Moonshadows (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
moonshadows) wrote2013-03-14 09:00 am
moonshadows) wrote2013-03-14 09:00 am
Self-indulgent crap 1
"What am I looking at?" Jack Morrison asked, eyeing the console warily.
Winston fidgeted. "It's...using a modification of the slipstream engine, we have opened a stable connection to...uh...what seems to be a parallel universe."
"It looks like a messaging program."
"It does. And, uh, there's someone on the other end. I thought...you should be the one to make contact."
Jack took a deep breath before touching the interface and opening up a window with 'Ryxl'. Hello, he typed, noting that his handle was apparently 'Jeikkichan'.
The cursor flashed a few times before words appeared, forest-green in a rounded font. Who the fuck is this?
Jack looked at Winston. Winston shrugged.
Why would you ask that? Jack typed slowly, eyebrows raised.
If you're a porn bot, came the confusing response, you can just fuck right off.
"Porn bot?" Winston asked. "Uh...on second thought, I think I'd rather not know."
I'm not a porn bot, Jack typed. He was not expecting the response he got.
HOKAY LISTEN THE FUCK UP! YOU ARE GOING TO DPS VERY, VERY SLOWLY!
Jack raised his hands in disavowal.
AND BY SLOWLY, the other person typed, I MEAN FUCKING SLOW! IF YOU GET AGRO, IT MEANS YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE 50 DKP BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK TO DO!
"Do I even want to know?" Gabe said, having slipped into the room while Jack and Winston watched the bizarre profanity appear on the screen.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Jack replied.
AND WATCH THE FUCKING TAIL!
Gabriel frowned. "This seems familiar."
IF YOU GET KICKED INTO THE WHELPS IT MEANS YOU LOSE 50 DKP AGAIN
"For not being where the fuck you were supposed to be," Gabriel murmured as the same words appeared on the screen. "There is no agro reset. This is the Onyxia Wipe."
Jack rolled his eyes. "More of your outdated pop-culture crap?"
Gabriel reached out to the keyboard. MORE DOTS! I DON'T SEE ENOUGH DOTS! 'K, STOP DOTS.
The cursor blinked. Okay, seriously, who the fuck is this? You're not a porn bot, and Jake's been dead for years.
Jack slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Reyes, you've successfully made contact with someone from a parallel universe."
"Thanks," Gabriel muttered. "Now what?"
"Introduce yourself."
Gabriel.
Another few seconds of the cursor blinking. The archangel? Shouldn't you be Michael?
Hey, don't look at me - I just walked in. Jack's the one who doesn't appreciate the classic Onyxia Wipe.
"Thanks," Jack muttered, ignoring the shit-eating grin he was getting.
No fucking way.
"See, Jack? Even whoever-this-is thinks my 'outdated pop-culture crap' is awesome."
Jack sighed and reached for the keyboard again. My name is Jack Morrison. That was Gabriel Reyes who recognized your reference.
No shit, came the immediate response. Ask him what the fox says.
Jack quirked an eyebrow at Gabriel. "What does the-"
"What does the fox say?" Gabe sang enthusiastically.
"I'm sorry I asked." Please don't encourage him. He's bad enough by himself.
Sorry, Jack. I'm gonna need some proof that you are who you say you are.
That had all three of them looking at each other uneasily.
What kind of proof? Gabriel typed.
Describe Gabriel's sexuality.
Eyebrows all around raised. Winston coughed uncomfortably.
Gabriel gestured Jack to the keyboard. "Go ahead, answer the question," he said, grinning.
Trying and failing to keep the color out of his cheeks, Jack typed, "I don't give a fuck what you identify as, if you want to suck my dick, go for it."
Good. Question for Gabriel now, and be honest.
"Fuck," Gabe muttered under his breath. Alright, shoot.
How old were you when you got the scars on your face?
Fourteen.
Winston let out a low whistle. "It would seem that whoever we have contacted knows quite a bit about us."
Jack elbowed Gabriel aside. Hey, what's Gabe's birthday? He won't tell us.
16th of Never, came the response.
Jack frowned. I'm serious.
So am I. February 30th.
"Hey!"
Beside him, Gabe chuckled. "I don't know who you found, but I like them."
Winston reached over for the console. How do you know so much about us?
The cursor flashed. All your secrets are belong to Sombra.
