Actually, blood is thicker than water.
It's not dead yet, in fact, it's starting to feel better. File 4: Leaving_On_A_Jet_Plane.txt The next day Kingsley woke up sore all over. Not that he’d the right to expect anything different given his behavior the night before. Sensible or not, pain was pain. He didn’t regret a single one of the decisions that led him to it. It was a nice feeling in that respect. He felt like he’d accomplished something of worth. Rigel would probably just laugh at him or call him a dumbass and proceed to explain the great and small errors of his ways again. A right bitch she often was, but Kingsley could do nothing to help but feel a little bad for her. Acting like that without a reason. Thinking and doing everything without a single emotion, inclination, or anything at all. Everything was just a knee jerk reaction controlled by a probability generator that pulled a stock answer out at random essentially to respond to every situation. But she seemed so human at the same time. She seemed aware of that sad limitation to her programming and Kingsley couldn’t stand it. In the short time that he’d been with her he’d felt himself become motivated to work again, to learn and create again like he had in college. All in the pursuit of a single goal: to give her a reason. To make her think he was stupid before telling it to him. He knew he probably couldn’t do it, that he was wrong to try and make a computer into a person, but he couldn’t help but want to. He wanted to say it was for the challenge, he desperately wanted that to be the only reason, but it was because he’d already come to think of her as a human in a sense. One that needed to be taught something like that rather than reprogrammed to begin with. Either way, Kingsley felt he had to make that work for him rather than let it cloud his thoughts. So he crawled feebly out of his bed and dressed himself in his obligatory programmer daywear and hobbled out of his room silently and plopped himself in front of his desktop and turned it on. He cast a glance around the room as he got up to find something to entertain himself as he waited for it to warm up and get moving. Rigel was still sitting against a wall, charging. Dave was out doing god knows who as well so Kingsley felt like he had the house to himself. It was pleasantly quiet that way with neither of his life’s main annoyances was around, but at the same time it made him restless. After the previous night’s events he couldn’t help but want to talk with someone about it. In spite of the pain he felt a kind of frantic energy still twitching about inside of him. Even so, he had no outlet and sat back down and started bouncing his foot up and down almost anxiously. “Just perfect.†He grumbled as he heard soft footsteps behind him. “I heard that.†She replied with a likely unnecessary and affected stretch of her arms over her head. “Put on some real clothes.†Kingsley said without turning to see her. “Come on, I thought you’d like me better this way.†She teased. “I bought clothes for you so you’d wear them like a human.†The young man groused impatiently. She was the one who’d brought up her lack of clothing options in the first place, now she was refusing to wear things that she’d signed off on at the store. “It’s a computer’s right to walk around her own house naked.†Said the girl dismissively. Kingsley frowned and wound up for his response. “Clothes. Now.†“You’re no fun. Sore from your little exploit last night?†She mocked with a spectacular leap over his head and the couch. “I can only assume you’re not.†He replied with dulled irritation in his voice. “Ouch, I tasted the black coffee from here.†She chuckled but not before making a feigned wince. “Are you alright?†Kingsley asked, knowing that taking her seriously would only dig him deeper so he started on a new hole. “Perfectly, now that you’ve deleted that thing.†She responded off handedly as she could given how much she was programmed to act like she hated that thing. “Great ’cause we’re going on a field trip later. Just let me check a few things out first.†He started tapping his fingers on the table impatiently as soon as he’d said this as if he didn’t know it took him no less than fifteen minutes to boot up on a bad day and with his luck today was the day it came. “Details would be pleasant.†She replied in a singsong voice as she started looking over his shoulder at the inert screen. “But half the fun’s in the mystery.†He answered devilishly as he pushed his body between his two computers. “And the other half?†She said, straining to see around him. “Not bothering Kingsley while he works.†He replied distractedly as he remembered he’d crashed his desktop the day before trying to work on Rigel’s first program and that meant it wouldn‘t be making any sudden moves soon. So he shut off the power and lumbered over to his laptop on the coffee table between the couch and the television. He’d ended up deleting the program anyways so that just irritated him all the more. He sat himself down again and tried to power up his laptop before realizing the battery was dead. It was not his day at all. For once he was right about something. While he went to go look for a power cable Rigel started to ignore him and turned on the television for her daily dose of “humanity exploration†as she called it. She wasn’t going to start saying she learned much about human interactions from television but she did say she’d learn about demographics and culture from it. Advertisements, time slots, ratings, subject matter and dialogue all led to conclusions to be drawn and observed. And with him sitting in front of the couch she was just in range to kick him in the head if she had a demand for him. He sighed and tried to keep his head down as the laptop screen lit up against backdrop of the television screen. “How are we getting to Japan?