that situation. ]
Though... if we are to keep our military affiliation on the down-low, you can't go calling me 'Captain' in public.
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[ oh no!!!! no. no, that's a problem. angelo turns at him with his eyes furrowed, as if the idea of calling him by his name
and not because i, the player, hate this infantis just downright blasphemous. ]That'd - I mean, it certainly makes sense, but - [ PAUSE. ] it seems wrong.
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Even without feeling your presence, I know you. I will not think of it as a disrespect, not from you.
[ There is that slightly teasing cadence in his voice, sorry... ]
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[ ah .... why is he being teased.
in any case angelo will. hold onto his captain's hand. ]
I will apologize in advance. If it comes to that - of course, I'll do as you say. Even if it sounds so strange to me.
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That connection lingers, even when it is lost. Angelo's hands are small and warm and firm. They feel like his mind does, on a good day. Frontal runs his thumb across the smooth skin, not really to communicate anything to Angelo but just to feel him on a layer that is deeper than words. How he misses being able to reach out his mind beyond the confines of his own head... ]
You are forgiven.
[ Anyway! ]
Is there any cover story you have been telling people about your previous life?
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as for his cover story, angelo just frowns and replies with, ]
I barely talk about my past here - I tend to deflect or not engage.
It is not anyone's right to know, after all. [ a pause. ] And if I'm being honest, there is hardly enough time to get to know anyone. The things that happen in this town are too strange, and too violent, to be left alone.
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[ And to say he feels any sort of guilt for leaving Angelo alone with this would be entirely incorrect. It's just... off, to think that there are experience they do not share and time in Angelo's life that he cannot access. They are no longer one unit, Angelo is no longer quite an extension of his own being and his own goals.
Even as their hands remain connected, they are very far apart. ]
We were coworkers, then. That seems enough for anybody to know should the nature of our previous relationship be questioned.
[ And then, after a thoughtful beat: ] Were you hurt?
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but his other question makes him pause. angelo is reckless by nature. with or without his captain, even as he tries to conduct himself accordingly. he holds his hand for a bit as he nods quietly. ]
... not as bad as ... the others. [ he purses his lips disapprovingly, and then adds, ] Some of the newer arrivals were kidnapped and experimented on, with body parts altered or removed.
I was part of a team who investigated these occurrences. Most people survived, which I think was the point of their cruelty. But it is difficult to fight in these circumstances - in a tunnel, and on this planet, none less. There is only so much one can do.
no subject
Kidnapped by what? Those insistent townspeople? Or another entity entirely?
no subject
In all likelihood it is another party which serves the interests of the town but which they cannot control.
[ angelo holds onto him firmly, his hand always a lifeline as it had been then, now. he is content, being with him. this is more than what is afforded others and is unique to them together; the intimacy is appreciated. to angelo, he is granted more than what the captain can afford to give, and he treasures it.
he has his worries. he doesn't think he should be here, for one. but so long as he is here he exudes the same calm he is known for and that helps, somewhat. ]
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[ Hm. Four major factions at play then. Those from other worlds, the two types of townspeople and the mysterious other. Frontal begins classifying them and taking notes in his head and he wishes that would lead him to any result that feels actually worthwhile. Alas, mostly he's lost on how to go about things. ]
Were the assailants not visible at any point?
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[ as for the assailants, angelo frowns, tries to think of the events as they unfolded from the beginning before answering his question. ]
.... if they were, they wouldn't have realized it - they were drugged.
However, local police seem to be surprised when we started asking questions about the location in which they were held - a nuclear bunker. Old fashioned. The kind used in the One Year War, and I suppose some other locales. [ angelo tilts his head and clarifies, ] It seemed that for the most part they have forgotten it existed, considering it didn't really fit the image of the town.
When I interrogated the Chief of police he said that he used to chase children from there all the time, as it was abandoned long ago - budget cuts, likely. [ and here is where angelo's memory gets clouded and he doesn't like it at all: ] But he was not forthcoming against whether or not there had been accidents there before or if it was repurposed, and .... I cannot remember the rest of our interactions as my memory has been ... tampered.
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And in absence of ability to say anything he would want to say, Frontal simply remains quiet for a long moment. ]
I'm understanding more and more what kind of place we are dealing with. Thank you for the quick overview, your efforts are greatly appreciated. Unfortunate as it is, it appears we won't be able to make a speedy departure.
[ ... ]
I should find work, in the meantime, suited to likewise gather information through the day.
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[ what with his captain's work ethic and all. normally this isn't a problem, but .... ]
I have grown better at cooking. Let me know where you find work - I will make you lunches. [ every day!!!! if need be!!!!! ]
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Luckily Angelo says something else that he can latch onto next, so he doesn't have to debate the merits of sleeping only two hours some nights. ]
You will be first to know. It is truly unfortunate that we haven't be assigned to the same family unit.
[ Because this? Wife behaviour. What a convincing act they could be! ]
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We would have problems immediately. I would not allow anyone else in the house for one.
[ disgusting. BUT IT'S TRUE, NOT AFTER GUNDAM PILOTS, OH NO. he won't make that mistake again. >:( ]
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Now, now... What would the neighbors think if you put our children out into the streets? Think practically, lieutenant.
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