Three frowns. Who's Sombra? Winston typed.
That depends. What year is it for you?
Jack reached for the console. 2065. What year is it for you?
Okay, so Sombra may not exist as such yet for you. Hold on, doing math...
More awkward, uncertain looks were exchanged.
Yeah, no, Sombra's still organic. She's an orphan in the Los Muertos gang in Dorado.
"They're trying to distract us," Jack said. You didn't answer my question. What year is it for you?
I'm in a different timeline and you haven't even asked my name, what difference does it make what year it is here?
"It's a fair point," Gabriel said. So what's your name?
A better question is: how much do you feel like fucking with the timeline? Because I know all kinds of shit that hasn't happened yet and some of it sucks massively, but things turn out okay. If I start telling you things, maybe some of it can be prevented, but I'm not sure how things would turn out.
Jack looked at Gabriel. "What do you think?"
"I'm not sure I trust it," he said, arms crossed. "Where's the ulterior motive?"
Gabriel wants to know what your ulterior motive is.
"Nice, Jack. Real subtle."
And without even asking how I know shit that happens in a different timeline.
Winston sighed. "They've got a point."
Okay, can we at least get some pronouns for you? Jack typed.
Right, sorry. Female pronouns.
"She's got a point," Winston said. "I'm positive we reached a different timeline. How is she able to know things that happen here?"
Gabriel frowned. "We don't really have any proof that she knows anything about us."
"But your scars..."
He waved Jack's objection away. "You could find that from school pictures."
Hello? the mysterious female typed.
Give us a moment, Jack typed back. We're debating your authenticity.
The cursor flashed. Fair enough. When Jack accepted the position of head of Overwatch, Gabriel was pissed NOT because he wanted it, but because Jack had gone behind his back, the UN had gone behind his back, and they'd talked Jack into it before even announcing that they were going to do it.
Winston and Jack both turned to look at Gabe.
Instead of answering, he reached for the console. And if they hadn't?
Gabriel probably would have sabotaged himself and pushed Jack into the spotlight, because he knew the job would be a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit, but the fact that they went behind his back...
Gabe shrugged. "Yeah. She's right."
"Okay." Jack rubbed his eyes. "So her information is accurate. That suggests that whoever Sombra is, she'll cross our paths sometime in the future."
Describe Sombra, Gabriel typed. But not who she is. Describe her impact on future events.
Oooh, good. Sombra is like the pawn that reaches the final row in chess and becomes a queen.
"Interesting," he murmured. Describe the final outcome as you know it without hinting at the events that led there.
Very good. I'm impressed. Let's see...The second generation of Overwatch is coming along fine. Jack's lost the naive golden retriever thing, he's more like grizzled dad. Gabriel's mellowed out a LOT.
"I'll believe that when I see it," Jack chuckled.
I mean, he's still a little shit, but he's got someone who mitigates that to a certain extent and he'd had some of the toxic masculinity bullshit dismantled.
"Hey!"
Jesse's liver is no longer in mortal peril. Um...shit, what's going on with Amelie?
Jack exchanged an alarmed look with Gabe. She's fine, he typed.
Good. Um...Tracer's got a lady-love. Genji's on speaking terms with his brother. Omnic-human relations are pretty good. Torbjörn's had the anti-omnic racism beaten out of him. Figuratively. Angela's made HUGE strides in developing prosthetics and replacing damaged organs.
Gabriel typed, What about Sombra?
She's happy. All the dreams she never let herself believe in have come true.
"Well, that's just slightly horrifying," he muttered.
Gabe, are you doing the "lost children" thing?
He jerked in alarm. "How does-"
"How does she know that?" Jack asked dryly. "What's the lost children thing?" What's the "lost children" thing?
"That's cheating," Gabriel protested.
Gabe watched Pulp Fiction too many times growing up.
Jack frowned. "That didn't answer the question."
"Sure it did, Jack." Yes, I'm doing the "lost children" thing. Where can I find Sombra?
You're sure you want to fuck with the timeline?
When have you known me to back down from a challenge? he typed, grinning in a way that made Jack groan.
Point. Okay, you're looking for a girl named Alessandra, born January first 2046. Los Muertos, like I said, and orphaned. She'll be heavily augmented but not visibly. Lessee...if you're trying to flush her out in person, bring Jesse as bait. He was her Obligatory Teenage Celebrity Crush and she's probably still got a sexuality past "just looking, thanks" so just parade him around and check out anyone who wants him to take her to a movie.
