Bowling for Tombstones

[deadkord]

[ An annoying pop-up ad has been showing up on the Network the past few days. It reads: ]

Did the Porter snatch you from the jaws of death, or maybe bring you straight from the grave? Want to meet other revived corpses such as yourself? Maybe you died here once or twice and want to complain about how much it sucked with people who really, really get it? Need help figuring out how to cope with the futility of life and death?

No promises on that last one, but come join the Afterlife Bowling League anyway. Just because you're dead doesn't mean you can't enjoy some ten pin bowling and cheap beer.

[ Attached is an address. See you there!]

Anonymous post; Text

[takethestairs]

Hello, imPorts. I'm sure that you all remember the curious event that occurred last April. Some of us were slung into the future while others were dragged back into their past. While life has returned to normal, there are people who remain children, despite outward appearances.

For example, there's Jonathan Crane, that weedy little boy in the monster mask. He was always more interested in books than in people, pouring over the classics while other children played their games, but there was no one to respect his intellect. The children around him tortured and tormented him. The girl he loved saw his affections as a joke, and strung him along for nothing more than a cheap laugh. His home, which should have been a refuge, held nothing but violence and hatred. Instead of nourishing his growth, it only held him back, and attempted to beat his few, remaining virtues out of him. Is it any wonder that he craves control now? Is it any mystery why he lashes out against a world that's done nothing but hurt him?

The scars remain. They remain in his mind, in his heart, and underneath his suit. Perhaps there is a lesson here. We should not give into our anger and fear. If Jonathan had been shown patience, kindness, and love in his younger years, he could have become a different, better man. He could have become someone who isn't still controlled by his peers and his family's legacy. If we remember this, then we can prevent the weaker among us from succumbing to their mental frailty.

-Sincerely, Prufrock

[OOC: So this post is an attempt to manipulate Crane/knock him down a peg or two. Replies will either come from an anonymous Edgeworth or an infuriated Crane]

03 | Video

[virusbusting]

[This video post is a strange one. It's a video and the poster is clearly visible, but the displayed ID is an apparently random string of numbers and letters and most attempts to check the actual ID return...the info for the comm that requested the info.

The kid in the video seems relatively unconcerned about that and more concerned about something else.]

What's a good way to figure out how your powers are supposed to work? I know what I'm supposed to be able to do, but I'm having trouble...!

Is there a tutorial or something somewhere?

I'm kinda stuck...

[Literally. The video might not show it, but he's managed to get himself stuck in his comm device courtesy of accidentally activating his Pulse Transmission power and not knowing how it works in reverse. Not that he knows exactly how it works in forward either, but eh.]

STAGE 01 - [voice]

[lastnerv]

Coming back is always the hardest part.

[It’s a blunt statement to start a network post off with, and the teenager voicing it doesn’t sound comfortable with it. Or with doing this at all. In fact, he sounds like he’s completely exhausted, voice strained and words running slightly together.]

Sorry, I guess I should make that clearer for those who haven’t gone home and been ported back yet. If you didn’t know, you forget everything about this world when you leave it and if you return, all the memories you had come back all at once. It’s like… [He pauses, trying to figure out how to best phrase this.] Two different versions of you, suddenly overlapping. Feeling everything they felt. Remembering everything they did. It’s happened to me twice now, and it’s...difficult. To try and remember that they’re both you. At least it is for me, anyway. What's more important, what happened in your world or what happened in this one? Does it even make a difference?

[Another even awkwarder pause ensues.]

Um, right. Introduction. I should have started with that. My name is Shinji Ikari. I’m fourt-[wait that's not right anymore]sixteen years old. Until a few hours ago, I lived in Neo-Tokyo-3, Japan. Yes, most worlds don’t have a city like that. I know, believe me. Like I mentioned, I’ve been here before, and I lived in the City before that for about two years. I-

[He trails off into nothing. There’s silence for a few seconds. He could leave it at that, but...he wants keep moving forward, doesn’t he? If not, then what was the point of any of this? The quiet is broken by a small, nervous chuckle.]

I guess none of that really matters now, does it? I’m starting my life over from scratch.

When I was here last, I tried...to stay off the network. I wanted to keep my head down, and pretend to be normal. When I did that, I pushed people away. People who cared about me. I don’t want to do that again. I don’t want to be that person again. So this is my promise to be better and making it here in the open, where everyone can hear, will make it harder for me to forget that. Hopefully.

[ All of that came out almost at once, and he hadn’t actually intended it to. Stopping just didn’t feel like an option either.]

Sorry for taking up so much of your time, everyone. It’s - it’s good to be here. [Or anywhere, really.]