Network - Is This Thing On?

[apocalypsehownpcs]

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Is This Thing On?

(cw: reference to skin-related body horror)

The message that pops up on off-worlders' ADI-issued phones phones likely comes as a surprise given that the network has been down since May 25, along with all of ADI's other fancy tech. It's similar to other network notifications at first glance and looks like an official notification from the higher-ups saying that the network has been restored, but anyone who clicks it will find their phone redirected to automatically download a new app from a shady-looking URL that ends in the phrase "its-ya-boy-pyre".

Upon loading, the app turns out to be a private chat program with most of the same features as the ADI network, though the user interface is much, much less polished. It immediately shows a longer, less deceptive message from a user named "thecolepackage":

Sorry for the trick guys but I don't know if I can get the old network to do like back and forth and I wanted to send something you'd all click open on the first shot. And like if you know someone who's better at cyber security than you and didn't open the message maybe let them know it's okay? It's ya boy Pyre and I figured out how to get this app linked up with your phones, it should be private and safe and all that stuff. I only sent it to you offworlders for now, I'm still not so sure ADI'scool with the whole ex-desolation monster thing. But I thought maybe you could use this and also maybe I was getting lonely because it sounds like y'all have a lot going on right now

And Bonnie's telling me there's all kinds of arguments about what to do?? That's rough man I know what it's like to find out you're kind of doing the wrong thing and maybe feeding something that's going to end the world. And maybe it'll be good if you can all talk about that and figure out what YOU want to do without your bosses telling you since Bonnie says none of your bosses are agreeing on anything and it seems to me like its maybe important to figure out if you're still going to be in the apocalypse disruption gig. Youre in a tough spot and I'd say I don't envy you but also I miss having skin so I do envy you a little bit.

Anyway like I said have at and let your friends know this isn't a virus. Or it's a friendly virus I guess. Also I kind of want to go by my name Cole now instead of Pyre? So if you could call me Cole now I'd like that.

Peace.

➥ Links

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Comments

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

We’re not Hunt worshipers if we follow Nia, come on.

Maybe—my working theory is that the supernatural is attracted to the supernatural, and the longer an ADI Warden/Avatar works, the more stuff happens in Dogtown. Them dying just like…releases a bunch of supernatural energy like the end of Ghostbusters.

Like, it’s not the best theory…

[musicdied]

That is splitting hairs so fine as to be useless. If we're following a Hunt avatar and feeding the Hunt and thinning its competition, it doesn't matter that we aren't formally declaring allegiance, we're still serving the Hunt.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

Okay, okay, fine.

I don’t think serving the Hunt is a bad thing, nor can it be helped. No matter what we do to fight the Entities or other Avatars, or pretty much anyone, really, is gonna feed the Hunt.

[musicdied]

Somehow, I'm not surprised.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

Look, I honestly think when it comes down to it, none of us are gonna have a choice except choosing the lesser evil. And the Hunt is the lesser evil.

[musicdied]

Is it the lesser evil? Or is it just the one that most appeals to you?

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

It’s the one that most appeals to me for my special brand of evil in my secret plans to take over ADI and the world. /s

Nia told me about Hunt Avatars. They’re not like the other ones, they don’t really go for apocalypses. And the ones that do suck at it because they just end up chasing their own tails, cause that’s what the Hunt does, what it is. I’d much rather side with something that isn’t gonna end the world.

[musicdied]

Don't be an idiot. No one is accusing you of planning to take over the world. But I've seen your dreams, remember. You enjoy the hunt. You enjoy the fight. It's no surprise if that seems less terrible than the others.

And it's no surprise that Nia is arguing in its favour.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

I know I’m not being objective here, and I know Nia can’t be, but I’d much rather deal with something that doesn’t care about apocalypses. And yeah, I know the Hunt, I know both sides of it. That makes it predictable. I have no idea what the other ones are capable of—except the Web thingy, which sucks—and that means I don’t know how to fight back against them as effectively as I do with anything to do with the Hunt.

[musicdied]

But you won't be fighting the Hunt if you stay with Nia, you will be part of it. You're kidding yourself if you think you can fight from the inside. That doesn't even work with corporations, it definitely won't work with literal cosmic horrors.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

then we have someone stay out of it, so they can tell when someone is taking things too far.

The best way to beat these things, or at least keep various apocalypses—apocalypti?- is to fight fire with fire.