"Take her to a movie?" Winston asked in confusion.
Gabriel grunted. "She's working as a whore. Not unexpected. Got a last name for Alessandra?
Something starting with O. Her mom died in the first hours of the Massacre. If you think Gabriel doesn't like his birthday, that's nothing compared to her - literal trauma.
"Wait..." Gabriel scrolled up and winced. "January first. Jesus, poor kid." No shit. Okay, so I bring McCree and wave him around. What else?
The cursor blinked for a minute. She has a...sponsor. Said sponsor is highly reclusive and paranoid and wants revenge on whoever started the Omnic Crisis. She's going to be reluctant to leave Los Muertos unless you can provide her that information.
"That's going to be a problem," Jack muttered. "We don't have that information, but damn if I wouldn't love to get my hands on it myself."
I know you don't have that information, the mystery female typed, so listen up. A god program survived uncontained. He goes by Abram. He's the head of Talon. "Hire" Sombra to help you find and kill him.
"Fuck," Gabriel said. It summed up what they were all thinking.
Gabe? You need to fucking suck it up and not assume Jack's second-guessing you if he tries to talk about fishy orders, because Talon WILL use your temper against you. Jack? You need to remember that Gabe's your fucking FRIEND and get your head out of your ass when you're talking to him.
This time, it was Jack's turn to say, "Fuck." What happens if we don't?
The cursor blinked for what seemed to be forever.
Overwatch falls. It's blamed on Blackwatch. Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes are declared dead. It's a pretty horrific five years before things get straightened out.
"I'm gonna regret this," Gabriel growled. What happens to Gabriel Reyes?
Five years of sensory-deprivation hell being abused and blackmailed by Abram until Sombra finds a way to burn Talon down. Another...year and a half, maybe two, before he's recovered enough to go back to being Gabriel Reyes.
Gabriel scowled. What happens to Sombra?
She gives up her body and identity to go undercover in an omnic body. Gets into Talon, finds out that the ash-and-nanite construct was her childhood hero, figures out how to get him out and later, is instrumental in killing Abram. It takes her longer to take the plunge and go organic again, but she does.
"I know that look," Jack said warningly. "That's the look you had right before you sprang Jesse on me."
"Deal with it, Jack. I'm the goddamn finder of lost children."
Jack sighed. "You're going right now, aren't you."
"Damn straight I am." Whoever you are, thanks.
Tell Sombra that since you can't find her birthday, you're declaring it April first as a prank.
Dark eyebrows arched. Will do. Reyes out.
I'm still here, Jack typed as he watched Gabriel leave the room. Uh, Jack Morrison. Why did you ask about Amelie?
Talon really, really hates her husband. If they can't kill him through any other means, they're not above using her as a weapon. If she gets kidnapped, watch out - they'll have brainwashed her.
Jack rubbed his eyes. Good to know. Thanks. If you don't mind me asking, who was Jake?
The cursor flashed for a long moment. Jake was a good friend of mine. I never took him off my buddy list after he died. That's why I was so sure you were a porn bot.
I'm sorry, Jack typed. Listen, I know you've given us a lot of information, and I don't feel right asking you for anything else, but is there anything you want to know?
Well...I am kind of curious as to how you managed to contact me.
All I know is Winston did something with the slipstream engine. Sorry.
That actually explains a lot, she typed back. BTW, when I said Gabe has someone who mitigates his bullshit, I didn't mean a romantic someone. He adopts Sombra as his daughter.
Jack sighed. So that's another thing you know, he typed, trying not to look at Winston.
Yeah. Sorry. Five years of sensory deprivation does mean he's a needy little bitch when Sombra gets him into a body that can feel again, and even when he goes back to his own body he's aggressively pro-physical-contact and pro-affection.
But at the cost of having been through hell first, Jack typed slowly. I'm not sure that's worth it.
Gives you leverage, though. You know he'll do anything on a dare and he already knows anyway.
"Knows what?" Winston asked.
Jack's pulse raced. "Knows...that he has toxic masculinity issues," he said. It wasn't completely a lie.
"Oh. Well, I thought you should know, the connection's about to close."
Connection's closing, Jack typed hastily. Thanks for everything.
Drop me a line if you can, later, to let me know how things worked out.
