[64] nurtured all year, then pressed in a book

[buildstherobots]

[phone]

Well, there's no way this little curveball could possibly go awry.

That said, I need accounts from as many of you as possible on the events of last month. I have a working knowledge, but as many of you need to weigh in as possible. It's all for the sake of my beautiful letter... oh, and consequently, all of our newcomers. We're starting to get a wave of them, and again it falls to me to create a comprehensive list. Mayfield is lucky to have such a charitable genius onboard.

So! Personal experiences. please, as well as any gathered information. This should all be professionally documented.

Comments

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

You mean like the fourth of July shit and what not?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Yes. I know about the deaths of Jane Smith and Grady, but only by secondhand accounts.

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

I can't tell you much about them, I wasn't there either. Fourth of July was weird...but it was kinda cool too because I got to learn a bit about my drone self and his history and what not.

Though it was kinda distressing to have those memories overlapping with mine.

Anyways. I saw Jane Smith the night before she died. She was really distraught you know? Crying and muttering and rambling like she was drunk. I gave her my handkerchief because she didn't want anything else.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

What was she saying, do you remember? It isn't normal for a drone to fall apart like that.

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

I don't think she was in drone mode. I think it was Samantha fighting with Jane and winning by the use of sheer emotion.

Mainly it was about how we're all trapped, there's no escape, and that there is nothing we can do. And something about a doctor but I didn't get much of that.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Nothing we don't know, except for the part about the doctor. What did you hear about that? I need every scrap.

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

She only mentioned it once or twice before I distracted her by talking...sorry. Mainly what I caught was that she didn't want the doctor to do somethin' to her. I don't know what.

Even then it was really garbled so I don't even know if I heard that.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

The doctor... the one with the most power in this town is Lucy, and we know many people here aren't exactly how they look. I wouldn't be surprised if that was who she was talking about.

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

Maybe. I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help. Like I said, I'm not even sure that's what she was saying.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

You did help, and so you were useful. I'm casting a wide net, so I'll be able to fish up much more if I'm patient.

[And Dist is great with patience. Totally.]

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

Good luck with that!

[ooeeooahah]

[ Ilsa's voice is a trifle listless, if he cares to notice. ]

I should have a few copies of my report ready by the weekend. Will you be at the library during your usual times?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

You've compiled a report? That would be excellent, yes. My library shifts are predictable, so you should be able to find me at my usual times.

[ooeeooahah]

I also have been working on a history of my Earth, but it's not quite finished yet. I will drop by the library later.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I look forward to seeing you there. A history of this world is something I'm sadly lacking.

[plantenough.livejournal.com]

Well, what do you remember last?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I know about the memory alterations, as well as Olney and Jane's deaths, but the latter two only through secondhand accounts. I didn't see either body, or witness their actions.

[plantenough.livejournal.com]

I spoke briefly with Jane the night before she was found dead. She was... it seemed as if her brainwashing was faulty as well, just as it was for many of us that day.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

...Something here is breaking, if a high-profile drone wasn't kept under control. Their hold on all of us might be severely weakening.

[plantenough.livejournal.com]

That's what I believe, too. On that day, they attempted to brainwash us all, and it couldn't hold. They can't contain us all.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

That gives me an idea, and it's excellent news. It could be connected to the opening of the highway; they keep bringing us here, and more and more keep getting droned, but there are fresh new minds all the time. It doesn't add up. Why fill the town further when it can't control all of it as it is? Maybe they have to make their town bigger in order to do so.

[plantenough.livejournal.com]

...This is very intriguing. Please, do go on.

[No, really, she missed out on the highway and she was all the info.]

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking there might be a way to overload the system, either by filling it beyond capacity or by inducing another mass droning after doing so - it might break the droning on everyone in town. Can you imagine the kind of cleanup they'd have to do?

[plantenough.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like this idea. I believe it's very plausible, and even if we were to fail, it would still cause them trouble. It would be worth it no matter what the outcome.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

The only question is how. We'd have to somehow figure out how to trigger the automatic droning en masse, and that usually involves murder, which would overall just decrease the number of drones total. I doubt we can get them to do it manually; they know the risks.

[plantenough.livejournal.com]

Surely there are other ways of misbehaving that would cause them to act. It would take a fair amount of organization to cause mischief on the scale needed, of course. The other option is to find out how they do it in the first place, and to my knowledge, no one has been successful in that regard yet.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, there was Fourth of July, the um, truth thing that came after, a-and then the whole ordeal with Jane Smith and Grady. What do you want to hear first?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Jane and Grady, if you please. I didn't witness those firsthand.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

Neither did I, sadly, other than Grady being flung over the rec center fence... Ah, during Fourth of July when Jane - er, Samantha was apparently having problems and Grady took her away, I was... not in my right mind either.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Neither was I. It was as though I was droning, but noticed. Something must be going wrong with whatever is keeping us here.

[perfektsymmetry.livejournal.com]

R-Right. God, I felt like my brain was being torn in two. I-It was awful.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

It was the same with me. It was like my brain had two personalities, and both of them were confused. It was... almost impossible to tell which one was right.