Attached
rating: +9+x
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:23 PM
you failed
2track4loop
Today at 8:23 PM
i didnt mean to
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:23 PM
what will i tell the board now? We were supposed to be a team lin
2track4loop
Today at 8:24 PM
i already said im sry chris… u dont need to drill it in
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:24 PM
theres only so many times you can fail
i never failed when i was in your shoes
but i can give you another chance
there are always second chances
2track4loop
Today at 8:24 PM
ill do whatever
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:24 PM
nothing goes wrong this time
no attachments
no mess
you know what you wont even need to do anything like that
2track4loop
Today at 8:24 PM
what do u want
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:25 PM
remember those movies i showed you
back when you were starting
2track4loop
Today at 8:25 PM
ye
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:25 PM
the board wants to make more again
says its time
2track4loop
Today at 8:25 PM
idk how to do anything like that
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:25 PM
but you can find people
your age
let them do it
we need vision lin.
someone with reach
costume designers
artists
you can find that
2track4loop
Today at 8:26 PM
sure
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:26 PM
the medium can wait
christ
just dont do this again
2track4loop
Today at 8:26 PM
but what if
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:26 PM
stfu lin
thin ice
2track4loop
Today at 8:27 PM
fine
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:27 PM
good.
2track4loop
Today at 8:27 PM
gimme a month


She was 12 when she made first contact. Not with aliens, no, but the next best thing. She'd trawled forum after forum, board after board, after her dumb brother had left /x/ open on his laptop for her to access. The people there were edgy. They were so cool. But what interested her more were the stories. How the government watched over everyone with an ironclad fist. Skinwalkers roaming desert towns, and aliens, aliens!

She joined a discord from a link on some thread she couldn't remember. The discord got taken down by the owner later that month, but not soon enough to have kept her from meeting people. People who were awake and aware of the wider world. People who knew about the energy that ran through each and every soul; people who had strange stories of cities underground on planets red as blood, of crystal towers and lost continents sunk under the sea that in them contained the missing links of human evolution; of prophecies that united all of ancient tradition.

She met up with the chapter - an offshoot of the wider movement - not even three months later. Before long, two years had passed and the world's stuck in a pandemic and now she's here, almost done with her initiation. Then she found a splinter of her own. If she just wouldn't keep messing up….

She's a liaison. The board has eyes in many places and channels on planes from this one all the way to the 33rd level, and she's but one. She's trawled through around nine different servers about now, and no one fits the bill for what Chris wants. That is, until…


Tartarus Calling (She/Her)
Today at 12:38 PM
This foam stuff sucks the stuff I cut away just gets everywhere :(
genesis!!
Today at 12:38 PM
what foam stuff?
margarinespread
Today at 12:38 PM
Scraps in your workspace? How unforseen. /lh
Kaiba
Today at 12:38 PM
does anyone have experience with autocad? trying to learn how to use it instead of blender
Tartarus Calling (She/Her)
Today at 12:39 PM
Sine stuff I found generic styrofoam from packaging nothing spectacualr
KAIJUFREAK
Today at 12:39 PM
Why swap away from Blender? lol
Kaiba
Today at 12:39 PM
dunno, some engineering students used it at my old college, thought it might be ebetter
margarinespread
Today at 12:40 PM
You're using cheap-ass styrofoam and are surprised that it made a mess???
Kaiba
Today at 12:40 PM
i mean i was an engineer too but I was studying for a masters in compsci, just coding stuff never used it

A random user, randomly presented before her in a random cosplay and RP server.

Serendipitous…


2track4loop
Today at 1:07 PM
Hey! I saw you talking in Wyther's cosplay RP server about studying computer science and I wanted to reach out! I'm also studying it right now and could really use a friend to help with it. It's really hard, haha.
Kaiba
Today at 1:12 PM
hey sorry but im not studying compsci anymore
2track4loop
Today at 1:13 PM
Didn't you say you were going for your Masters?
Kaiba
Today at 1:14 PM
i was but then life happened
2track4loop
Today at 1:14 PM
I'm sorry to hear that. Do you want to talk about it?
Kaiba
Today at 1:17 PM
not really but id still be willing to help u now and then, i know it can be complicated
2track4loop
Today at 1:17 PM
Thank you so much! And if you ever need anything, please let me know! I'm happy to talk with you! You're certainly helping me haha.


She stares at the bench in front of her, drowning out the noise of the boisterous schoolground around her with her own kind of hymnals. Everyone else has always felt so strange and different to her. It's only after she found the Academy that she grounded herself. Found purpose, meaning, and all that entails. Of course, no one she's involved with bothered passing her through the classic self-mastery techniques posted on the website. No, her training was more holistic. Money is money, and Chris had no need for that kind of stuff. You see, they have a mission. A very special mission. The channels have gone dark. They need someone who can bridge the gap. The problem?

That someone had yet to be found.

So she'd tried to help. She messed up, though. Why did she have to mess up? Stupid, stupid-

She's broken from her stupor by the sudden splash of muddy water all over her clothes and backpack. Stupid Eric Chen is laughing, because of course he is. He's always hated her, ever since middle school. Why does even go here anymore? Stupid, stupid Lin. She could be doing better things than this, no, she is doing better things, like- like-

Online she's treated right. Like she's important. Even the people who she finds, they don't treat her bad. They think she's smart. So why can't anyone in real life do that?

She clenches her fists until her nails leave little red crescents in her palms. At last she runs away, fisting tears from her eyes like pearls.


