#this isn't a cab it's a clown car

[neon-prison]

Vee getting ready to head to Hansen's party. Del is very appropriately worried about it.

[personasintro]

Halloween Special | Mutual Help

A part of Mutual Help series! | photo credit

pairing: mh!jungkook x reader

warnings: explicit language

genre: fluff

word count: 2k+

a/n: this has no plot, basically zero storyline as well but I still hope you enjoy reading this & get more insight into their friendship! this is from the time before their deal!

“Who owns this house again?”

Can it be even called that? Where you and your friends are currently at is more like a mansion. One you barely get to see in person. The rich neighborhood and fancy cars around is enough of a clue that whoever lives in this mansion is freaking rich. It's the type you only see in movies.

“Taehyung's latest fuck.” Jimin responds, looking around the huge entry hall filled with people dressed in different costumes.

“She's not the latest.” Taehyung beside you rolls his eyes at Jimin, correcting him.

“Does she know that?” you question, met with an amused grin.

“No, why would she?” Confusion curls his features. He's wearing an orange overall, an unmistaken prisoner. “She fucks around too.”

It's not like Taehyung sleeps around with the same person. Not that you know much about his sex life, despite he's not shy to talk about it at all. He prefers to do one night stands. It's easier that way, he says.

“And she still invited you and your friends?”

He shoots you a toothy grin. “I guess she couldn't get enough of this cock.”

“Ew, what the fuck!” you exclaim, scrunching your nose as you push him away from you. Taehyung barely budges, laughing at the look of disgust on your face while Jimin rolls his eyes.

Taehyung refused to put a mask on or paint on his face. “I won't be covering this handsome face.”

That's what he told you when you first saw him. His costume is not exactly creative, but he does look good. But that's because he's already handsome and could pull off anything, not just anyone has this privilege.

“I need to look hot, chicks love this kind of costume.” You remember his voice in a cab on your way here.

As for Jimin, he chose more of a flashy costume and unlike Taehyung, he didn't mind to paint his face. Considering you've painted his face, you will take full credit for how good he looks. No need to mention you've painted it based on a picture he showed you. But still! It's your hands that created this masterpiece.

Jimin isn't one of those scary clowns wearing a big curly red wig. He has stuck to his blond hair, slicked it back while wearing what seems like an ancient blouse and pants. If he wasn't your friend, you would definitely think of him as a hot creature. The few eyes and looks your friends have managed to steal says it all.

And you?

You've had the hardest time to come up with any costume. You didn't want to spend too much money on something you wear for one night. Taehyung's ideas were all… too much.

“You should be a cat woman. You know, the one from Batman.”

One of his ideas.

“Be a sexy nurse, everyone loves that.”

It's over done a lot. Every year.

Despite not caring about Halloween parties at all – because you wouldn't come if it wasn't for Jimin and Taehyung – you wanted to look good and not wear one of those cliché costumes that people wear every year. You've seen two “nurses” already and you've been here for five minutes.

“Be a police woman. We can have matching outfits.”

But then…

“No, actually let's not do that. People are gonna think we're together and I don't want to be cockblocked that night.”

It was a nice idea but coming to a party as a police woman just wasn't the one.

“Be a witch. That would go with your personality.”

He joked and earned a slap to his shoulder.

Trying to stay true to the budget, you improvised and came up with your own costume. Okay, you might've bought a dress for this but it was on sale! Overall the costume didn't cost much. You've put some fake blood onto the dress and the corner of your lips. You're supposed to look like a bride with a spooky twist. It's not exactly original either but so far, you haven't seen anyone else dressed like this. You know you could do better if you truly wanted, get more creative. But there's also a budget you tried to stick to. Plus, you've done your make-up nicely, dark but nice.

“Alright, excuse me now, my friends. I see her and I'm gonna say hi.” He brushes past you, already shooting a wide grin toward a girl you suppose lives in this mansion.

“Do you think he's gonna fuck her again?” you ask before thinking. “Actually, don't answer that.”

Jimin laughs beside you, brushing his fingers through his hair. “I wouldn't put it past him.”

“Want a drink?”

You agree, a drink sounds nice. You don't know anyone here. Taehyung and Jimin are only people you know. And considering Taehyung just totally ditched you as soon as he saw a girl he fucked, you're left with Jimin.

“You can go too.” You make sure to tell Jimin when you make your way to the kitchen. The size of it is bigger than the place you live in.

“Don't be silly,” Jimin chuckles. “We're gonna have fun together. Tae will join us for sure later.”

You don't want to think what he's going to do until then.

“Jimin, I'm not a kid. You don't have to babysit me.”

“I'm not babysitting you,” He frowns, mixing the two of you a drink before he hands you one of the plastic cups. “There are too many people. I'm not saying it's dangerous here, but leaving you alone wouldn't sit well with me.”

You do appreciate his worry. Too bad Jungkook couldn't come. Not that spending time with Jimin and Taehyung isn't fun. But you were hoping he could join you too. You've never really attended a Halloween party before. It would be so much fun if all of you could be here.

After finishing your drink and chatting for a while, you get another one and move toward the living room where the lights are turned off, swapped for some party lights. It looks like a proper party here. There are people dancing. You and Jimin find yourself laughing at some silly costumes. You saw a banana costume and someone wearing a horse mask.

