un: f.s. | text

[fortitudosalutis]

This gig come with an armory or not?

Comments

[westcoasts]

george romero. the living dead.

[fortitudosalutis]

we don’t call them that
But yeah

[westcoasts]

wait, you don't know the term 'zombie', but you've watched night of the living dead?

( missing the fact that it's not, in fact, what carver said. )

none of those.

there were some sirens in the maze, though.

[fortitudosalutis]

great
That’s just fucking great

[ Now he really does have a migraine. ]

[westcoasts]

you're gonna have to explain to me how a lack of zombies is a bad thing, pal.

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Exactly none of this shit makes sense. Childishly, he resents that none of the old rules will apply, either. But that’s not something you say. Nobody likes a goddamn whiner. ]

it’s not
Probably
Just explains a lot

[ There is the nagging question of whether or not he’s still got the virus in him. If he’s going to turn if he dies. Only God knows. ]

[westcoasts]

look, this place is pretty

( mm, what's the best word to use here? 'uncomfortable' does it a disservice, underplays how fucked up all of it is, how much clint thinks they're not being told, how much clint thinks they're being jerked around and fed bullshit, but—.

but he also imagines that echo, if not aurora, is reading every single word of every single conversation — or at least, has them flagged or whatever, however tech like this works. it doesn't mean he's shy about expressing his opinion, but it does mean that he wants to make what he thinks evident.

(for better or worse.) )

it's far from home for everyone i've spoken to.
here and there, there's people that's familiar, things that are familiar.
probably doesn't mean anything - i think aurora/echo's just doing it to set us all on edge and for the people it doesn't set on edge, make them trust her.

either way, i think the best bet is to set expectations at the door.
otherwise you're just gonna be seeing patterns where patterns don't exist.
and that's a great way to end up wondering where the fuck it all went wrong.

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Unhappily, Carver has to admit it’s good advice. Some of the old rules won’t apply, can’t apply, to a world without rotters. But in the same breath, many of Pope’s lessons will. This is a war, same as all those that came before. And the trick is to adapt before you die.

In that way, it’s like being in the Valley all over again.

Carver sits with that for a while. There are things he could say, but he knows better than to trust an open network even after all those years on the road. ]

you got a name?

[westcoasts]

clint barton.
hawkeye.

take your pick.

[fortitudosalutis]

that a callsign?

[ Watch him scramble for any hint of the familiar. ]

[westcoasts]

yep.
all part of the day job.

( sent first, then—. )

there's two of us.
so stick with clint if you're after me.

unless all you want is someone who can shoot arrows real good.

[fortitudosalutis]

there’s two of you
With a day job that involves shooting arrows at people

[ Why. Why is this his life now? ]

[westcoasts]

says the guy asking about zombies

[fortitudosalutis]

the world ended
People kill each other with knives now

[westcoasts]

( "well, that explains why you want guns" gets typed and then deleted, followed by a series of "...". )

other people are the bigger problem when there's zombies?

( —no, wait. )

don't answer that.

so am i stuck calling you "f.s", or do you have a name, too?

[fortitudosalutis]

Carver

[westcoasts]

( a pause. )

that's nominative determinism, right?

[fortitudosalutis]

that’s my surname

1/2

[westcoasts]

( that doesn't mean it's not nominative determinism, buddy. )

2/3 sorry

[westcoasts]

( or irony? maybe it's irony. )

[westcoasts]

yeah, no, that explains why you want guns.

[fortitudosalutis]

im pragmatic like that.

[westcoasts]

( clint 2 clint: well, you'd have to be with a name like 'carver'. )

glad we cleared that up.