ever since you’ve been my ace of hearts -

[uprisenheart]

WHO: Open to all Dualizens
WHAT: A heart-to-heart with the Heart
WHERE: A run-down warehouse on the outskirts of town.
WHEN: Sept. 21-22
WARNINGS: Please use these in comment subject lines if applicable!



Random text messages happen sometimes, though maybe not as often in Dualis as where you’re from. But there’s one today, and this one comes to your inbox from the number 432-78, which is definitely not a standard phone number. If you open it, there’s an image file, one you likely recognize - an anatomical heart. You’ll need to zoom in on the image a bit, because there’s a short message written along one of the veins, and it’s very small: LET’S TALK.

Below the image is a shortlink, and if you click it, you’ll be taken to a page that is blank except for one of those “Prove you’re not a robot!” messages with a box to check. Once checked, a series of six images appears - five are cartoon hearts, and the sixth is the same anatomical heart illustration that led you to this page. The instructions to pass through this virtual gate are to “Click on the Heart,” and choosing any image except the anatomical illustration redirects to an error message that bricks your phone until you perform a hard reboot.

Choosing the correct image takes you to a page of strange clusters of colored dots. If you look closely (and aren’t color blind), you’ll be able to read the real message: TOMORROW, AT SUNSET and a set of coordinates. A blinking banner scrolls along the top of the page and warns THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 10 MINUTES, and the 10 counts down after one minute to 9, then 8, and so on. It’s probably a good idea to write this information down somewhere else!

The inbox message also deletes itself 10 minutes after it’s been opened. All unopened messages are auto-erased 12 hours after the original sent timestamp.

If you happen to be interested in following this rabbit down the rabbit hole, plug in those coordinates on your phone’s Dualis GPS app, and you’ll be directed to a run-down, empty warehouse on the outskirts of town. Be sure to take the time estimate to get there into consideration!

The warehouse is mostly dark inside, lit only by sparse flickering overhead lights; it’s dusty, empty except for the people gathered. When the sunlight outside has all but disappeared behind the horizon, a burst of loud electrical humming echoes through the warehouse, and the lights shut off. All electronic devices inside the perimeter of the warehouse have also been disabled, albeit temporarily.

Comments

[notalive]

Connor inclines his head very slightly to Nick, someone he doesn't recognise at all, so he'll follow whatever his partner's judgement is about her. He needs some kind of judgement about who these people are, because right now they're working from nothing at all. At least Markus and his group never hid who they were.

Never had to. It wasn't as if any of them had lives to go back to or homes that could be raided.

"We've seen a revolution before," he says, indicating Hank. "People resort to drastic measures when they're afraid - and when they've got power, they use that power drastically too.

"Our revolution still succeeded. Without killing any innocent people," he adds pointedly. They can elicit sympathy all they want, but Connor spent his first three months of life under orders to kill his own people if CyberLife thought it necessary. He's not doing that again.

[uprisenheart]

Nick gives Connor a nod of acknowledgement, but this isn't really the time or the place for a more in-depth conversation of the personal sort. Later, for sure, but right now she has a mission - to be one of the more level-headed revolutionaries in the room, and that's definitely not a role she ever imagined for herself.

"We think you're right," she admits to Hank. "We think they still have that virus, but we have no proof, because we can't find where they're storing it. That's one of the things we need help with - finding it and destroying it, so no one else dies from it. Personally, I don't trust their 'vaccines' any farther than I could drop-kick an Iteration. For all we know, they're really just infecting people with smallpox or whatever."

Because that's certainly a thing that oppressors in recorded history have done, at least where she's from.

As far as Connor's concerns go, Nick offers what she can as far as reassuring words: "We haven't killed anyone, and we don't plan to." Marie interjects something to the effect of Even if we did, they're certainly not innocent, and Nick gives her a harsh shushing, then continues: "The bombs were probably not the best way to go, but what she said is true - they were meant as a wake-up call. We tried other stuff, and it didn't make an impression, so we tried something else. But we're not asking any of you to hurt anyone. We just wanna shut down the machines before they shut us down, permanently. We want to go home."

[sociallychallenged]

"Been thinking about taking a vaccination. Been talking to a guy about saving blood samples from people when they're healthy. I figured it'd help for him to have one from after the vaccination, and Connor can't catch anything from me."

Lucky for him, really. But it is Hank putting himself in the line of danger again, standing in front of others at the door. There's no reason to be super suspicious of this, it's true, but any antibodies they could be valuable to research. Also it might be suspicious if he refuses.

"People aren't gonna remember anything good from that, you know? It might get attention, but they'll see your words and what'll flash through their mind is that explosion and blood. That's how bombs work.