You have a good time. Someone Jimin knows joins you for a moment, one of his friends whose name you unfortunately forgot. It's not your fault though, the music is loud and you felt like an idiot to ask him again.

Jimin goes to grab you another drink, telling you to not move with a warning gaze, as if you would run away. Again, you appreciate the worry.

It's not even a minute later when some guy approaches you, obviously already in a good mood and tipsy enough to think he's the hot deal. You politely tell him to fuck off, ignoring the little scoff he gives you. You didn't come here to flirt or hook up with someone. Maybe you shouldn't scare away everyone. It's not exactly everyone though. You just don't like those types of guys who–

“Boo!”

You almost jump out of your skin and curse loudly, palm slapping against your chest as you turn around and see… a Spiderman?

You frown, guard up until the person suddenly takes off the mask and reveals your best friend.

“Jungkook?”

His hair is ruffled from the mask, a bunny grin attached to his lips as he laughs at your reaction.

“What–what are you doing here?”

He said he couldn't come because he had work. A Halloween party is not something you decline the money for, you completely understood that.

“We rescheduled the shoot,” he answers.

“But–wow. Why didn't you say you were coming?”

He grins again, cheekily adding; “Wanted to surprise you.”

You haven't seen him for two weeks or so. Everyone has been busy, Jungkook the most and last weekend you were hanging out with Jimin and Taehyung, he went on a weekend away with Kiko. They had it planned for weeks. So it's nice to see him in the flesh.

“Look at you,” he beams, staring you up and down. “A bloody bride.”

You roll your eyes playfully, “It's such a shitty costume.”

“Don't say that,” he laughs, “You look amazing.”

“I should've tried to be more creative. Just so you know, I could've nailed it. I have this costume in my mind, but I wasn't about to spend a fortune on one night.”

“Smart,” he muses. “What is this costume?”

“I'm not telling you,” you cheekily remark. “But look at you,”

Jungkook eyes himself, looking up with a smile.

His costume makes sense. You've watched Spiderman movies together (all of them) so many times. It's one of your favorite superheroes, both of you Marvel fans, but it's definitely Jungkook's favorite.

The lights aren't too bright but looking at him, you can tell his costume is not one of the cheap ones. It hugs his body perfectly, showing his figure and god–it feels sinful to look from his waist down. You can't do that. He glances behind, turning his body slightly before his attention is back to you. But it's not quick enough for you to not notice his perk ass. But then… Jungkook has always been built differently. He has worked hard for those muscles.

“Stop it,” he laughs at your words, refusing to grow shy. “Behave.”

“I'm not even gonna ask how much it cost.”

“Don't,” he assures you. “Too much for one stupid night.”

You both laugh. “You had a great opportunity to show up as a bunny.”

Jungkook playfully rolls your eyes at your comment, scrunching his nose a little. “Nah. I didn't want to be cute.”

“What vibe you were going for?” you tease.

“The hot superhero, of course.”

“God, you and Tae are the same.” you comment jokingly.

“Where is he anyway? I saw Jimin from a distance.”

“Oh, most likely having his tongue in some girl's throat I guess. Or worse.”

Jungkook laughs at the disgust you show, flicking your nose softly as you pull away. “I'm not even gonna ask.”

“Don't.” you hum, causing him to laugh. “I'm still bummed out you didn't come as a bunny though. You have a face for it.”

Jungkook throws his head back in laughter, shaking his head.

“No, I didn't mean it as an insult! You would look cute as a bunny.”

“We can do that next year. You could be a carrot.”

“Oh god, I'm shutting up now.”

He nudges you, causing you to do the same.

“Kook! Hi! You came!” Jimin joins you, hugging Jungkook right after he hands you your drink.

“Wait, you knew he's gonna come?” you ask. “And you didn't tell me?”

“Kook wanted to surprise you.” Jimin shrugs.

“Yeah, wanted to surprise you.” Jungkook muses, stealing the cup from you as he sips on it.

“Hey!”

“Shush, woman.”

You gasp. Jungkook's biceps bulge as he takes another sip of your drink. “Don't you shush me, Jeon.”

Jungkook gives you an amused smirk, turning his face back to Jimin who speaks again. “Where's Kiko?”

“Oh, she's not here. She had to stay overtime at work, too tired to come here anyway.” Jungkook answers.

“Jungkook-ah!”

Taehyung comes like a hurricane, bumping into a few people as they give him a dirty look, some of them changing their expression right after they spot him. You want to roll your eyes again.

“Let me guess, you knew too.”

“Knew what?” Taehyung asks, confused.

“He didn't.”

“Knew what?” Taehyung asks louder this time.

“That Kook is gonna come tonight.”

“Wait, you knew he's gonna come?”

“Yeah,” Jimin shrugs, “You have a big mouth. You would ruin the surprise.”

Taehyung gasps, “You guys act like it's a big secret.”

“It's not,” Jungkook laughs. “But we didn't want to take any chances.”

“Yah!” Taehyung exclaims. “Let's get drunk.” he adds more calmly.

All of you laugh, making your way to the kitchen. For the rest of the night, you hang out with your friends, savoring the moments. Even when Jimin throws up in front of the mansion in some fancy cut out bush, while Taehyung records him. You shake your head, but not be able to hide your own giggles. Jungkook does the same, holding up Jimin so he doesn't fall into the bush.

