Worm (Parahumans #1)
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chapter-305
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♦ Topic: Info & Update
In: Boards ► Teams ► Reach (Private)Moonsong
Posted on August 18th, Y1:
PHO is back on and they are letting the chats run. That’s where we usually meet, but I’ve been warned it’s choppy and slow. I’ll be there.
This took me three hours to just get started with. It’s hard.
It is with the heaviest of hearts that I inform you that Coiffure did pass. When Gold Morning arrived, we suspected something might have happened, given the reports. She was killed in one of the initial strikes on the East coast. She was a friend, a teammate, and she was a true hero. She elevated others around her to be better people by the standards she lived by.
Coiffure is survived by only her father. Her mother was one of my favorite adults. She was kind, she was cool, and she was a genuinely good mom to Coiffure. When we went back to school in the fall, she gave us really cool back to school supplies. It remains in my memory as one of the most randomly nice things a relative stranger has done for me.
You’ll also remember her siblings Arthur and Cal, though you might not remember their names. When the family came by, Arthur would be the one curled up in the big chair near the front desk, with one of his game things. Cal would be watching over his big brother’s shoulder. I always thought it was hilarious how uninterested they were in capes.
We can expect they all died instantaneously. I’ve talked to Coiffure’s father. I would suggest that if you happen to run into him, leave him be. He doesn’t want reminders.
Furcate decided to fight on that monumental day and that says so much when not everyone was brave enough to do that. Furcate was wild and tortured and beautiful. They were a handful and yet they rewarded us with ten positive things for every negative we had to overcome. I’d like to think they got something out of putting up with us in much the same way.
I want what I say here to be honest. I did not get along with Furcate the vast majority of the time. Furcate did not get along with me. I still respected them immensely. They said one word for every thousand the rest of us said and yet they could convey so much in their actions. I keep saying those things, using math like ‘ten times over’, but it’s so very Furcate. They overflowed, they swelled. The cup runneth over. I look back and I’m dazed by how much of a place they found in my heart and my thoughts.
It might be crass to say, but I don’t know if anyone’s going to have words for them. Scritch and Scratch were the closest thing we had to a nemesis. They had their scummy moments. They also kept to the rules. They were killed during one of the lulls in the fighting, by a group I won’t name.
The fates of Tribute, Boundless, Capricorn and Steamwheel are yet unknown. I hope you guys are okay.
I’m alive, obviously. Figurehead is alive but you all should know his issues with being controlled. The events really shook him. He’s retired in large part, he’ll be doing something capey, but he’s said he isn’t coming on PHO. He asked me to wish you all the best.
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Connecting to “pChat.ParahumansOnline.TeamReach(6667)” (Attempt 90)
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Using identity “Cap”
Welcome to Team Reach Private Chat. Forum thread.
[Click here to see messages older than 3 days.]
[Old Message: A16 22:24] Moonsong has joined the chat.
[Old Message: A16 22:53] Moonsong has changed the chat topic: Welcome to Team Reach Private Chat. List of Alive & Dead.
[Old Message: A16 23:20] Moonsong: Post made in the forum. I only mentioned the team members. See topic links for the staff members and others I know about.
[Old Message: A17 1:03] Moonsong: I’ve edited the post to add Scritch and Scratch.
[Old Message: A17 4:15] Moonsong has left the chat.
[Old Message: A17 10:15] Moonsong has joined the chat.
[Old Message: A18 2:01] Moonsong has left the chat.
[Old Message: A18 9:50] Moonsong has joined the chat.
[A18 11:04:20] Cap has joined the chat.
[A18 11:04:25] Cap: hey
[A18 11:06:43] Moonsong: Hi Tristan
[A18 11:06:55] Cap: haha. every time.
[A18 11:07:07] Cap: The universe has a dark sense of humor, it seems.
[A18 11:07:09] Moonsong: I’m glad you’re alive, Tristan
[A18 11:07:12] Moonsong: I suppose it does.
[A18 11:07:30] Cap: i’m glad you’re alive too
[A18 11:07:34] Cap: believe it or not
[A18 11:08:11] Moonsong: Were you there?
[A18 11:08:44] Cap: was dragged into it. glad I was though.
