one 🍪 text;

[algoritmi]

hello̶̙͙̦͍̱̱̰͔̞͇̘̬̦̤̞̫̖͙ͩ̎͠͡͡l̵̸͖̲̻̟̮̫̠̩̞̪̯͎̮̰̘̹͉ͪ̐̄͗̍͊̽̃ͮ̀̈́͒ͦ̽̏̌ō͖̹̖̦̯̹͒̍̈͑̚ͅ ͖͕̬̿͊͋ͣ̓̀ͦͪ̃zion.

i'm afraid i come with more ̧͑͒́͜ ̈́̀͋ͣͦ̿́͘͜1́bad n̖̟̹̱̲ews. the time is coming that your people will need your help, and the vast majority of you will choose to give it. this time will come quickly and vio͔̱̰̗̮̞ͤͦͦ̊ͩ̕͜lently and without warning shots. it will seem disconnected from the deeds of neo decades ago, and the council two months ago. it is not. i wouldn't worry you with the long view, though. there will be time for that.

for now, i will leave you with some numbers. y̪̑̑̏̽̅ȏ͇̦̟̅͗́̅̇̔u ͈̤͚̭̫͉͙̘͙͉̮̲̞̒ͯͩ̈́̒̊̚k͉̙̝͖̲̣̬̭̲̦͙̪̭̭ͥ̉̾̓̿̄̄̑͊̈́̈̿̐͊̅̍͌now how much we like our numbers, but i think y̳͙ͤ͗̿̊͋͛̉ͬ̇ou'll find these helpful too.

one is a necessary sacrifice. you w̺̤̟͋i̻̭̻͎̤ͬll survive if you have f̱̲͇̺̗̥ͮ̀͒͒̋̎ͪ̂̌̽̿ͭͮ̉a̬̞̩̞̳͈̿i̦̲͉̞̺̹͋̏̾̔͛̒̉th. it will bring you closer to us, but you will do it for humankind. don't overthink it. this isn't a mǎ̌tter of one comma the.

two emp charges ̭͕͉̩͕͗̎̏̋̈w̙̳̭̯͓̑̏͂ͣ̋i͔̪ͅll not be enough.

three of you are necessary. to cli͓ͨ̾̂ͣ̓ͨm̺͇̺̟b̲̲̜͇͙̲̼ a̲̲̜͇͙̲̼ḇ̠̲̯̙̯͑͛̐ͩ̑͋͂ove the f̉ͮlames you must stand each foot on the shoulder of a crewmate. should you succeed, this will change the course of limitless tomorrows. it'll be s͇u̥͓̬̖̲̹btle, but sure.

fọ̝ͪ̊̉ͮ̑ur look closely here. this will be the salvation̬ o̥̞̖̳̝͈̗͐ͫf the day.

y͓̳̦͕̬̠̱̒̅ͯ̈́̌͌o̖̼̊̅͌̂̾ͦu w̮͉͖͔̮̳̄͌̄ill be wondering to what extent th͢e͙ͤ́͐͊ͦͅ architect and i are involved. the answer is: other ț͎͔̗͖̺̺̇̎̃̋͆ͪh̘̖̹̙a̗̗̣͉̠ͭn̪ͯ́̍̊͛̑ ͖̥̫̞̮̗̓̅̔ͅt͖̳his message and the one he will write you later, not at all. some of you have been wondering what the truce meant, and i will be the first to tell you: it meant change. for us, as well as the humans of earth. we are not they.

as a matter of fact, they’re much older.

ṁ̘̖̣̼̖̈́ͭ̆ȳ̥̱̲̦͐̎̈̋ condolences and congrat̖̗̥̟ͥ́ͬ̄͂ͯͬu̳̫̜̲̻̙͌l̙̱̝͂͑̓̌ͬ̈a̻͓̖̿̄͛ͬ̆ti̺̩̖̫̪̳͂ͮ͊̔ons in the coming battle.̗̬̞ͬ͑̆̅ͪ

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OOC: Plotting post goes up on Saturday, 6/13.

Comments

[rathercommon]

Does it? I see a lot more assuming that people are threats than assuming they need help. Fear is more of a natural instinct than empathy is.

[hacker]

Maybe I'm just an optimist, but it seems like you'd be wrong a lot more than you'd be right if you only listened to fear.

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty agrees. Fiercely. So, after a moment of hesitation, she writes: ]

What can you even do? To help people.

[ And then a second quick text, before Skye replies: ]

I'm sorry, that came across as terribly rude. That's not me trying to say, 'You can't actually do anything,' that's only curiosity about what your skills are.

[hacker]

You've really got so many people banging down your door to help that you need a resumé?

In the Matrix, I was a spy and a hacker. Most of that carries over. Other people weren't so lucky.

[rathercommon]

No. I'm just only interested in the people I can trust - REALLY trust. You're not talking to someone drowning and about to go under. If I want help, I want GOOD help.

When you say others weren't lucky, you're talking about skills that don't leave the Matrix? Fighting ability and all that.

[hacker]

That's exactly what I mean. Fighting ability, or powers.

[rathercommon]

Who were you a spy for?

[hacker]

Doesn't matter much now, does it?

[rathercommon]

Why wouldn't it?

[hacker]

Because it wasn't real.

[rathercommon]

Who you were spying for, the intelligence you gathered - No. All of that wasn't real. But your loyalty to them was. Wasn't it?

[hacker]

[ She hits the right mark. Skye softens because Kitty, of course, is right. Missing May, Coulson, and Fitzsimmons has been hard on Skye for that very reason. ]

SHIELD. Heard of them?

[rathercommon]

No.

[ Thankfully. Spies tend to be on the government's side, after all. So if she's not heard of them, then they're not from her world - hopefully - and so Skye isn't Kitty's enemy.

Hopefully. ]

Who were they?

[hacker]

The good guys.

They protected people. From threats that were strange or alien. It was all kind of X-Files, I guess.

[rathercommon]

'Threats'?

[ Her people are ground down, spat upon and degraded and destroyed, in the name of protecting them from alien threats. She's wary of people who claim protection. ]

[hacker]

Artifacts, mostly. Stuff that made its way to Earth, either when Thor was teleporting in or when the Chitauri invaded New York.

[rathercommon]

[ She chews on her lip, trying to make heads or tails of that. After a few moments, she gives up on that. ]

But you said you were a spy? Artefacts don't seem as though they engage in a great deal of subterfuge.

[hacker]

They do when the wrong people try to get their hands on them.

[rathercommon]

Who's 'the wrong people'? Criminals, I suppose. Terrorists.

[hacker]

Or Nazi terrorist organizations bent on controlling the world.

[rathercommon]

[ She has...no idea what that is either. Ugh. ]

Though I suppose to them, you were the wrong people.

[hacker]

Yeah, well, SHIELD never repurposed alien tech into WMDs to commit genocide. So I'd rather be our kind of wrong people.

[rathercommon]

[ ...All right, WMD isn't something she gets, and she hasn't the foggiest what alien tech is, but she's done enough reading to become familiar with the term genocide and there's definitely no getting around the fact that those actually are the wrong people. She could keep skirting the real question, being indirect, but recklessly she asks instead: ]

What about those who fight against the people who get to MAKE those labels? Rebels and protestors and malcontents? They get labeled as enemies of the state, don't they, get labeled wicked and criminal. Do you accept that someone is wicked just because you're told they are?

[hacker]

That'd be pretty hypocritical of me, considering I started out as one of those rebels and protestors. Although mostly I prefer the term hacktivist, just to be clear.

[rathercommon]

[ ...Huh. ]

Rebelling against what?