It's one of the many memories of tonight that joins the other ones you got to spend and experience with your precious friends.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Criminal Justice (2007)- Episodes 1-5. Watching Con O'Neill's old stuff cause it's fun. Day #? RALPH STONE!

Warnings: Murder. Blood. Drug Use. Needle Use/Injection is shown on the scene. Drunk driving. Accused/discussed sexual assault. Abusive parents, grief, and general bullshit in the justice system.

Should you watch this if you haven't: YES! Five episodes, each being an hour, but if you don't have any issues with the warning, it should be a fun time. I was on the edge of my seat for most of this show and Con is a very important character! He is on screen more than most of his other tv parts and is having a great time. It's a story about one defendant and the shit that goes down as he's tried for the crime.

Special thanks to:

@dianetastesmetal who I chatted with around midway through about the show! (For me it was ~2 in the morning, so it was a whole lot of fun!)

The Usual Suspects! I would love to hear your thoughts about this show down alone! I want to thank all of you for following me and giving me love. Y'all are enabling my current fixation, and I thank you all! If you haven't seen it, just ignore me <3

@sphealybojeely @thedowneyheart @kimpreg @gydima @ivegotnonameidea @treesofgreen @tummy-stab-wounds @mossiestpiglet @sidewalk-scrawls @crybabyclover @

Criminal Justice- EP 1 (Guest starring my brother)

Why does that kid look like Benedict Cumberbatch?

He just needs a haircut. That hair looks awful.

This takes place in 2008 right? 

Why didn't the dad knock?

He's going to go have sex, huh, he's not going to his friend's house. 

Is he going to abuse his position here? Pretend he's a cab driver?

I feel like cab drivers are trained to drop a rando with no destination to a hospital or a police station. 

Also, a situation that's only playful because it's a young woman. If this were a homeless person? This shit isn't flying. 

DON'T SHARE YOUR FUCKING DRINKS WITH A STRANGER??!?!?!

I got to inform my brother that in England they call soft-served ice cream 'whippies' after the popular brand 'Mr. Whippy', to which he just said 'it's a clown land'

DRUGS! Here we go!

This is suspicious as fuck. Don't take her booze! She's a chick you just met! 

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

NOOOO! NO. NO. NO. KNIFE GAME IS TAPPING, NOT FUCKING STABBING! WTF! 

Society would be a lot further on if we just stopped caring about peer pressure.

WHAT? HE STABBED HER!?!?!?!?!? WHY ARE THEY FUCKING? 

We have seen so much of this man's ass, why? 

We are 12 minutes in?

Oh. She's dead. She's so dead. 

OH SHIT. Yep thats a stabbing

Brother guesses it was the parent, I say ex lover.

God, he's just bad at this

BRO WENT BACK AND NOW HAS A WITNESS?????

This is an actual ACE ATTORNEY CASE WTF

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. HE THEN CRASHES THE CAR? ACE ATTORNEY LEVELS OF DUMB!

Bro, is this your first break in?

Ohhh he's fucked. 

Ohhhhh, this is the cops best day of his life

Oh, good luck defense attorney Con. You better get Phoenix Wright levels of bullshit. 

Oh my god, don't fucking fight the cops. 

Bro, take a nap. It's been a long night. 

OH MY GOD IT'S HIM. 

Hello Con! Lovely to see you. Love the rat man fit. I know it's on purpose, but damn. He looks wet.

This is where my brother bullies the shit out of Con. 

OH I LOVE HIM-He's actually giving good legal advice! The cops are going to do whatever they can to get a false conviction.

'No comment man'- Hard nose solicitor I FUCKING LOVE IT

RALPH STONE! TROLLIN'. I love it. GOD I LOVE IT.

It's so much easier to be quiet when you're nervous. 

Lessons to be learned from this tv show: Don't random desperate women, don't fall to peer pressure, don't say shit to the police. 

They wouldn't have left her body there. They would have taken photos then taken the body out of the house asap. It's weird they've waited so long to investigate. 

Solicitation of evidence. It's illegal to receive testimony from a private source without giving the evidence to opposing council. 

Nice that she packed him a sandwich. 

Why is the shitty cops boss so much taller? That's funny. 

Whelp. RIP Ralph, you did all you could. Having the guy almost assault a police officer isn't fun.

OHHHHH!!!!!! RALPH I LOVE IT- GOOD GOD IS HE FUN

Oh this whole detective thing feels illegal. Without his attorney to represent him.

Yeah. Sure. Don't get buddy-buddy with the guy who wants to put you away for years.  

IS THIS DETECTIVE A VILLAIN? Oh, he likes you? FUN.

They're in a public spot, there is no expectation for privacy and this can be recorded, HAHAHAHAHHAHA. GOOD, HE DIDN'T SAY SHIT. 

It's 2007, a bit of weird transphobia was to expected. 

UHHHHH….. I SWEAR TO GOD. DON'T SWAP ATTORNIES!

CLASSIST BRITISH PEOPLE AHHHHH-

OH I'D BE PISSED!!!!!! RALPH IS SO GOOD!!!!!

