dear_mun | voicetesting

You do realise they don't have to answer you, right?

And that would definitely not win my cooperation.

[Why hello to you too, Cole. You seem to know a lot about this. Don't worry though, she's not suspicious of you. Yet, anyway.]

[Oh, that's good to hear.]

They don't need your co-operation, either.

[As it should be.]

[She definitely doesn't like this bit, though, and folds her arms, not looking very convinced at all.]

So what, they just do whatever they please with my life and I'm supposed to accept that?

I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice. None of us do.

[!]

Well, this day just keeps getting better.

[All the sarcasm. Fine then. Interrogation time.]

Could this be your friends' idea of a joke?

[Maybe the Underworld celebrates April 1st. Who knows.]

Hell if I know. I've been in this guy's head for so long, I just sorta lean back and accept it.

Alright then.

[The fake cheerful tone suggests she'll definitely be back to question the matter later, but for the moment agrees to just go with it.]

So... I assume this can affect anyone. Would my sisters happen to be around, too?

I've bumped into a couple here and there. They're pretty hard to find.

..."into a couple"? Is that supposed to mean there's more than two of them?

Hell if I know. This is pretty complicated.

...

You don't say.

PRUE? [Just watch Phoebe's mouth drop open]

[She'll watch, but forgive her for not quite getting the surprise. She doesn't exactly remember being dead or anything.]

Phoebe! It's good to see you.

[Pause. As long as it doesn't mean you got here through looking for trouble, young lady. Because she still has no idea how she got here herself.]

Why are you here?

You know, I have no idea. There are these people who call themselves muns... I dunno what they do, but -oh, I was hoping Piper and - [a slight pause]you - you, of course - were going to work it out.

[Is Phoebe's grin a wee bit bigger than usual? She's just gonna keep grinning through the confusion, and definitely not mention Paige]

People? Are they supposed to be the innocents, then, because they don't seem like it so far, that's for sure.

[She'll let that grin slide for now, but she's taking a note of it. The good news is, they're all apparently here! So this mess can be taken care of. Whatever it is.]

...Piper's here, too? Is she alright? Are you alright?

Me, I'm fine... I don't quite know what's going on; this 'mun' keeps debating where to send me. Keeps going on about games... But hasn't done anything yet. I think that's a good thing...and I don't think these people are at all innocent.
I haven't seen Piper yet, either. Or Cole, or Leo or anyone. I don't think they can hear us. Have you tried calling Leo?

Good.

[She rubs her temples, things just got more complicated. Well, at least Phoebe is here and unharmed, they should be able to find Piper... unless she's not in this funny world after all. She just... needs to finish wrapping her own mind around it.]

Funny you mentioned that. I've actually seen both Leo and Cole around here. I don't think calling will work, though... this place is just weird.

It really is... You've seen Cole? [Phoebe definitely doesn't sound pleased about that] Could be him behind it all?

But what do we do until we can figure it out? I mean, do we play along or?
[Come on, Prue, you ALWAYS have a plan].

[Oh Phoebe, what you just said would actually make sense. Even if with Prue's knowledge, you believe Cole has changed for the better, there's just something...]

I'm... not sure how to say this, but -- I think it could.

[Serious look.]

I don't know how to explain it, but I'm quite sure there's more than one Cole here. It's as if I can feel this extra presence.

[Doesn't sound good at all. Right, what should they do now? Cole wanted them to just sit around and accept this -- how convenient -- but there's no way they can let someone take control of their lives like this. Not without a fight.]

Right, we need to find out as much as we can about all this, and find Piper. Something this big will probably require a Power of Three spell to get out. Unless...

Unless...

[Phoebe's motioning with her hands. Come on, Prue. Nothing like being slow, Phoebe knows, but....COME ON!]

And what do you mean, extra presence? Cole can't be two people, can he?

[Unless Prue means Balthazar... but they got rid of him... didn't they?]

[Right. She grimaces a little bit; it's a troublesome thought.]

Unless it doesn't exist here. From what I understand of these 'muns', they see all this as some kind of a... writing hobby. So we might have to finish the story, or whatever it is they're writing, in order to go home.

[Could be difficult, but they can manage. Right?]