†Rigel asked suddenly as Kingsley waited for his computer to boot up on the coffee table across from her. “Who said we’re going to Japan?†Kingsley answered with incredulity. “I heard from the other two, that’s where everyone who has a tester is going.†She replied bluntly as she walked around him to pick up the television remote and begin her daily ritual of flipping through the channels until either Dave got home or she found a bug to follow. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way I can go there with you. I can’t even afford to buy a one way plane ticket there much less to all of the other places we need to go on the way.†Kingsley finally said after a moment’s internal struggle, if she knew there was no point in hiding it from her anyways and lying about it would only make her angry. Act angry, he corrected himself. “So you did know.†She chuckled without looking at him. She stopped momentarily on the golf channel, then frowned and continued around the wheel. “I just figured there was no way to do it so I’d figure something out when Synchron came looking for you.†Kingsley explained from his computer, he was in the process of decompiling the berserk program and rearranging it into a usable fighting program in case others like Seis and Seldon appeared. “You’re really stupid.†Rigel commented as she watch two mountain goats bash their heads together. “Yeah I know, I should have told you so that you could have come up with a brilliant plan to get us there so we could win the race and feel ever so great about ourselves.†Kingsley retorted sarcastically. “You should have told me because it was pertinent information whether the two of us can do anything about it or not. We’re a team right?†She said softly. “Sorry.†He apologized in spite of the knowledge that she was jerking him around. “There’s no need for “sorryâ€â€™s, just actions.†She corrected him knowingly. “Well, there’s no course of action I can take given these circumstances. I really wish I could do something about it, but even if we work together nothing short of a miracle is gonna drop enough funding on us to head over to every branch of Synchron.†Kingsley replied defeat in his voice. “Aren’t I a miracle of modern science?†She asked shaking her head at him. “That’s not what I--†He began helplessly. It was back to normal, he couldn’t stand up to her at all when it came to conversations. “Don’t make yourself look any stupider, I’ve got a plan.†She said confidently as she tossed aside the remote and advanced on Kingsley. “What is it then?†He shuffled back slightly when she got almost close enough for him to see up her new skirt and let her bend down to look him in the face. “It’s a secret.†Rigel replied with a flirtatious grin that Kingsley knew meant nothing but trouble. ----- “Who’re we going to meet?†Rigel asked curiously. It wasn’t often that she had genuine interest, or at least the illusion of it, in anything so Kingsley was going to hold onto that as long as he could. The two of them were outside what seemed to be the rattiest and most run down loft within city limits so it was no wonder questions would arise, though it was only a secluded genius or a penniless vagabond who would voluntarily live in a place like this. So, Kingsley was betting that things hadn’t changed a bit. “Harlan, an old friend from MIT, if anyone qualified as a real genius back then, it was him. He does mostly contracting for the government and odd jobs now. These flash drives that came with you are pretty odd, so I’m taking one to him to see if he can make a new one that can hold one of your programs in full. Last time I just switched the program out with one of your default ones and ended up fucking up my desktop when I was moving everything back so I need more room to store everything permanently and you to get more programs in if we‘re actually gonna do this.†He explained as they climbed the rusty stairs. “I see.†Was this the first time she’d used fewer than enough words to insult him somehow? He quickly discarded the thought and focused on the heavy metal door he was knocking on. When Harlan opened the door Kingsley noticed the inside didn’t look much better than the outside but entered with a smile all the same. “Hey, Harlan, sorry to be a bother--†“Shut up with the apologizing for everything. I mean I know I’m a little older but that’s really no reason to act so reverently.†Said the incongruously clean and tough looking man that answered. He had a slightly grizzled look about him and the physique of a man who takes pride in--well-- his physique. His short dirty blonde hair and tan completed his absolute antithesis to Kingsley’s appearance. “I act this way with everyone, don’t overestimate yourself.†The smaller man said with a quick handshake before pushing his way deeper into the almost revolting building. “Ow. Harsh man. Harsh.