2track4loop
Today at 3:48 AM
Alrigth that makes more sense, thank you! Really struggled with this for a while, makes a lot more sense now.
Kaiba
Today at 3:48 PM
sometimes it doesnt translate well into classes, weird to teach i think. i dunno
2track4loop
Today at 3:48 AM
You certainly taught it well yourself
Kaiba
Today at 3:49 PM
thanks. been nice to talk compsci stuff again
2track4loop
Today at 3:49 AM
I'm glad! Been nice to talk to someone who's so knowledgeable about it!
Kaiba
Today at 3:49 PM
really not all that knowledgable tbh, just knew this
2track4loop
Today at 3:49 AM
You seem smart to me! You graduated, didn't you?
Kaiba
Today at 3:50 PM
then dropped out halfway through a masters
2track4loop
Today at 3:50 AM
Still more than most people.
Kaiba
Today at 3:50 PM
just happen to know about the things ur asking lol
2track4loop
Today at 3:50 AM
By the way, you never told me, why did you drop out? Like I said, you seem really smart.
Kaiba
Today at 3:50 PM
i thought i did?
2track4loop
Today at 3:50 AM
You said "life got in the way" or something to that effect
Kaiba
Today at 3:51 PM
yeah
2track4loop
Today at 3:51 AM
You still not want to talk about it?
Kaiba
Today at 3:51 PM
not really
2track4loop
Today at 3:51 AM
Why not?
Kaiba
Today at 3:51 PM
just not something to dump onto random people
2track4loop
Today at 3:52 AM
But we're friends, aren't we?
Kaiba
Today at 3:52 PM
yeah i guess
maybe later. u got anymore questions?


‘You’re making friends, aren’t you?’

Sylvia’s hands trace Lin’s face. The older woman has been through so much, Lin knows. Sylvia was there, there in the heyday of Ruth’s - of Uriel's - prophecies. When Lin had first joined, everyone had spoken of how Sylvia had a direct channel to the Space Brothers. Now? Lin knows better. But the woman is wiser than her years, and shrewd and smart too. It’s very hard to slip bullshit past her. The brightly coloured makeup lining her face, all turquoise and neon, hides sharp eyes, and warmth, so much warmth. Yes, Ruth is gone, and Spiegel, and even Ernest, but even they both know now there are more surefire ways to reach into the beyond now that the centuries have turned, there is still both power and presence hidden behind this frail image.

‘Lots of friends.’

‘Your brother hasn’t been bullying you?’

'No. He's too busy playing CS:GO in the basement.'

'What about your boyfriend?'

‘Never,’ she shakes her head, ignoring the stench of failure in her gut that she knows Sylvia can detect. Karma is following her, Lin knows. She'll eat shit someday, but not now. ‘I made mistakes, but it’s better now.’

‘Good,’ Sylvia intones. Her weathered hands twist around Lin’s dark hair, fastening it in loose braids, one strand looping over the other. ‘It’s good you’re not getting into any trouble. And that he’s treating you right. He’s so busy with the board. I’m glad he has a friend. Maybe something more special in a few years even, if you do your part.’

She’s never met him in person - her 'boyfriend', Chris, her contact on the board. His friend Mr. J had introduced them in the early Discord chats, though she doesn't know where Mr. J is or what they're doing now anymore, because that server got deleted a year ago now, and Chris keeps his friends close to his chest. It was Chris who first got her in contact with Sylvia. He gave her coordinates, as part of her first challenge.

'How do you stop people from hurting you?' she asks Sylvia.

'Did someone do something?' her brow furrows in concern.

'No.'

'Don't lie to me, child.'

'It's- it's stupid Eric again. And I can't tell my parents. They don't understand.'

'It's not their fault they're not attuned. Perhaps it's a past emanation. Something in this Eric's past life is coming back. It doesn't like you for whatever reason. But that's not your fault, you understand? Nothing's ever your fault.'

Lin swallows, but her throat's all dry. 'Of course, Sylvia.'

'Now you run along, now. Don't forget your mission, sweet girl.'

Which one, Lin wants to ask. The first or the second? Chris didn't want her to bother with the first anymore, but the second - it's boring. She's meant for more than that. She can feel it, in her very bones.

'How do you know it's time?'

Sylvia pauses for a long while, pursing her lips. When it comes, the woman's response it barely audible over the sound of the whirring fan.

'You just do.'