[musicdied]

Fighting fire with fire only works if the outcome you want is more fire.

I'm beginning to think we didn't actually lose only one guy to the Hunt.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

[Wow Yelena you and Malcolm called it at roughly the same time…]

Look, if I was an Avatar, you’d know it.

If anything, anything at all can give us an advantage in this fight, we have to take it. No matter how bad it is. Doing so will save more lives than not!

[musicdied]

Are you actually reading what you are typing, John? Because we've seen how bad it is. 'How bad it is' is killing dozens of your own followers to get attention. It's trapping your enemies in endless nightmares of despair and death. It's driving people insane with terror and using them as pawns. That is how avatars fight.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

I know. I know how ugly it gets!

You know what’s even worse than any of that? More of that. And more of that is gonna happen if we don’t do something about it. ADI’s no power policy didn’t help. Maybe using supernatural powers is the best way to at least stop some, if not all of it.

If we have to use fear to get that advantage, it’s worth it to save lives!

[musicdied]

You would have gotten along very well with my last employer.

I would ask how you are going to decide whose lives get to be destroyed in order to help you hunt down your prey, but I'm thinking that isn't something that concerns you.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

As opposed to an apocalypse happening because we weren’t strong enough?

It’s a terrible choice. I’m not denying that. I don’t want to have to make it. But it’s looking like we don’t have a choice but to make that choice.

I’m just saying that there’s no heroes in this world and I get that now. There’s just bad. And worse. And we don’t want worse.

[musicdied]

There are no heroes in any world. That's a fairy tale for children.

You assume an apocalypse will happen if we aren't following Nia. If that was the case, why didn't one happen in the thousands of years before ADI came to be? Why hasn't one happened in the parts of the world ADI can't reach? This is not some globe-spanning super-agency. We've disrupted an apocalypse ritual with fish.

There are other ways to fight than just giving up and joining the Entity you think is the least horrible. We can know this because people did it before ADI, and people are clearly doing it now.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

Well, there’s gonna be an apocalypse happening real soon if we don’t take care of this last mission.

I get what you’re saying—I do. But that also begs the question why there aren’t more ADIs running around, and why haven’t Avatars been eliminated completely. Why aren’t the Feds in on this? Why isn’t the supernatural known to the world? Entities get their hands into everything eventually. Maybe organizations like ADI can only last for so long before an Entity or Avatar gets involved. Maybe they keep happening, over the centuries, stopping apocalypses, but they get corrupted, fall apart, and built again.

Which means Entities always get involved.

[musicdied]

Why are you assuming there aren't? I think it is very unlikely that apocalypse rituals only ever happen on the East Coast of the United States. There are probably dozens of groups that are working to stop them around the world. Maybe they keep separate so that if one gets corrupted, it doesn't infect them all. Or maybe it's just obvious enough that ADI is bad news that the rest keep separate from us.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

Maybe. I’m assuming that at least some of these rituals and almost-apocalypses could need a multi-national coalition to defeat and we just haven’t heard of any yet, but maybe it is safer to keep them separate.

I think we’ve got a special case here, with Dogtown. Like this is the hub for supernatural nonsense, and it’s more likely for apocalypses to happen here. Maybe the rest of the world is taking it easy cause we’ve got the hellmouth to deal with.

[musicdied]

Have you read the news since you got here? The rest of the world isn't sunshine and puppies. You can hide a lot of would-be apocalypses in war, plague, and climate disaster.

And Dogtown is bad, but most of the large scale trouble we deal with isn't home grown. It comes here because ADI is here. The only local cult was the Church of Holy Light. FYRE was doing their apocalypse bullshit in Wolf Pen, and the town had their own monsters outside of that ritual. Whatever Zyrian Steel is doing is in Wolf Trap.

...Maybe we should start looking for trouble in places named after wolves.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

Maybe you’re onto something there.

I still think there’s something special about Dogtown that is driving some of what we’re seeing, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll have to do a little research.

If there are other groups out there hunting this stuff down, it would be nice to know how they deal with the Hunt’s influence.

[musicdied]

I agree that Dogtown isn't normal, and it will have to be dealt with. My preference would be a lot of fire, but that might only make things worse.

They may use other tactics. Disruption, denying people victims. Using something other than fear to keep people in line. Working underground, so there is no one force to dread.

Varying leadership more frequently, maybe, so there's less chance for something to get its hooks in, and less damage when it does.

Or maybe they are more influenced by a different entity.