SYNFLUX / IN-CHARACTER CONTACT

[gyve]

ACTION × TEXT × VIDEO × AUDIO × HOLOGRAM × DATAVERSE

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SHASH

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CHARACTER NAME

KALADIN STORMBLESSED

CIVILIAN NAME

CALVIN WERO

TEAM

REVELATION

HOUSING NUMBER

009

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Comments

i lasted one hour

[fessus]

Hey 👋

[gyve]

Lucky bag
Looks like you made the cut

[fessus]

Too late to change that one huh

[gyve]

You did buy 20 of them

[fessus]

And "made the cut"?

[gyve]

I met a handful of new recruits when I arrived in November
Some of them didn't last long
I wasn't sure you were going to stick around

[fessus]

Sent back?

[ Better that than "eaten by a kaiju" or somehow otherwise lost. Though right now? He's not sure he wouldn't welcome the fight. ]

Tbh I thought I was. You said you woke up with new memories right?

[gyve]

( feels a leap in his chest, heart struggling with the possibility of being understood. )

Yes I did
Did you experience something similar

[fessus]

[ At first when the question's asked, he's silent. The pain still lingering in his head from the implant is real, he knows that, but the pressure in his skull isn't. It's born from something else, growing into a paralyzing weight the longer he thinks about that little chip and how it's worked its way into what should be a private moment between the two of them. ]

Yeah

When you were here again, did it feel real?

[gyve]

The first time didn't even feel real

It still doesn't
Most of this technology is foreign to me
Most of this world is foreign to me
It all feels like a dream

( and entering the simulator makes the feeling even worse. like he's being sent deeper into sleep. )

How long were you home

1/2

[fessus]

[ It's only after reading Kaladin's reply that Noctis realizes he would've accepted an interpretation of his question that referred to either reality. What happened in Lucis didn't feel real either.

It feels less like he's caught between sleep and wakefulness and more like he's trapped between two dreams. ]

A few weeks tops

Tbh it kind of blurred together

2/2

[fessus]

You okay?

[ The question feels too vulnerable, so he amends it: ] No weird lingering side effects or anything?

[gyve]

( there it is again. he's bristling before noctis sends his second message, about to reply snappishly and dismiss him from asking. then... it turns medical. better for kaladin, who doesn't want to worry a comrade, but it's enough of a derailment that his reply is delayed.

perhaps his fellow windrunners haven't been questioning his suitability as highmarshal or, alternately, trying to coddle him. perhaps, like this stranger, they were thoughtful without an apparent agenda. )

I'm acclimating
Any side effects I do have won't interfere in the performance of my duties

How are you
Really

[fessus]

[ Not a denial, then. He's experiencing issues, whether they're physical or mental, and it offers some small comfort to Noctis when he's feeling incredibly alone with his own struggles. ]

Guess we should compare notes if it gets worse, if we're the only ones who have gone through it

So far idk. I'm just pissed off

[gyve]

I'm willing to do so Samuel
Even if nothing comes of it I'll be able to monitor you

I'm also willing to listen

( noctis is pissed off. kaladin thinks he understands, but not fully. he'd typically pull up a seat and make this a quiet discussion—low pressure and without expectations. instead, he talks to an empty room.

it's unnatural. )

[fessus]

[ Ah. ]

Call me Noctis, idr feel like going by some fake name rn

[ A pause. ]

Sorry the shorthand probably doesn't make sense to you, you have to have all the messages read to you or whatever right? [ The memory comes back to him through it all, Kaladin struggling to read even basic words and asking him to dictate for him. ]

[gyve]

Noctis then

You're right that some of it is nonsense to me but you're not the first one who's taken shortcuts with their messages
It's nothing new
The implant helps by making some assumptions
Overall sentences don't suffer much when there's a word or two out of place

( ... )

Reading and writing
It's uncommon for men in my country

[fessus]

[ He rereads what Kaladin said. That he's willing to listen, that he can be depended upon, and he isn't sure how to feel about it. Selfishly he doesn't feel like he's in a place to offer the same in return, hardly wanting yet another burden placed on his head but feeling equally incapable of expressing everything compacted into that tight lump in his throat.

It must suck having to say his thoughts out loud, huh. ]

Yeah? Bet you've had to explain that to people 5000 times here already

Ig that means you don't really use computers?

[ Maybe... just talking like this is okay. ]

[gyve]

( there's no elaboration on what noctis meant by being "pissed," and that's okay. he's made it clear he's willing to hear him out. to push would be inconsiderate... and counterproductive.

so, kaladin relents with a mighty: )

Ugh

( has no idea his noises of disgust are all transcribed and immortalized in text )

No
I don't understand how they work
I stay away from the ones that aren't physically attached to me

Are you at ease with the technology here
What's the upper limit of your world

[fessus]

[ That single "ugh" does more for his mood than almost anything else has since his return. That... and Kaladin's offer to listen. One makes him feel guilty for not having the ability to engage, however, while the other doesn't. ]

Did you just grunt or was that an actual sigh of disgust

Anyway the way half this stuff is set up def goes beyond what I'm used to, I didn't have a chip stuck in my head back home

But honestly it's pretty easy to use and the UIs not too off, so if you end up with questions or don't understand some online slang someones throwing at you you can message me

[gyve]

I don't know what you're talking about

( folds his arms!!!!!!!!! )

I don't know what a you I is either
Start there expert

[fessus]

Wow you've got the attitude for it already

[ so proud........ ]

My bad a UI is a user interface

So like the screens you're looking at and how you have the different options and pics and how it's all laid out

Make sense?

[gyve]

( reluctantly stares around the screen )

Yes

You can access user interfaces in the simulation chambers as well
To control the setting
Have you had time to complete any of the training modules

[fessus]

Ugh

(that's the sound your chip thought you made btw)

If I wanna train I can always do it in person, I don't feel like jumping into some module yet. Unless you're gonna say it's worth it and life changing

[gyve]

It sounds a lot happier when you make it

( how does he change the voice settings, it's killing him )

Training in person will always be preferred
The simulations give you tactical experience and real-world scenarios without getting injured
It's like exercising different muscles