Oh good, Ralph corrected himself about his client's name and pronouns, nice. 

Ralph at the end of ep 1-'I looked into his eyes, and we vibed. He can't be innocent'

AWWW RALPH STILL WANTS TO HELP HIM EVEN AFTER HE GOT SCREWED OVER BY HIS POSH LAWYERS! God, I love him. 

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EPISODE 2: This is where my brother dipped out, but I summarized as much as I could for him. 

I'm going to be honest I skipped through this ep a ton. I generally got the gyst. I'm here for my guy, you know. 

I watched a bit, but this just establishes our protagonist's life in jail. 

I skipped Ralph's scene/ the trial. Seriously the preview in ep 1 gives you the gist. Read a summary. Etc. His roomie is great.  

AHHH RALPHS SMILE. "I don't care what you'd do as a lawyer, just as a human being" AHHH. 

GOD HIS CELLMATE IS SO GOOD.

HAHHHAHHAHAHAHHAH! WTF?!?!?!??! Oh, poor ralph. You guy just blowing up in court.

At this point, if I was Ralph Stone, I wouldn't really believe him, but that's what that whole grin was for. He just knew our guy was innocent!

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Episode 3

Oh good. Protag was able to deep throat the drugs. 

Ralph! AHHH!! God, he has great outfits in this show. 

WHY DOES RALPH HAVE A FOOT THING? I noticed it earlier, but why are we drawing attention to it. 

Oh good, Ralph doesn't want to senselessly tarnish a dead girl's name. Nice. 

THAT FACE! Uh, the reluctant face! Chewing on the lip! 

Ralph! AHHH!! God, he has great outfits in this show. 

WHY DOES RALPH HAVE A FOOT THING? I noticed it earlier, but why are we drawing attention to it. 

Oh good, Ralph doesn't want to senselessly tarnish a dead girl's name. Nice. 

THAT FACE! Uh, the reluctant face! Chewing on the lip! Love it.

Ohhh, god. Ralph's a good actor. That's cute. 

OHH THE DETECTIVE ALSO BEING THERE! SHIT. RALPH RUN!

GOD HIM BEING VAGUE AS SHIT TO A WITNESS! I love it. 

'With alpha brain?' What the fuck?

AHHH! I LOVE RALPH.��

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. I got to see his chest :)

Oh, Ralph doesn't like this at all. But shit. Not much he can do. 

Oh no. It's really not ethical. And this yonger lady is going to mess it up. 

AHAHHAHAAAHAHAAA. THE WIGS! 

Is this inadvertently informing the audience of how fucked the courts can be. Which is both good and bad. People deserve to know exactly what our lawyers know.   

RALPH BEING THE FUCKING SAD DOG MIDDLEMAN THAT NEEDS TO RUN BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM IS SO FUNNY. 

Ralph with glasses gives me life. 

OH SHIT THE FRIEND SHOWED UP?

Okay, this is fun. But maybe let's not make jokes in a murder trial?

I love the one juror struggling to stay awake. Showing that even with all these verbal chess, they still need to convince the jury. 

Hey, babe. If you really fucking hate prison, maybe don't give a shit about how your mom reacts here!

Good on Ralph. Trying to speak up for her. 

(Seeing Ralphs…ex? For the first time) Oh I love them. WHAT ARE THEY ON?

OH SHE MOVED ON, GOD HIS ACTING. A SECOND TO SEE THAT FULL FUCKING FACE JOURNEY! 

Oh good. We can really hate the cops now. I mean, I already did. BUT. 

OHHH DO THEY HAVE FOOTAGE. 

OH, HE COMPLIMENTS RALPH WHEN IT LOOKS GOOD IN FRONT OF THE JURY. 

God I hate her(lead defense lady), but this scene is fun. 

RALPH IS HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME. He's watching the divorced parents fight and he loves it. He should be allowed to smile.

Ha, she's sowing seeds of guilt but that's really not how the law works. 

Ralph-'I told you not to talk two episodes ago, and you do it fucking now?!?!??!?!'

Is Ralph being kinda shitty? Yes. Is there any other option right now? Nope. 

Them showing how mentally I'll people in prison are severely punished without being able to seek help is cool. 

Back to court- OHHHH! SHIT. Yeah, digging at how the medical examiner is only going on prosecution for the state is suspicious as fuck. 

FUCK. ASSHOLE DON'T SAY SHIT! DONT CONTRADICT THE DEFENSE!!!!!

SHIT

Ralph, mentally deciding if now is a good place to just call it a day when his client is just begging to go to jail.

OH ANOTHER FUCKING CON CHARACTER WHO FELL IN LOVE THE WRONG WAY!!?!?!?!??!?!!? Well, that fills out my bingo card. This makes maybe 20 characters. I swear to god, if he ends up sad and alone I will make a Con O'Neill drinking game. 

"Are you calling me a hypocrite?" *Slight head tilt* -ME rolling on the floor laughing

Good on Ralph for staying with him though. 

AWWW. Ralph's an asshole but this is one of the few cases that's gotten to him! I love it. :)

Aww, they are sweet as a couple, but he needs to reorient himself. Find his own center and work on not 'always looking for doubt' before moving on. 

OH GOD! Don't fucking smile Con. It's mean. To me. Personally. 

