postictal | ic inbox; entranceway

[Maybe the world is an equalizer or something. But maybe it is better.

Zacharie doesn't know the informative half of that, so he has to go with the obvious.]

Are you afraid of drowing?

[There's no elegant way to answer that. Is there.]

just don't like it.
it's dark.

[No, there really isn't.]

I will have to agree with you Tim. Darkness is not something I enjoy either.

[Even with claims that there will be no more darkness, the world goes dark and the game starts again. It's...

....suffocating. Ah ah ah.]

[A pause.]

sorry.

[Is that his fault? Either way, he didn't help any, did he? Not with the way he set that thing on him. Flooded his mind with searing bone-white and utter darkness, no doubt, same as what It did, always does, to Tim.]

It is not your fault amigo. All games end, as I said.

[It has nothing to do with Tim at all. Even if OFF didn't end the way it did, once the Puppeteer stops playing it stops. There's no escaping that.]

but i bet i didn't help

[Though Tim is assuming this fear of the dark is newly minted.]

Unless you had a hand in creating me amigo, then I doubt it.

[But that causes things to click a little bit.]

Are you referring to that event you and I shared?

[And here he was hoping never to touch on that again!! Boy.]

yeah.
that.

[You do know Character Development means touching things you don't want to touch, right Tim?]

I will not go too deeply into what happened there if you wish. However if there is something you wish to tell me I am all ears.

should never have let things get that far.

[It's his fault.

But then, it always is.]

As the guide character, nor should have I. But we survived in some manner.

[He can say that because he doesn't know about the Operator. To him it only matters that they came back.]

for now yeah

have you

[He almost deletes it before sending it. Almost. But he's - he's gotta make sure. He has to make sure.]

have you seen it

[Zacharie gets as far as typing 'That' before he realizes he knows no words that could accurately describe whatever they had encountered in the room. So he deletes it.]

I have not. You believe it could have escaped?

[Naturally Zacharie doesn't know about what the Operator was capable of.]

that's how it works
it spreads

you can't tell anyone

[Maybe that last bit was unnecessary. But he has to be sure.]

[Zacharie regards the message for a moment before typing out his reply. That 'it spreads' comment and that he can't tell anyone about it...]

Is that how it spreads?

[If he talks about it?]

yes.
no one.

[No one can know. And HE IS A LIAR but - it's not without reason. Not all of it.]

[Not without reason at all. And although Tim - or anyone for that matter - couldn't claim to be an expert on that thing, he knows it better than Zacharie does.]

Then I will not speak of it to anyone.

[Last thing he wants to happen was for it to spread to Sucre.]

One last question if you do not mind amigo, but are there any signs that it may be around?

[Given their reactions to it when they failed the puzzle Zacharie has a feeling he'd know if it was up and about. But if there were earlier signs for a quicker heads up he'd like to know.]

Edited 2017-02-16 01:07 (UTC)

head hurts
coughing

feels like youre being watched

[He can barely see the keys fit to type. His heart's thundering in his chest, his throat constricted, his mouth dry. If this - is this how it starts? Is this how It gets Its foothold?

It's already here, isn't It?]

[You'll just have to wait and see Tim. Like always.]

I have not experienced that yet, but I will keep an eye out for it. And thank you for the warnings Tim.

[Better to find out now than be up a creek without a paddle regarding that thing.]

yeah

[Not much but it's a damn sight than he ever did for Jay. For Alex. For any of the nameless thousands who might be coughing up their lungs now, thanks to him.]

by the time you feel that it'll be too late

I will keep that in mind.

[He's certainly stumbled across something, hasn't he?]

Would you like to know if I do?

[Just in case.]

yeah.

[If It starts to spread, he has to know. He has to know, if only so he can accept that it was his fault, his doing, and his responsibility to fix it.

God but he doesn't want to be the guy to fix it.]

[Hopefully it never happens then.]

Then I will let you know as soon as it happens. And again, thank you for the warnings Tim.

yeah.
take care i guess

[For whatever it's worth.]

ic inbox; entranceway

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