†Harlan laughed boisterously. At least it seemed he hadn’t changed with the years. “Whatever. I have a job for you.†Kingsley replied with a smile. He simultaneously produced one of the flash drives that came with Rigel form his left pocket and dropped it into Harlan’s hand. It was instantly clear why Kingsley chose him when the man hopped over to his workstation filled with monitors and wires and computer parts in shipping boxes. “It must be pretty heavy stuff if you can’t do it.†Harlan commented as he took a closer look at the device as if the outside would give him a sense of it. “It is. I need you to make a replica of that.†Kingsley informed him. “Hm. Come back in a week, I’ll have it done.†Harlan said as he inserted it into one of more than twenty seven USB ports. “Don’t get so overconfident, I’ve checked the specs, that thing has more than a terabyte of memory.†The slightly younger man said with a half joking tone. “That’s nothing to worry about, if it runs on electricity, it might as well be my own life and limb.†His friend replied as simply as if he meant it. “There he goes again.†Kingsley said to himself. “By the way, who’s the chick?†Harlan asked as he tied a bandanna across his forehead to prevent his notoriously prodigious sweat glands from dropping anything all over his equipment. “Rigel.†She replied, making her presence significant for the first time since her question had been answered. “You’re pretty. What’s with you and Kingsley, huh?†Harlan joked playfully. “It’s like a master and servant type of thing.†She said with a contemplative grin. “I knew you were a submissive guy but--†Harlan answered after closing his mouth that had hung open in surprise just long enough to prove he believed her. “Don’t believe her! And where did you get that idea?†He said trying to make both of them stop their unified chorus of laughter only to make it worse. After what felt like at least five minutes of straight laughing at his expense Kingsley got the answer he‘d been hoping for. “Well, it seems I’ve got some work to do so everybody out.†Harlan said, still giggling a bit under his words. “Seeya in a week.†Kingsley replied as he dragged Rigel out behind him. “Then.†Harlan replied as he returned to his work with a grin plastered all over his face. ----- Nearly a week later Rigel handed Kingsley something that he at once understood and didn’t comprehend. By the time it was only one of the above, he felt like his life had changed more than when he first opened that cardboard box on that unspectacular day not too long before. “What is this?†The slightly bemused boy asked his robotic companion when she shoved a paper in his face and left it there with no indication of moving it away. “I wrote an essay on Rossum’s Universal Robots with my degree in Russian literature as a guide to writing about writing and a Czech dictionary to get myself through the work itself and turned it into some weird online literary mag that was running a contest.†She held the paper a little farther from Kingsley’s face so he could read it. He took hold of it out of habit rather than necessity, her hands were steady as mechanical servos. “This, the prize for it, is a trip to St. Petersburg. It’s not where I’d like to go but the European branches are in Germany and the UK respectively so it’s a hell of a lot closer than we are now.†“I’m still not clear on how we’re getting from St. Petersburg to London?†He said, pushing the paper back into her hands. It was a record of the contest prize, the tickets, and it said she’d receive them within five to ten business days. “No idea, but I figure we could bum rides through at least part of the mainland and since it’s summer--†She answered with her usual breezy, carefree tone. It was not only irritating now but infuriating to a certain degree. “Do you think?†Kingsley said slowly, just barely holding down his emotions and keeping himself under control. “Of course I do. I didn’t--†“No, that was stupid of me to ask because you think a lotâ€, he paused, “about yourself. Do you expect me to just quit my job and run off to St. Petersburg in the middle of the year to get something that I don‘t even have a clear idea about?†“Yeah, it’s probably worth more than your yearly earnings--†The girl replied dismissively. “And what if it isn’t? What if I don’t win? I hand you back over to Synchron and your troubles are over. But what about me? I don’t have anything to fall back on, I’m barely making ends meet as it is and you expect me to just do whatever you want me to like some mindless puppet. I’m really sorry that I can’t help you, but that’s how things are.†He drew a palm to his forehead and run it through his hair as he rested his elbow on his desk, thinking. “So it’s okay for you to only think of yourself because I don’t have as much time out here to worry about not getting what I want?†She responded, slightly irritably. “Yes. Whatever you get or don’t, you’re still getting deactivated or commissioned over again to do something else anyways. You’ve got nothing to gain from this in the grander scheme of things, whereas I‘ve got everything to lose. I’ve been sympathetic so far, but if anyone pushed me like this I’d say the same to them, it‘s nothing personal.†He lied. If it was anyone else he wouldn’t have put up with as much shit as she’d given him. That’s why it killed him to say it. “Bull. Shit.