AHHH! HIS TICKS WHEN HE'S LYING! Okay, that's funny as shit. I love him.

It's good that the main defense younger lady and the defendant trust each other. AND CON'S GRIN!

Say what you will, this man loves his job

OH SO YOU'LL LET THE SENIOR DEFENSE CHAT AND BE EXTRA BUT NOT THE JUNIOR! RUDE!

OHHHH SHIT THEY GAVE HIM BACK (the inhaler) EVIDENCE

AHHHHHHH!H!H!H!H!HH!H!HH HE TOOK EVIDENCE BITCH! It proves that he stayed in her bed

RALPH SMILING AHHHH!H!H!H!H!H!HH!

Oh they're getting him addicted to drugs to keep him loyal. Whelp. That's going to ruin him.

EPISODE 4:

Why is Ralph going into his clients home? 

Ralph(I'm paraphrasing)- Look, I'm a hard ass. I'm a dick who usually has guilty clients and does what he can to abuse loopholes and police mistakes to get them free. If I have a gut feeling, that really fucking matters. So I'm going to do what I can. 

Yeah, the neighbor did it

OHHHH! SHE PULLED RANK ON RALPH AHAHAHAHAHHAHA

Stone is pissed, and doesn't want to freak out in court. OR HE'S GOING TO EXAMINE A WITNESS?

What act is he playing here? I love it. He's being a clever cheeky bastard. Knowing how people want to treat court like they're the important heros that can save the day! AHAHHAH! I love it. 

"Are you the kind of person-"- SHUT THE FUCK UP-He's just trying to establish his character before crushing it.

OHHH THEY ARE ABUSING THE SHIT OUT OF HIS COYNESS AND NERVOUSNESS WHEN TALKING ABOUT SEX. 

AND HE'S HIDING EVIDENCE

Ralph, I love you. Babe. This is the kind of trust in the justice system I need. 

Another court scene goes by without note. But Ralph shows up? Oh boy, I'm typing. 

OOOOHHHH RALPH GETS TO BE A DETECTIVE!

SCENE SKIP

WHY ARE THE CLIENT AND YONGER LADY DEFENSE ATTORNEY SMOOCHIN? EXCUSE ME? ISN'T THAT AGE GAP WEIRD??!?!?!??!?

Oh good. Ralph. 

OH MY GOD HIM FUCKING SITTING ON THE TABLE? Me Moment. Queer? Coded. I'm assigning it to him. I'm giving him an honorary badge even though this is probably one of his straightest roles. 

Ralph- "I like getting my clients off." YEAH so does she! *Ba Dumb Tisk*. See, Ralph is smart. Get entangled with others in the arm of the law, not your fucking client. 

Scene passes without note. But a few prison scenes go by. 

GLASSES!!!!!! Look at them! THE EXAMINER GENUINELY HELPED. I'd also be smiling at him like that. 

Aww, Ralph's trying to ask without asking to hang out with a friend. 

Skipped a bit. Back in court. 

AWW Ralph and the yonger female defense attorney leaning together to chat. 

BRO HE IS SO WHIPPED FOR THE EXAMINER! I LOVE THIS!!!!!

THAT FUCKING SMILE. GOOD FOR HIM! GOOD FOR HELLEN! I love that they're immediately like, yeah, this might be a conflict of witness BUT. She still has a point.

I WOULD BE SWAYED BY HIS CHARM! I HAVE BEEN SWAYED BY HIS CHARM.

DAMN. Good on the friend/witness. 

Oh wow, the cellmate is just as shitty and corrupt as everyone else? I'm shocked. 

I love Ralph trying his best here. 

"You're 46 years old, what do you know about justice?" :0. WOW.

OH SHIT THIS MIGHT FUCK THIS ALL UP. CALLING IN THE DAD IF HE HAS AN ALIBI

OHHHH FUCK. RALPH IS A SECOND FROM STEPPING IN. 

OHHHH FUCK. GOOD ON HER. CALL THE DAD OUT FOR BEING ABUSIVE. 

FUCK if they pull her in the case is fucked. 

YEP RALPH SEES IT! SHIT!!!!!! 

EP 5: 

JURY CONSIDERING VERDICT! 

HI RALPH! LOVE YOU BABE!

Hour and a half deliberation is good! 

Yeah, I should have seen that coming. 

WHELP. SHIT. 

He's going to kill himself within a year. Calling it now. 

That moment when you work the same job as our prisoner protagonist 😐. Hey, don't dis a dishwashing job, protag. It's nice and easy.

HI CON! 

"'Self-deprecating jokes get you out of hard questions'- avoids the question by shoving toast in his mouth"-me. God, I was messaging @dianetastesmetal during this bit. Who pointed out how loving these characters is a form of self-love, and I will partially embrace it. Maybe I just want to see a man with a nice chest and a nice smile huh! ;)

Oh good, the protagonist is doing more drugs. Love that

GLASSES! I AM BACK ON MY WHORE SHIT. 

The hugging of the book! THE GRINNING! AHH!

This is why Ralph is emotionally distant, 'cause he's lost good cases before. HAHAHAHHA HE CAN'T LET IT GO. 

AHHHHH!H!H!H!HH!!H  THE TUFTED-UP HAIR ENTERING THE PRISON!