Roger that. Morrison out.
On the screen, the marker next to 'Ryxl' shifted to 'offline'.
Winston fidgeted. "It's...using a modification of the slipstream engine, we have opened a stable connection to...uh...what seems to be a parallel universe."
"It looks like a messaging program."
"It does. And, uh, there's someone on the other end. I thought...you should be the one to make contact."
Jack took a deep breath before touching the interface and opening up a window with 'Ryxl'. Hello, he typed, noting that his handle was apparently 'Jeikkichan'.
The cursor flashed a few times before words appeared, forest-green in a rounded font. Who the fuck is this?
Jack looked at Winston. Winston shrugged.
Why would you ask that? Jack typed slowly, eyebrows raised.
If you're a porn bot, came the confusing response, you can just fuck right off.
"Porn bot?" Winston asked. "Uh...on second thought, I think I'd rather not know."
I'm not a porn bot, Jack typed. He was not expecting the response he got.
HOKAY LISTEN THE FUCK UP! YOU ARE GOING TO DPS VERY, VERY SLOWLY!
Jack raised his hands in disavowal.
AND BY SLOWLY, the other person typed, I MEAN FUCKING SLOW! IF YOU GET AGRO, IT MEANS YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE 50 DKP BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK TO DO!
"Do I even want to know?" Gabe said, having slipped into the room while Jack and Winston watched the bizarre profanity appear on the screen.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Jack replied.
AND WATCH THE FUCKING TAIL!
Gabriel frowned. "This seems familiar."
IF YOU GET KICKED INTO THE WHELPS IT MEANS YOU LOSE 50 DKP AGAIN
"For not being where the fuck you were supposed to be," Gabriel murmured as the same words appeared on the screen. "There is no agro reset. This is the Onyxia Wipe."
Jack rolled his eyes. "More of your outdated pop-culture crap?"
Gabriel reached out to the keyboard. MORE DOTS! I DON'T SEE ENOUGH DOTS! 'K, STOP DOTS.
The cursor blinked. Okay, seriously, who the fuck is this? You're not a porn bot, and Jake's been dead for years.
Jack slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Reyes, you've successfully made contact with someone from a parallel universe."
"Thanks," Gabriel muttered. "Now what?"
"Introduce yourself."
Gabriel.
Another few seconds of the cursor blinking. The archangel? Shouldn't you be Michael?
Hey, don't look at me - I just walked in. Jack's the one who doesn't appreciate the classic Onyxia Wipe.
"Thanks," Jack muttered, ignoring the shit-eating grin he was getting.
No fucking way.
"See, Jack? Even whoever-this-is thinks my 'outdated pop-culture crap' is awesome."
Jack sighed and reached for the keyboard again. My name is Jack Morrison. That was Gabriel Reyes who recognized your reference.
No shit, came the immediate response. Ask him what the fox says.
Jack quirked an eyebrow at Gabriel. "What does the-"
"What does the fox say?" Gabe sang enthusiastically.
"I'm sorry I asked." Please don't encourage him. He's bad enough by himself.
Sorry, Jack. I'm gonna need some proof that you are who you say you are.
That had all three of them looking at each other uneasily.
What kind of proof? Gabriel typed.
Describe Gabriel's sexuality.
Eyebrows all around raised. Winston coughed uncomfortably.
Gabriel gestured Jack to the keyboard. "Go ahead, answer the question," he said, grinning.
Trying and failing to keep the color out of his cheeks, Jack typed, "I don't give a fuck what you identify as, if you want to suck my dick, go for it."
Good. Question for Gabriel now, and be honest.
"Fuck," Gabe muttered under his breath. Alright, shoot.
How old were you when you got the scars on your face?
Fourteen.
Winston let out a low whistle. "It would seem that whoever we have contacted knows quite a bit about us."
Jack elbowed Gabriel aside. Hey, what's Gabe's birthday? He won't tell us.
16th of Never, came the response.
Jack frowned. I'm serious.
So am I. February 30th.
"Hey!"
Beside him, Gabe chuckled. "I don't know who you found, but I like them."
Winston reached over for the console. How do you know so much about us?
The cursor flashed. All your secrets are belong to Sombra.
Three frowns. Who's Sombra? Winston typed.
That depends. What year is it for you?
Jack reached for the console. 2065. What year is it for you?
