foolishwren | 74. [Text/Action for Club H] Backdated to Monday

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Current Location: Olivine City Inn

74. [Text/Action for Club H] Backdated to Monday

_{[Oh, man. Oh man, oh man, oh man.]

[It had taken an entire year.]

[For a couple months past 365 days, Heather's life had been blessedly free of something she'd always known was possible but had never seriously considered would happen. Lulled into a false sense of security by her general good luck regarding which people from her own world showed up here, she supposed.]

[All decent folks. No cultists. No creepers.]

[... Until now.]

[It takes her a bit to decide exactly what she's going to do about it. She can't just sit there, after all. She has to tell some people. ... Not everybody. That would be stupid, and attract unwanted attention. Not to mention, he'd probably just find it funny. No, she'll just... tell a few.]

[Some people who already knew a little about... that place. She'd already GOTTEN a message from L, which meant that she wasn't the only person paying attention. But she's not so sure about the rest of her friends. So without any further ado...]}

[PRIVATE TEXT to: Kaito Kuroba, Rise Kujikawa, Envy, Liquid Snake, Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich, Dale Cooper, Ironhide, Ken Amada, and Miles Edgeworth]

Hey

If you've got a free moment, I gotta talk to you. It's important.

_{[... There. That'll do for starters...]

[Shutting the 'Gear, she sets it down on the bed for the moment. Now to take care of the OTHER thing.]}

Hey, Dad? Henry?

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_{[Because text is the most impersonal and since she says it's "important", well, he'd just rather do it his typical way.]}

There's no shortage of free moments in Johto, Heather. What do you want to talk about?

_{[... Okay, Coop, she'll humor you. You made her laugh with her upside-down shenanigans, after all.]

[For once... she cuts right to the chase.]}

Someone from Silent Hill arrived in Johto yesterday.

_{[Cutting to the chase is precisely the way you go about things with Coop, and he appreciates the straightforward answer.]}

I'm going to assume it's someone you'd rather not have here.

_{[There's a sort of muffled snort on the other end as Heather stifles a mirthless laugh.]}

OH yeah.

It's-- ... he's a member of the Order. ... The cult.

... I forget if I told you about them, but-- ... he's bad news.

You mentioned them.

_{[He considers this for a second, then throws a guess out there.]}

Glasses, brown hair, stubble ... slippery?

_{[Slippery is best adjective he can find to describe this first impression.]}

_{[... That's a VERY good adjective. She's surprised she hasn't used it already herself... slippery. What a perfect word for that weasel.]}

Ugh, so you've seen him...

I talked to him.

_{[He doesn't like him - and it's probably pretty obvious.]}

_{[She can tell-- and that's something of a relief. Not that she'd ever expect a guy like Cooper to get along with a guy like Vincent...]}

... Did he say anything... you know...

_{[About Silent Hill?]}

_{[He shakes his head, though she obviously can't see it.]}

He hardly said anything.

... will you tell me more about him?

... Huh. That's unusual for him...

_{[She sighs, though. Might as well spill some fetails.]

[This is probably the first time she's been this open with him... but it's mostly out of necessity. She'll just... have to wait and see if her trust in him is warranted. It's a risk she just has to take.]}

His name is Vincent.

He leads a sect-- ... the main sect, I'm pretty sure... of the cult.

... Or led.

_{[She pauses for a second or two before adding--]}

He was dead for a whole year before I came to Johto.

_{[He listens with interest - and has a feeling like maybe he should keep notes of what she's telling him. To later piece together the bigger puzzle.]}

It's not that unusual for people to be brought back to life here.

_{[He says this almost like commentary - but it's a silent request for her to elaborate.]}

No, it's not.

My dad's here, after all.

... Anyway, he's...

He's a slimeball.

Not trustworthy.

He only looks out for his own skin and he doesn't care who he lies to in the process. ... I know you're like, a super badge-toting cop guy and shit, but... just... don't let your guard down.

_{["A super badge-toting cop guy" is probably the most interesting description of his job yet, and he can't help but smile slightly at hearing it, despite the quite serious topic.]}

He's got "slimeball" written on his forehead -- but thanks for the extra warning.

_{[He does mean that.]}

No problem.

I just figured... you know about Silent Hill, so... y'oughta know about him, too.

I appreciate that.

So how are you faring? I guess you never expected him to show up.

... No, I really... didn't.

I guess I should've. I mean, I knew it was possible...

... But out of all the people I've met here from home, none of them were part of the cult...

_{[James, Mary, Angela, Henry... and of course her own father. Two had been victims of the cult just like her, two had been bystanders somehow caught up in the Otherworld despite their ignorance of its origins, and one, seemingly unaware of any of that at all.]

[No cultists... for an entire year.]}

No one wants to expect the unwanted. It makes sense that you didn't.

_{[He touches the thought himself - of the people he wouldn't want to show up in Johto - before he states, simply,]}

It's different this time around.

_{[She's got the upper hand.]}

_{[That she does.]}

Yeah. It is.

Plus, he doesn't have any of his cronies here.

Quite a big plus, I imagine.

Did the sect die with him?

_{[Now he's mostly asking out of curiosity.]}

... I dunno. ... Probably not.

It didn't die the last time its most powerful leaders got killed off... s'probably still around...

_{[Last time people were killed off? Implying that this Vincent character was murdered as well? Hm hm. Small pause, then a little slower:]}

Can you tell me more about it? What kind of cult it is?

_{[Right on the money, Coop.]}

What... kind?

_{[She sounds sort of blank for a second or two. It's not like she's had experiences with any cults but the Order.]}

It's... religious?

_[hurrr]

_{[...durr, well, yes, almost all sects are. BUT.]}

How would you describe it - as a doomsday cult? Is it destructive, manipulative, introversionistic?

Edited 2011-08-11 00:04 (UTC)

...

... All of those sound pretty accurate.

_{[It probably isn't all of those (an introversionistic sect generally goes against a manipulative one for instance) but her saying that does give him a pretty good idea of what kind of cult it is.]

[... sigh.]}

That makes for a nasty cocktail.

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[audio] had to dig up my old essay on sects for that haha