[ Everything happens so much, and he's only got so much fuel with which to find the energy to do anything about it now, so it's a day or two after Bob identifies himself as a presence on the list - a day or two of tempers flying, information flying faster, people making choices and things changing around him (for the better, for the worse) so quickly he's barely keeping up - that a message finally lands. ]
Surviving?
[ No need to ask how Bob's feeling. This whole place is rotten, and he's a wanted man. ]
[ It lands as news, whether or not it's already out there. Eidetic memory's all well and good when you're cramming for exams or memorising casting patterns - malnourishment and 2000s social media? No chance.
It's a good question, though. What good is power in a hostile takeover if the enemy can switch that power off as easy as turning a faucet? ]
You have a favorite? Between the house that's fucking us for the privilege of guarding it and the thing that had us killing each other to make for an easier infiltration?
yeah i’m keeping it quiet since i’ve uh picked a few fights before
[ but after all these months, he trusts stephen again. at least with this.
and stephen rewards him, even if his heart sinks to hear of yet another violation. ]
sorry it happened again but i’m glad you tried whatever it is you tried it sucked when nobody did at the commune
feels like a real toss up, anyway the library creatures seemed okay on their own, and they’re the ones who gave koby and everyone the info so maybe the house is acting crazy because it has something to protect?
i mean you don’t get an entity wanting in on your shit unless you have something worth taking, probably
[ The next sentiment goes appreciated in silence. His choice has led to a small cascade of choices, his and other people's, that - in spite of the cost - he's proud of. He holds his anger close as a shield against the loss, and it keeps him from stumbling.
But the conversation has moved to easier and more important things, so he lets it. As good a time as any to share the fear he's been nursing since they got back from the commune - though first, a little salt. ]
This might be its most active assault on us, but it's not like this is the first time Saltburnt has let us suffer when it seems to have the power to neutralize threats on a whim.
Far as what it has worth taking: access to possibly infinite worlds and timelines seems like a natural thing to covet, if you're an entity into that kind of thing.
[ He almost leaves it there - but something else has been nagging at him. Begrudgingly, given how unwilling he is to give the walls around them even the smallest benefit of the doubt: ]
The thing out there has been in here before The House either didn't or couldn't stop it then And it took things from us, like we've had them taken from us now. Like we had them taken in the commune.
It's spoken to us. Accessed the network If the house is a fortress against it, that fortress is far from absolute
[ And if the death games had been a way to undermine their trust in each other, what kind of scale would it need to work on to find a way to finally turn them all together on the House? ]
The Balfours decide to make us their involuntary workforce and suddenly all our parts of the house are no longer accessible to us. We can't get into our new rooms unless we've hit our quotas Our powers are ineffective against the camera equipment used to keep us in check Their use is discouraged They're taken away
Do you think it's more likely that all this is happening because the Balfours are asking the House nicely Or because the Balfours are figures in a doll's house, made out of the same wood as the walls, all moved by the same hand
[ Is he delirious, onto something, or on something? Stay tuned. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@strange
Surviving?
[ No need to ask how Bob's feeling. This whole place is rotten, and he's a wanted man. ]
cw refs to addiction
still here, anyway
[ still hasn’t ventured inside the coronal, despite very much wanting to. hung outside the door last night, head against the wall. ]
don’t know why i’m top billed
the house put the “greatest power” in time out a week back
[ nerf city, baby. ]
no subject
[ It lands as news, whether or not it's already out there. Eidetic memory's all well and good when you're cramming for exams or memorising casting patterns - malnourishment and 2000s social media? No chance.
It's a good question, though. What good is power in a hostile takeover if the enemy can switch that power off as easy as turning a faucet? ]
You have a favorite?
Between the house that's fucking us for the privilege of guarding it and the thing that had us killing each other to make for an easier infiltration?
no subject
i’m keeping it quiet since i’ve uh picked a few fights before
[ but after all these months, he trusts stephen again. at least with this.
and stephen rewards him, even if his heart sinks to hear of yet another violation. ]
sorry it happened again
but i’m glad you tried whatever it is you tried
it sucked when nobody did at the commune
feels like a real toss up, anyway
the library creatures seemed okay on their own, and they’re the ones who gave koby and everyone the info
so maybe the house is acting crazy because it has something to protect?
i mean
you don’t get an entity wanting in on your shit unless you have something worth taking, probably
no subject
[ The next sentiment goes appreciated in silence. His choice has led to a small cascade of choices, his and other people's, that - in spite of the cost - he's proud of. He holds his anger close as a shield against the loss, and it keeps him from stumbling.
But the conversation has moved to easier and more important things, so he lets it. As good a time as any to share the fear he's been nursing since they got back from the commune - though first, a little salt. ]
This might be its most active assault on us, but it's not like this is the first time Saltburnt has let us suffer when it seems to have the power to neutralize threats on a whim.
Far as what it has worth taking: access to possibly infinite worlds and timelines seems like a natural thing to covet, if you're an entity into that kind of thing.
[ He almost leaves it there - but something else has been nagging at him. Begrudgingly, given how unwilling he is to give the walls around them even the smallest benefit of the doubt: ]
The thing out there has been in here before
The House either didn't or couldn't stop it then
And it took things from us, like we've had them taken from us now. Like we had them taken in the commune.
It's spoken to us. Accessed the network
If the house is a fortress against it, that fortress is far from absolute
[ And if the death games had been a way to undermine their trust in each other, what kind of scale would it need to work on to find a way to finally turn them all together on the House? ]
no subject
[ a long pause. ]
do you think either of them talk to the balfours?
they’ve been here longest
no subject
no subject
no subject
Our powers are ineffective against the camera equipment used to keep us in check
Their use is discouraged
They're taken away
Do you think it's more likely that all this is happening because the Balfours are asking the House nicely
Or because the Balfours are figures in a doll's house, made out of the same wood as the walls, all moved by the same hand
[ Is he delirious, onto something, or on something? Stay tuned. ]