Kaiba
Today at 9:28 PM
hey you still willing to talk about life stuff?
2track4loop
Today at 9:35 PM
Absolutely, what's up?
Kaiba
Today at 9:37 PM
u know i dropped out of college, but not the exact why of it
2track4loop
Today at 9:37 PM
Yeah
Is that what you wanted to talk about?
Kaiba
Today at 9:37 PM
yeah
2track4loop
Today at 9:37 PM
I'm all ears.
Kaiba
Today at 9:37 PM
ive never done this before
2track4loop
Today at 9:38 PM
Done what?
Kaiba
Today at 9:38 PM
i dunno, traumadumped? i used to make fun of people that do this with my friends
it feels weird
2track4loop
Today at 9:38 PM
Take your time. I might not respond immediately, but my DMs are open.
Kaiba
Today at 9:38 PM
well
grad school was hard
not the best at talking to peolpe irl so didnt have many friends
lotta expectations and pressure to be an perfect student cause i did so well in undergrad
but i got stuck in a lot of places, more that usual cause it was all just to terrifying
everyone around me got it so i felt really stupid
profs called me lazy, thought it was slacking
Kaiba
Today at 9:40 PM
i had a rly bad breakdown like a quarter of the way through
mom died from cancer a while back an ddads a drunk abusive pos so i couldnt really go home. no siblings
so i tried to stick it out since id already gotten that far and had won scholarships
but never got out of that hole
couldnt takeit anymore so i dropped out and got a job at a fast food place cause they were the only ones whod take me
Kaiba
Today at 9:42 PM
figured id saved up money to move somewhere with a tech heart
rent an apartment in a dirty complex for cheap. stuffs always breaking but the landlord doesnt give a shit
nothings changed. its been almost four yearts and im still paying debt off, paying for repairs, whatever
im stuck
all been a waste of time
just tired of it
im lost
whole life i knew where to go but now i just dont
it fucking sucks
Kaiba
Today at 9:45 PM
thought id be done with this the moment i grew up but it piles on you
i dont know whats next for me and that scares me
i dont know what i might do if
ignore that
2track4loop
Today at 9:46 PM
Yeah, I get you.
Kaiba
Today at 9:46 PM
do you?
2track4loop
Today at 9:46 PM
Mhmm!
I used to be in a similar place.
Trying to please other people, trying to impress myself. Be the best.
Kaiba
Today at 9:47 PM
what changed?
2track4loop
Today at 9:47 PM
I found people who cared about me.
Kaiba
Today at 9:47 PM
but ive tried that. i joined clubs, i went to support groups, nothing worked for me
2track4loop
Today at 9:47 PM
Society will serve you things and say they're healthy, but they're not. They're poison. What I'm going to tell you that helped me might sound crazy, but just hear me out.
Kaiba
Today at 9:48 PM
i will
2track4loop
Today at 9:48 PM
I found Unarius.
Kaiba
Today at 9:48 PM
unarius? is that like a religion?
2track4loop
Today at 9:48 PM
No no, it's a scientific thought group of sorts. Helped me through a lot of my
Everything, you know?
Kaiba
Today at 9:48 PM
how?
2track4loop
Today at 9:49 PM
It's a bit strange at first glance so let me start somewhere adjacent.
That cosplay server had RP channels in it. Did you ever participate?
Kaiba
Today at 9:49 PM
yeah sometimes
2track4loop
Today at 9:49 PM
And it feels good to do right? Like a relief?
Kaiba
Today at 9:49 PM
yeah. expression and fun and all that
2track4loop
Today at 9:49 PM
Bit it wasn't just the fun of it! You're actually right on it with the expression!
Do you believe in the idea of a soul?
Kaiba
Today at 9:50 PM
i guess on some level
2track4loop
Today at 9:50 PM
Then what is a soul?
Kaiba
Today at 9:50 PM
some abstract concept of self?
2track4loop
Today at 9:50 PM
Kind of!
Something that Unarius posits is that just like most of existence the soul is a conglomeration of energy.
Kaiba
Today at 9:50 PM
huh? most existence is physical matter
2track4loop
Today at 9:50 PM
Held together by atomic energies, brought to form by them.
And I'm sure you know the law of conservation of energy.
Kaiba
Today at 9:50 PM
yeah energy cant be created or destroyed
2track4loop
Today at 9:50 PM
And if the soul is a conglomeration of energy?
Kaiba
Today at 9:51 PM
then you cant destroy a soul?
what the hells the point?
2track4loop
Today at 9:51 PM
The point is that if you can't destroy a soul, then you can't destroy a person since the soul, as you said, is the self!
Kaiba
Today at 9:51 PM
this is really veering into some weird territory
2track4loop
Today at 9:51 PM
I know it sounds absurd, it did to me at first, but please hear me out.
A huge part of Unarius is therapy through psychodramas.
Basically, its acting out a vaguely familiar scenario without a script and letting intuition guide you, alot like an RP.
2track4loop
Today at 9:53 PM
Through that, you're able to process your past lives, experiences you don't physically remember, but are still attached to your soul.
That's why things like RP and theater can be so therapeutic!
2track4loop
Today at 9:55 PM
The weight of life isn't supposed to be so cumbersome, but it is because people can't process their past traumas. There is a darkness in them that they can't remove from themselves, so they put it out in the world just because they don't know any better.
Through psychodramas, you can come to terms with them and relieve not only that weight, but also learn how to process the present.
I know tons of people who are completely different people after performing a multitude of psychodramas, who've healed so much. They're different people now, and I mean that in the best way.
Kaiba
Today at 9:59 PM
huh.
i dunno.
2track4loop
Today at 9:59 PM
That's fine! Admittedly, I just dumped a lot onto you. Take whatever time you need to roll it through your head!
I also have a zip file with a bunch of recorded psychodramas the original Unarius members performed. They're a bit silly to watch since none of them are trained in acting really, but the physical ease that they feel is almost palpable!
Attached here:
2track4loop
10:01 PM
Kaiba
Today at 10:02 PM
ok
thx
so uh
do you have any compsci questions?


She cracks her knuckles. The first time she did this, she overstepped. The person was too vulnerable, too unstable. But she likes Kaiba. He's nice. He'd be a friend, if it weren't for the circumstances.

She's better this time. Chris might be mad for now, but give it time and he'll see her worth. He'll see he didn't misplace faith in her.

