mental link, day 32

[headinjuries]

[ Sam crashed hard after the vigil, because between all the lies making him feel like he was going to puke and trying to pick them apart giving him one mother of a headache, staying awake felt like something you only do if you really hate yourself.

Do all newfound psychic powers suck this bad? He was fine with just flying and blowing things up, thanks. ]

( By the way, just figured everybody should know: Seong-Hye Ngazi is full of crap, the Public Safety Commission isn't half as gung-ho about bringing the bomber to justice as she makes it sound, and I'm like ninety percent she actually knows who did it, but that part I'm not quite positive about.

So, you know. In case anybody wanted to break into her office or stalk her or something. I hear some of you guys are actually good at the cloak and dagger stuff.

You're welcome. )

[ He can be found in the common area of the Bearings, scrolling through news reports and radiating pure frustration, if anyone would rather comment to his face instead of over the link. ]

Comments

[inflori]

( You know, I could just make her tell us. )

[ mind control powers, bro, they're awesome. ]

[headinjuries]

( That sounds like a really easy way to get to the bottom of this? Which I'm pretty sure means someone's gonna pop in and tell us why it's a bad idea any minute now. )

[inflori]

( Yeah, because whatever they've been doing has been working out great so far. Pff. )

[nirsighted]

( This sounds like a good idea. )

[Big brother says 'Let's brainwash a stranger'.]

[erbier]

( How are you feeling? )

[headinjuries]

( Like I'm not going to throw up! Which I'm never going to take for granted again, oh my God. )

[erbier]

( You will get used to. My symbiote's ability causes something similar. )

[batmotif]

[It isn't hard to locate Sam, just follow the bubbling frustration.

And locate him he has, though the young man seems to be unaware of it. Bruce stands directly behind the boy, debating on whether to politely clear his throat to make his presence known, or just flat-out speaking his thoughts, potentially startling the boy.

Option #2 is chosen without a second thought.]

You're not going to find anything if you're already that frustrated.

[headinjuries]

[ He tenses up and jumps a good two inches before he turns around and cranes his neck to look at Bruce. ]

Oh my God. Are you like some kind of Wall Street ninja or something?

[batmotif]

[....Wall Street ninja. He's never heard it put quite like that.]

Something like that. [MOVING ON.] I can't decide if you're too focused or too oblivious of your surroundings, Sam. [He'll give him the benefit of the doubt and go with the former.] Find anything in the news reports?

[greentech]

( Well, like I said earlier, I'm going to see if I can find out more via some remote snooping. Let me know if you have anything specific you want to me to poke around to try and find. )

[ There's a pause on her end and a few minutes later she's casually hanging out in the common area. Mental links are a hell of a thing. She settles down in front of the sofa and leans back against it as she flips her computer open. ]

Stalking isn't my thing, though.

[headinjuries]

[ He'd rather face to face, so hey, just as well. ]

Stalking definitely isn't my thing. But everyone keeps telling me I'm not subtle enough.

[ Which is fair, since his methods of problem solving tend to include explosions and punching, but. ]

[greentech]

Sounds like a few people I know.

[ She means that affectionately. Almost no one in her crew are what she would really call subtle, honestly. Especially since they tend to wear brightly colored armor. They're supposed to fight, not sneak around.

Then again, that didn't stop Shiro and Allura. ]

I'm pretty sure it'd just take some practice!

[shiro2hero]

( What exactly can you tell me about this bombing? I feel like I came in late to the plot of a spy movie. )

[headinjuries]

( Okay, so there's this kind of virtual fighting sport here, Bout It Out, I dunno if you've seen it yet - and one of the big hotshots, Kun Adetkunbo, he's been like...saying some funny stuff lately. People are starting to think he's got pro-synthetic sympathies, which is...kind of unpopular right now.

So since we figured he might have some contacts on that front, and there was this big tournament coming up, we got a few people in, and were gonna try and win so we could use that to wrangle a meeting. But during the final, a bomb went off in the gaming parlor. And one of ours, uh. He died. )

[ Sam didn't really know Anakin, but it didn't even matter. It still felt like having something ripped out of you. ]

( Lexa and I still managed to get a minute with Adetkunbo after things went all pear-shaped, but we've been trying to figure out who's behind the bombing. Like aside from "probably anti-synthetic terrorists or something idk." I think Ngazi knows, and if she knows, she's covering for them. )

[shiro2hero]

(I haven't, no.)

[But then it's time to listen. And think it over. No wonder so many people looked beat to hell. And no wonder people just seemed... jumpy. He should kick himself for not asking sooner.]

(I'm sorry to hear that. I... really can't imagine what that would feel like.)

[Losing someone while they were in your head...]

(Any reason why she might be covering for them?)

[sensitively]

( If you're sure she knows who did it and doesn't plan on pursuing them, there might be physical evidence somewhere. )

[ there is that 'make her talk' discussion that sounds as though it would be a logical choice, too, but there's nothing wrong with snooping around to find something interesting as well. ]

( I'm not necessarily an expert on stalking, but...I've broken into quite a few places. I could be of some assistance there, if you needed it. )

[headinjuries]

( Almost sure. Every time she said something about how the bomber is unknown, it felt really...wobbly? But not quite as much as when she was talking about how it was a big priority. That part was definitely just lip service. )

[frakkincylons]

[ he doesn't ask how he knows, because this is the nest, they all have weird powers now, and Anders is hardly one to talk in the realm of Just Knowing Things. the kid seems confident enough. ]

( I can't help with cloak and dagger, but if we can get a hold of our friends at EXTRAAA maybe they can dig through her personal files? Angel and I don't have the proficiency with this world's tech to do it without getting caught. )

[headinjuries]

( Oh. That...yeah, that might help a lot.

Do you think they'd actually be willing to help us with it? )

[ Sam did not make an ass of himself when that chat window popped up, because he thought it was a pop-up ad and closed it too fast to realize, but he's gotten vibes of a very...mixed nature. ]

[frakkincylons]

( I don't know. They're not exactly transparent about it. But if we tip them off, who knows, maybe we'll get something out of it. )

[ maybe they'll do a return favor and fill them in on what the hell's going on. but it's getting in contact with them that's the issue. ]

[decommission]

( Those EXTRAAAAA fellas figure Ven's got some dots connected too, but for whatever reason he's keeping whatever he found quiet.

Parker and I tried tailing one of the workers that survived the first explosion, but he's still got nothing to say. )

[ Why's it feeling like everyone's in on this? ]

[headinjuries]

( Why wouldn't he do anything with it? )

[ The obvious counter to that being "unless Ven has anti-synth sympathies," but - ]

( Doesn't Ven Diagrams make that kind of digital brain stuff? You'd think he'd have all the reasons in the world to follow up. )

[narcissithstic]

I assume you've recovered by now.

[headinjuries]

( Wouldn't be talking to anybody if I hadn't. )