I don't know, can't he? I was talking to him, normally, but there was also this... echo. As if he was also in the same mind that I was. Two places at once... And it's still there. I've no idea what it means, but it could definitely be something demonic.

That does sound demonic... remember when Piper was convinced she was in an asylum? And she kept hearing us as echoes? It could be like that...

[The book thing is no problem. Phoebe suddenly smiles again. She's actually done that before, with the spy book, and though she goes to tell Prue just this, she manages to stop herself just in time. So her first word might sound a wee bit scrambled.]

Well, if writing's what these people want, I can do that. Nice, quick 'The end' and we should be going home. Right?

[She's not sure she remembers, but similar things definitely happened. It doesn't sound like something the Underworld couldn't pull off. But...]

But if the echoes are people trying to contact us from the real world, then all this can't be Cole's doing. ...unless that's what he wants us to think.

[This sounds just a little too complicated to be ended this simply, although Phoebe's apparent optimism does put a smile on Prue's face for a moment.]

That would be great. Although I don't think it will be that easy. We might not be able to do that unless the 'mun' agrees it is a good time to end it, and that would probably require completing some key point of... whatever this is.

"Well, this is ridiculous. My mun-thing doesn't even have a clue what the point is. Which is definitely helpful."

I know.

[She's just going to. Slap her palm across her forehead and think. There has to be something they're missing here. Something, anything... How are they supposed to complete something that they have no idea about?]

Maybe there's some sort of clue around here somewhere.

[She's going off to explore the world, whoops. She doesn't like being cornered to an out of ideas place and she's going to fight it, dammit.]

They always think they can get away with just making things up, huh? Mine can't seem to keep a standard factory-built system running but seems to think she can just "blah blah blah gaming reference blah blah blah typing typing" and convince anyone she's me with the hacking and the research?

[Giggle.]

It'd almost be insulting if it weren't so silly.

[Wow, hey, missy, too much information. Although at least it doesn't sound too out of place, that is always promising.]

Exactly. I take it your... person is utterly incompetent in their attempts too, then. Any idea why they're doing this?

Utterly. She has no idea what she's doing. And I'm not entirely sure on the motivations... or maybe should say I'm really not sure I want to know?

[Sigh. Now that just sounds great.]

The least they could do is pick out someone their own size and not mess up.

[Frowns.]

That's what I've been hearing, but... Are you saying you're fine with someone just upping and taking control of your life? That doesn't sit so well with me.

I'm not saying I'm fine with it!

[She's quite emphatic about that.]

It's completely gross! The way they just talk about us like we're some kind of puppets for them to move around and manipulate. I'm saying that... I think the motivations are a little too freaky for me to even want to wrap my head around.

Yeeeah, I can get that.

[The puppet concept is pretty new to her, but it makes sense now that she thinks about it. A bit of a morbid sense. Ugh.]

But we should try anything we can think of to get out of here before just resigning to fate like that. I'd bet that's exactly what those people want.

Actually in my experience the villain likes it when you flop around and flail at them. Resigned people are way less fun to torture.

[She blinks.]

I mean, that's what it seems like. I've been kidnapped a time or two, it's kind of like that.

[Prue is just going to assume that these kidnappings were mere normal things because yes, it actually does work that way in those cases. Not so much when it's something magical though, and this feels magical enough.]

[She puts a slightly exaggerated smile on, actually looking a little strict in the process.]

Well, it seems things are done slightly differently where I'm from. Of course you need a plan first, but as for resigning, it usually happens a moment and half before you are dead.

[She gives a bit of an irritated nod.]

I think I'll take my chances with the... flailing, thanks.

I think you missed my point.

[She grins.]

You're being all direct about it. It's really more effective to play along until the right time, in my experience.

[She grins a little brighter.]

Then you get them in the back while they're not looking, right?

[Somehow, the words sound very wrong in her bright tone. And she laughs as if she knows it.]

[Prue just continues looking not impressed. In fact, that whole manner of smiling about backstabbing makes her suspicious. Could the girl be a demon? It's not like they never tried to outsmart the enemies, but it usually boiled down to a face-to-face fight in the end.]

That requires time and that's usually a luxury we can't afford. Besides, being all sneaky rarely works for the better.

voicetesting

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