Okay, so Sombra may not exist as such yet for you. Hold on, doing math...
More awkward, uncertain looks were exchanged.
Yeah, no, Sombra's still organic. She's an orphan in the Los Muertos gang in Dorado.
"They're trying to distract us," Jack said. You didn't answer my question. What year is it for you?
I'm in a different timeline and you haven't even asked my name, what difference does it make what year it is here?
"It's a fair point," Gabriel said. So what's your name?
A better question is: how much do you feel like fucking with the timeline? Because I know all kinds of shit that hasn't happened yet and some of it sucks massively, but things turn out okay. If I start telling you things, maybe some of it can be prevented, but I'm not sure how things would turn out.
Jack looked at Gabriel. "What do you think?"
"I'm not sure I trust it," he said, arms crossed. "Where's the ulterior motive?"
Gabriel wants to know what your ulterior motive is.
"Nice, Jack. Real subtle."
And without even asking how I know shit that happens in a different timeline.
Winston sighed. "They've got a point."
Okay, can we at least get some pronouns for you? Jack typed.
Right, sorry. Female pronouns.
"She's got a point," Winston said. "I'm positive we reached a different timeline. How is she able to know things that happen here?"
Gabriel frowned. "We don't really have any proof that she knows anything about us."
"But your scars..."
He waved Jack's objection away. "You could find that from school pictures."
Hello? the mysterious female typed.
Give us a moment, Jack typed back. We're debating your authenticity.
The cursor flashed. Fair enough. When Jack accepted the position of head of Overwatch, Gabriel was pissed NOT because he wanted it, but because Jack had gone behind his back, the UN had gone behind his back, and they'd talked Jack into it before even announcing that they were going to do it.
Winston and Jack both turned to look at Gabe.
Instead of answering, he reached for the console. And if they hadn't?
Gabriel probably would have sabotaged himself and pushed Jack into the spotlight, because he knew the job would be a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit, but the fact that they went behind his back...
Gabe shrugged. "Yeah. She's right."
"Okay." Jack rubbed his eyes. "So her information is accurate. That suggests that whoever Sombra is, she'll cross our paths sometime in the future."
Describe Sombra, Gabriel typed. But not who she is. Describe her impact on future events.
Oooh, good. Sombra is like the pawn that reaches the final row in chess and becomes a queen.
"Interesting," he murmured. Describe the final outcome as you know it without hinting at the events that led there.
Very good. I'm impressed. Let's see...The second generation of Overwatch is coming along fine. Jack's lost the naive golden retriever thing, he's more like grizzled dad. Gabriel's mellowed out a LOT.
"I'll believe that when I see it," Jack chuckled.
I mean, he's still a little shit, but he's got someone who mitigates that to a certain extent and he'd had some of the toxic masculinity bullshit dismantled.
"Hey!"
Jesse's liver is no longer in mortal peril. Um...shit, what's going on with Amelie?
Jack exchanged an alarmed look with Gabe. She's fine, he typed.
Good. Um...Tracer's got a lady-love. Genji's on speaking terms with his brother. Omnic-human relations are pretty good. Torbjörn's had the anti-omnic racism beaten out of him. Figuratively. Angela's made HUGE strides in developing prosthetics and replacing damaged organs.
Gabriel typed, What about Sombra?
She's happy. All the dreams she never let herself believe in have come true.
"Well, that's just slightly horrifying," he muttered.
Gabe, are you doing the "lost children" thing?
He jerked in alarm. "How does-"
"How does she know that?" Jack asked dryly. "What's the lost children thing?" What's the "lost children" thing?
"That's cheating," Gabriel protested.
Gabe watched Pulp Fiction too many times growing up.
Jack frowned. "That didn't answer the question."
"Sure it did, Jack." Yes, I'm doing the "lost children" thing. Where can I find Sombra?
You're sure you want to fuck with the timeline?
When have you known me to back down from a challenge? he typed, grinning in a way that made Jack groan.
Point. Okay, you're looking for a girl named Alessandra, born January first 2046. Los Muertos, like I said, and orphaned. She'll be heavily augmented but not visibly. Lessee...if you're trying to flush her out in person, bring Jesse as bait. He was her Obligatory Teenage Celebrity Crush and she's probably still got a sexuality past "just looking, thanks" so just parade him around and check out anyone who wants him to take her to a movie.
