Voice

[dumbfound]

[ The video feed cuts on to the image of someone's foot in a sneaker, then it cuts off again, it's dark for a second before cutting back onto the same image, and after a couple seconds of the foot wiggling back and forth to the rhythm of some song no one on the network can actually hear the video portion cuts back off again.

Finally a voice can be heard, and it sounds a little dazed and in awe. ]

That was the last one.

[ And without any clarification he's moving right along to the next topic at hand. ]

Hey, do people not like to fire anyone that isn't from around here? I didn't go to my job for two weeks after that shitty party at the university, but they still haven't fired me. My old boss probably wouldn't have fired me either, but he would have gotten really angry at me, and I kind of always thought if you weren't a local mostly people wanted to get rid of you as fast as possible.

I don't actually like the job anyway, so it would have been fine if they fired me. But then I don't have anything else lined up, and they gave me a house to live in and money, but I don't actually know if you get to keep those if you stop working. I didn't go to work for a month before I ended up here by accident, but it wasn't because I didn't want to work, it was because I couldn't find my boss. And he paid for my apartment, so I'm pretty sure that I'm going to lose that soon too, since I haven't paid the rent this month, and I don't really want to go sleep in a public saunas, but maybe it'd be better than not sleeping in one, because at least they have mats for you to sleep on and a roof. Only I don't know how long I'd even be able to pay for that...

[ He trails off like he lost his train of thought there, which honestly he probably did.

After a few seconds of heavy silence he decides to cut to the chase and end this rambling stream of consciousness with what's really eating at him right now. ]

I don't actually want to be here.

[ The rest of his ramble was pretty loud and animated, this last sentence is said a lot softer in a flat tone. What he wants people to do about it is anyone's guess, since it's not like people can just take him home. He's already been told as much. ]

Comments

[Video - Private]

[hunterrabbit]

Hey. [Touka glances down and away from the camera for half a second- not really sure how she'll be received. Even if she'd been trying to help, she'd freaked him out pretty badly last time.]

...You holding up alright? I haven't seen you since said shitty party. [She'd been meaning to check up on him after all of that anyway.]

[Voice - Private]

[dumbfound]

[ It takes him a few seconds of fiddling, but for all of his many failings he's at least clever enough to figure out how to use basic technology even if he hasn't actually used the network too much prior to this.

He's not really getting why this is supposed to be private, but he's learned over the past year that if someone doesn't want to openly talk about something they'll usually get annoyed with you if you try to talk about it in public anyway. ]

No. This place is awful.

[ Well... at least he's honest? No making her drag it out of him. ]

[Video - Private]

[hunterrabbit]

[Honestly, Touka's just more of a private person. She doesn't like to have all her conversations with people broadcast where everyone else can see. If he really wanted to talk publicly, she wouldn't mind too much...this is just something she tends to do for talks that feel more personal.

As far as the bluntness goes, she actually appreciates it in a way. No sugarcoating anything.]

There's a lot about this place that's pretty shitty, I won't lie. [But things have felt...worse lately. At least, for all the time she's spent here. Bad timing for him.]

What's your home like?

[Voice - Private]

[dumbfound]

[ It's all felt pretty bad for him, not that things were going his way back home either of late, but he'd still rather be miserable in a familiar setting than miserable in a place he feels like a stranger in. ]

It's really shitty.

[ He already angrily flopped on his bed in his conversation with Hazel, so he'll take a minute to wiggle around on it and try to get comfortable, but he gets distracted for a moment doing that, then distracted for another moment rolling over onto his stomach and wiggling every which way while still being unable to get settled down.

Finally he looks back at his communicator and remembers he was talking to someone. ]

Home? Which one? My apartment or my city? Mostly I stayed in Jinseok hyung's penthouse anyway, and it was really nice there, but my apartment was okay too. I had a really nice TV in it.

permatext

[deadtective]

Feel any better now that we all know that?

[ah, well. it seems that her rain-soaked dumb human puppy acquaintance is adapting to this world about as well as she'd expected.]

voice

[dumbfound]

[ He debates switching to text for all of five seconds, but instead decides to flop back onto his bed with as much force as he can manage.

This still only makes a soft sound at best, but he's trying hard to be dramatic here. ]

No?

[deadtective]

[you keep on trying, Junseo. someday you'll be the drama king in your heart.]

