Unfliltered

[nicotinized]

[Toshi's mental voice sounds a little anxious - he's trying to hide it, but he has no idea when he is, just that finally there are other people around and some of them look familiar]

Hey, what did I miss? Is Souji still here?

[there's a pause, and then he sounds a little calmer, and a little embarrassed]

I got stuck in some weird patch of liminal space where time was all fucked up - watch didn't work right or anything.

Comments

[fridgeninja]

That happened to me a few months ago.

... It looks like we're at three out of five Soujis, just like we were going in. I just drove past him.

[nicotinized]

Oh, god, right. [WHY SO MANY SOUJIS] Souji Okita. The one with long hair.

[fridgeninja]

Okita-san's the one I just drove past. Seta-kun is still here as well, and so am I. Both versions of short-haired Okita Souji-san are still missing, I think.

[nicotinized]

I haven't seen the younger Okita in a while - he may be gone for good. Hope the other one's alright, though. [mostly because if he's making Chizuru or Hijikata worry, he will personally kick Okita's ass]

Thanks.

sorry i'm not more sorry

[truthvalue]

Which Souji are you looking for? I'm Souji Seta. Er, one of them.

regret nothing

[nicotinized]

Souji Okita. Uh, the long-haired one - there's a short-haired one too, but he's someone else's problem.

[truthvalue]

I'm sorry, I don't know who that is. I hope you find him.

[nicotinized]

Thanks.

[inexecution]

I'm here. Did you go poking at things you shouldn't have?

[He wasn't worried or anything. Nope. Not him...]

[nicotinized]

No - think the Trumps are just fucking with us again. Where are you?

[inexecution]

Are you sure?

[Because you never knew. Maybe he'd said something rude over that phone in Liminal Space or something.]

Um. It might be easier to show you.

[And there's some livestream of a roadway with cars whipping past, and a little in the distance, a pretty nondescript toll station]

I'm afraid there aren't any signs anywhere.

[nicotinized]

Look, I can't be sure about anything here.

Fuck, you're right, that looks almost the same as the road I'm on.

[hakodate]

Think we might need to start numbering them, at this rate.

[Or maybe nicknames. "Pain in the ass," "the kid with the headmonsters," "sugar junkie"...]

[fridgeninja]

The other one who looks like me is officially Seta-kun, if that helps.

I could be Souji-kun, and then the older one could be Souji-san, and the short-haired older one could be Okita-san, and the younger short-haired one could be Okita-kun.

[nicotinized]

...I'm never going to be able to remember that.

[look not all of us speak Japanese]

[fridgeninja]

If we go by seniority, none of the identical ones are next to each other, so that's just going to be confusing.

[hakodate]

I'm sure as hell not giving him the satisfaction of hearing me call him "Okita-san."

[That's his bratty little brother. It feels too wrong.]

[nicotinized]

Well, it was easy enough when it was just Souji and Okita. Where is Okita, anyway?

[don't number them, Souji would probably freak.

[hakodate]

Didn't hear from him during the last one. I didn't hear from anyone who saw him infiltrating, but they slip between the cracks sometimes.

[That's what he always tries to tell himself first, at least. But...]

Haven't heard a peep from him since it ended, though, and I haven't gotten the chance to check with anyone about locating him.

[By which he means asking Takakage to scan for him, or something of the like. Sometimes Souji does go all silent treatment on him, after all, but...]

[abweichend]

[Levi doesn't know what the shit is happening with the Souji brigade- USELESS, his forearm reminds him- but he can at least offer something:]

If the last thing you remember was the Grid or the space after, you missed a Jaunt. [He sighs, clearly annoyed.] And 'fucked up' seems to have been the all-around theme- we failed, unless this was supposed to be a reward.

[You can never tell with the Trumps. ...At least Levi can't, anyway. Sick bastards.]

[nicotinized]

Just one? That's a little bit of a relief, I guess. It seemed like we cut things close on the Grid, too...

[abweichend]

Just one, unless it's even more messed up than I'm aware of.

[That's not a challenge, you stupid fucks. Don't get any god damn ideas...]

I was Infiltrating so I don't know much other than what I saw. [Which isn't much, much to Levi's irritation...] ...Does 'Purgatory' mean anything to you?

[His understanding is that some of the others knew of it before being dumped there, the same way some had known about 'Valentine's Day' or the stupid ass tradition with the kissing plants...

Seems like a good place to start.]

[tealeafs]

Hijikata-san! It's such a relief to hear your voice..

[ Well, mental voice. Whatever. Same deal, okay, Chizuru is just way too genuinely happy to know he's alright, especially considering it's true that she didn't see him around last time. She can't even imagine how hard it would have been for Souji if he fully disappeared, so it makes her doubly glad. ]

Souji-san is still here, don't worry-- ah, um, but what's important too.. are you alright?

[nicotinized]

Yeah, I'm fine - just annoyed at the Trumps, but what else is new?

You okay too?

[tealeafs]

Hmm, I'm alright. [ Genuinely so. For the most part, anyway. There's some things worrying her - when aren't there? - but at least the Jaunt didn't have a huge negative impact on her. ]

Did you manage to talk to Souji-san already?