004 ✞ (AUDIO)

[unetrustworthy]

[The morning everything first went crazy, Midii was unaffected.  She checked, just to be sure.  There were no bodily changes, no strange new abilities, and she felt like herself.  But there were Network posts advertising those less fortunate, and from the sounds of things, it wasn't going well for many.  So she decided to stay put.]

[Today, however, she wasn't so lucky.  From the moment she woke up, she knew something was wrong.  The kind of wrong that actually required her to ask for help:]

I need clothes.  Please.  I have money, and can pay you back.

[There was a momentary pause, and a low groan could be heard in the background.]

...is my stomach supposed to hurt like this?

[Her voice might sound familiar to the select few who were around her enough.  Only deeper.  Older.  By nearly ten years.  And if that wasn't enough to hint as to who this was over the Network, she didn't block her address.]

Comments

video;

[unetrustworthy]

I get that a lot, actually.

Though most of the time, I at least look closer to my age.

video;

[grayatonement]

There's a certain.. maturity, to match your appearance. Intelligence, cynicism. You should be flattered that so many make the same mistake.

video;

[unetrustworthy]

I don't hate it.

People take you more seriously when they think you're older. They listen.

video;

[grayatonement]

And what do you want them to listen to?

video;

[unetrustworthy]

[There is a moment of silence on her end, contemplating not only the question but how she wanted to answer. How much she wanted to answer.]

Right now? Not much. I usually prefer to be left alone.

[Where she came from, being in the spotlight could be dangerous. At times, even deadly. That kind of minset left her with a sense of permanent stage fright and wallflower-like tendencies in public.]

But if I ever found out something important, or needed somebody to hear me, it would help knowing I'd be taken seriously. Even if I'm just a kid.

video;

[grayatonement]

You're not just a kid. You're different. Special. Let them see that.

video;

[unetrustworthy]

What if I don't want them to?

What if I don't even want to be special at all?

[There was a big difference to her, after all, between being taken seriously in spite of one's age, and being considered special.]

video;

[grayatonement]

Maybe I can help.

video;

[unetrustworthy]

How?

video;

[grayatonement]

If I can learn what makes it work, then I can stop it.

video;

[unetrustworthy]

...why would you want to help me?

['Why should I trust you?']

video;

[grayatonement]

You'd be helping me. I would understand how it works.

video;

[unetrustworthy]

[That...was actually the most reasonable answer he could possibly have given her. Wanting to help her in order to help himself. She was willing to believe that.]

Alright.

What exactly do you want to know?

video;

[grayatonement]

It's easier in person. I want to know what it is you can do. Then I can look at it, discover how it works, and hopefully take it away.

video;

[unetrustworthy]

Me?

[She glances down. Was he referring to the whole suddenly-an-adult situation she'd involuntarily gotten herself into.]

But I didn't do this.

video;

[grayatonement]

I wasn't referring to that.

video;

[unetrustworthy]

Then what are you talking about?