shellphones | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Type: Accidental Video
Sender ID: 🖕nunya🖕(Sidestep)
To: Public
Subject:
Warnings: Mention of death and torture. Threads are likely to end up going deeply traumatic places.

(It's a typical day on Nogard, though many people who see this might be elsewhere.

Many have probably heard by now that Chris is dead. Has been dead for several days, in fact, after being captured and tortured by Ganon.

Except... they're not?

That's definitely a shot of a very panicked looking Chris running... somewhere, not paying attention to the shellphone clutched in their hand or noticing that it's recording.

Several people can be heard yelling in surprise in the background as Chris darts past them.

...The fuck are they even running from? It doesn't sound like they're being chased.

The hand holding the shellphone bumps into something, and the video cuts out.)

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[ And in that case he'll hop over to the Conservatory, before he notices he finally has a reply. ]

I'm not out to get you. Just didn't expect to see you again.

[ Well it's not just that, there's... a lot of things he has questions about, but right now they're mostly outweighed by the shock at Chris being alive.

And he'll take a look around, trying to spot the suit if it's still there anywhere. ]

(The suit can be found drifting aimlessly outside near the main building.)

I didn't either.

(They should stop talking. This is stupid.)

[ Part of him is thinking much the same. He could leave them alone; there seem to be plenty of good reasons to maybe just avoid them altogether, all things considered.

But he'll approach the suit, all the same. It's still fairly unsettling to him, but he tries to look friendly. ]

...Hey. You. Got somethin' you probably ought to see.

[ Since it seemed to need his shellphone to be aware of things on the network, before. ]

(The suit will turn toward Faulkner when the Rat-king senses his attention, so it's almost like it predicted his approach before he even moves toward it.

It cocks its head to the side in animal curiosity. Watching. Waiting.)

[ That's unsettling too, maybe moreso given what he suspects about Chris. But he'll take a deep breath and then hold out the shellphone with the video playing. ]

That's from earlier. They won't tell me where they are, though.

(!!!!!

That gets the Rat-King's attention. They don't quite understand death but they felt their mind-friend disappear forever and yet they absolutely have learned to recognize that face... and also the Chris-concept in Faulkner's mind.

There's a feeling there, small creatures scurrying excitedly at the edges of Faulkner's mind.)

[ And they'll probably notice pretty quickly that he does not like the feeling or idea of things in his head right now. Don't do that.

It takes him a moment longer to wonder about the scurrying. ]

...I can uh. I can show them you're here, I guess?

(That just gets another weird headtilt from the suit. The Rat-King doesn't understand... though they do back off from his mind. It's okay, if he doesn't want to be touched they won't!)

[ That seems to make him relax a bit. His last experience with telepathy was... actively horrifying, even aside from his general paranoia.

After a minute he just switches to video and sends Chris another message. ]

Might not be my business but this thing's happy you're alive. I think.

[ That's the general impression he got, anyway. He points the camera at the suit for a moment before ending the message. ]

(Somewhere, their breath hitches.

They never had time to process what happened with the Rat-King, they just hadn't wanted Ganon to hurt it.

How is it even...?)

Conservatory?

[ Well, at least that got a response that wasn't just telling him to go away. That's a start. ]

Yes. It's been hangin' around here since...

[ Well, they know what happened. There's no reason to actually spell it out. ]

(Did you want a reply Faulkner? You won't get one.

The suit will follow him though. It will follow him for the next two hours or so, even if he leaves the Conservatory, until it suddenly perks up and gets excited.)

[ He's not he he expected an answer. He'll stay at the Conservatory though, since that's where he said they'd be.

He might try to convince the suit to help with simple tasks if it's following him anyway, but either way, he'll be startled when it perks up. ]

Is uh, is your friend here?

[ Even if he's not sure he'll get a clear answer. ]

(The suit will help with some simple tasks. The more clearly Faulkner pictures the steps, the faster it will pick up on what he needs.

