daemonized | RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

yes. if it's not through technology, then i don't know how they're doing it or what they might be seeing. i'm not stopping, of course, it'd be foolish to let them intimidate us into stopping, but it has made me more aware.

we need to find somewhere they can't see us.

I agree, but it'll be a tricky thing, trying to figure out how to go about it. If they can invade even our private homes, where on earth could we be free of their prying eyes?

Or rather, I suppose the question we should ask is this: if it isn't our phones (or any other form of technology) that's acting as a vehicle for them to spy on us, then what /is/ it?

if i was more of a conspiracy theorist i'd say the city itself was their spying vehicle. we know it's not cameras, it's not our phones, it's ever present. what's the only thing that's present around all of us simultaneously? the city.

which means if we want our secrets, we'd have to push to the very borders of the city in hopes their hold is weaker. or we could all just invent our own language and not tell jim. i'm in favor of making it cryptic and hard to parse even for insiders.

Conspiracy theory or not, there's validity in it. If we're to find one common thing, the city is the obvious answer. Of course, that means getting away from the city in order to have conversations about Retrospec -- conversations which happen on a daily basis. It wouldn't exactly be very practical, but I suppose if we're going to be very hush-hush about it, maybe some should try.

I'm no linguist, but I'll help you come up with our own language. What words should we focus on first?

simpler but vital ones first. yes, no, maybe, sometimes, red, often - all those are some to come to mind.

it'd be worth trying if nothing else to get jim to shut up about how we're apparently not meeting being interesting with our secret meetings. though i suppose if he can't see the meetings, he can't be satisfied, so his imagination will have to run wild. but we should be able to discuss the important things like what these changes truly mean or why someone would be sent body parts in the mail without the all knowing eye in the sky seeing it.

[Technically, there's a lot of that he could respond to. In actuality, it's obvious there's only one.]

Who was sent body parts in the mail??

[Two whole question marks. Grell????]

one unfortunate teenager. the severed arm's in my custody now, it's being handled.

[Retrospec sent a severed arm. That's a new level of disturbing, morbid and highly suspect. Like something out of a thriller movie, except in real life, one could not simply write it off as fiction.]

Being handled.

[He wonders what that even entails.]

Was there anything odd about it? Other than it being a severed limb to begin with.

[she pauses, thinking this over. she'd promised discretion to people, but that was for those affected by changes. this was, in a sense, work, and she was already withholding the name. not that Ardyn couldn't learn it quick enough if Fynn talked about what he'd seen. eventually she reaches the conclusion that it's not an official case, it's related to Retrospec, and so a little more public domain.]

it was his own arm, actually. the fingerprints match.

[He has to read that message blinking at him on his laptop more than once, just to make sure he isn't misinterpreting. He isn't; it's clear and plain enough.

But seriously, what the fuck.]

How is that even possible? How does Retrospec procure not only strange items, but body parts that belong to the person themselves?

Is this individual currently /missing/ their arm?

[Ardyn assumes that if he's asking too many questions, she'll tell him.]

they're currently in possession of both their arms. i'm debating asking them if i can run dna testing, even though i'm confident the prints aren't faked. i don't know how retrospec is doing this, i don't know how they can make this happen and leave absolutely no trace of involvement.

It wouldn't hurt to ask. Just to be certain.

Because if it is a true match, then the implications are something that cannot be ignored. Proof, then, of a past life having once existed. Or a parallel universe, as some would have us believe instead.

Unless we're wanting to believe that Retrospec has copies of us somewhere, removing our limbs as they please. What a lovely thought.

Edited (Blargh) 2017-07-16 19:41 (UTC)

i'd prefer the other theories to that. such a thought should only remain in the realm of fiction written by those with extensive imaginations.

i'm not sure how to ask, though. how to approach the idea without scaring them off. "hello, so about that arm you brought me, i need to take a sample of your dna for reasons i won't disclose until everything's dealt with." not going to work.

Do you honestly think a trusted doctor asking for a DNA sample, trying to unravel the mystery of their /severed arm/, will be enough to make them balk at the idea? I would think their concerns may lie elsewhere, you know.

it's more that i'm not versed in the situation of telling someone they were sent their own detached limb. one doesn't really break that news gently.

Then perhaps getting straight to the point is the only real option. Consider how you would want to be told, if this were something that was happening to you.

bluntly, and then i'd want several minutes to feel the order of the world as i knew it collapsing around me.

And so would you prefer not being told at all, then?

no, i'd want to be told. i just know it'd be life changing.

maybe i should ask if i can talk to him outside the office. that might help.

In order to instill a sense of calm beforehand? It may be worth the effort; I wonder how intimidating others might find your office if they're not yet familiar with it.

[(Honestly, Ardyn, if there's any office that truly instills a sense of fear in others, it's probably yours.)]

i couldn't say, since most of those who have to see the exam rooms aren't really in the capacity to complain.

[you know. since they're dead.]

A fair point. But those in the exam rooms may be the cause of this undue tension for some poor, unfamiliar soul in the first place. I wouldn't know from personal experience, but I can only assume that dead bodies tend to do that.

they're all safely tucked into their drawers before the living come along, i try to make that the case. my patients don't have to come face to face with each other, they all deserve their privacy.

How gracious of you, to have only their best interests in mind. I hear that the dead only ever want to rest, after all, and it's nice of you to give them their proper spaces to allow for this to happen.

If any more wayward body parts come under your care, you'll let me know, won't you? This is one mystery that I'd like to follow.

of course. if i end up reassembling a whole person, i won't keep quiet about that affair.

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