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[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

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[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

Having trouble sleeping, Martin?

[corkscrewed]

We're on a barge in space. Time is an illusion.

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

Ah, say no more. Existentialism gets us all in the end.

[corkscrewed]

Has to be a mistake in the paperwork somewhere. You weren't supposed to end up here.

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

If you'd like to apply to be my warden and sign my paperwork to clear me for graduation, I could be out of your hair in no time.


Unlikely. But I do understand your reluctance to see me with any degree of complexity.

[corkscrewed]

Yeah, sure, let me get on that. Definitely not planning on locking you into Zero for the rest of eternity.

[ okay, no, this has taken on an air of silliness bordering stupid, and martin really does have no idea what he's doing. so he follows up with- ]

I would give up my wish to make sure you stay dead.

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

[ when you text an avatar of the beholding in the middle of the night you have to take respsonsibility for whatever comes your way, martin. ]

I believe you. I really did treat you very poorly, all things told.

Out of curiosity, what is it you're working here towards?

[corkscrewed]

[ he'd done such a good job of ignoring elias until now that he's actually a little ashamed of himself. ]

New iPhone.

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

[ ah, there it is. delightful as ever. he's going to find a way to break your kneecaps. ]

I never had explicit confirmation of this, but I strongly suspect the heads of those technological giants were all servants of the Beholding. When you get it, I wouldn't keep the bluetooth running all the time.

[corkscrewed]

[ whoa, hold on a second. elias had just had to ask him a question. sincerely. martin wasn't quite expecting the rush of satisfaction from that, alright, thanks. ]

So does it just eat you up inside? Going from knowing everything to just being, you know, an underwhelming middle-aged man?

I'm bringing Sasha back.

[ he'll throw you a bone bro. not that you deserve it. ]

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

An interesting choice.

[corkscrewed]

[ you can't ignore his gloating, that's against the bloody rules. ]

What did it feel like? Dying for real?

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

You'd really like to know? I can show you, share the full first-hand experience.

[corkscrewed]

No, thank you. I've hit my 'being stabbed' quota for one lifetime.

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

Who said anything about being stabbed?

[ That is very telling. Elias knows Jon hasn't lived through the Eye's world, and Tim certainly hasn't. But if Martin knows-- ]

[corkscrewed]

??? This can't be a new piece of information. I do remember you being there.

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

[ And that's explicit confirmation. Except that Martin had not been there at all, and Jon had been very explicit about his intention of ending all humanity to starve the Fears. ]

While you were very much NOT present. I'm sure I'd have remembered someone trying to make scathing comments at me as I died.

[corkscrewed]

You have no idea what a relief it is to know you apparently get stabbed in every possible version of events.

[extendedbrutalpipemurder]

[ Elias leaves him on read for a long moment to consider exactly what it means that Martin knows how he died, and yet Jon, as of a week or so ago, does not. Nor Tim, or he'd have been eagerly attempting to rub his face in it.

Hm. ]

In two of them, at least.

[ He can let Martin feel like he's had a small triumph over him. ]

[corkscrewed]

[ it doesn't matter, because it's a reality that doesn't exist anymore. at least, that's the way martin has decided he wants to proceed about it. if he doesn't think about jonah magnus in the panopticon, he doesn't have to think about murdering the most important person in his life.

he stares at his comm device for a moment, not sure what to say when the answer finally rolls in, before he ultimately just puts it away and goes back to bed. ]