[Action]

[fairly]

[Zack is hanging around the shop plaza, doing a little investigating to try and see if there's anything special about the place now. If the supposed portal is going to open there, he's curious to know if there's anything in the area that's changed. You might find him poking at the fountain, circling the sunken well, stopping and crouching down to check the ground beneath the snow sometimes. He's pretty focused on his work, though it probably looks strange.

Bother him?]

Comments

[wingenvy]

[Unfortunately, no. The Lifestream's probably nice and all, but he's not ready for eternal rest just yet.]

Yeah, exactly. I don't know who's doing this- whether it's them, the Third Party group, or somebody else- but the only way I'm going home is under my own terms. If I have to wait for it, well... fine by me.

[herotypical]

My non-existent money is on the Third Party. [But Buffy shrugs.] 'Cause adding yet another organization into the mix is just way too complicated for my brain.

[wingenvy]

Yeah, good point. That Rem chick got some of us wondering, but who can we even trust here? We don't even know their real names. And if it is the Third Party, how do we know that portal won't just take us right to them and get a bunch of us sacrificed?

[herotypical]

Exactly. Big boss guy and his band of bouncing zealots were talking very seriously about their whole freedom-through-death plan. Brute force failed, clearly. I wouldn't put it past them to try a different approach.

[wingenvy]

Plus it took months for that John guy to bring Jacob back, and now nobody even knows where he is. If we get killed that way, there's still a chance we'll never come back.

[herotypical]

If we get killed that way, the Malnosso might not even bother. They can just wait for more guinea pigs to show up.

[wingenvy]

Probably. Somebody mentioned we're special for some reason, but considering how much people come and go around here, I can't help but wonder if that's just another lie to make us feel good.

[herotypical]

It's supposed to make us feel good that we're the extra special experimental snowflakes? Wow. They seriously need to hire a new PR department.

[wingenvy]

Sounds pretty typical of scientists as far as I know- the test subjects should be grateful to be involved.

[herotypical]

Me and scientists tend not to get along. It's a whole ethics thing.

[wingenvy]

Heh, same here. I haven't had very good experiences with them in the past, so I guess I'm a little biased.

[herotypical]

You, me, and the rest of the peanut gallery. Except for the ones who are science types. But I think I've been made wary for life.

[wingenvy]

Well, nothing wrong with a bit of healthy caution, right?

[herotypical]

Nope. Even paranoia is healthy, in this place. So long as we don't start doubting each other.

[wingenvy]

Yeah, I think around here the only ones we can really trust is each other. We're all in the same boat, so.

[herotypical]

I just hope that boat isn't gonna start sinking on us, tomorrow.

[wingenvy]

We've handled worse. I'm sure we'll be fine!

[herotypical]

You talk like you've been here for a while?

[wingenvy]

Two years as of this month.

[herotypical]

Two years? [A round of blinking.] Wow.

[wingenvy]

No kidding. But it hasn't been as bad as it sounds, really.

[herotypical]

After all, I hear you've got a pretty girl on your arm?

[wingenvy]

Aerith told you?

[herotypical]

Like I said, me and her are in the good friends department. And us being the womenfolk, that usually leads to gossip about the menfolk. It's a whole good womenfolk friend thing.

[wingenvy]

That's fine by me, us guys talk about the ladies at least as much as you guys must, if not more.