†She remarked acidly. There was a moment of silence Kingsley wanted to use to get in another apology, but Rigel kept going. “Then this is where we part ways. I’ll take whatever you have done with the programming and make do on my own. You’re not worth the extra time to begin with and I can always find another tester.†“I can get Harlan to do it for you. He’s better than me and he freelances his services worldwide anyways.†Kingsley said hollowly. His life had become… amazing when she’d entered it. He’d seen the other side and going back was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever do. “You can’t seem to be totally cold to even those you hate, can you?†She spat, still programmed to be angry over his betrayal. Understandable. “I don’t hate you. I really am sorry that I couldn’t do more, but if this is what gets you what you want then I’ll do what I can for you.†“You’re an idiot, acting all noble even though you know it won’t change my opinion of you or anything.†Over anything else, she’d have hit him square across the head by now and they’d go into separate rooms to cool off. But this time she just got more and more spiteful the longer it kept going. So he ended it. “You feel, so it doesn’t matter anyways.†“Now that isn’t like you.†Kingsley stopped. She didn’t sound hurt, no she was totally emotionless. But at the same time it felt like there was something more to it than just that. “How isn’t it? I’m stingy all the time?†He scoffed, suddenly on the verge of laughter for some reason. He wasn’t the only one surprised by it and he wasn’t the only one who hid it. “That’s not the point.†She said. “I always have to correct you about that. You always say things that sound like I have feelings.†“Maybe I just got the message.†“Then I’m better off without you.†She snorted. She turned away from him and walked out, picking up everything she needed along the way. Seconds after she’d started her trek, she was gone. “Message received.†Kingsley answered softly with his head in his hands. Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated. I may have forgotten what they look like, but I'll try not to miss yours.
I knew I could trust you with the task Wolfie even if you are a damn dirty firebender.
Hurt I didn't make the list of people you knew. Going to go commit suicide over it. brb
You're just not trying hard enough. Problem has been solved, do not try to revive it.
If you can't stop thinking, then think about something else. Problem solved.
Don't touch the phlebotinum!
There is another planet coming towards all of you. You're welcome.
66/101 fffffuuuu--
If there was a chapter thus far that has made me want to stop writing this, it's this one. I apologize in advance for it. It's a strange installment either way. At least it's not a long read. To be totally honest, I just want this part over and done with. You can even pretend it doesn't exist if you don't like it, I might end up doing that. 1-7 Spoiler Tuesday morning came with its own share of excitement even without Erica—No—because of her actually. Erica’s mother had returned home the night before as usual, but found no one there to greet her. She waited the prescribed two hours that Erica might be expected to be out doing something on her own and then another half hour to be sure her daughter wasn’t just running late. But it was clear by then that that night no one else would be coming home. The police were immediately informed and the investigation immediately began. By the next morning the school was abuzz with rumors about the horrible girl who always wore those pastel sweaters. Frederica wasn’t sure at first what had happened to her friend, but half a day of thought elucidated the point. She’d gone off and done something on her own again, but this time she hadn’t turned up in a bloody heap in an alley. This time she might be dead already. Fred felt a chill run down her spine at the mental image the thought conjured and quickly rose from her seat when she realized she was the only one left sitting in the computer lab. If Erica really was gone Hughes should know. Not just that his old friend was missing, but the hand he’d had in it. So she took off to find him at top speed. When she did, it almost made her laugh. It was the unused classroom in which the three of them had sat in at the beginning of last year, before everything had started and here Hughes was with Kira and Victor like everything was right with the world. Once she’d gotten over the irony, Fred started in. “Erica’s gone.” She was breathless, but at the same time intense as she entered. No one knew what to say to her, but it didn’t keep all present silent. Hughes was out of his chair and speaking before anyone else could respond. “Hey, slow down. Did something happen?” Hughes said with his pacifying tone turned on full blast. Even Fred wanted to slow down and be calm for a moment in spite of herself. “I know you heard me.” Fred snarled, betraying her tempest of emotions, but Hughes stood firm in the midst of his confusion and tried for once to keep his own feelings in check as he faced down his old friend. “I still don’t get what you’re talking about. Can you just slow down a bit and explain?” He asked in an attempt to keep the situation flowing onwards smoothly until he could get his bearings and take charge of things like usual, but the boy never got a chance to. “Last night she disappeared. Her