[A18 11:09:01] Moonsong: *nods*
[A18 11:09:01] Moonsong: How is your brother?
[A18 11:09:16] Cap: doing well as can be expected
[A18 11:11:47] Moonsong: And your family? Your parents? I liked them when I saw them.
[A18 11:12:00] Cap: alive. we’re in the city. they’re trying to come to terms with things
[A18 11:12:35] Cap: things are really coming together like crazy. new skyscrapers every day, new stores. good and almost like a city in Earth Bet but it isn’t really home
[A18 11:15:08] Moonsong: It isn’t. We’re in the city too.
[A18 11:16:17] Cap: You and your folks? they’reokay?
[A18 11:17:40] Moonsong: They’re good. Dad is taking a shot at mayor or councilman. We’ll see what happens.
[A18 11:17:59] Cap: good for him. thriving?
[A18 11:22:55] Moonsong: nobody is thriving these days. but he’s in his element
[A18 11:23:24] Cap: some are thriving. we’re all playing nice. truce in full effect. masterminds and chessmasters are having a ball out there. guarantee it
[A18 11:25:31] Moonsong: I suppose we’ll see.
[A18 11:28:40] Cap: I read your post, btw
[A18 11:28:42] Cap: good words
[A18 11:28:45] Cap: kudos
[A18 11:28:50] Moonsong: Thank you.
[A18 11:29:27] Cap: I’m surprised you’re here though
[A18 11:29:35] Cap: is Reach still a thing?
[A18 11:29:56] Moonsong: I consider the others friends and teammates.
[A18 11:30:11] Moonsong: I consider myself a member of Reach
[A18 11:30:33] Cap: I get that
[A18 11:30:35] Cap: doesn’t answer my question
[A18 11:30:40] Cap: will it carry on? what happens?
[A18 11:43:50] Moonsong: It won’t. I don’t think so anyway. There’s a lot of hero teams out there and its hard for a sponsored team to get traction even without people feeling betrayed.
[A18 11:44:02] Cap: yeah
[A18 11:46:14] Moonsong: A lot of teams are gathering under the Wardens. PRT-like. They’re walking a fine line between emulating PRT and being PRT. Lots of teams under the umbrella. I’m not sure it’s working. I don’t know if I want to get on board with that. I don’t know if the others would.
[A18 11:46:23] Cap: that’s fair
[A18 11:47:50] Moonsong: I will always be a member of Reach. Even if the team has dissolved.
[A18 11:48:42] Cap: I like that
[A18 11:48:53] Cap: since when were you so good with words?
[A18 11:50:37] Moonsong: Since when did you pay attention to anyone but yourself?
[A18 11:50:43] Cap: …
[A18 11:51:12] Moonsong: ?
[A18 11:52:36] Cap: 45 minutes of something approaching civility has to be a record for us
[A18 11:52:57] Moonsong: I see. Yes. It could be.
[A18 11:53:06] Cap: I would have liked to keep that streak going
[A18 11:53:20] Cap: oh well
[A18 11:54:31] Moonsong: Are you well, Tristan?
[A18 11:55:21] Cap: I see we’re going straight to the barbs
[A18 11:56:32] Moonsong: No barbs. I genuinely want to know.
[A18 11:57:14] Cap: how uncharacteristicaly nice of you
[A18 11:58:23] Moonsong: Do I need to worry about you?
[A18 11:58:45] Cap: no
[A18 11:58:56] Cap: you “helped” more than enough
[A18 12:00:19] Moonsong: I don’t know.
[A18 12:01:08] Cap: don’t you?
[A18 12:02:07] Moonsong: I’ve spent a lot of time hoping you died.
[A18 12:03:34] Cap: WOW
[A18 12:03:58] Cap: geez
[A18 12:04:06] Moonsong: *shrug*
[A18 12:05:27] Cap: geez. there is no humanity in there at all is there?
[A18 12:05:51] Cap: just takes the world to end beforeI get a glimpse of the real you
[A18 12:06:45] Moonsong: Lets not pretend, Tristan.
[A18 12:07:01] Cap: pretend what?
[A18 12:07:42] Cap: you decided you hated me before you ever got to know me
[A18 12:08:37] Cap: you’re really your fathers daughter. two-faced. anyone reading between the lines can see what you really thought about furcate
[A18 12:10:39] Moonsong: I meant what I wrote.
