ᴙ 06 [Action/Written]

[teenwonder]

[Missions are stupid. They're harrowing and dangerous and only ever give volunteers a glimpse into the world outside the Luceti compound. And Robin's spent a month working in one, providing services for evil people and feeling dirty the entire time.

So naturally there's an experiment when he gets back. Because of course there's an experiment. It's hard to research current events with all the chaos happening everywhere, leaving Robin feeling painfully uninformed in terms of his usual stalking accuracy.

It's customary for Robin to filter things when he uses the journal. It's a tool of their captors, and important to keep as low of a profile as possible when utilizing its services. The problem he hasn't quite realized yet is that the journal has helpfully autocorrected the spelling in his proper names, effectively breaking the filters and leaving his messages open for all to see. It's annoying and something he's having difficulty fixing. How nice to be back in Luceti.]

[(Broken) filter to Aang]
Sorry for cleaving without notice. Hack now. We can lick up your training when you're ready.

[(Broken) filter to Cyborg]
Hey Cubist,
Seems lime you're here. Don't bitter looking for me. Ill be around.

[....Okay, that didn't go well at all. He'll huff and try to make a beeline for Community House 5 instead, sidestepping the chaos overtaking most of town. He might get sidetracked through someone's garden or by colliding into an exceptionally frantic person-running-late, but eventually he'll make it back to his apartment.

He might make a few door-related missteps though. Apologies if he's stepped into your bathroom or out of your bedroom closet.]

Comments

[Written/Action?]

[cannoneer]

[Okay. That's a filter from him. He thinks he has a good guess who, but...]

... Cubist?

[Well if Robin doesn't answer, Cyborg isn't hard to find. He's in the plaza. Tasting the delicacies of a bacon-flavored lamp post.]

[Action]

[teenwonder]

Journals are malfunctioning.

[Robin answers from just behind Cyborg. No preface or explanation. He's just there. Lurking. Like a hero's gonna do.]

How long has this experiment been happening? [And HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE, POSSIBLY-FAKE-TEAMMATE? Robin doesn't trust the dates on the entries that happened when he was gone.]

: [Action]

[cannoneer]

Since yesterday.

[Cyborg turns around with a lamp post in his hand. A bite already taken out of it.]

Nice to see you too. 'Bout time you showed up.

[Action]

[teenwonder]

So it'll be going on for a few more days still. I guess that means there's something to look forward to.

[And knowing experiments, Cyborg's officially due to grow an extra head soon now that he's eaten something strange. Fantastic.]

I didn't realize I'd have a welcome party waiting for me. You didn't need me anyway -- people obviously helped you settle in. [Sob Aang why do you not filter correspondence HAS HE TAUGHT YOU NOTHING D:]

[Action]

[cannoneer]

Yeah. Seems you've made a lot of friends.

[Deadpan. Because Aang? Friendly, but Aang would be friends with chipmunks too. Rogue on the other hand, not so much of a fan.]

Avoid the doors, by the way. They ain't working right.

[Action]

[teenwonder]

[Yeah, he gets what that means. He's also missed that deadpan.]

You don't make friends with the people you're trying to save. That's not the way this works.

[Action]

[cannoneer]

You sure? Cuz I'm pretty sure we do that all the time, man.

[Heck, Cyborg has a quasi-canon, semi-girlfriend that's just a civilian. And someone they save.]

[Voice]

[savedtheworld]

[He had flipped open the journal to look for any tea-related entries, but this was a pleasant surprise. Robin's back. In his current state of mind, Aang pays little attention to the odd word choices.]

No problem, Robin. Welcome back! We can discuss this training over tea!

[Voice]

[teenwonder]

[That's actually for the best. The bizarre word choices made his message to Aang seem kind of bloody and horrible.]

That sounds great. Have you found tea from your world? [Aang's world can be really Asian sometimes. Robin assumes this involves a ceremony.]

[Voice]

[savedtheworld]

[Best hope he doesn't revisit the entry once the hat is gone.]

It shows up every now and then, but now I'm collecting all kinds of teas that I can find! Maybe I can find some for every world!

[Voice]

[teenwonder]

So you're throwing a tea party for it? [It's hard to dissociate that concept from a very small girl's hobby.]

[Voice]

[savedtheworld]

Yes! How did you guess? You'd be a welcome guest, yourself. I'm thinking two days from now! That'll give me enough time to find enough rooms with tea in it.

[Voice]

[teenwonder]

[... wat.]

It's going to take your two days to set up a tea party?

[ voice ]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara is finally back in her room and she is NEVER LEAVING IT AGAIN, /sob.