"Every decent protest I've seen that's actually worked is shutting down utilities to residences or businesses, those internet attacks that shut down social media sites, those interrupted broadcasts. Those did work and have worked because they take away the places people can hide in." Strange for a cop to be saying this shit, but there's a method to his madness. "What are the chances that the Head can deviate? I'm sorta hazy on the AI might work." That second question is directed at Connor.

[notalive]

Connor's face doesn't move when Hank mentions a vaccination - he doesn't even look at Hank, still watching Nick and Marie - but it takes an effort to do it. It's true that he won't catch anything, and that he'd probably do it himself if he were organic because he knows it's necessary, but selfishly, he'd rather somebody, anybody else did it.

"You put a bombs in the middle of crowds," he says sceptically to them both. "Nobody was killed, but not because you were trying not to."

The people might come back, but there must be a chance that they won't - almost as bad as planning to kill is simply not caring whether they do or not. Even if this has his sympathy, sympathy isn't an offer to help.

"It's been like this a long time," he says to Hank doubtfully. "If it was an android, I would guess if it was going to deviate it would have done that already, especially watching its entire population die." Including possibly its creator, Connor suspects - right in front of it. He has no proof it's the Head's memory he has in his mind, but it seems a pretty sure thing to him.

[zwischenzugs]

Nick opens her mouth to say something, but she doesn't have a chance - she's cut off by the young blond man who's taken a seat at the edge of the platform.

"If you're really planning to let them inject you with whatever they're passing off as a vaccine, you're either suicidal or a complete moron," he says to Hank, dryly. He's clearly not one to mince words, but that's all he has to say on the subject.

"It's easy to sit around and hypothesize about a bloodless resistance, but there comes a point where you need to be willing to get your hands dirty, or else nothing will be accomplished. Sometimes if you intend to reach your objective, you need to compromise, do whatever it takes. Maybe in a perfect world, shutting down their networks would be the way to go, but if this were a perfect world, we wouldn't need to fight this war in the first place."

[sociallychallenged]

"Glad you thought our world was fucking perfect. Didn't know you were such an optimist. As for the blood? I gotta do what I gotta do," He sounds as though his mind's made up. "If it knocks me down for a little while, I'm just a human. I can't offer much." All he can do is ask questions. "If my guy can figure out what's up with the blood samples, it might tell us something and someone needs to do it."

But that war thing?

He can't do it. He doesn't say anything, but he can't deal with seeing another six-year-old with shrapnel in them- the memories of Cole and some bad incidents in the teens and early twenties are still fresh with him. But they'll never have that chance for a fair trial among their peers, and honestly if they're being driven to this they deserve the chance to go home as they see fit.

"I heard there are limitations to how far people can teleport or what things can move through. Would it be possible that the Head is underground or well out of that projection range? Because I'd be fuckin' shocked if the thing is just sitting its actual damn self out in the open for all to see."

[notalive]

"We're standing here telling you it works." Connor stares flatly at this guy who apparently wants to pass judgement without bothering to listen, and Connor isn't about to stand there and let anybody talk over him, not anymore. Besides, he's automatically bristled at those first words towards Hank, particularly 'suicidal'. "We've experienced a successful revolution, which is more than this group has done so far."

Sure, he doesn't know where all the individuals in the group came from and what they've done, but right now? Bombing hasn't worked out for them in Dualis.

"Did you invite us here to tell us we're wrong or to ask for our help?"

[zwischenzugs]

“I can do both,” he says, with a smirk curling underneath his mask. “It’s not that hard to multitask.”

He shifts how he’s sitting to lean forward, allowing both legs to dangle over the edge of the platform, gloved fingers wrapped around the ledge. “If you think you can do better with a bloodless revolution, prove it. Spend time gathering information, work up a detailed plan, present it to us the next time we make contact. This is why we’re here, in case you forgot - to ask for your help.”

[sociallychallenged]

"And I think I got the start of an idea. One I think I woulda tried anyway. That's why I'm asking these questions. It's- it's a start."

He'll tell Connor, later. Connor would probably understand more than anyone. It's tragic that they can't make the Iterations feel. Not yet. Not without a massive change in programming. But what Hank can do, slowly, gradually, is lay the seed of the idea that the people who do feel are better to rely on than the mechanized enforcers. That's easy enough to do, he thinks. Ideas phrased like they should make you proud spread faster than ideas that make you ashamed.

"Look, If I make it onto missing persons, can you give some of the names of people that haven't come back so I can slowly dig up more info on 'em and the people around 'em."

He needs to come out of here with something he can use.