It does not respond to him, instead moving off in a seemingly random direction. Oh look, those are some super interesting trees over there!)

Fuck! (The rat-king, about to pounce, freezes and backs down before Chris grudgingly pops out of their hiding spot in the trees. How the fuck did they get there without anyone noticing? Well, Faulkner knows they have powers now.

Faulkner knows everything now.)

Edited 2025-08-17 22:57 (UTC)

[ And well, Chris might sense a tiny bit of smugness because finding them this way actually worked. Given that he could have told them where the suit was without being there. But he wants to see them.

...Part of him wants to see them.

There's a lot of mixed feelings at the moment. He's genuinely upset and concerned about them. He's also feeling some kind of way about them working for Ganon, if he doesn't have that much room to judge anyone for... anything.

And the telepathy makes him deeply uncomfortable. He doesn't say any of that. Though it occurs to him that saying it out loud might not make any difference. Which doesn't help. ]

...Hey.

(Oh they pick up on that smugness and it makes them seriously consider punching Faulkner, because fuck you asshole, no one tricks them like that. Except Faulkner just did, and they can't fucking believe they fell for this shit so easily. Does becoming a villain just rot out all the intelligent parts of a person's brain?

...Fuck. That would explain a lot.

They glare at him, expression twisting into ...something.)

Hey. (And then they look away. Why does he care at all?

The suit is absolutely fixated on Chris, but not moving toward them. Chris' own posture is stiff, awkward, leaning away from both it and Faulkner. A normally beloved pet seeking attention but being met with barely constrained hostility, confused why its master is rejecting it.)

[ He feels a little bad, and more than a little on edge, but not actually ashamed. He does glance between Chris and the suit. He's pretty sure he's missing a lot, but it's hard to miss the general tension. ]

Hey now. You can be mad at me for bein' tricksy all you like, but don't be mean to your... what the hell is it, anyway?

[ Armor moving around on its own isn't the weirdest thing he's seen, here or at home, but it's still pretty strange. ]

(And well, they're honestly glad enough for the subject change they'll just give him the answer.)

Telepathic interface. Five boosted rat brains networked together. (They glance at the suit.) I didn't know they could take over like that.

[ Huh. He supposes that explains the scurrying sensation. And it would seem the 'rat brains' part doesn't bother him nearly as much as the telepathy. His world has enough body horror based technology that he'd have barely been surprised if it used human instead of animal parts. ]

...Okay then. Don't be mean to your uh, rats. They helped us find you.

[ Maybe not in time, but still. They were pretty clearly worried. The idea it's something like a pet actually makes sense. ]

(They give him the finger.)

Fuck you, Dick. (You don't tell them what to do.

They look at the suit, which comes over and bends down so they can open up some of the plating and pop out the telepathic interface. It's a tiny cylindrical chamber, and they'll carefully tuck it into one of their various chest pockets.

...They'll need to find a way to move the suit, but right now they don't really care. Everyone knows anyway.)

[ And at this point this behavior doesn't surprise him in any way, so he mostly just rolls his eyes.

He watches a little bit curiously, but doesn't comment or ask why they're doing that.

He has a lot of questions, but maybe none of them are the best place to start. He'll try a different approach. ]

...You want some strawberries?

(The rat-king snuggles happily into its customary place in the back of their mind.

They stare at Faulkner suspiciously at that offer.)

...No.

(Their stomach is growling. They haven't eaten since their revival.)

You sure about that? They're good.

[ Look, they've made him eat when he was stressed and didn't want to. Apparently they're going to be subjected to the same treatment. ]

I'm sure.

(The problem here is that Faulkner isn't half as good at bullying as they are.

...Though it's entirely possible that this could just turn into an "eating strawberries while insisting they don't want the strawberries" scenario.)

...Uh-huh. Well, how about you come chat while I pick 'em anyway. I was about to do that. Guess I don't have help now.

[ He says this last part mildly, more an observation than anything. Though he definitely didn't mind pawning off tasks on the... rats. ]