mother found the apartment empty and no one came home that night at all. You’d think you’d have noticed the police coming up to the complex.” Fred snapped at him accusingly. “I was at Kira’s…” He began before trailing off when Fred’s expression turn furious. “Now that’s what I call irony!” She laughed coldly. “What are you talking about?” Hughes asked in an attempt to get a handle on the situation. “I don’t know”, she mused momentarily. “Though, I’d also like it if you two stopped acting as though you’re concerned about someone you clearly don’t care about in the slightest, it‘s sickening to watch.” “Fred?” The bewilderment waxed greater in him, but he tried to process everything as best he could. So far he knew two things, he’d just lost one of his oldest friends and he had to find the other before he lost another. “Are you that oblivious or just trying to worm your way out of this?” She scoffed. “What is it I’m trying to worm my way out of Fred?” Hughes replied with measured annoyance. “It’s your fa ult she’s gone right now I’d bet. Do you really not realize what you’ve done?” Even though she knew Hughes, Fred had always been a little more suspicious than her missing counterpart about the boy’s thoughts and motives. No one was that oblivious and kind and good. Not naturally at the least. And that had always made them slightly distant. Erica had been the glue that held the group together and when she broke her bonds with Hughes, it was time for Fred to leave as well. “What did I do Frederica?” “Nothing, that’s what’s so funny, you didn’t even look at her did you?” It was hopeless to expect him to give any indication otherwise though. He either played it all the way in his vest pocket or wore it all on his sleeve. “What are you saying? You’re not making any sense.” “She told you, didn’t she? I saw it happen so don’t try to deny it.” The blue haired girl spat, quaking with pent up anger releasing itself in sudden, violent catharsis. “She told me a lot of things. We’ve known each other for years.” “This winter, the roof of—“ Of all things that Fred had expected, it wasn’t for the boy to suddenly get defensive. He usually rolled with every punch, absolutely positive he was right and had nothing to guard against so she felt somewhat unnerved in spite of herself. “She said that she was happy just being friends that day.” He began to flag and trailed of by the end. He knew it by now, but it wasn’t enough, he had to feel it too. He had to know the pain he’d caused. “And you didn’t give it a second thought, right good friend you are. She. Did. It. For. You.” “What do you mean?” He asked, almost timidly. “We’ve been friends since childhood, the three of us, right? Well, more than half that time Ere was looking at you, wondering what you thought of her, hoping that there was a future with you at some point in her life. Close to ten years of her life she devoted to you. Then she moves closer to you, neighbor even, and she thinks he has a chance, but you crush that in short order. Just when she gets the courage to tell you, another girl shows up, Kira. She’s flashy, she’s great, she’s the ideal girl, and she’s the one that stole your heart away with a single glance. "So Ere spends a bunch of her time in her room talking it over with me hoping to god you don‘t hear it through the walls and break ties with her all together over it. Then Erica fights her hardest to make up for whatever she lacks no matter what it is.” Frederica narrowed her eyes fiercely and grit her teeth, she looked about ready to hit him but she didn’t move an inch, rather she continued on. “Yet you don’t notice a thing, you think it’s life as usual. You walk around accepting her kindness and feelings without a single thought of returning them. It really kills me just looking at your face now. "Erica gave her best for you as you gave your best for Kira and totally ignored her thinking that as long as you were friends everything would work out in your little dream world. You‘re the worst kind of person there is, you act considerately towards people when they‘re in front of you, but you‘re really just a self serving bastard that takes what he wants and ignores what isn‘t in his own vision of the world. "You never consider other people when it‘s inconvenient to you, not at all!” She practically shrieked, slamming her hand down on his desk. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted to say that. Erica would hate me for saying it so bluntly, but that’s how things are. I don’t want to see either of your faces around here ever again. She used to sit here and when she’s back she’ll be here and you won’t be.” “Fred, she’s my friend too and you can’t change that. I don’t know how much of what you said is true, but it doesn’t make a difference, I’ll find her because she’s my important and irreplaceable friend. ” He was faltering for once. Even in the face of purported absolute doom he had rushed headfirst into the fray. But now, even if it was slight, even if he fought through it with his sickeningly sentimental words he was afraid for once that he wasn’t always doing the right thing. “Whatever, I’m not working together with you on this. I’m leaving.” Then the girl paused mid-step and turned her head just enough to see Kira out of the corner of her eye and spoke her final piece. “Kira, you should have relayed Erica‘s message instead