NETWORK [video - open]

[bossyboiler]

Who: Kate Cordello
Username: bossyboiler
Warnings: N/A (will update when/if necessary)

Could everyone maybe check in, even if I don't know you. I feel like there's a few people I haven't seen around here lately.

Comments

[graveyounglady]

No complaints at all? That's a state most don't know here. 'Specially not folks who've been here as long as we have. I'm carrying on. Best to hope for. Everything's shook up still from what happened before we went down to Wolf Trap. Lot fewer folks in the halls than I'd like.

[bossyboiler]

No complaints that anyone realistically could solve for me or get rid of. [ She shrugs her shoulders. There's nothing to be done about a few things that worry her. ] It's a lot of change, not all of it good. Most of it isn't.

[graveyounglady]

You got any notion what you're gonna do? Leaving soon like some of the others, or are you staying? Me'n Rue were gonna look into new housing options.

[bossyboiler]

I'm not leaving.

[ She's going to be a mole and spy on ADI for her friends. ]

Where do you think you might go?

[graveyounglady]

Just nearby Bonnie. We're only looking to expand what we got. Ain't planning on leaving ADI until we're good and settled to do so. That'll take time, but I'm willing to put it in. We been with this group as long as we have without them turning on us. Now when they're at their lowest, we're meant to turn on them? Naw... I'm planning to break eventually, if we can't get home or stop things, but I still think the people here are trying to do good. Hunt's just taking advantage.

[bossyboiler]

Bonnie's, huh? I see. Well. At least you'll be close by and Cortana will still be taken care of. [ A pause. ] I think the people here are trying to do good too but some people cannot abide working for an avatar.

[graveyounglady]

But they'll abide putting folk who ain't involved in danger with being around them. I don't think there's a right answer to all this. Just wish they'd give it more time instead of leaving. We been working for an avatar for a long spell and it was fine. But different roads lead home. Hoping they'd be willing to come join a communal house that weren't run by ADI. I'll dearly miss seeing them around the halls.

Feared we'll all drift without having a common place.

[bossyboiler]

I don't think it's as simple as that. At least some of them are still sticking around Gloucester. They haven't completely left yet. [ She's speaking of her roommates. They've found themselves a house away from ADI. ] I think that Bonnie's, for them, is still too close to being ADI adjacent.

That may end up happening. It may not. I don't know what's going to happen now.

[graveyounglady]

Trouble's bound to happen. Until we figure out Dogtown and stop it from causing a mess, I reckon it's gonna keep getting worse here in the city. Glad some of them are sticking around. Think we could still use the help.

[bossyboiler]

Dogtown is a mess. I still don't like the idea of people going inside there just to explore. Why can't we use a helicopter and observe from a safe distance before sending ground troops in?

[ She has a lot of friends who have gone into Dogtown. It's a miracle they all made it back. ]

[graveyounglady]

Dunno. Does ADI have a helicopter?

[She hasn't seen one and... isn't entirely sure what it is.]

[bossyboiler]

I don't think they do. I mean if they do they are keeping it incredibly well-hidden.

[graveyounglady]

Well, there's your answer, ain't it? Could be they just can't get permissions they need to do something like that. Seems like it might be worth asking about, though? Sensible idea.

[bossyboiler]

It wouldn't hurt to ask and then Dogtown could be observed from a safe distance though I hardly doubt it would stop certain people from going in on foot.

[ John and Rodney. She's talking about them. ]

[graveyounglady]

I mean... there's things something from the sky wouldn't see. There's all kinds of trees in there. Plenty that'd be hidden from above. I don't like folk going in, but it's the sensible thing to do, Ms. Kate. We're never gonna learn anything more by staying back and away.

[No risk, no reward.]

[bossyboiler]

Some part of me knows that you're right. That we need information and Dogtown probably has some. The other, larger part of myself can't help but worry. It is dangerous to go there and those that have seem to be lucky to have escaped with their lives intact.

[graveyounglady]

I don't think there's any harm in worrying, but you don't find anything by playing it safe all ways. I've... lost folk back home trying to sniff out a mystery. I know why you'd be scared. I am, too. Thing I'm more scared of is us never finding out how to stop folk getting dragged here to a world that twists something magic into a terrible thing.

[bossyboiler]

How do we do it then?

[graveyounglady]

We take the precautions we can. But we still go in. The folk who are ready, prepared. And them that ain't going in need to be ready to support them. What're you doing these days? Which department are you working in?

[bossyboiler]

What precautions? I ask in all honesty. Have you heard what's in Dogtown? The very stars are against us. I'm in Administration and Staff Development.

[graveyounglady]

I have. And if it's stars whispering to folk, then we plug up their ears and spend the night with your nose in the grass. The precautions we take are based on what folk have encountered. That's the best we can do.

[bossyboiler]

I don't know that it's enough.

[graveyounglady]

There's never going to be a point where we can take out all the risks, Kate.

[This feels... like Colm. Like trying to talk him through his terror and what he'd done to try to stop her before things had got too far.]

Sometimes, there are things that were worth it, even if the precautions aren't enough. You don't gotta risk yourself, but all of us'll make the choice how much we're willing to put ourselves on the line. I'm praying we'll keep folk from dying, even if they're hurt. And that we'll keep bodies if they die.

[bossyboiler]

I know that you're right, Mercy. I do. It's just that I'm scared.

[ It's hard for Kate to admit that. And she'd feel a lot better about people going into Dogtown if they had heavier weapons and supplies. Can ADI get them a tank? Maybe an armored troop carrier? Something? ]

[graveyounglady]

And that's okay. I know you're gonna worry about folk, and they- we need people like that. To help patch folk up when they come home hurt. To remind us who we got that we're doing all this for.