he moved back in send help

[alwayswatches_noeyes]

helloagain

wa ited

solong.

t o return

FOUND YOU

01110011 01110100 01100001 01111001

regards

Comments

[alwayswatches_noeyes]

[The minds of humans were interesting, for how individual some of them could be. A good lot of it was the same song and dance, with comradery, fellowship, the things they sought out in their lives outside the infection. The Operator wasn't interested in that. He was more intrigued by the individual fighting of each one, the way they chose to try and combat him (man alive, Evan had been something else, coming at him with a baseball bat).

He looks down at his handiwork, watching the young girl carefully. This was where courage landed you. This was where you ended up, if you resisted.

Or perhaps in Tim or Alex's cases, if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

His voice came as a soothing whisper, almost alluring.]

findmore

bringmore

tome.

youwillbe

rewarded.

[endlos]

N-

[No. But there's not enough time to get that second letter out before she staggers violently to one side. She shakes her head, trying to clear the static out of it. Then there's a nod. One reluctant nod.]

[Evan fought with a baseball bat. Robert and Zero and Amelia believed that if you said it could be defeated enough times, it would come to pass. Zeke had a shotgun. All of those things, and it amounted to nothing in the end.]

N- n-

[Even as the girl nods yes, she keeps trying to get that word out. No.]

[alwayswatches_noeyes]

[Ah, this is fairly remarkable in itself. That last shred of human autonomy, that final bout of steeled up will, salvaged for such an occasion as this. Humans had fascinating ways of guarding themselves, the Operator could almost appreciate it. At least, he could for the entertainment purposes.

Still, insubordination wasn't something the Operator could ever get used to. He had taught plenty of proxies this very same lesson.]

whatwillbe

willbe

mychild

[endlos]

["What will be, will be." Que sera, sera. That earns a particularly unhinged-sounding laugh. But that's all. The constant attempts to refuse die out in a few moments. The girl's eyes flick up to look at the Operator. Then she looks back down at the ground.]

[Apologetic.]

[alwayswatches_noeyes]

[And there it is, a true moment to savor for any predator of the Operator's caliber. That moment of surrender, that moment of fighting. No use resisting, she learned, as they all eventually did. It was a lesson the abomination enjoyed teaching often.

His bone white fingers, growing to inhuman lengths, ran over the top of her hair as if praising a favored pet. Soothing, cool static followed in the wake of his touch.

The closest he would come to kindness in the ones he broke and controlled.]

[endlos]

[She twitches once, a full-body shudder more akin to a seizure than anything else. She staggers a few steps forward and shakes her head to clear out any lingering cobwebs. For a moment, she thinks to run. Run... run where?]

[She has to find someone. Find them and bring them here. She doesn't want to, but it told her to. And she won't- can't- defy what it says. It'll just hunt her down again. Like that night in the woods.]

...find more.