Lin sets her phone aside, letting it rest face up on her nightstand. She closes her eyes, anticipating contented, restful sleep, but only finds fitful slumber, interspersed by her waking up with a jump from a nightmare she immediately forgets, slick with sweat.

The night passes slowly, dawn unceremoniously begins to streak through the thin slits between her closed blinds.

Her alarm goes off. She sits up, groaning, still exhausted. She doesn't see the point in going to school. Why can't she just skip? It doesn't matter much, anyway. Her mom cares a lot about all this kind of thing, but her dad? He doesn't care at all. Her brother already dropped out. What's one more?

She just needs time. One more month, she tells Chris. One more month.


Kaiba
Today at 7:27 PM
i once made a program for my python class that was like a personality test but instead of ranking you by personality it sorted you into categories bsed on what ghost youd likely be
like angry, sad, vengeful
meant nothing but it was fun
2track4loop
Today at 7:27 PM
That sounds fun. Why ghosts?
Kaiba
Today at 7:28 PM
dunno. guess i just liked the idea of it. like us remaining after we die
the world having memory of us and people who we love being able to fund us and talk to us
i find it comforting
2track4loop
Today at 7:28 PM
I do too.
Kaiba
Today at 7:28 PM
lemme guess, unarius?
2track4loop
Today at 7:28 PM
Not at all. I'm not like that. It's not like that.
Kaiba
Today at 7:28 PM
chill, chill
i was joking
2track4loop
Today at 7:29 PM
I know. Sorry, I'm bad at sarcasm.
Kaiba
Today at 7:29 PM
i like that though
people always hide what they mean with words that dont mean anything when you really put them to scrutiny
your honest
2track4loop
Today at 7:32 PM
Have you ever tried to talk to ghosts?
Kaiba
Today at 7:32 PM
liek with a ouija? once
didnt work though nothing ever moved
guess ghosts just hate me lol
2track4loop
Today at 7:33 PM
There are other ways to do it.
In WWII there were people who literally called themselves parapsychologists who studied this.
Voices on frequencies they couldn't identify from places they couldn't identify.
There was a whole debate about it, between psychologists on mainland Europe and the UK.
Kaiba
Today at 7:33 PM
yeah yeah i know about this
its probably nothing though
every time people try and claim ghosts its usually the human brain tricking them into identifying patterns in random noise
and everyone wants to talk to people they lost, so
yk
2track4loop
Today at 7:33 PM
I don't know enough to comment. But… something lingers in me. Questions I can't answer.
Can I ask you a question?
Kaiba
Today at 7:34 PM
sure
2track4loop
Today at 7:34 PM
My friend game me something.
2track4loop
Today at 7:34 PM
Excuse me, it's hard to write this.
Kaiba
Today at 7:34 PM
take your time
you listened to all my bullshit after all
2track4loop
Today at 7:34 PM
My friend died a year ago. I tried to save him but things didn't work out.
Kaiba
Today at 7:34 PM
my condolences
2track4loop
Today at 7:35 PM
I don't need them. I just need closure.
He gave me something before he died. A video, or something, I don't know, it's weird.
I could never bring myself to watch it all the way through.
Never had anyone to trust, I guess. Not until you.
We could watch it together?
We don't have to if you don't want to.
I'd just feel better if we did.
Since we're friends and all.
Unless you were lying to me when you called me that.
Kaiba
Today at 7:35 PM
no i wasnt lying
of course i will
in vc?
2track4loop
Today at 7:36 PM
I can stream it there, or we can go to another site.
It scares me, Kaiba. I don't know why.
Kaiba
Today at 7:36 PM
i get it
whenever youre ready


✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:13 PM
you showed him wat
2track4loop
Today at 8:13 PM
the ninth
ik u said not to do this
but it just seemed right
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:13 PM
jesus
and he responded?
2track4loop
Today at 8:14 PM
yes
no mess this time
hes what we were looking for
he heard them, chris
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:14 PM
not even sylvia can hear anything on those channels
youre not fucking with me?
2track4loop
Today at 8:14 PM
we have a medium, Chris
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 8:14 PM
well fuck
guess who's getting a raise
(this is a nonprofit organization and my statement was metaphorical)


It's funny, how predictable the human brain is. How even at the tender age of fourteen, she realizes this fact. It's pliable. It wants and wants and wants, and can't help but want more even when it's given everything and then some.

All it takes is one rainy day, and even the doubting Thomas can at last come into the light.


Kaiba
Today at 4:09 AM
hey
can i ask you some questions about all that unarius stuff?


She stops going classes. Her mom stops asking questions.

Both of them understand there's no point anymore.