She flings herself onto her bed and grabs hold of it with all the determined sullenness she can muster after having door issues all day.

...but sooner or later that gets boring, and she reaches for her journal.

Oh look, ANOTHER entry that makes no sense... with a familiar picture displayed.]

Robin?

[Are you finally back, bro?]

[ voice ]

[teenwonder]

[DOORS YES. WHAT IS UP WITH DOORS TODAY.]

Hey, Katara. Did I miss anything interesting?

[ voice ]

[markofthebrave]

[Her tone is ridiculously dry and a little tremulous, just thinking back on everything.]

Oh, a few things.

[SOB. Like, the draft? Yeah, she was on that. And totally had to do something she hates in order to stay alive. Oh, and Sokka died on it, that was fun, learning about that afterwards (fortunately it was one of those temporary death deals). And, yeah, she found someone else she considers a friend, but she was completely dead, cleaved from sternum to spleen. Oh, and then one of her bff's lives imploded. And, by the way, she's apparently a grandmother now, and both her son and two granddaughters are in Luceti. Because did you know she marries Aang? GUESS WHAT, she knows now. Oh, and she also knows when Aang dies, and who the main villain for the new Avatar is, and that it has to do with that very thing that she hates so much.

...it's been a busy month and change.

Katara, of course, wants to talk about none of these things. But some of them, he'll discover on his own, through journal stalkage. Like just who Korra is. And Ikki pretty much announced her relationship to everyone over the journals. And her son? ...yeah, that was in there too.

Of course, with how screwy the journals are being, he might not have a chance to do proper stalkage for a while. But here is everything just in case.]

You missed my birthday party.

[ voice ] Ahaha I was stalking Ikki and Tenzin's posts when they happened >> BUT THANKS

[teenwonder]

[Katara's dry irony is one of the few things Robin missed about Luceti while he was away.]

Sorry to hear that. I'll have to make it up to you when the experiment's over.


Speaking of which, have you been able to get filters to work right? [ALL THIS TALKING ON AN OPEN LINE. WHAT. WHAT IS IT EVEN.]

[ voice ]

[markofthebrave]

I haven't even bothered trying. The only time they seem even a little bit normal is when people are talking through them.

[But weird accents could probably strike at any time now. Or even rhyming couplets, which would be worse.

...but she does take this as a hint that she won't be getting much more of a talk out of him.]

I'm glad to hear that you're all right.

[And not all. Brainwashed like you were last time you got back from one of these.]

[ voice ]

[teenwonder]

[It helps that he didn't try escaping this time. But there were some guard-types side-eying the hell out of him, so apparently he did a good job on his last time out? He's got no memory of it.]

Of course I am.

Are you at home? The windows aren't affected too, are they?

[action] /rockets here at the speed of awesome

[selfhelp]

[As tiresome as these random bedroom teleportations are, one does still need clothes, right? So it is with a sigh that Billy heads over to his closet to get himself dressed for the day, but it opens before he can even catch the doorknob.

Oh. There is a Robin in his closet.

....

Oh my god there's a Robin in his closet what does he do.]

[action] HI THERE

[teenwonder]

[Oh good. It's a Billy. That means he's at least in the right building this time. Robin has been jumping around from random place to random place and it's grating his nerves. He'll brush past his impromptu host, half-grumbling his apology.]

Sorry. Experiment. You know how it is.

[action] OMG YOU TAGGED 8D

[selfhelp]

[Wow, he looks pointedly less surprised than Billy. That's... good. Um.

Billy scuffs a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling underdressed in his pajamas, so he grabs a jacket from the open closet and tags along behind Robin. He's not stalking, honest- he's just seen so many foiled escape attempts to want to try helping instead.]

Yeah, I know... done that myself plenty this week. Have you tried the window?

[action] I TAGGED ARE YOU PROUD OF ME?

[teenwonder]

[Surprise is for people who haven't been walking into random people's homes for the last almost-an-hour.] I tried a few of them. Some are part of the experiment, some aren't. It's a fifty-fifty shot.

[He doesn't object to the stalking though. How long can you keep up, Billy?]

[action] SUPER PROUD

[selfhelp]

[As long as Robin doesn't really backflip out the window or something, he's golden. Billy eyes the doorway to his bedroom dubiously. He's still not public about the whole super powers thing, but this is Robin. He's the last guy anyone would expect to toss the information around.]

Did you, ah- just want me to teleport you to your place? It might work better than chancing the door.

[action]

[teenwonder]

Powers are generally affected during experiments. Have you tried teleporting since it started? [It's not that Robin doesn't trust the offer. It's more that he doesn't trust anything.]