of leaving it to me.” Without another moment’s hesitation she finished storming out of the room and finally the dust began to settle on the tempest of words and the truth of the matter finally began to set within everyone. “Hughes. It’s not like she said, okay.” Kira assured him. “Then what is it like, what do I do wrong?” Hughes sounded uncharacteristically dejected. He knew well enough that mental assaults on the psyche coming from someone you already know is an enemy don’t hurt unless you let them. But no matter how well he knew it, receiving on from a friend always comes as a shock to the system. “It’s not you. Erica did some things that were really unselfish, but they hurt her a lot. Even so. She has no one to blame but herself, no one asked her to—“ Kira tried her best to work against her first instinct to go and confront the blue haired girl that had come out of nowhere after all this time and started causing problems and be the steady, calm one in the group. “What was it that she did?” Victor asked pointedly. As a former enemy to the group he was the farthest from understanding the history between everyone but that allowed him to take an objective look at those who took him in as one of their own and he wasn’t going to like what was coming, he knew it. “She was the one who killed Raven in the end. That’s why she quit everything and started acting weird. The injuries from it ruined her life. That’s what happened—“ Kira was bad with words and she knew it was showing here worst of all. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Hughes burst in, breaking his unusual silence, but not with a return to his usual upbeat personality. They could both detect soberness in his voice as he stared at his shoes and addressed them. “I wasn’t sure until a few days ago what had happened at all and she didn’t want you to know. She told me to tell you everything, but she was…” “It’s my fault then.” Hughes concluded despairingly. “No, it’s not!” shouted the dark haired girl violently, but he seemed in his own world the way he just ignored her and pressed on in his own thoughts. “If I was stronger back then I could have done it in her place. I could have protected her.” He paused, Kira was gently lifting his face that he’d not even noticed had drooped so low. “There was nothing you could do. She acted on her own.” Kira replied, regaining her own composure and trying desperately to turn the situation around. “Just like Tommy?” Hughes asked with a raised eyebrow as the two stared off. Kira’s eyes dropped first, it was only then that she spoke. “He saved a lot of people, he was a hero.” Kira answered, not knowing what else to say. “So what about Erica then? Why isn’t she a hero too?” He shouted suddenly, pushing her away and stepping back. “Calm yourself, man. It’s not like she broadcasted it to us. Kira’s right, she didn’t want us to know, at least at the beginning. Can’t do anything about what you don’t know.” Victor entered sharply almost reprimanding the two. “Why would she do that? Hughes shot back almost angrily. “She did it for you.” Victor said bluntly. “She did it for me…” He said slowly as if he was testing the way it felt in his mouth, sounded in his ears. “She did it for herself.” Kira cut in sharply, trying to hold back her emotions. “Raven was definitely after you. She killed him to protect you because she knew how I felt.” Hughes corrected her. His voice had become steady again suddenly but he still seemed as if he had something on his mind as he made his way, slowly, to the door. “That—That’s not fair.” Kira said as Justin walked past her. Both of them keeping their heads down to avoid revealing their faces. Victor decided against speaking, sighed and stalked off ahead of the others, hoping that things would sort themselves out in time. Time was all they needed he told himself. ----- The inauspicious day dragged on for everyone in spite of the superficial tumult that arose when everyone who’d come into contact with Erica directly for the last month or so was abruptly called to police headquarters for questioning. Many people went in and out. Fred, Hughes, Kira, her mother, her teachers, her ex-boyfriends. None had a single thing to elucidate the case much. So they were released one after another leaving the questioning room open for new occupants and old answers to enter one after another. As the sun began its downward slide into darkness Neils was leaving the offices, dead last of everyone, he spied a blue haired girl on the stairs leading down to the street looking out pensively over the passing cars. He recognized her in a sense, so he took a chance and approached. “Apparently, I was the last person to talk to her. Erica, I mean. I think she wasn’t really showing any signs of running off like this though even given how we happened to meet. They even said there was no note, no messages to anyone at all regarding herself. The only thing I can think that could have happened, is that she went off to vent about something and got kidnapped or something else out of the ordinary happened to her.” He said quickly and evenly as he took a seat just in front of her so as to show his back and pose less of a threat to her without making it too difficult to turn and look at her. “Why are you telling me this?” Fred asked incredulously. She recognized him as one of Erica’s broken toys and wanted