You sure? It was an awful lot of effort.

voice.

[glowsferatu]

Housing is provided, you don't actually have to pay rent. [ She's not sure what he's really talking about there with that ramble. There's really a lot to whatever he's saying that she just doesn't get, but she can at least handle the parts she does. ]

Did you register, when you first arrived?

voice.

[dumbfound]

I meant the one from where I was from before, but that's probably good because I haven't actually paid for it at all since I got here. I don't really know how to pay rent, or who I'm supposed to pay it to since I've never done it before. I mean mostly you just give money to someone every month, but since no one ever told me who to give money to I makes sense I am not expected to.

[ Did that ramble make any more sense? No, probably not. ]

But yeah, I mean, I told them I would, and it says so on my arm.

[ A pause. ]

Not right now though.

[ As in it's too light to see right now, not that it's actually gone away. God knows if he even realizes the difference. ]

voice.

[glowsferatu]

[ That last bit is more than a little confusing, it either completely contradicts everything he's said so far, or it doesn't matter. She elects to believe the latter, before it can derail her train of thought. ]

Well, if you are Registered, that will explain why the job's still available. One of the benefits of registration is the guarantee of work. they vouch for absences so that the job will still be there. Probably through some form of subsidy or tax credit, so the employer has a worthwhile incentive to keep you on the payroll.

[ As for the rest of it... ] If you're name is ever added to a lease, though, it's important that you know exactly who the property manager is and how to contact them. Obviously not an issue here, but, in general, or if you ever leave the provided residence.

It doesn't really matter that you've failed to maintain your previous arrangements since arriving here, there won't actually be a "since you got here" in regards to your previous arrangements.

[video]

[puppydoctor]

[Calmly, but with concern.]

Junseo? Are you alright?

[voice]

[dumbfound]

[ He lies there in his bed for a moment trying to figure out why this sounds familiar, then sitting bolt upright in his bed when he places the voice, worried now considering who this is. ]

Uh..... yes?

[ He sounds so unsure about that. ]

[puppydoctor]

Doesn't sound like you're too sure about that.

[No, he's not reading the brackets okay]

What's going on?

video

[huntergames]

They do fire imPorts.

[ She doesn't address the latter portion of his post, yet. ]

voice; one day I'll learn to pay better attention to subject lines

[dumbfound]

What really? Someone else made it sound like it didn't usually happen. How bad does someone have to fuck up to get fired?

it's okay i screw it up so often too :(

[huntergames]

I... I didn't mess up that badly!!

[ She ate food she was supposed to be delivering... ]

[ video ]

[enucleation]

They don't fire us because we are imPorts. We are good for business.

[ ... ]

There are a lot of people who don't.

[ voice ]

[dumbfound]

So I don't actually have to worry about losing my job? Only maybe I do, because someone else says that sometimes imPorts get fired.

[ voice ]

[enucleation]

It depends on the boss, actually. Some won't fire you, some might. Even if you are fired, it's very easy to find something else, as long you have the imPort tattoo.

audio;

[hisheartsdesire]

Even when I do turn up for work, I can't actually perform the job the government gave me. Three months later, I still have the job. But then again, I know someone sacked within the first month for having the same problem, and he still managed to keep his housing. You're all right, I think.

audio;

[dumbfound]

So... basically I can't actually tell if I'm going to be allowed to keep my job or not...

[ Trailing off for an awkward few seconds. Distracted for a moment before he remembers to finish his thought. ]

But I get to keep my house here at least? Since I don't actually have to pay rent to anyone?

audio;

[hisheartsdesire]

Yeah, and yeah. To both. With the job, probably based on the employer. But you do keep the house, so far as I know. Besides, imagine you asked one of them, someone in the government—if you're giving them money back, even in the form of rent, you don't think they'd actually refuse, do you?

video

[khajidont]

They fire imPorts if you give them a good enough reason to. But... if you don't like your job, you can always find a new one.

[He doesn't address the part about him not wanting to be here because, well, sorry buddy! Them's the shakes.]

voice

[dumbfound]

I don't know what kind of job I'd like more though, and someone told me I needed it still to pay for food.

[ Housing is great, but food is better. ]

voice

[khajidont]

...well, yeah. They're not just gonna give us everything without us doing anything in return. What did you do back home? Did you like that?