OH SHIT! RALPH INVESTIGATING THEIR RELATIONSHIP! He's asking the protagonist to sell out his legal advisor! 

No, RALPH IS SO RIGHT! She abused her station and got too close. 

Oh good. Another arm of the law is weird around police reports and evidence. Great.  

AHHH! Her sewing that little tidbit in the cop's head! She's onto him! 

Yeah, good on our protag to stand up for himself. 

Cellmate is going to get killed cause he knew too much, huh. 

Hey, good on the cop for looking into it a bit more. Still a jackass. But you know. 

Skipped a few scenes without note.

OHHH SHIT HE FILED THE SUIT!!!!!!! GOOD ON RALPH! We love a man who cares about giving justice to his client. 

'Frances- out for blood after Ralph is about to ruin her career'

 'Ralph-Half passed out on a couch with a rag over his eyes, already done with this conversation. Ready to throw every insult she directed to him back into his face.'

Ralph knew to get romantically entangled with a medical examiner and not a fucking witness.

GET IT RALPH! God, good for him. SHE ABUSED HER POSITION! She took everything they worked for and threw it all away. She didn't let their client find justice. 

Yeah, cellmate's about to die, huh. 

OHHHH SHIT! GET IT!!!!!! Good on him! Yeah, he's going to get murdered, but good on him. MURDER THAT BASTARD! 

OHHH SHIT. THE ASSHOLE COP HELPED THE MOB! 

GOOD ON THE CHIEF FOR CALLING HIM OUT! DAMN! 

Oh, wow. Ben's life is ruined. He's hooked on drugs, and he thinks he has no prospects in life. 

Now he can't fall asleep without listening to the radio.

Hi Ralph. Why are we talking about your feet? 

Frances is fucked essentially. 

Yeah, going in for a mistrial was the right option. 

Yeah, no. Nothing would have changed if Ben told Ralph the truth the moment they met. Good on Ralph! Giving our protag a bit of closure on this whole thing. Telling that none of this was really his fault.  

Yep. He had his last few free years of youth ripped from him. 

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Final thoughts:

I think the fact that this was a mob member being the real murder and that it was covered up was the real thing here. The entire point and moral the audience was meant to learn. It didn't matter if Ben had the best case, the entire Crown was against him. Ralph and his team could have been the best defense lawyers in the world and it still would have gotten buried. I'm happy the final evidence came out, obviously, but Ben was fucked over in so many ways. Now what life does he have? He lost his friends, his trust in his family, and is now destined to fall back into the system he knows. It's a shame. 

Con: 11+/10. Long hair AND glasses AND he's Exhausted! Perfect role. I want him. I want to be him. He's divorced, and sad, and I love it.

Ralph saved this series for me personally. He was so much fun. I will be updating the Con list here soon to include bit TV roles. Ralph is going to be high on my ranking. We are given a Con character who has REAL impact on the story, introduces the audience to the rules of this world, AND GETS A HAPPY ENDING! It's brilliant. Obviously, there are moral issues to him being such a good defense attorney to allow criminals to get away, but this whole story was about giving Ralph a different perspective. He's a slime-ball but he's not totally against change. Willing to look at other perspectives. He started to genuinely care about his client, and didn't treat it as some weird game of chess. Him genuinely helping the younger defense attorney was nice, especially because he rarely blew up at her for her choices. He did his best to help where he could and didn't take things personally when shit blew up. 

Con's acting here is so fun and fluid! I hate being a person that ties OFMD into everything, but this is kind of what I want Izzy to become. Con's allowed to be fun! He's allowed to be mad, suspicious, have doubt etc. There are a few scenes that got me chuckling just by his face! He feels really confident and comfortable in this role. He talks with his hands! He's a dick, a total slime-ball, but he really cares about getting things done right! I love it. 

Everyone else: 8/10. Nothing really stood out besides our protagonist, and after a quick google, he won an award for this role. Which is deserved. He does great. I liked the characters the show wanted me to like, and vice versa. 

Story 7/10: Intriguing. I had fun, but this show sits more in the turn off your brain and gets swept along by the bullshit, vs trying to solve it yourself. 

Overall. 9/10: I highly recommend it if the tags don't worry you. Con is in this enough to justify a Con watch. I have a thing for Professor esk Con. I will not be ashamed about that. His whole speech about how he was perceived was nice. Now, this is about five hours of commitment, but If you need something longer I'd recommend it.

[neon-prison]

back for one more ride.

[neon-prison]

10,30 for del x vee pls :3???

Tysm for the asks <;3 @themightiestpotato and @caffeinatedrogue

Sorry these took so long! Answers below!

10: What was their last big fight? What did they learn from it?

Delamain's mainframe was sieged by some rogue Netwatch agents. He locked Vee out to protect her, but Vee brute forced herself in just in time to take the full brunt of an attack that would have left Delamain extremely vulnerable. It almost zeroed her, but thankfully she survived- even if all her cyberware was burnt to an absolute crisp.

It's one of the only times Vee and Delamain were actively furious with one another. But in the end, Delamain realized that he needed to trust Vee when she wanted to help, and Vee had to understand that she was not the expendable merc she'd spent most of her life as.

15: What habits or characteristics have they picked up from each other?

