IC Inbox (ryslig)

[improvking]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, GODKING. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 013.00.020.01 *** GODKING has joined 013.00.020.01 <GODKING> for questions about Choose the Fog, contact < Fritvælge > <GODKING> for complaints about Choose the Fog, contact < TRUTH1223 > <GODKING> otherwise have at it.

- GODKING : main handle
- Necrophades : "serious" handle
- understanding : anon/alias (polite persona)
- Fritvælge : for sub-cult business

Comments

whoops this is late

[improvking]

[ The Ring-Spirit cranes his neck back up to stare at Atem.

He blinks.

Finally, he asks: ]

Wait, so you can control it?

[ The Most Reassuring Question. ]

npnp

[knifemonopoly]

....

[NOT REASSURING AT ALL, MISTER RING SPIRIT]

It hasn't happened often enough to really say. But I am focused. It's safe to say you've got my attention!

And I want to know if you want a program for times when you can't control it, and end up in trouble.

[He's focused, all right.]

[improvking]

[ The Ring-Spirit shifts on the couch, suddenly lowkey antsy. He doesn't like the question, and he can't figure out why not. ]

...Why do you keep assuming I'll get in trouble after checking out? Usually that's a way out of problems...

[ The Ring-Spirit, while uneasy, seems to genuinely be trying to understand something. His reply could be taken as griping, and in a way it kinda is - but also: he doesn't know why he even wants to gripe. That he's trying to piece together. ]

[knifemonopoly]

....

[That makes two of them made uneasy by these questions. Atem can't imagine this as a way out of problems, because considering his experiences in Ryslig, if he ended up in a chimney, it wouldn't just fix itself. He'd be in for horror.]

What kinds of situations does it usually happen in?

[improvking]

[ What kind of...? The Ring-Spirit squints at him. ]

...I don't like where I am, so I leave...?

[ Why do you even have to ask, Pharaoh,, didn't you say you do this too,, what even??

He didn't like being in a chimney, so he checked out again, next time he came to he wasn't in a chimney. Sometimes problems resolve themselves! ]

[knifemonopoly]

And you just...come back to yourself when you're not in trouble anymore?

That's really how it works? What if you were killed and didn't remember it?

[improvking]

[ The Ring-Spirit makes an exasperated sound. As far as he's concerned, that last question is just the first one again: he comes back when he's not in trouble anymore. ]

If I died while checked out, I'll just never know.

Might've already happened, who knows. [ He shrugs . ] I sure don't remember how I got back to Bavan after the thing exploded out of me at that ski lodge. That one's a good candidate for "maybe I died, maybe I checked out" - and showcases how little the distinction matters.

[ He scowls at Atem briefly, then shifts on the couch to get comfortable again, laying his head back down and pointedly closing his eyes. ]

That's just how life works. Shit happens, eventually it stops, everything keeps going, and no one cares.

[knifemonopoly]

[Goddddd okay he's gotta just compartmentalize that bit about the ski lodge, move right on past that, make like Elsa and let it go--]

You're not concerned about losing memories?

[Because this guy is.

The idea of just....not remembering the bad things that happen to you? Tempting. Imagine, if he just didn't have to experience his own suffering. If he could just...make it stop, in a way that mattered to him.

But the cost, and the risk, they're way too high. The cost of potential lost memories, and the risk, of...hurting someone he doesn't want to hurt. Or not helping someone he could have helped. Someone might need him, and he might not be himself enough to realize it. Not acceptable.]

[improvking]

Tch.

[ Atem, you're worried about him, and that's sweet and all, but he is TRYING to REST,, ]

If you're so worried about my memories, maybe you shouldn't have wiped them when you stole both my true names.

[ What's an ancient spirit got to do to be allowed a NAP around here?? ]

[knifemonopoly]

[That's not fair and you know it! He's being lashed out at, he can tell, because the Ring-Spirit doesn't want to talk about this anymore.]

Oh, is that what happened? Sorry, I don't remember, either!

But that's no reason for either of us to play carelessly with the memories we do have.

[Hffffff. If the Ring-Spirit's going to show his fangs, it might not be the most productive approach to try to force this...

When Atem speaks again, it's in a tone of finality. He'll let it go, after this.]

Take a copy, if you want it. Call me, and I'll come.

[improvking]

[ Letting this go finally? Good.

The Ring-Spirit isn't sure why, but the whole concept of a program that tells people when he's out is the most upsetting thing he's had to think about in a while. Which considering the current state of his former landlord? Yeah. He knows Atem meant well though, so as long as the subject's actually getting dropped... ]

If I need it, or you, I'll ask.

[ That this is poor phrasing for genuine gratitude does not occur to him. His still-annoyed tone doesn't help either.

He can't truly sleep without using a certain spell on himself, but he can still doze fitfully, and he's drifting into that. He mumbles the rest: ]

...You or him need me, I'll come too... y'can ask...

[knifemonopoly]

[They both know and trust that the other means well, and that's what keeps them both from bristling, from this turning into a fight. Atem will take a willingness to ask for the dead man's switch if it's wanted; he certainly wouldn't force someone to take it if it wouldn't be used.

And, what the Ring-Spirit follows it up with confirms that Atem's gut was right. He shuts his own eyes.]

I know.

Thank you.