Come Sail Away IC Inbox

[crushed_pearls]

Erin's voice mail message is in a weary voice: "Erin Peters. If you called in the middle of the night and I didn't answer, I'm dying. If I pick up and someone on your end isn't dying, they will be shortly. Text otherwise."

Comments

[hadnoright]

Our joint funeral.

Things like Helen aren't people, Erin. Not the same way you and me are. They're like little fragmented pieces of their Entities. Embodiments of some little part of the thing.

They don't think like us. They want what they're created to want. Helen is literally made of lies and tricks. You go searching for some hidden person inside her endless corridors and you're not going to find it. You're just going to find more lies and half-truths and mindgames.

[crushed_pearls]

I am only saying this because I know you can hear me say it calmly actually wait a fucking minute Less calm now I could literally just fucking talk and then you could text me back I don't need to be sending these messages at all how did this take me this god damn long to

Erin and her message devolves into a long string of swear words directed at herself.

[hadnoright]

Daisy snorts to herself.

I mean you could.
Sure will make my messaging history look proper strange though.

[crushed_pearls]

"Love I know you have higher standards than to be with someone that demands to look at your phone." Erin sighs as she comes down from her Swearing Of Enlightenment. "Anyway. Listen to how calm I am about this, and then I will say: definitionally, all passengers have to be people."

[hadnoright]

They have to be in some way sapient. That's not the same thing as people.

Nikola was a literal mannequin brought to life by the Stranger after a guy built her out of bits of mannequin and Grimaldi. All she wanted was to bring about the Unknowing. Nothing more nothing less. And she was here last time.

[crushed_pearls]

A long sigh. "I'm not gonna litigate this again. I don't want an argument any more than you do. And I'm sensing your answer already but I'm not gonna assume it - why are you worried? What are you worried about?"

[hadnoright]

It takes her a while to send the next message, but unlike in the last argument, it being text means she can get it down without losing her thought track or immediately getting into a shouting match.

I want you to understand where I'm coming from, Erin. There are vampires in my world and you know what they're like? Literal humanoid leeches. All they do is hunt humans. Hypnotise them, take them home, drain them. No higher functions. There's that thing that whispered to Calvin that was probably never a human, it was just there to get into Calvin's head. There's a being that was created entirely to eat other people's lives and replace them. I don't think like this because I want to think like this. I think like this because I've seen it.

And I'm worried you're going to treat her the way you treat every other monster and she's going to use it against you. That's what the thing Helen is does when it's not just tricking people into its doors. It uses a human face to lure people into a false sense of security. To make them doubt their reality and get past their defences. If you treat her like you treat everyone else she's going to find a way to hurt you anyway.

[crushed_pearls]

"...But you don't want me to go hard and not let up because...?"

[hadnoright]

Because going after her could well play into her games just as easily as actually humouring her. She'll find a way to twist that, too.

Like I said, better not to be completely open with something like her. There needs to be some other approach.

[crushed_pearls]

"Jesus...I don't suppose she'll have to act ethical if I expose her to ligma?"

[hadnoright]

The hell is ligma?

[crushed_pearls]

"Ligma ass!"

Erin will be back after this laughing fit fueled by stress and uncertainty.

[hadnoright]

Cue groaning and burying her face in her hands.

Goddammit Erin

[crushed_pearls]

"Yeah you don't get to complain about how I'm dealing with the nightmare scenario you just presented me."

[hadnoright]

If I knew better how to handle it, I'd tell you. But this is the Spiral. Impossible nightmare scenario is kind of built in.

I'm sorry.

Even Jon didn't really have a read on her. The Eye can only follow the spiral so deep.

The way I handled her was being mostly honest but keeping some important things back. Be direct as you like but don't show your whole hand. And always be aware that even if she isn't outright lying, she's still not being entirely honest. She wants you to trust her. So don't.

If she knows what's good for her she won't attack you without provocation.

[crushed_pearls]

"...Alright. I trust you love, and I'll follow your cue here. But if she does make me kill her I'm gonna drag her corpse to Siffleur and ask him if he wants to get real high. Fair?"

[hadnoright]

Fair. No skin off my back. She's had her warning that she's mortal now. And that's all she's getting.

[crushed_pearls]

"Only one more question on the topic, love. And no judgement either way I just don't wanna get blindsided - did you bang it out with the incarnation of madness and fear or nah?"

[hadnoright]

The face Daisy pulls.

Definitely not!

[crushed_pearls]

"Message received, damn. I'll stay on my toes, and...if you hear me in trouble, I'll trust you when you come running. Deal?"

[hadnoright]

I do have standards.

Anyway. Deal.

[crushed_pearls]

"High standards or low ones?" Erin teases, with all the energy of 'would you still love me if I was a worm'.

[hadnoright]

Highly specific standards. Like not shagging concepts.

[crushed_pearls]

"Daisy. The self is a concept."

[hadnoright]

Alright, little miss over-literalism-as-humour.