[notalive]

Maybe there's no reason for him to expect at least respect from somebody who's asking him for help, but also maybe he got used to Markus. But the days are gone when he had to stand there and silently put up with condescension - and even in those days, he wasn't good at that.

But for the moment, Connor just stares flatly at the young man before silently returning his attention to Hank.

At least one of them has an idea - what's Connor going to be able to suggest here, breaking into wherever the Head is, freeing an army of Iterations and bringing them to the city centre?

And it's galling to have watched androids peacefully convince humans they deserve their freedoms only to be told by (apparently) a human that if the positions were switched, not even the innocent could expect mercy. And he doesn't expect to feel quite so...heated about it, about all of this.

"I don't have a plan for you. I shouldn't have to convince you that it's worth trying to keep people safe," he finally says harshly. "But I can tell you that public opinion of you is more important than you think it is. They need to know what you want, they need to know that what the Head is doing is wrong because they might not realise that. They need a reason to sympathise with you, and if they don't have one you'll be the villains here."

And the public know what to do with a villain - and the Head will be more than happy to oblige if the Heart annoys it enough.

[zwischenzugs]

"We already know what's happened to the disappeared. But if you want to waste your time on investigating what we already know to fluff up your own ego, be my guest. We can give you a list of names."

Condescension is his usual mode - Mello's used to being the smartest person in the room, the most prepared, the one with the best ideas. The fact that none of this current crop of the kidnapped has suggested any better ideas is disappointing, but not exactly surprising.

"Public opinion is simply that - opinion," he says to Connor, a little sharper. Where he's from, public opinion is that a global mass murderer is doing a good thing, something with which he definitely does not agree. "Villain is a point of view. Nothing here is as black and white as you seem to think it is."

[sociallychallenged]

"What, are you fucking stupid?" Hank's been trying to handle this professionally and directly, looking for answers to serious questions. Mello's dismissal of just looking into it is abrasive.

"Yes, I wanna look into it. Your word means actually jack shit to me. All you've done is get up here, ask for help, and repeat that, 'yeah, things are pretty shitty. Here is what I know. Next to goddamn nothin'.' Only a special sort of asshole says, 'trust me because I said so.' I wouldn't be any better than the blind ass idiots that just follow the fluff articles. Consider that the next time you start raggin' on someone for their ego problem."

Maybe it's a bit of an ego problem for Hank, too, and to a certain extent, he can tolerate being talked down to. But blindly buying into this shit? Nah. He's not going to.

"Considering you're also fuckin' telling me that you invited everyone here despite knowing it could put their lives at risk-" especially if they're cops taking a huge risk in even showing up "-you're gonna fuckin' talk to us like that? Nick's been great but you other guys can eat shit. You wanna make their deaths worth something? You tell me who the fuck they were. Or not. I'll look into those missing people with or without your fuckin' help."

Hank has hard limits and not much pride. But having half a not to just follow someone else's bravado is definitely one thing he's got pride in.

[notalive]

Connor’s had reasons to decidedly dislike people before - and he's taken them. Realising he didn't like some humans and did like others is one of several ways his system destabilised before it even totally deviated from his assigned programming.

So as Hank rips into this young man, Connor finds it hard not to feel just a little bit pleased about it.

"If you need me to speak more literally so that you can follow my argument, I can." And he finds it hard not to enjoy talking down to someone like this. Just a little. "The public have an opinion and you might not think that's worth paying attention to, but it is. If you give people reason to think you're the bad guys - the villains - and the media here are allowed to create that narrative around you, which they will be because it suits the Head's purposes, that public dislike will intensify.

"Lies will be spread about you, which will go totally unchallenged, even in private, because you're terrorists. You blew up that park, you nearly killed the mayor. Of course you're committing other atrocities. This is a police state and the media is an echo chamber, you can't afford to let that get too loud before you get your message out. If it does, people won't sympathise with your cause, they won't join you and they won't help you or even keep quiet when you need them to. Because even if they agree with the cause, people like you aren't worth risking everything for.

"Then people start to realise what kind of groups are involved with the terrorism. Some of the more recent batches of newcomers, the ones that still live in the dormitory. Can the city even trust the newcomers anymore? Maybe they should all be vetted before being set free in the city. Maybe all the people who arrived after a certain time should be rounded up. For public protection.

"I'll repeat this in case you missed it. I've seen a lot of this happen."

He didn't mean to talk this much. But it's the last thing he plans on saying about it. And he has no intention of joining anybody too short-sighted to pay attention to optics.

"If you're only dismissing us so you can keep believing you're smarter than we are, go ahead. You're smarter than me. But if you actually think taking public opinion seriously is black and white thinking, then I don't accept you as a leader of anything, smarter or not."