He's the guy in red when everybody else is wearing tan

[serpentinthegarden]

WHO: Anthony J. Crowley and OPEN
WHERE: Network / A park bench in town / wildcard
WHEN: Aug. 23, Afternoon
WHAT: Intro
WARNINGS: PG-13 - language


1 - Small Community Park

A shady spot on a park bench under a large tree was serving its purpose as a temporary residence as Anthony sat next to a cardboard box full of treasures, many of them gifts of badly drawn versions of himself in the child artist's medium of choice - crayon, with his feet propped up on his suitcase full of clothes. He stared at the new app on his phone before finally completing the log in process, taking a selfie of himself looking cool in a new pair of shades, and settling on an appropriate username...


2 - Video - Network post - un: 007Nanny

I can't find anyone 'Professional' to give me some advice on this so I guess putting my trust in a strange mystery app and a bunch of strangers is where I'm at right now. I woke up couple of days ago to find my eyes changed. They're all...

[ A vague uncanny gesture. ]

Yellow, and not a single one of the Optometrists I've been to has been able to even see that there was a problem! 20/20, perfect vision, maybe you need to see a shrink!

[ At this he whipped the shades off in dramatic fashion revealing his new golden yellow eyes and his decided inhuman looking snake-like pupils. ]

Does this look like a psychiatric condition to you? I'd appreciate some advice if you've got any.


3 - Wildcard

Anthony will be avoiding Cathedral Hill as for some reason he finds the place sort of spooky, but feel free to run into him anywhere else. He is currently between live-in Nanny positions and might be carrying his worldly possessions with him. He is also wearing a new pair of shades, even at night, which if you knew him before the app downloaded would seem unusual.

Comments

2 - Video; un: Opera_Ghost

[not_a_possum]

Huh. Funny. My eyes are the same, see?

[He brings the camera to his eye to show that indeed, Moxxie's eyes are also yellow with a slit pupil. Of course, that hardly stands out with the rest of his appearance being so clearly demonic.]

If it's the same as what I've got, you have nothing to worry about. You're completely healthy. You're just turning into a demon.

[serpentinthegarden]

A...

[ No, there was something very clearly wrong with his eyes! The screen had gone all red and this guy, not guy... not human looking guy... no one has red skin like that naturally!! Anthony actually blinked several times in succession trying to clear what he was seeing but of course the little demon never became anything but what he was. ]

What the hell ARE you?!

[ Demon. He had just said. Right, scratch that! ]

I might do things a little on the wild side when I'm not working but I'm not a demon.

[not_a_possum]

I'm an imp, sir.

[Apparently a strangely polite demon at that.]

Believe me, I was surprised, too. I'm not even the type to have a wild side, and yet...although I have been told that my coffee orders were evidence that I was probably a demon on some level all along.

[serpentinthegarden]

[ He stared at the screen a little longer taking in the red skin and striped horns before drawing in a slow breath and sighing. ]

I'm probably going to regret asking this... What do demons order at coffee shops?

[not_a_possum]

There's actually two things I alternate between. I either order a Neapolitan cappuccino more cappu than ccino and I always want them to make sure there's no more than four ounces of milk or I order a venti traditional misto with soy milk and two blond shots, Affagato and ristretto. I also get 3 vanilla pumps at the bottom, then add the coffee and add two more pumps after.

[Are you seeing the evil yet?]

video

[crystallinememories]

If it's any consolation, that is pretty common around here. My eyes turned red, for example.

[He gestures to them, and... he's not going to get into the whole tattoos and cat ears thing for the moment because he has a question.]

...Do you have a brother, by any chance? [because you look and sound exactly like his advisor but he can also tell you're not him.]

[serpentinthegarden]

Red.

[ His head bobbed as he acknowledged that, yes, indeed, those were striking red eyes. ]

Red's a nice color.

[ Better than yellow, maybe, only he was put off this line of thinking by the question. ]

Alec. He doesn't know anything about this. I'm trying to keep it from him so don't mention this to him. I can handle this... whatever is going on. What is going on, exactly?

[crystallinememories]

Even if I don't mention it, he's going to find out.

[Given that he has the app too and all, but-- he probably shouldn't mention that? He probably shouldn't get in the middle of that??]

I'm Raha, by the way. I'm a graduate student of his. As for what's going on, it's a bit complicated. How familiar are you with the supernatural?

[serpentinthegarden]

[ This was true as he couldn't duck Alec forever but... ]

He will find out about it later, once I have it handled.

[ So there would be no reason for Alec to feel guilty over anything. ]

Anthony J. Crowley. You're one of his students? That makes sense. He has always been out there looking for those sorts of things. He probably teaches a whole class on the subject.

[ Anthony shrugged, a lazy more than dismissive action. ]

I've heard the stories. I never thought much about them. Is this supposed to be the work of ghosts? Don't tell me it's Kettleman.

[crystallinememories]

Ah, no, nothing like that.