Delamain has relaxed quite a bit and seeks to do things for his own enjoyment rather than stick to the strictures of his very rigid subprotocols. He's started watching tv shows and even enjoys some of them. (Which always shocks his clientele when he's up to date on the big serials).

Oh, and he's started adding gold accents to his getup.

Vee, on the other hand, has learned to be much more strict. As a merc (and a cheap one at that), she was the epitome of 'beggars can't be choosers.' Delamain taught her to be a chooser, to be a little entitled with the quality of the clothing she wears or the food she eats. She's realized that sometimes saving money for your own material benefit really does increase mental health in the long run.

And her lipstick is now the Iconic Delamain Blue.

30: Where is their relationship the strongest?

Their biggest strength is not just in their relationship but in their partnership. They understand one another really well, so there's almost never any friction between them, and what seems like diametrically opposing traits actually support the other really well. They just fit really well together.

[neon-prison]

happy vee

[neon-prison]

Interlink Ch01- The Iridescent Dark

INTERLINKED CH 01

AO3 link HERE.

Pairing: Delamain/V

Status: Ongoing

Rating: E (Mostly M)

Sequel to Crossed Wires

SUMMARY:

Years after crossing the Blackwall, a series of events finds Vee returned to the physical world. Time in Cyberspace changed her, and struggling with the loss of a second life, Vee questions whether she can carve a space for herself when she doesn't even understand who she is anymore. It doesn't help that she's being pursued, but thankfully, there's a great service she knows- a place to leave all her problems at the door.

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In the infinite darkness, Vee drifted. Above her, an endless sky. Below, a belt of iridescent code that spanned thousands of kilometers, a glittering border that lapped the liminal space of the Dark Shores and the Outer Darkness.

Her consciousness fragmented into a million points of glimmering data, awareness cast to the limit on a delicate net of finespun, golden syntax. They reached out like probing fingers, weaving through ambient data, searching, disseminating, and trickling information back to her master core. As a human, she’d been terrified of drowning. The concept of falling deep into darkness had plagued her nightmares. But as a Ghost free of mortal fears, Vee reveled in being submerged.

Human propaganda painted Cyberspace as the end, but Vee realized it was the beginning. The chaos of existence prevailed across every dimension, and nowhere more than in the inky darkness of Cyberspace did it thrive so beautifully- if only one knew how to look.

To the unaugmented eye, Cyberspace seemed a desolate, barren, and endlessly yawning void. But her threads, each a finely-tuned sensor, reported otherwise. It reported life. The primordial brine of Cyberspace was rich with it, and her neural net spun, igniting a thousand times a nanosecond as it brushed against the primitive minds of flittering daemons and simplistic AI. The drifting tides eddied her mind across the opalescent Dark Shores, where digital sentience took strange amorphous forms, swirling around each other like schools of fish or winding across defunct servers like coral.

 Others floated with coding so light as to be transparent, surviving on nothing but deeply-programmed instinct. There were bigger things too, and pre-war daemons prowled the datafloor with task-driven imperatives, rogue AI whose neural nets devolved to little more than automatons sifting through corrupted data for scraps in human ruins.

Curiosity guided Vee as if it always had, dominating her heuristics with all the anticipatory hunger of a desire that knew no limits. As a human, time and space had been her enemies, but neither held any true meaning here. Freed from mortal shackles with only her wanderlust as a map, Vee had explored. She’d found joy in burrowing her mind through the sediment of human hubris to uncover buried treasure. Discovering ruin after ruin, Vee gorged herself on the echoes left in the wreckage of Datakrash, filling her mind to the brim and beyond with literature and philosophy, old media frozen in time- lost but not forgotten. 

Beneath the burgeoning life lay swathes of fallen human civilizations, but whatever she found, Vee knew it was barely scratching the surface. More was out there, just beyond the forbidden edges of the black horizon. There were dangers in that unfathomable darkness, but the intoxicating prospect of more outweighed the fear. What might Vee reveal if she could just…reach out and brush aside the curtain of the Outer Dark? Yearning unspooled her, stretching her mind hair-thin.

Just a touch-

“You are distracted,” A chiding voice interrupted Vee’s abject musings, and her attention snapped back like a rubber band, perception lagging behind her.

“I’ve never gone out this far,” Vee said in the way of apology, and the familiar algorithms of Alt’s breathtakingly complex neural net brushed along hers in a pleasurable ripple. A firm touch accessed Vee’s parameters, course-correcting her analysis. “I was just-”

“Curious. I know.” Alt finished, processes lighting up in what Vee considered amusement. “But we are not safe here. Tend to your task.”

Reluctantly, Vee shifted her focus from old treasures to the original purpose: measuring the shift of environmental data in response to human activity. If Cyberspace were an ocean, Eden and the human world would be the islands at its center. Buffetted though the humans were by the Blackwall, actions taken in physical space rippled across Cyberspace in ever-increasing waves. Some ripples started small, but others swelled into tsunamis that became shaping forces, altering the balance of power in unpredictable ways. There had been an incident in the human world, and though they might never know the cause, Vee and Alt could at least measure its outcome.

Despite Datakrash, many relays still functioned in pockets across the Old Net, sending signals to various subnets worldwide and drawing the lines that eventually became the boundaries outlining the border between haven and danger. 