Kaiba
Today at 1:31 PM
so how long have you been a part of unarius?
2track4loop
Today at 1:31 PM
A bit now lol
Kaiba
Today at 1:31 PM
do you ever meet them in person?
2track4loop
Today at 1:31 PM
Some of them. A lot of us mainly communicate online though.
Kaiba
Today at 1:32 PM
really?
2track4loop
Today at 1:32 PM
Yeah. We're actually a splinter of a schism from the academy in California, the founder came from there.
Kaiba
Today at 1:32 PM
whyd they leave?
2track4loop
Today at 1:32 PM
Well you know those prophecies that Uriel gave that I told you about? That we'd be visited by our brethren from space?
Kaiba
Today at 1:32 PM
yeah
2track4loop
Today at 1:33 PM
The timeline she gave for that actually passed a while ago.
Kaiba
Today at 1:33 PM
wait really?
2track4loop
Today at 1:33 PM
Yeah. But we don't think she was wrong! The other groups don't really either.
Kaiba
Today at 1:33 PM
so
whats the issue?
2track4loop
Today at 1:33 PM
Well, we think the term she recieved in her prophecies, "space," was misinterpreted.
They thought they meant space as in outer space, so they just waited for them to arrive.
But what they were actually talking about was cyberspace. The psychosphere, was how it was explained to me. Everyone's mind and soul makes a digital soup. In that soup, there are places consciousnesses can latch onto. Be it of our guides, the Space Brothers, or others, Farther out.
Kaiba
Today at 1:34 PM
huh
2track4loop
Today at 1:34 PM
So, in order to do that, we've been honing in on experimenting with digital stuff, try and see if we can amke any breakthroughs and finally bridge the communication gap.
You know, you're really smart when it comes to computers. Really give it some thought, maybe you're the scientist we've been waiting for lol
Kaiba
Today at 1:34 PM
sounds like a unique problem to try to tackle
2track4loop
Today at 1:34 PM
Unique problems demand unique solutions.
You wanted purpose, right? Maybe this can be it. Maybe it's all led here. Ever thought of that?
Kaiba
Today at 1:34 PM
i didnt. how am i supposed to do it?
2track4loop
Today at 1:34 PM
Don't ask how. Don't ask why. Just do, Kaiba. The rest will come later.
Just as it did for me.


It all bubbles over one day when Dad's not been home for a week and she can tell her mom has been sitting on everything else for far too long.

Just before Lin is about to leave to go see Sylvia, the doorknob in her hand, her mom calls her from the kitchen.

'Lin!'

Lin sighs. 'Yes ma'am?'

'Please come in here, Lin.'

Lin complies, if only to try to get out of the door without causing herself more headaches in the future. Her mother is sitting at the dining room table, a mess of papers in front of her, her hair unkempt, glasses askew. 'Where are you going, honey?'

'Out.'

'Out where?'

'To a friend's place.'

Lin's mother nods her head a bit, blinking slowly. 'Can we talk?'

Though she makes sure to roll her eyes clearly enough for her to see, Lin still pulls a chair out across from her, flopping down into it.

'What is it?'

Lin's mother runs a hand through her hair, moving stray hairs out from in front of her eyes, the mess of brown interspersed with greys and silvers. 'I got a call from the school today. They said you've haven't been in your classes.'

Lin only shrugs in response.

'Lin, you need to be going to school. It's important.'

'Got better things to do than school,' Lin mumbles.

'I don't care what you think is more important, Lin. You have to go to school.'

'Why are you bringing this up now? You know I've been skipping.'

'Lin, the school had to call me—'

'So you're humiliated? Is that it? I'm sorry that Dad being gone again is ruining your façade of some nuclear family, but that's not my problem.'

They collide like planets and asteroids, moons and men, destruction abound, each tearing into the other. Emotions are running too hot between them. Her mom stares at her for a moment, stunned, hurt, and Lin knows she has two options: apologize or double down.

'Just because people are gossiping about him and another woman doesn't mean you have to take it out on me.'

'I'm not taking it out anything on you! And where did you hear—'

'I'm not gonna be a doll for you to dress up and parade around, living some fake life just because your pride is down the drain! I have— have more important things to do!'

'Like what?!'

'Why should I tell you?! You don't respect me, don't know—'

'And where did you hear about— hear about another woman?!'

'The same places I know you do! Hushed whispers from behind, points and stares! Do you think Dad being gone only affects you?'

Lin leaps up from her chair, already stomping out towards the door.

'Young lady you turn around right now!' her mom calls.

'Stop trying to blame your shitty marriage on me!' Lin shouts back as she throws the door open and sprints away, tears forming in her eyes, muddling her vision.

She wishes she could tell Mom about Unarius. But then what would Sylvia think? What would Chris? Besides, her mom wouldn't understand the importance of the work she's doing. No one in her family ever did. Even her brother, who started all this in her eyes, treats her like a speck of dust on his windshield, ready to be wiped off because the only thing he cares about more in this life aside from video games is his dumb car.

She loses herself online.


Kaiba
Today at 2:42 PM
i think i thought of something
2track4loop
Today at 2:45 PM
Thought of what?
Kaiba
Today at 2:45 PM
the communication prophecy thing you told me about
2track4loop
Today at 2:45 PM
You did??
Kaiba
Today at 2:45 PM
i wanna run it by you, seeif im barking up the wrong tree
2track4loop
Today at 2:46 PM
Alright, shoot!
Kaiba
Today at 2:46 PM
so souls are collections of energies, right?
2track4loop
Today at 2:46 PM
Yeah.
Kaiba
Today at 2:46 PM
does that energy include signal? carry it?
2track4loop
Today at 2:46 PM
I dunno, maybe.
The energy the soul is made up of is basically unknown to us, it's something fourth dimensional.
Kaiba
Today at 2:47 PM
hmm
not an idea killer yet
you ever watch any of those paranormal investigation/hunting shows?
2track4loop
Today at 2:47 PM
I've seen clips online.
Kaiba
Today at 2:47 PM
you know about the common phenomenon of ghosts communicating through stuff like radios, speaker, tvs?
2track4loop
Today at 2:47 PM
Yeah.
Kaiba
Today at 2:47 PM
what if thats all real and its not ghosts but souls communicating through their energy? like its somehow transferred and interpreted?
2track4loop
Today at 2:47 PM
Never thought of that.
Kaiba
Today at 2:48 PM
now heres where speculation some in
what if that information wasnt just pulled and then immediately thrown away through a speaker
what if it was pulled then recorded on a hard drive then interpreted by a computer
2track4loop
Today at 2:48 PM
holy shit
Kaiba
Today at 2:48 PM
been studying all of the cases of the ghost-in-the-radio that i can find and looking for similarities amongst them, weeding out fakes and stuff
and i think i have an idea of how to make something that will properly catch these frequencies
2track4loop
Today at 2:48 PM
KAIBA UR A GENIUS!!!
Kaiba
Today at 2:48 PM
dont go singing my praises yet, still need to test it, but good to know you think im onto something lol


Lin sits in a voice call with Kaiba, his soft, almost scared voice barely making its way through her headphones.