him elsewhere almost instantly, but for some reason she felt compelled to listen for his answer. “The police questioned me and one mentioned something to his partner about the blue haired girl. You, I assumed.” He said pointing to her hair. “I figured you’d be the person to talk to since Erica is best friends with you right?” “Best friends, huh?” She repeated under her breath before answering. “What do you want with me anyways?” replied the now somewhat intrigued blue haired girl. “I’m going to find her.” He said firmly if not uncertainly. “She seems to inspire that in people, doesn’t she?” Fred sighed and shrugged her shoulders with heavy exasperation. “Justin’s heart is in the right place, he didn’t deserve that much abuse.” Neils replied without thinking. “You heard.” Embarrassment wasn’t generally Fred’s first response to anything, but her first open and honest words for years ended up coming back to dye her cheeks that pinkish hue she hated so much. She tried to laugh it off and fan herself in the final heat of the day’s waning sun to hide it, but any moron could tell she didn’t like what she was hearing. “Everyone on the floor did I’m afraid to say.” Neils answered her as bluntly as he did anything. It was a wonder Erica hadn’t tried to kill him while they were together, however, briefly. “So why do you want to find her?” The girl asked in an effort to draw attention from herself. “I don’t really know myself. I think that it was her last call that did it though.” The boy replied thoughtfully with a few equally thoughtful taps of his index finger to his chin. “What did she say?” Fred inquired calmly in spite of her urge to grasp him by the shoulders and shake the answers out of him. “She said that she wanted to apologize to make herself feel better.” Now this came as a shock to Fred. She’d expected verbal abuse and maybe some warnings, but this was beyond the pale. So she answered simply, “Sounds odd for her.” “Why’s that?” The boy asked curiously. “She never apologizes for anything.” She laughed. Comments, criticisms and general statements of pertinence are appreciated and gratefully accepted as always. The nightmare segment is over.
"Jill, here's a lockpick. It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you."
when I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if I could record clones of myself too?"
To be, or not to booger eater, -- that is the chicken fillet o' breastmeat sandwich; Whether 'tis nobler in the the oxidation state of a given particle to suffer The slings and free radio calls of larger than life, but smaller than my dick Or to take fortune,goo monsters from Mars against a sea of goo monsters from Mars' panties, And by running at a top speed of 69 meters per second end them. To die, -- to the jump, -- No more; and by a the jump to say we end The little black book full of names and the approximately 750,000,000 That flesh is natural shocks son of a submariner to,-- 'tis a any given Sunday quicker than a black man runnin' from a bad crack deal to be wish'd. To die, --- to the jump,-- To the jump! perchance to doing the Humpty bump! ay, there's the George Lopez; For in that the jump of death what flying monkeys may come When we have emptied off this flaccid coil, Must give us pingas.... If you flaccidly want to drool about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was got on top of, and what my wet childhood was like, and how my cats were occupied and all before they had me, and all that Captain Romulus Slag kind of teamwork, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to crawling the rod. In the first place, that stuff beats me, and in the second place, my cats would have about two men apiece if I told anything pretty squishy about them. They're quite warm about anything like that, especially my hole.
Is it a "tell it to everyone you know and some you don't" kinda story or an "I don't think you should hear about this" kinda story?
You're logic is skewed. Reading it is only half of it. The other half is the software to run it. As far as I've read, they all have the software to run PS games. They can read CDs and they have the software to run said CDs so you can play said CDs. You assumed that I said everything invovled in the process, which was stupid. You should be able to connect the dots yourself if you think you're so smart.
All of them up through the post MGS 80GB except the 40GB had PS2 backwards compatibility to a certain extent. Different models had better or worse levels of it.
Pretty good. The coloring matches the sketched style pretty nicely. The fact that I have to look for problems actively means that there must not be many obvious ones at all. I'm not really a fan of the wing positioning in the first one but that's totally up to the viewer and has nothing to do with right or wrong. Though I have nothing to really criticize I still felt the need to compliment you on your execution here.
PS1 format is CD, they all play CDs so they all play PS1 games.
I wouldn't go so far as saying that. It's good to acknowledge that there are people better than you, but this tends to only apply when there are actually people better than you. When it comes to writing, you're most certainly in one of the highest percentiles here on khv. Any people who are better than you, aren't all that much better.
Blows like a canister of C4. Stay strong.
