maskormenace | 001

[ Negan's got a cigarette burning between his lips as he's staring at the screen, squinting at the screen -- trying to figure out how this whole network thing works. Don't mind him. It's been a while since he's had to technology. ]

Jeesus. It's been nothin' but back to back holidays since I got here. There's no easin' a guy into this shit, is there? And we got another one right around the corner. Don't suppose any ladies out there feel like gettin' wasted and pounding it out into the New Year, huh?

[ Negan flashes a smirk. ]

Kiddin', kiddin'. I mean, unless someone seriously wants to take me up on that offer. Then I ain't gonna decline.

[ He takes a moment to finish off his cigarette before stamping it out into the ashtray. ]

I apologize for not gettin' on with the whole introductions thing sooner. It's been a long ass time since I've used anything like a phone. And we never had the sort you can video chat with. Zombie apocalypse, and all. Look at that! I'm using your lingo and everything. No one can say I ain't adaptable.

[ With a lazy chuckle, he leans forward all friendly like. Conversational. ]

The name's Negan. And color me curious -- we got all of these imPorts here, people with goddamn superpowers...and no one's even bothered to elect a leader yet? Don't all these superhero teams have leaders? I mean, when things go to shit -- and they will go to shit -- who is there to rally the troops? Might be something to think about...especially if anymore jackasses try to take over the goddamn moon. I'm just sayin'.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Georgia hasn't been here long enough that she feels qualified to comment on the politics of the place, and she very much doesn't want to comment on pounding it out.

But there's one thing he's said that does catch her attention.]

Georgia Mason. How did a zombie apocalypse prevent the usage of phones?

Well met, Georgia. I mean, I think it'd be pretty obvious how it did. The world goes to shit. Cell towers fall. What ones remained in tact eventually don't even matter 'cause there's no real place to access electricity. Except the places that got generators going, like my compound. But by that point, no one else has a phone anyway....so they're pretty pointless to have around. Best we got are some long distance walkie talkies.

Not as obvious as you might think. We never lost electricity, not everywhere, and we sure as fuck didn't lose phones and internet. How fast did the virus spread? Assuming it's a virus.

Most likely a virus, but I ain't a doctor so I can't say for sure. People get bit, they turn. People die, they turn. That's about all I know. And when things went to shit, they went to shit fast. Bigger cities fell faster, of course. That's usually the way of it. Took a few months to lose the phones.

But I'm more impressed hearing they kept yours going. How'd you guys manage to contain it enough to not fuck everything over?

Oh, things went to shit. This was a quarter century ago and we're still recovering. Especially since the media and the government lied to us. They claimed it was just "pranks" as if they had anything at all under control. Had they told the truth from the start, maybe we really would have been able to contain it.

[But maybe not.]

But they weren't the only news source out there. The bloggers told the truth. The bloggers learned how to fight the undead and wrote it down, even when they died in the process. Add a very effective blood test to determine the presence of the active virus in someone, and you have a recipe for retaking the world. At least, retaking enough of it to live with.

[They might never get back Santa Cruz or Alaska or all of India. But they have cities. They have lives.]

It also helped that zombies were already very deeply ingrained in the public imagination, of course. Romero proved shockingly prescient.

That would help. I think if we had anything like that in our movies, maybe not as many people would've died. Maybe it wouldn't have taken so long to realize you need to go for the head.

[ Or that there's no bringing them back to life once they turn. ]

So, what. Was yours a virus, too? Same as ours?

I don't know if it's the same as yours, but it is a virus, yes. Kellis-Amberlee. A man-made virus built from hubris and good intentions.

Edited 2019-01-17 05:23 (UTC)

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