text; un: timaeusTestified

[timaeus]

WHO: Dirk Strider, OTA
WHERE: Network
WHEN: September 5th, at some ungodly hour of the night probably
WHAT: A new face on the network, except he isn't actually showing his face of course
WARNINGS: N/A, will edit if needed!

So.
Typically, an unknown application downloading itself onto one's phone and rejecting all attempts at deletion would be easily dismissed as some kind of virus.
But every scan I've done of my device suggests there's nothing malicious going down.
And as a child of the age of the internet, I know the first rule of entering any new online community is "lurk moar".
So you can all skip the basic explanations.
I've done my due diligence and read back through enough old posts to get the general gist of things – spirits, otherworldly guests, etc.
And frankly, "magic" is a wild enough explanation for a mystery app that it wraps back around to being believable just by the sheer chutzpah of the claim.
If this does turn out to be some extremely elaborate scam, then I guess kudos to whoever's behind it.
Nice job.
Anyway, we can skip to the important shit:
Why me, exactly?

Comments

un: deku

[defendure]

[ That username and an onslaught of words sure is a thing that sparks recognition. ]

There doesn't really seem to be a good answer to why any of us, although given it's so far exclusive to people living here - though not everyone living here - perhaps the better question would be "why here?"

[timaeus]

[Well. Mildly comforting to see a familiar username in this clusterfuck. Either they're in this adventure together, or they've mutual victims of some kind of malware scam. Good to have company regardless.]

Given this thing mysteriously appeared on my phone shortly after moving here, the logic checks out.
Also:
Hey.

[defendure]

Somehow hearing you back up my theory makes it feel more concrete. But that's been my assumption for a while now!

Hey! I didn't know your move was to here.

[timaeus]

Funny coincidence.

[It's definitely a coincidence. He's totally not the kind of nerd who picked his college based on proximity to an online friend.]

Probably would have thought twice about it if I'd known this was some kind of supernatural hotspot, though.
God forbid a guy just focus on his studies.
Nah, let's throw some ghosts and shit into the mix.

[defendure]

[ Izuku suspects nothing somehow... ]

I will admit it gets hectic when big projects are due and dinosaurs are roaming around...but at least there's other people in the same situation? Sometimes company can make things better!

[timaeus]

Maybe I'll get lucky and find a professor that's also involved in this shit.
They'd probably be more sympathetic to the "a werewolf ate my homework" excuse.

[defendure]

There actually are some teachers on here! I lost count of how many and some teach high school but we do have a college professor or two...I find doing homework in the Danny's where time doesn't move helps a lot though?

[timaeus]

Oh, good.
There's a temporally-frozen Danny's.
I was getting worried some things around here might be a little too normal.

[defendure]

There's also a Blockbusters with movies from other worlds? We should watch some sometime!

[timaeus]

Oh shit.
Pushing to breach the wall between internet and meatspace friendship already?
Bold move.

[He admittedly feels a bit uncertain the moment he hits enter on that one. Have they ever explicitly defined it as a friendship? Is he overstepping by making that assumption? Maybe he's just "that guy I get into debates with online a lot" and he's just made it weird. Or, y'know, weirder.

Never let it be said that Dirk Strider isn't neurotic as all hell.]

I really like the composition of that icon...

[defendure]

I can probably figure out how to stream a DVD if you'd rather do that! The main point is alternate universe movies have alternate universe power sets. Power sets we've never even considered!

ah, the self-loathing icon

[timaeus]

While I do dig the irony of having a streaming party from different rooms in potentially the same building, we don't have to be that much of a cliche.
I can manage an in-person interaction.
Might even touch some grass on the way.

self-loathing but pretty!

[defendure]

Name the time and place! I'd be happy to clear my schedule.

Text; un: antonio

[speaksanimal]

I'm not sure but if it can happen to me, I think it can happen to anyone!

Or at least, I think that's what you're trying to say? Because the important thing is that you know what's going on, right?

[timaeus]

What I'm trying to say is there has to be some kind of determining factor that decides who gets this app popping up on their phones.
Location seems to be relevant, but clearly not everyone in this city gets it, and some people only seem to have gotten it after being here for a while, while it surprised me after only a few days here.
So what's the variable that decided you should get it over any other random asshole, and why did it happen at the moment it did?

[speaksanimal]

[Oh, that was a word Antonio couldn't see. Was that a glitch from the system...?]

I don't really know why but maybe you need a lot of magic? Everyone here on this app has some kind of magic or they are from another world that has magic.

So I guess that must mean you must have some too! Or you'll get some in the future!

[timaeus]

Pass.
I'm not a magic kind of guy.
Pretty sure that's the wrong genre for a robotics and engineering major, anyway.

[He's not in denial, he's just...choosing not to deal with this shit.]

[speaksanimal]

Then maybe you can just build something for people instead! Magic or not, maybe you can help people another way!

[That and Antonio didn't know how to address that he may or may not have a past life somewhere.]