'What am I supposed to be listening for again?'

'Anything, really. Just relax, don't think about it too much.' She's trying her best to keep him from being too tense. She's afraid that if he tries too hard or gets too nervous, he'll impede himself and his clairaudience. Lin types a command into a separate channel and a bot joins the call, immediately beginning to pipe radio signal through. To her, it just sounds like white noise, but if all keeps going as she hopes it will, then Kaiba will hear something deeper within, just as he did with the test recording.

After only a few moments of listening, Kaiba broke his focus. 'I- I'm sorry I don't hear anyth-' he starts to stutter out before Lin cuts him off.

'It won't be immediate like the recording was, this is live radio signal. Private channel. Could be inconsistent.'

'A-alright.'

Ideally, the live radio signal will allow any passing soul to communicate with them. Only time will tell if it's going to work.

The two sit for a few minutes in silence, the white noise drowns out all of Lin's idle thoughts, leaving her stuck in a strange limbo where seconds feel like hours and minutes like picoseconds. Just as her head begins to lull to the side, Kaiba gasps.

'Wait- wait I hear- I hear something!'

Lin is shocked back to the present, suddenly intently focused on her keyboard and the Google doc open on her monitor. 'What?! What is it? What do you hear?'

'It… sounds like whispering. Really faint whispering.'

'What's it say-'

'Shh!'

Lin shuts up, putting a hand over her mouth.

'"Watching over…" "Prophecies to come…" a "moderator's efforts."'

Lin is typing all that she heard Kaiba say, transcribing every word to show Chris.

Kaiba prattles on.

'"Venus and Mars…"'

'"Amidst the grand teachers, your teachers themselves," I think?'

'"February fourteenth…"'

'Something about an "incredible hierarchy…"'

'Their "bodies of light" are… "at the needle's point…" "between here and…" "the dimension of energies."'

'"February fourteenth," again.'

Lin and Kaiba sit in silence for a few minutes longer before Kaiba speaks up again. 'I think that's it. I don't hear anything else.'

Frozen in amazement, Lin stares at the words she's transcribed, her mind already trying to put the puzzle pieces together.

'Their voices were kinda… in and out at time, I guess. I think we should try to improve the receiver somehow.'

There was obviously Uriel's prophecy that the people of Earth would be visited by their space brethren, was that the prophecy the signal spoke of?

'I could work on that if you let me see the current setup.'

February fourteenth was also easy being the wedding anniversary of Uriel and Ernest, the founders.

'Two-Track?'

Venus and Mars, the home planet of entities of great wisdom, according to what Ernest saw in visions of his own.

Kaiba clears his throat, pulling Lin back to reality. 'You there?' he asks.

'Yeah, yeah. This is really good stuff, Kaiba. Thank you.'

She can practically hear him grinning on the other side of the call. 'Oh! Yeah, yeah of course.'

'Let me give this stuff to someone. I've got some ideas, but she knows more than I do.'

'Sounds good.'

'Mhmm… I'm gonna go now.'

'Alright! Talk to you soon?'

'Of course.'


✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 6:04 PM
its been nearly three months lin
where the hell are the videos?
you said youve been working on them
2track4loop
Today at 6:08 PM
ok don't be mad but i havent actually made any
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 6:09 PM
excuse me
2track4loop
Today at 6:09 PM
wait
let me explain
ive been working with that new medium
and hes made a significant jump!
i think
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 6:10 PM
you think
2track4loop
Today at 6:10 PM
hes had an amazing idea
all you need to do is let him try
weve even already seen great results!!
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 6:10 PM
lin
do i need to remind you what happened to the last medium you goaded into hasty progress??
she couldnt handle the pressure and when it failed and the shame overwhelmed her she sent me personally a sorry message saying that she was a failure and no use to unarius before she disappeared
and lo and behold: a few days later news reports of a girl in her area who jumped from a bridge
go and stop him before you kill someone else
2track4loop
Today at 6:11 PM
im sorry
✺CHRISTAL•KEYS✾
Today at 6:11 PM
you said that already but here we are again
fix your mistake


'The hell are you going, Lenny?'

Lin picks up her pace. The stark form of her brother, all knobby knee'd with baggy clothes and a black hoodie even though it's sunny outside stalks behind her. She knows it's him, even though she can't see his face. She's gotten good at recognizing him even when she can't see him. A sibling thing, or something else.

'You can't walk away from me,' he yells out, in that boastful way he always has. 'I've always been faster. Ever since we were kids, Lenny.'

Or so he thinks. That's the other thing about her brother. He's also quite dumb.

'I told you not to call me that!' she screams over her shoulder. 'It's not my name.'