[A18 12:11:47] Cap: a thinly veiled outline of furcates many problems
[A18 12:11:56] Cap: you couldn’t resist saying you didn’t like them
[A18 12:11:23] Moonsong: Are you done?
[A18 12:12:13] Cap: you made furcate more miserable than anyone
[A18 12:12:26] Moonsong: Apparently not
[A18 12:12:29] Cap: you never once tried to understand them just like you never once tried to understand me
[A18 12:13:12] Cap: you had your notions of how everyone was supposed to behave
[A18 12:13:36] Cap: how everyone was supposed to be
[A18 12:13:45] Cap: you know what they call people who come to judgment about people before they have the facts?
[A18 12:14:19] Cap: the label applies, moonsong
[A18 12:14:29] Cap: you wedged yourself into a situation you didn’t understand and you made it so much worse
[A18 12:14:48] Cap: what guts me is you think you were right to do it.
[A18 12:16:39] Moonsong: I didn’t like furcate. I did love and respect him as a teammate.
[A18 12:16:51] Moonsong: I damn well held him at the end. For a long time. I talked to him the entire time.
[A18 12:18:23] Moonsong: Motherfucker.
[A18 12:18:41] Moonsong: I’m crying now.
[A18 12:19:04] Moonsong: And no. I don’t know if I was right, Tristan.
[A18 12:20:08] Cap: moonsong admitting she might be wrong? Did the world end or something?
[A18 12:21:12] Moonsong: Go fuck yourself, Tristan. That wound is too fresh.
[A18 12:22:13] Cap: …
[A18 12:22:24] Cap: yeah
[A18 12:22:29] Cap: I’ll own up to that
[A18 12:23:43] Moonsong: You’re admitting you’re wrong? What happened to you in these past few years?
[A18 12:23:50] Cap: not enough. not nearly enough.
[A18 12:24:48] Moonsong: Guess not. What a shame.
[A18 12:25:23] Cap: that wound is fresh in its own way
[A18 12:25:56] Cap: just so you know
[A18 12:26:54] Moonsong: Alright.
[A18 12:27:45] Cap: fuck
[A18 12:28:20] Cap: this is a mess. we should keep our distance
[A18 12:29:17] Moonsong: Do I need to come after you?
[A18 12:30:38] Cap: no
[A18 12:30:57] Cap: fuck you. no
[A18 12:31:40] Cap: what the fuck was that about not thinking you were right?
[A18 12:31:48] Cap: don’t answer that. do me a favor and shut up for a second.
[A18 12:32:00] Cap: ====——====——====——====——====
[A18 12:32:24] Cap: members of reach – don’t scroll up past this line
[A18 12:32:37] Cap: its just moonsong and i being shitty at each other
[A18 12:33:23] Cap: if you joined the team after I left you probably won’t get it
[A18 12:34:44] Cap: Furcate –azúcar- you were one of my favorite
[A18 12:35:17] Cap: those days were some of my best and some of my worst
[A18 12:36:11] Cap: you were some of the best parts of the best days
[A18 12:38:21] Cap: Coif– after everything that happened I thought I might not want to be a hero anymore
[A18 12:39:50] Cap: your example is the only reason I still want to
[A18 12:39:55] Cap: you were one of the good few
[A18 12:40:44] Cap: to the rest who aren’t here— be well
[A18 12:41:09] Cap: …
[A18 12:41:41] Cap: I’m better at saying stuff in person.
[A18 12:42:12] Moonsong: I’ll let the others know you said it.
[A18 12:42:18] Cap: Thanks
[A18 12:45:06] Moonsong: Tristan.
[A18 12:46:48] Cap: yeah?
[A18 12:48:41] Moonsong: When I said I was wrong in how I handled things?
[A18 12:49:19] Moonsong: I wonder every day if I should have gone further and killed you.
[A18 12:51:40] Cap: lovely
[A18 12:51:48] Cap: you had to spoil it.
[A18 12:52:06] Cap has disconnected.
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Connecting to “4’&{N8<v%369ZAM”
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Using identity “3A::u@T_Enki”
No Topic Set
X29V5n: you’re the latino kid?