[timaeus]

[He can't claim "helping people" has ever been the end goal. He wouldn't consider himself that good or philanthropic. But saying as much probably wouldn't do much good with this apparent ball of sunshine.]

Sure.
So how much is known about the inter-dimensional visitors thing?
Judging by the generally friendly network and the lack of craters in the streets, I imagine they come in peace.

[speaksanimal]

I think so? The people I met here all have been really nice and they're willing to help one another out.

I don't know why they wouldn't be friends with you.

[Or at least, most of them outside of one person who he really wants to befriend!!]

[timaeus]

You don't actually know me.
It's entirely possible I'm a miserable asshole, and that sort of thing tends to dissuade potential friends.

[speaksanimal]

[And again, the word is censored. The app doesn't seem to be working that well today!]

If you're uh...miserable, it means you need someone to cheer you up! How about I'll be your friend?

[timaeus]

You seem like a nice person, albeit a naive one.
So it might make me even more of an asshole to inflict myself on you.
But I'm mostly just being contrarian and self-deprecating here.
You don't actually have to worry about me.

[speaksanimal]

Naive? I heard that word a lot before but what does that mean?

But I know I should worry about you. We need to when we don't know what's going on here.

[timaeus]

It's typically used to mean a person is demonstrating a lack of wisdom or worldliness, sometimes as a synonym for "innocent" or "childish".
And on that note, I'm kinda getting the feeling you are in fact a child and I'm a bad influence.

[speaksanimal]

I am a child. I'm six years old!

[It was then, at that moment, Dirk officially knew he may or may not have screwed himself over.]

[timaeus]

[ oh god ]

Do your parents know you're talking to internet strangers?

[speaksanimal]

No, they don't. But I do know whenever I try to tell them about it, they don't really listen. But I know a lot of people don't listen to me because they find all the strange things happening as normal.

Text | un: calledtothewater

[findingways]

The most answer we've gotten is that people who get the app have "unusual energy signatures".

[timaeus]

Thanks for the direct and specific answer.
Care to share your particular brand of "unusual"?
I might as well gather data while I'm at it.

[findingways]

Well you'd really have to ask Zodiac about that. They're the ones who sent the app to us, so it's whoever they feel has this unusual energy.

But from what I can gather it has something to do with people's spirit power.

[timaeus]

I'm not asking in a general sense.
I'm asking about you.
Have you had any sort of supernatural bullshit go down personally, or is all this coming out of left field?

[findingways]

[ She takes a moment before she responds. This kind of thing could always go either very well or very wrong, and it's hard to predict which way it might lean towards. ]

Actually, I have. I've been able to see and talk to ghosts since I was younger.

[timaeus]

[The fact that this is text and he's kind of an aloof motherfucker probably doesn't make that any easier. It's always anxiety-inducing when you can't tell how someone is reacting to important shit. But if it's any comfort, she'd get just as little emoting to go off of if this was in person.]

I see.
And have you lived here all your life, or are you relatively new?

[findingways]

[ Well it's not the worst reaction that she's ever had, so there's that at least. ]

I've been here about two years now. I used to live in Hawaii before I started high school.

[timaeus]

So the spiritvision thing doesn't seem to be tied to location, unless I was secretly born in Hawaii before getting shipped off to the ass end of Texas.

[He'll give her that much. But not make a big deal of it, of course. That's the Strider way.]

[findingways]

Not saying that couldn't have happened, but more likely anyone can have a brush with the supernatural anywhere.

So you can see ghosts too?

[ She's actually pretty excited to learn more about his experiences, but she'll play it cool for now. ]

Text, un: Dynamight

[callmekacchan]

[Katsuki doesn't respond until a more reasonable hour because he has the bedtime of a grandpa. But he does spot the alert for a new post in the morning and decides to chime in.]

Zodiac, the shady bastards who made the app, apparently think you have a "notable spiritual signature".
Hope you believe in magical bullshit because it believes in you now.

[timaeus]

Way to phrase that in the most anime way possible.

[ can't believe he's getting called out like this without even showing his face on the network, let alone wearing the kamina shades he definitely owns. smh. ]

Belief aside, how ignorable is all this shit?
I'm a busy guy.
Got enough on my plate without trying to balance a few extra supernatural dinner rolls on top.
That sounds like a surefire way to spill everything and shatter some tableware in the process.

[callmekacchan]

Yeah, well, it feels like we're living in one these days.
At least once month your phone is going to blare an alarm to let you know Zodiac wants your attention so they can say the stupidest shit imaginable.
It'll keep blaring until you read and comment.
So at the very least you have to deal with that part.
Can't delete the app.
And if you switch devices it downloads there too.
They're persistent bastards.
They'll let you know when gates open and you decide what you wanna do from there.
Last month the magic bullshit bled through into the city but that was because someone was fucking around with shit.
Hopefully that won't be a regular occurrence.

[timaeus]

Read and comment?
Now they're just asking too much.
Maybe I'll program some kind of autoresponder to minimize the time I have to spend acknowledging all this.