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[germhating_hypochondriac]

[Eddie paces as he talks. There's a cast on his arm with the word loser written in black, with a red V written over the s to spell lover.]

Hello? Can you hear me? We're all kidnapping victims here; you guys know that right?

This nanite stuff sucks. There are tiny germ sized robots crawling around inside us! Something's gotta be powering them. They could be hanging out in our stomachs eating our food. Or they could be eating us and making tiny little holes inside our bodies. They could all build up in one place and block off the blood flowing through our arteries and our veins. Or build up in our organs, our lungs and our brains! And, our bodies are mostly water. They could be rusting inside us.

[He stops pacing and starts scratching his face with his cast-free hand]

I think I'm allergic to them! Everything's itchy. I'm gonna break out into hives!

[He starts wheezing and rubs his chest.]

I could be allergic to the tattoo too. I'm just a kid. I shouldn't have one. I think it's starting to swell up. I could have an infection. Or a blood disease. I don't trust these government people to be clean.

[The wheezing continues and his voice becomes strained with each word. He takes his inhaler out of a fanny pack and uses it, only speaking again when he's breathing is back to normal.]

How are we supposed to deal with this shit?

Comments

[mortalweapon]

I am a self-aware program.
A binary entity.
The 'machine' is simply the physical form by which I interact with the world.

My name is Danger.

[germhating_hypochondriac]

[Uh.Oh.  A new worry.] What the fuck?  We die without them?!  They break down and that's it.  Holy shit. [He grabs his inhaler and takes another puff.]  How is everybody here so brave?

[He smiles.]  Yeah, it will.  Richie's the best, uh, he's my best friend.  We had a group back home, all best friends.  Was it okay having your mom here?  If my mom was here, she'd make me live in a hospital.

[He drops his voice down to a whisper.]  Are the unicorns okay now?   [He's a little embarrassed that he thinks unicorns are cool.  That's the kind of thing that he would have been teased for back home.]

[germhating_hypochondriac]

[Eddie points to a piece of paper.]

Says right here that only we get the nanites, not the people that already live here.  They'll have inhalers.

[Sarcastically.]  Yeah.  'Cause it's so hard to tell what I'm thinking.  If they're reading anyone's brain - it's yours.

[germhating_hypochondriac]

We'll see.  You've got to give me extra points or something.  I don't know that one.  [As if there's a game that Richie wouldn't have played more than Eddie.] Is it like Super Mario Bros. 2?

Your new voices are way better than the British guy.  I'm not little.  Everyone else is tall.  [He shrugs.]  'Cause that's what old ladies do.  You could knit something cute.  Old ladies do that too.

[tricksterofasgard]

In that case I hope they adopt some of my ideas. Might make being stuck here much more amusing.

[ Spoiler: No one wants that sort of chaos. ]

[germhating_hypochondriac]

Are you sure? 'Cause this place is scary as fuck.

[germhating_hypochondriac]

[He thinks for a moment.]  Oh.  Sort of like a program in a computer.  My mom doesn't let me use computers.  She says they have radiation. Do you have radiation?

My name's Eddie.

[germhating_hypochondriac]

[He reaches for his inhaler, then stops and takes a pill instead.]

No, dude, they'll save your ideas for writing scary stories.

[Bill's not here.  Someone has to do it.]

[plentystrong]

You'll get used to it.

[tricksterofasgard]

[ He gets a short, nasty chuckle for that. ]

Oh no, I am already doing that myself. I might write one about you next.

[mortalweapon]

Yes.
Like a computer.
If that computer had thoughts and feelings.

Hello, Eddie.
You are a very small and nervous human.

[sidearmed]

If only the world thought the way you do, kid.

[ Worrying and warning people is a Good. And if Bucky ever finds out about his mom, he might have some words. For her. ]

Glad to hear it. Can't go wrong with friends.

[germhating_hypochondriac]

Used to having robots in me? And what about the next batch of crazy shit?

[germhating_hypochondriac]

Why don't you go do that, asshole?   Before the little robots plagiarize it.

[germhating_hypochondriac]

[A guilty look.  He doesn't want to be a bully.]Did I hurt your feelings with my questions?  Sorry. 

[Very true.]  I'm supposed to be small.  I'm a kid.  We should all be nervous.  This shit's insane.

[plentystrong]

Yeah, pretty much.

Video;

[pocketfulof]

They seem to be pretty in line with medical devices, but there are tests we can run to be sure.

...And sometimes doctors have different specialties. Never hurts to get more than one opinion--might make you feel more at ease, right?

I'm Will by the way. Will Solace.

[germhating_hypochondriac]

Exactly!  Finally someone gets it! 

[He nods. The losers had always been there for him, in a better way than his mother had.] 

Yeah.  Friends always stick together, no matter what. 

[continuousgroaning]

Like I said, we don't think too much about it, for one... and for two, that's never been known to happen. The government's been doing this for a really long time, so they know how to keep stuff going and keep us alive.

[She nods.]

My family's always been really close, but since we work together in my dad's restaurant we're kind of on top of each other and in each others' business and personal space pretty much 24/7, too. It was a chance for Mom and I to have some one on one time. And for me to get to know her as a person and not just my mom.

[She nods vigorously, then silently sends a few pictures of one along- he's free to acknowledge them, or no, if he so chooses. Consider it a bit of a welcome gift.]

Some of them got adopted out to residents here, in fact. The therapy horse company I work for took one. I wanted one for myself, but I didn't want my horse to get jealous. ... that and he's expensive enough on his own.

[drivesadesk]

A lot of things are just not as exciting as in the movies. Alien abductions included.

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[drivesadesk]

You don't know what's going to happen, but I know most of the people here aren't going to let something happen to a kid.

But yeah, you might have to be a kid twice. Hopefully you won't be stuck here long enough to grow up here, though.

[mortalweapon]

No.
My feelings are intact.
Thank you for your inquiry.

[ A curious pause. ]

Are you alright, Eddie?

[sidearmed]

[ ... wait. what does he get? ]

In theory, yeah. That's right. Sometimes friends do horrible things. though. [ and should be left alone. ] I hope yours don't.

[measuringdicks]

Alien abductions should be more exciting, what the dick is this scientific bullshit?

[An indignant huff.]

Hey, if you're an alien, [and he must be since he knows so much about alien abductions,] why do you look human?

[measuringdicks]

A little bit? Sort of? [A beat.] It's Super Mario Bros., but with go-kart racing. The controller's kinda weird, but after a few rounds you get used to it. I'll give you pointers, make it fairer on you. It's not as fun to kick your ass if you don't even know how to kick back.

[And Richie very obviously preens. Eddie thinks his Voices are cool now! This superpower is useful for many things, clearly, among them being Impressing Eddie. (Annoying Eddie is, of course, still very high on the priority list.)]

I probably might. How hard could it be? [Famous last words.] Hey, how often are your roommates around? [Or he could just knock on the front door and ask them, but old habits die hard and Richie is far, far too used to sneaking into Eddie's window whenever Mrs. K was distracted or out of the house.]