010 :: Jessie's Girl [text]

[undeadsidekick]

Carrie Kelley has been ported out. Sorry to anyone who knew her. I personally blame #527206.

That's all.

[There's a delay in the transmission, as if Jason stops typing and then reconsiders it for whatever reason.]

PS - Does it bother anybody that these Vulcanus assholes apparently have something similar to the porter? Just curious.

Comments

[undeadsidekick]

Almost a year. Before that, too, but I don't remember it.

[amiga]

Gee, that must've been strange to walk into.

[Gently using Oracle encryptions now.]

I missed the first round against Vulcanus. Can you fill me in at all?

[undeadsidekick]

I suddenly had a sidekick who somehow didn't think of me as the screw-up. Strange doesn't cover it.

[encrypted; and suddenly voice]

Vulcanus kidnapped imPorts before, a year ago, and either duplicated or mimicked their powers. I wasn't there for that, so I can only go by what I've heard. Fast forward to the spring, a bunch of people were kidnapped again and replaced by shapeshifting aliens who proceeded to fuck up various aspects of the City. People fought them off and I think they assumed everything had gone back to normal. I don't know why they'd assumed that, but here we are.

Aliens and international conspiracies are a little outside my element, but I don't know. The guys heading this thing up don't seem to know what the hell they're doing.

[amiga]

She's your sidekick? Somehow I missed that.

[Encrypted]

So that's two acts of aggression against imPorts. [Rhetorically, and to herself:] But will the third time be the charm?

And now you're saying they have Porter technology?

[undeadsidekick]

Sort of? Not really? She might have been at one point to one of the other mes, but I don't really need a sidekick so we stuck to just being friends.

[encrypted]

It's the only way I can think that they'd be able to transport a bunch of imPorts from where ever onto those buses. It would also explain how those people were kidnapped the last two times. No one's ever been able to really answer how so many people were replaced and nobody noticed them being gone at all. Or if they have, they haven't been talking about it on the network, anyway.

[amiga]

It's a more equal relationship that way. Personally, I'm not a fan of the whole sidekick concept.

[encrypted]

That would answer a great many questions. But it opens up so many more. If Vulcanus really has got its hands on Porter-tech, that must mean there are people with a decent understanding of how the Porter works. They might even know how to shut down the Porter for good.

[undeadsidekick]

I have some problems with it.

[encrypted]

If they hate imPorts so much and they knew how the thing worked, they'd probably just send us home and shut it off. No, there's something else going on with them, but maybe they've figured out enough to build something similar.

[amiga]

I can imagine you might.

[encrypted]

There may be a way for me to look into this without it seeming suspicious. [She sighs.] If only Dick was here. He's so much better at dealing with... people.

[encrypted]

[undeadsidekick]

He's congenial. People like that. [Jason finds it kind of annoying, but whatever.]

How are you thinking of doing this?

[encrypted]

[amiga]

Building a Porter of our own would grab some attention, wouldn't you say?

[encrypted]

[undeadsidekick]

Sure. I'd also say that the last guy who tried it got blown up. Or so I've heard.

[encrypted]

[amiga]

I'm not actually going to build one, doofus. I'm going to announce that we're building one. That ought to get people talking and catch the eye of people who might know something about Vulcanus and their Porter-tech.

[encrypted]

[undeadsidekick]

I can't believe you just used the word doofus. Grody.

Either way, you could probably get some egghead on here to volunteer.

[encrypted]

[amiga]

Like you've never been called a doofus before. Doofus.

This is the bit where I ask you to keep mum about all this.

[encrypted]

[undeadsidekick]

Doofus and keep mum. You're on a roll.

I don't care anyway. I already told you that this Vulcanus shit is over my head. Makes me miss Talia, though.

[encrypted]

[amiga]

Damian's mother, right?

[encrypted]

[undeadsidekick]

Yeah. She's the head, or became the head, of an international cult dedicated to eradicating the evils of humanity. That sounds a lot nobler than the reality, but her connections were always good and she knew how groups like Vulcanus think. She'd know what to do here. Better than me, anyway.