"Take her to a movie?" Winston asked in confusion.
Gabriel grunted. "She's working as a whore. Not unexpected. Got a last name for Alessandra?
Something starting with O. Her mom died in the first hours of the Massacre. If you think Gabriel doesn't like his birthday, that's nothing compared to her - literal trauma.
"Wait..." Gabriel scrolled up and winced. "January first. Jesus, poor kid." No shit. Okay, so I bring McCree and wave him around. What else?
The cursor blinked for a minute. She has a...sponsor. Said sponsor is highly reclusive and paranoid and wants revenge on whoever started the Omnic Crisis. She's going to be reluctant to leave Los Muertos unless you can provide her that information.
"That's going to be a problem," Jack muttered. "We don't have that information, but damn if I wouldn't love to get my hands on it myself."
I know you don't have that information, the mystery female typed, so listen up. A god program survived uncontained. He goes by Abram. He's the head of Talon. "Hire" Sombra to help you find and kill him.
"Fuck," Gabriel said. It summed up what they were all thinking.
Gabe? You need to fucking suck it up and not assume Jack's second-guessing you if he tries to talk about fishy orders, because Talon WILL use your temper against you. Jack? You need to remember that Gabe's your fucking FRIEND and get your head out of your ass when you're talking to him.
This time, it was Jack's turn to say, "Fuck." What happens if we don't?
The cursor blinked for what seemed to be forever.
Overwatch falls. It's blamed on Blackwatch. Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes are declared dead. It's a pretty horrific five years before things get straightened out.
"I'm gonna regret this," Gabriel growled. What happens to Gabriel Reyes?
Five years of sensory-deprivation hell being abused and blackmailed by Abram until Sombra finds a way to burn Talon down. Another...year and a half, maybe two, before he's recovered enough to go back to being Gabriel Reyes.
Gabriel scowled. What happens to Sombra?
She gives up her body and identity to go undercover in an omnic body. Gets into Talon, finds out that the ash-and-nanite construct was her childhood hero, figures out how to get him out and later, is instrumental in killing Abram. It takes her longer to take the plunge and go organic again, but she does.
"I know that look," Jack said warningly. "That's the look you had right before you sprang Jesse on me."
"Deal with it, Jack. I'm the goddamn finder of lost children."
Jack sighed. "You're going right now, aren't you."
"Damn straight I am." Whoever you are, thanks.
Tell Sombra that since you can't find her birthday, you're declaring it April first as a prank.
Dark eyebrows arched. Will do. Reyes out.
I'm still here, Jack typed as he watched Gabriel leave the room. Uh, Jack Morrison. Why did you ask about Amelie?
Talon really, really hates her husband. If they can't kill him through any other means, they're not above using her as a weapon. If she gets kidnapped, watch out - they'll have brainwashed her.
Jack rubbed his eyes. Good to know. Thanks. If you don't mind me asking, who was Jake?
The cursor flashed for a long moment. Jake was a good friend of mine. I never took him off my buddy list after he died. That's why I was so sure you were a porn bot.
I'm sorry, Jack typed. Listen, I know you've given us a lot of information, and I don't feel right asking you for anything else, but is there anything you want to know?
Well...I am kind of curious as to how you managed to contact me.
All I know is Winston did something with the slipstream engine. Sorry.
That actually explains a lot, she typed back. BTW, when I said Gabe has someone who mitigates his bullshit, I didn't mean a romantic someone. He adopts Sombra as his daughter.
Jack sighed. So that's another thing you know, he typed, trying not to look at Winston.
Yeah. Sorry. Five years of sensory deprivation does mean he's a needy little bitch when Sombra gets him into a body that can feel again, and even when he goes back to his own body he's aggressively pro-physical-contact and pro-affection.
But at the cost of having been through hell first, Jack typed slowly. I'm not sure that's worth it.
Gives you leverage, though. You know he'll do anything on a dare and he already knows anyway.
"Knows what?" Winston asked.
Jack's pulse raced. "Knows...that he has toxic masculinity issues," he said. It wasn't completely a lie.
"Oh. Well, I thought you should know, the connection's about to close."
Connection's closing, Jack typed hastily. Thanks for everything.
Drop me a line if you can, later, to let me know how things worked out.
Roger that. Morrison out.
On the screen, the marker next to 'Ryxl' shifted to 'offline'.