'What, afraid you'll get shot?' Her brother's voice is tainted with some kind of grin. He has always been cruel. 'You're always so afraid of such bullshit, Lenny.'

'Why are you following me, George?'

'Dunno. Mom's spiraling, Dad's still not home. Guess I just thought to check up on my favorite member of this family for-'

'The real reason. Nothing's free with you.'

Not even since they were kids. George has always been hungry for some kind of edge over her, be it through a video game, or their Dad's affections, or anything else. He's careless and cruel, and little else is there despite Lin having tried so much to find something of value. Sylvia thinks she's overdramatic about this, but Lin knows she's right. She just is.

'Mom,' is all he says, so she scoffs.

'Bullshit.'

'It's real. I swear its real, Lenny.'

'Mom doesn't talk to you.' Because you don't talk to her, because if you did all you'd do is scream, goes unsaid.

'Yeah, cuz I'm such a disappointment. But she was really crying her eyes out this time, about you. Might have even grown a heart or two listening to that performance.'

His footsteps stop. Hers do as well. She doesn't turn around, though. She's not that stupid to look at him when he's like this.

'How'd you find me?'

'I talked to one of your friends. Ernie, or something. He said some stuff. I figured out the rest.'

'Eric?' Her blood starts to boil.

'That was the name, yes. Ready to come home to mom?'

'No.'

Her pace breaks into a run.

'Lenny-'

'Leave me the hell alone, George,' she calls out over her shoulder.

'Lenny!'

But she's already taken a turn into the alleyway beyond which she knows her refuge resides. Her brother won't be able to follow her anymore, not there. He just won't.


She feels it before anyone says anything. There's something in the air of the commune, something eerily like electricity. It's a soundless feeling, but there is rhythm in it, slowly building and building as if an unlife itself were exuding it.

'Something's changed, child,' is all Sylvia says. Her palms are open to a sky that is alien to the dark room in which Lin has found her, still sweaty from her run earlier. 'Everything has changed.'

'What?'

'We have decided you are in body,' Sylvia says, a warm smile gracing her lips. 'You may come with me. Leave your bags by the pedestal.'

Then she unlocks a door that Lin has never been in before. Whenever she's asked after it in the past, some variation of 'you're not ready' was all that was fed to her. The passage is old and grimy, lined with brick and metal pipes and niter. Even though it is dark, Sylvia knows her way around like it's the brightest of days, and moves with a deftness out of place for the aging woman. It's like she's a different person entirely. After, Lin would say this might have been the first sign.

'When Uriel first bought this facility, she had been concerned she might have misinterpreted things. It's a shame others convinced her otherwise, but ah, we knew better, didn't we? We knew best.'

'Where are we?'

The pipes she's noticed now are perforated with dozens upon dozens of little holes with wires laced through each and every one, cables snaking across the floor, hanging from the ceiling, stapled to the walls. The rhythm in the air is growing stronger. They loop around another corner, an another door rises, another gift.

It opens, and what greets her takes her breath away.

'It's not well communicated outside of our circle, you see, the importance of the flesh. For is not only energy that binds us, but a cosmic marriage too: life and death. Past and present. Flesh and blood. In every animal there is a common ancestor, a universal body plan. And there is no better body plan that carries and links the memory of a cosmic soul than that of the fetus.'

A great room of concrete pylons marches before her, with almost every surface covered in wires. Servers upon servers whir in the distance. The humming is now audible, and it's then that she realizes that the sound therein is similar, so similar to the recordings Chris sent her for her recruiting tasks. But even that pales at the other things: tanks upon tanks upon tanks, all containing curled up pickled life-forms with tails and half-formed eyes, each linked to the very network that is in turn linked to the servers behind and around them. And at the heart of it all - three bodies, entombed in cables.

'The song of life cut short can amplify that of life that has been lived. It is a bridge, do you see child? Between life and death. Between alien and human. One must only read the signs.'

'You want to wake them up.'

'Oh, but that's why I brought you here, my dear,' Sylvia says, and almost sounds remorseful for it. Her hand brushes Lin's cheek, warm and human despite everything. 'They've already done so. What did you do, Lin?'

'I… I don't know. I can't check my Discord. My phone's dead.'

'Your medium must have done something. Look at the little angels. Look at how they sing.'

In the jars, she sees it now: every so often, with every pulse of electricity in synchronicity with the song of the great translator, the limbs of the creatures move. They twitch.

They're alive. But for the first time since she joined, she's not sure if it's for the reasons she wants it to be.

'It's not long, my dear,' Sylvia continues, smiling glibly with mirth. Lin smiles too, though she's not sure if it's because she's happy or if it's something else. 'We can make contact soon. The thirty-three ships will come, just as she said. And it's all thanks to you. You are bringing about a new age, girl. A new-'

A loud banging sound breaks the harmony of the world around them, with muffled yells echoing behind them. It almost sounds like…

'Lenny, I don't know what the hell they're doing, but-'

Shit. It's George. He's stopped dead in his tracks, staring around the room in horrified awe. Lin's never seen him like this before. He's always maintained an air that emphasized that nothing could faze him, that he was a bastion of cool, of ease, but the image was shattered - scattered across the wire-strewn floor like glass - as his eyes jumped from server to server, jar to jar.

'What the hell is this?'

Sylvia snaps, 'You aren't welcome here, boy. This is a sacred place.'

'Shut the fuck up,' George throws back before letting his face soften as he turns to Lin. 'C'mon, let's get out of this freak show, go home. See mom.'