It's a bit complicated, but what it boils down to is that those of us on this app have a peculiar aetheric signature. What causes it, we have no idea, since we only seem to be given access to the app when that happens. But as a result we sometimes find or receive items or have altered changes in appearance, and fairly often gain powers.

2 - video; un: ShootingStar

[blurrier]

[There's a joyful gasp, first of all:]

Ah, Nanny!!

[He's enjoyed being in occasional contact with Anthony since he'd sought him out as an adult, but he'd never expected to see him on the Libra app!

--Oh. Oh he's on the Libra app. That's troublesome actually, because that means he could be in more danger. Yoosung's life has changed so much since he discovered the app himself.

Yoosung frowns a little, concerned.]

Ah. My eyes changed recently too. See: purple! [He points at his eyes, as if they're at all hard to miss, being rather vibrant] Everyone's reaction to mine was like yours as well.

Gosh, yours have really changed though...

[serpentinthegarden]

Yoosung?

[ Forgive him if he stares. It was one thing if one of his kids had decided to take up wearing colored contact lenses but to have their eyes actually change! What did that even mean?? ]

What? Has everyone else gone blind? They must have noticed how purple those are!

[blurrier]

Ehehe, they are pretty purple...

Um, you might experience other changes too, though. Or visions of another you. Or... Gain powers.

[Such as dying and coming back to life. Or...

He clears his throat, then echoes Anthony in his exact voice and accent:]

Has everyone else gone blind?

[And then he beams. Because he may be 20 now but hasn't gotten out of his system showing off for a parental figure who actually cares.]

/sidles in

[callmekacchan]

[Somewhere in the background on Yoosung's end, someone can be heard snickering. A male voice.

Followed shortly by a curse as he drops his phone on his face after that voice mimic trick takes him by surprise.]

What the fuck?

[serpentinthegarden]

That's! You sounded just like...

[ Me. Ah, then did the evil little wheels of his mind begin to turn. There were so many things they could do with a skill like that! ]

We are so using that!

[ And then there was another much less familiar voice which placed a pause on the 'isn't that a great way to prank Alec plans', for now. ]

Wassthat? Sharing a dorm room with some one?

Text, un: Dynamight

[callmekacchan]

Most people aren't going to notice.
Or if they do, they'll assume it's contacts.
Welcome to the magical bullshit circus. It's only gonna get weirder.

[serpentinthegarden]

What color have your eyes become? Everyone on this app seems to have the same affliction... Is that why the app? Its some kind of weird eye-color tracker?

[callmekacchan]

Red.
But that's the least bizzare thing to happen to me since the app showed up in April.
The shady bastards who made it target people with 'notable spiritual signatures'.
Everyone I've talked to on here is either from another world or eventually starts remembering another world.
And these features are tied to those 'other world' versions of us.
Yours must have yellow eyes.

[serpentinthegarden]

They have actually changed? Shit. I thought there would be one person that hadn't happened to.
We're supposed to have 'notable spiritual signatures'? I've never heard such

[ The text ended abruptly. After all if he did have some kind of spiritual what-ever-you-call-it that might explain some of the things. The eyes, that fire that should have killed him as a boy.

New message. ]

What do they want with those kinds of people?

[callmekacchan]

Every month we have a gate open into a new spirit realm and they want us to go in and check it out.
I don't think anyone actually does it FOR Zodiac though.
Those bastards can burn in hell.

1

[scotch_egg]

There is a dog, made of shifting shadow, small and agile and thin. It pelts up to Anthony and jumps up and begins to lick his face. It is substantial though feels of nothing in particular, and though it's definitely licking, the tongue leaves no mark- but it smells a bit nostalgic of summer rooms and icy lakes in the rugged wild mountains far away.

Either way, it's happy to see you.

[serpentinthegarden]

"Shit!"

This being his first... ghost... dog... whatever it was... He threw himself away from the friendly creature and right off the bench. He must have looked a funny sight to anyone walking by as his long legs ended up in the air while his head rested on a tuft of grass.

[scotch_egg]

The dog pounces on his chest and licks his face with a shadowy tongue, before trotting off and barking and then back and barking and then off and barking, trying to get Anthony to follow it.

[serpentinthegarden]

He was... moist. Who would have thought a shadowy demon dog would actually have a wet tongue.

"Do I look like Timmy? Anyone trapped down a well is on their own."

Anthony rolled over, wiped a sleeve across his face to rid himself of any lingering spit and watched the dog pace about. It wasn't going to leave without him was it?

...
...
...

Fine... He stood up and sauntered slowly after the little thing.

[scotch_egg]

The dog will lead him to Alec, currently on a park bench, or more accurately sleeping on a park bench, eyes closed, looking like he's about to slide off. It might have been he was there for a few hours- and hasn't gotten much sleep or anything close to resembling food other than a cup of coffee which has now been absorbed into the grass. The dog hops up beside Alec's form and pants, tail flicking back and forth.