3A::u@T_Enki: yeah. how does this work?
X29V5n: You into memorabilia then?
3A::u@T_Enki: sure. memorabilia. I miss my old collection
X29V5n: The person who referred you should have explained most of it
3A::u@T_Enki: some
X29V5n: Let’s say you’re into commemorative plates. Plate with a hero or a villian’s face on it. You care a lot about the plate and its delivery
3A::u@T_Enki: sure
X29V5n: We ensure you get the result you want.
X29V5n: Insurance
3A::u@T_Enki: sounds like just what I need
X29V5n: We offer tiers. Different tiers for various degrees of thoroughness.
3A::u@T_Enki: can you give me a quick rundown?
X29V5n: Most basic tier, you throw a few hundred our way, depending on who is involved, who we put forward and who you expect is going to need to hear it, words. We talk, we let them know we’re serious about wanting X, Y & Z. No hassle. We throw our weight around a bit. Yeah?
3A::u@T_Enki: yeah
X29V5n: Maybe you want to ensure that plate ends up in the most ideal condition. A thousand or a few thousand covers a bit of roughing up. Scratch on the face, scuffing, the sort of thing that can be fixed up.
3A::u@T_Enki: can we maybe not talk about commemorative plates? maybe action figures? plates make me think of my abuela
X29V5n: If you want more coverage for your action figures, depending if we’re talking b-lister or a-lister or something bigger, we might be talking upwards of five, ten thou for more severe damage. Ruined leg, arm, the sort of damage to the face that would take an expert to restore.
3A::u@T_Enki: getting pretty steep
X29V5n: We’re talking cape shit. It’s in high demand, limited supply. Prices climb.
3A::u@T_Enki: just observing. is there a higher tier? what’s the highest tier?
X29V5n: Highest tier covers complete and total destruction. Pulling out all the stops. Starts at twenty thou, but I gotta warn you, the sky is the limit.
3A::u@T_Enki: that sounds good
X29V5n: Good.
3A::u@T_Enki: would you be willing to let me pay half upfront? we’d keep you guys in reserve? particulars get complicated
X29V5n: We work with complicated. Yes. That could be workable.
X29V5n: We will need to negotiate pricing. Did they tell you how to send the image of the product?
3A::u@T_Enki: u5zxN8wEXAKpbBeqzvzy.i
X29V5n: Perfect.
X29V5n: No wait.
X29V5n: You got the instructions very wrong, kid.
3A::u@T_Enki: it’s fine
X29V5n: You’re sure? There’s something deeply wrong with this.
3A::u@T_Enki: why don’t we meet for the rest? I’ll send you the first half now
3A::u@T_Enki: there
X29V5n: Alright. Let’s talk meeting places.
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Connecting to “pChat.ParahumansOnline.TeamReach(6667)” (Attempt 80)
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Using identity “Cap”
Welcome to Team Reach Private Chat. Forum thread.
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[A18 22:08:16] Cap has joined the chat.
[A18 22:08:31] Cap: hey
[A18 22:09:43] Tribute: Fuck me
[A18 22:10:51] Moonsong: It’s fine. Don’t stress.
[A18 22:11:22] Cap: hi moo – wish I knew how you did that
[A18 22:12:45] Moonsong: Hi boo. How are you doing?
[A18 22:13:18] Cap: doing okay. just had a very surreal experience talking to a certain kind of professional.
[A18 22:14:20] Moonsong: That’s good to hear, I think.
[A18 22:14:33] Tribute: ?
[A18 22:15:21] Moonsong: Best not to talk about it, though.
[A18 22:16:30] Cap: yeah
[A18 22:17:55] Moonsong: I’ve missed you terribly, boo. We should catch up.
[A18 22:18:18] Cap: I want to
[A18 22:18:30] Cap: I don’t know if we should
[A18 22:19:34] Moonsong: *nods*
[A18 22:19:51] Cap: I just wanted to say hi
[A18 22:20:00] Cap: maybe bye
[A18 22:20:09] Cap: ask you not to come after me or anything
[A18 22:21:58] Moonsong: *nods*
[A18 22:23:10] Moonsong: So long as the professional you hired has it covered.
[A18 22:23:50] Cap: yeah. covered