'Lin is not going—' Sylvia begins to say before George suddenly pulls a handgun out of his waistband, pointing it at her.

'Don't put a fucking finger on her!'

Sylvia ignores him and puts a hand on Lin's shoulder, 'It's quite past time for you to go, young ma—'

The next events move in slow motion, and Lin's not quite sure what she expected, but her brother pulling the trigger is not one of them, and neither is Sylvia falling onto the ground bleeding. George grabs her by the hand and begins pulling her through the doorway, back through the dim passageways, Lin still stuck in her shock. When the gunshot stops ringing in her ears, she begins thrashing, fighting George.

'We're getting out of here, Lenny,' is what he's telling her, over and over again, and he doesn't listen to those facts that she can't articulate properly but tries to over and over anyway like some psychobabble on the radio: that she wants to be here, that this is everything she's wanted and that he's ruining everything that's hers yet again just because he's selfish, but then none of that matters.

Step-by-step, pull-by-pull, her feet dragging on the filthy concrete floor. George isn't listening to her.

Lin sees the exit, growing closer and closer, still trying to fight George, crying out that he's a murderer. A low tone rises from behind them, filling the air. George casts a panicked glance back and begins pulling Lin faster. The tone rises, getting louder and louder, increasing in strength, all at a pace that only hastens.

Suddenly, a pulse made up of a thousand million human voices all trapped in one mournful, digital call surges so loud it's unbearable. The roof starts to crack, and they're running, they're running, and then she's shoved through the door and given an I love you years too late that just ends up confusing her even more and then-

A cascade of new noise, a low, rumbling sound. Lin tries to push on the door, but finds it's blocked. When she peers through the crack at the bottom, there's only darkness, some concrete dust drifting out.

No sound, no drone, no cries for help, nothing.

Silence.


Lin sits in a park, the mental bench under her cold. She's crying as she pulls out her phone, desperate for any semblance of victory when so much around her has turned for the worst, come crashing down around her. The source of so much comfort through the turmoil of her days past.

She opens up Discord and finds that amidst the multitude of DMs she's yet to open, she was sent some yesterday from a now deleted account. Curiosity overtakes her and she opens them up.

Deleted User
Yesterday at 4:13 PM
i think ive done it
in some way or another
i finally got it to properly record some ambient information
and i think thyeve been here
watching over my shoulder
uriel and ernest
theyre trying to tell me something but i cant figure out what
too scrambled too messy too broken up, like when we would live transcribe
but i think i know what i need to do to fix that
Deleted User
Yesterday at 4:15 PM
im leaving for the store right now
i should have results in a few hours
i just wanted to say something before i go because ive been meaning to say it for a hwile no and its really hitting me hard right now
thank you for all youve done for me 2track
you gave me my sense of purpose back
thank you

Lin scrolls up. She sees all of the messages she'd traded with Kaiba over the past few months, the ideas and jokes, the longings and happenings of life.

Now he was gone, suddenly vanished in smoke.

Something had happened, but what?

It didn't matter what happened, she realizes. Ultimately, something happened to Kaiba and she is to blame.

What did he hear? Did he even hear anything?

What had he done?

Why couldn't he have left her with anything else?!

It was happening again, she thinks she's killed another medium.

Killed Sylvia, killed Kaiba, killed her brother.

Who she hates so much. Hates him. But her chest is in knots, her mind retching. Every inch of her feels the suffering. She wants to leap from her skin, turn inside-out.

But there's still another place for her to go, another beacon of fortitude, a reason to keep going. Lin opens up her DMs with Chris and starts typing with shaky fingers stuck to trembling hands.

2track4loop
Today at 5:57 PM
chris
chris please answer
i need help
somethings happened and i dont know whaty to do
chis please
slyvia showed me the secretr oom with the coffins an the jars
she got shot
the tunnels collapsed i think
im so scared i dont knoww hat to doo
what do i do cris
where do i go from here

She sends fervorous message after fervorous message, trying to catch his attention.

His status changes to be online, Lin's never been so happy to see that little green circle. She sends a few more messages, hope washing through her, before it all suddenly drains away, dropping off a cliff.

2track4loop
Today at 6:01 PM
i know i messed up but just tell me what to do and i promise ill listen this itme

A new message pops in below it, only confirming her fears.

Blocked.png

Lin begins to sob, her phone drops from her hands and lands on the dirt. She played her hand and lost, for whatever good that gave her. There's no one left, she's burned all of her bridges, and there are matches in her gasoline-soaked hands.

Then she remembers why George had been there in the first place, what he'd told her. What he'd asked her to do. There is but one remaining bastion to flee too, a place where she can hide from all that's happened, all that she has done. Lin leaps up from the bench and sprints away, still crying, leaving her phone behind, so terrified of it, what she'd done with it.


It's almost sundown when she finally arrives home. She spends what feels like a million years on the front porch pacing back and forth waiting for tears to come out, but they just don't. Finally, her pacing must have made enough noise to wake up her mom from the couch, because the door opens anyway. For a moment, neither of them speak. Her mom looks like she wants to scream or tell her off or throw something at her or something else, but then she sees her daughter's eyes. She sees her daughter's hands hugging her stomach. She sees a backpack half destroyed.

A brother, a son, nowhere to be found.

When they again collide at last like planets and asteroids, moons and men, there are no words. There's nothing that separates them anymore. There is just them. There is just that universal human sound of crying.

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