Network: Audio

[faceguy]

[Roughly a day or so after a building goes up in flames, but before anyone leaves for New Tick, this audio is sent to the network:]

You know who you are, and I know who you are, too.

If you ever come near my brother again, if you even show your face around us, you’re dead. Got it? Dead.

Everyone else here can keep playing around, but I’m done. Stay away from Donnie.

[Wow, he actually got through a whole network post without joking. Wonder what could cause that?]

Comments

audio

[cactusy]

What the hell happened? Is he okay?

[faceguy]

[Leo doesn’t want to be too angry with Shaw, because she’s one of the few people who cares about Donnie… but she also told Stu (and subsequently the whole city) that Donnie reported his tablet stolen and fingered Stu as the culprit.

There’s no evidence that the two incidents are related. But reason and logic went out the window the moment Donnie called him in a panic.]

Did you see the burned down building in the Green district? That’s what happened.

He’ll be okay.

[cactusy]

[... Huh. Huh.]

About a month ago, someone blew up the greenhouse. You think this might be related?

[faceguy]

What… you mean the thing Tommy was yelling about?

[cactusy]

Yeah. Broken glass, dead plants, yadda yadda.

[faceguy]

[It does suck. Leo's been hungrier than usual ever since they went into the mines.

But that's not the point.]

Didn't Stark do that? This was definitely the ghost mask guy.

[As much as Leo doesn't like Tony, he doesn't think Tony would trap people in a building and try to burn them alive.]

[cactusy]

He was a cagey ass about it, as usual; I don't know what the hell he did or didn't do.

private

Macher's a Class-A douche, but arson's an escalation even for him. You sure?

[faceguy]

He's one of the dumbest people here, so I believe him.

private

I'm sure.

I don't have any evidence for you, though.

private

[cactusy]

Eyewitness testimony counts; I trust you. He confess to you?

private perm

[faceguy]

No… but Dee says he saw the guy in the mask shut the door. And the house was full of some red fruit that’s apparently flammable.

[Leo didn’t even know they had that!]

They used a phone to lure the victims inside the house, too. The only thing that doesn’t fit is that they didn’t call and ask movie trivia. [But it all feels too connected to Leo for this to matter.]

Donnie says Stu and Billy stole his tablet. I believe him. Those guys were new when all this started. I just think it’s gotta be them.

private perm

[cactusy]

I believe him too. And I believe they were beating people up. I just didn't think they were going to jump to arson.

You know whose phone they used?

[faceguy]

Really? Seems like a step down to me. You can do it from far away. When you stab or you strangle, you have to get right up close and personal.

I don't. [This time he hasn't investigated that... or anything, really.] I don't know who has it now.

[cactusy]

The other stuff wasn't fatal. It's pretty hard to non-fatally lock someone in a burning building.

[faceguy]

Three someones.

[Leo considers this. Maybe she's right, and they weren't trying to kill the others. But still...]

You don't think they would have kept stabbing Richie if the Agrii didn't take the knife?

[cactusy]

The Agrii took the knife?

[faceguy]

Yeah. Te Mi told Donnie they took it when Richie got stabbed. But they can't just take things without replacing them, I guess. So they swapped it for a stick.

[cactusy]

And they couldn't tell you who they took it from?

[faceguy]

Of course not, that'd be easy.

[cactusy]

Why the hell not? That doesn't make sense; I don't get it.

[faceguy]

Yeah, well, I don't get most things that happen around here.

[cactusy]

Can they not tell the difference between us, like we can't tell the difference between individual animals sometimes?

[ A pause. ]

Or do they know and just not want to tell.

[faceguy]

Well, they’ve been wearing masks and robes every time they attacked someone. And Te Mi said some of the cameras fritzed out. So, I dunno. Maybe the Agrii just couldn’t tell.

[Maybe someone else out there is helping hide the attacker’s identity for entertainment purposes.]

[cactusy]

That's a lot of unknowns; I think we should question them more the second we get a chance. But, uh-- I don't know if they'll talk to me.

[faceguy]

What, did you tick them off or something?

[cactusy]

No, but they're pretty sensitive and skittish, right? Do I look like someone who does sensitivity well?

[faceguy]

Why are you the second adult here to tell me that? Maybe we need a charisma datapoint.

[cactusy]

Oh, it's a major problem here. But if I switched to a hypothetical charisma datapoint, I wouldn't get to use the really big guns anymore.

[And that is a horrifying prospect.]

[faceguy]

I guess I can't argue with those priorities.

Donnie is friends with Te Mi, and Te Mi knows a lot more about what's going on. He may be able to learn something.

[Of course, Leo is saying this before they learn the current status onboard the Agrii ship.]

[audio]

[target_audience]

Everybody knows a psycho killer is immune to threats. Do you think Jamie Lee Curtis beat big Mikey by waving her finger at him? They never would have gotten a sequel out of that.

[faceguy]

[Maybe Leo should just kill this guy now. The only thing stopping him is his general heroic aversion to murder the fact that no one would believe him and he'd probably end up stuck in the brig, or something.]

Jamie Lee Curtis couldn't open portals to the surface of the sun.

[Neither can Leo, as a point of order. But he can open one really really high!]

[target_audience]

I'd let her open my portals any day.

[faceguy]

...

Eugh, gross.