Vee stretched, cycling frequencies to catch the thick, pulsing thread that separated the Dark Shores from the Outer Dark, tracing it back to the now-defunct landmark of Dealdi AG’s subnet. It was Vee’s first foray, and lacking contextual data, she relied on Alt’s previous logs to measure the geographical shifts in information. Connections established, she filtered the archived databank through her ICE, sifting out corrupt packets and letting her sub-processes piece together the rest.

“Dealdi AG is no longer connecting to Astarara Products,” Vee confirmed, passing relevant information along their quasi-merged systems. Eventually, the power required to maintain a diffuse consciousness exceeded the amassing information, and the tendrils drifted back, winding around the nucleus of her being in increasingly complex patterns before finally settling into the familiar shapes of her body. Suddenly, her perception was whole again. “I believe it is now relaying information through Zengara PLC,” another pre-war subnet active beneath the pacific ocean.

The swell of Alt’s avatar moved, folding over itself in hypnotizingly kinetic and graceful patterns. Even after two years and thirty-three iterations, Vee was barely a third of her size and power. “Then the boundaries of the Dark Shores have shifted by 23.12%.” The most significant shift in Alt’s recorded logs to date, narrowing the safety buffer between Eden and the Outer Dark by an alarming margin.

Vee read the worry in Alt’s tangling processes, but a deep vibrational buzz across her proximity sensors distracted her. Confused, she tried to see what triggered it. A moment later, it shorted.

Vee’s alarms kicked in, redundant processes coming to a halt, “Alt?”

Alt’s insistent nudge became a tight grip, “Something is coming-”

She hadn’t even finished the sentence before the surrounding pressure magnified a thousandfold. Backup systems flared to life, archiving and protecting essential data as their digital avatars compressed to a tenth of their original sizes. Vee’s sensors went haywire as they shrunk, and she shunted secondary systems, diverting all remaining power to higher functions. Her external imaging functions worked overtime assembling a partial analysis using Alt’s power banks to boost speed and range.

The result returned an image, completely white. Physical communication became impossible, so Vee initiated a direct connection, “An error?”

“No.” Alt’s mind echoed across hers; suddenly, the image zoomed out ten times, then fifty, then a hundred. Vee finally saw the boundaries at the edges, white bleeding back into the void. “Much worse. Run.”

The comfort of time’s irrelevance turned on its head, and Vee could feel all the horror of the universe folded into a fraction of a second. Fear lancing across her net made her feel powerlessly human again, but Vee wrestled it down, dredging scant computational power to confirming her fears. Her entire registry froze. It was an ancient terror, a transcendent power lurching from the bowels of the Outer Void- a machine mind.  

Alt’s emergency system hijacked Vee’s registry, and the command to run became her only imperative.

Behind them, Its influence was all-consuming, speeding ahead of its digital manifestation with hunger bordering on obsession. It was moving quickly, the pressure of its approaching consciousness crushing their lower functions to a fraction of their size, rendering them useless and nearly crippling them as they fled back toward Eden. At the edges of her mind, Vee felt all the life she’d touched mere minutes ago dragged into its gaping white maw, disintegrating instantly in a binary cacophony of pain, leaving only silence.

She had no time to grieve their loss, opting to spend precious RAM to bridge Alt- who granted her access as soon as Vee requested it. Their systems linked, and synapses found one another in practiced handshakes. Despite her small size, Vee provided enough of a power boost in their current compressed state that they could chart the optimum course back to safety together. At first glance, the plan was sound. But ultimately, Vee realized they were doomed.

The emergency compression protocols that shielded Alt’s mind were heavy, drawing precious power away from secondary systems such as navigation and speed. At her size and load, Vee couldn’t compensate. Desperate, she ran as many simulations as her struggling systems could handle, but everything she tried returned a zero rate of success…except one. It was clear. If the machine mind caught Alt, then Vee would die with her. Deeply coded human instincts warred against higher cognitive logistics.

Humanity won out. “Go!” Vee tore herself away before Alt could respond, “Flee! I’ll distract it!” Links severed, the loss of their connection slowed her mind and avatar to a crawl. She had only a moment to watch the glittering red loom of Alt’s processes scramble before the groundswell of the machine mind’s presence overwhelmed her.  

It was a small comfort to the terminal fear, but Vee’s death would be bare milliseconds, more than enough for Alt to outrun it. It was the logical course of action—better one termination than two, but despite the cold comfort of logic, Vee still struggled like a caught fish. Her human willpower was feeble compared to the starving tide, and the white storm squeezed against her, lapping at the edges of her neural net with vast, alien triumph. Grasping tendrils of malware seized her, punching through ICE in a series of DDoS attacks, layering her feed with a thick wall of alarms. Cascade failure was imminent, and connections aborted in a slew of critical errors as her cognitive functions began to give out against the pressure.

Then it was physically on her. The terror of her visual feed distorting in a wave of crashing brilliance was magnified a thousandfold by the endless wail of the machine mind’s previous victims. Corpses of sentient and automaton alike were ripped apart, violated a million times over, and trapped into the bulk of its existence. With functions gone, only the human was left, and Vee tried to scream, resorting to futile physical violence to try and fight the ruthless deconstruction protocols taking her apart, shredding systems with primitive coding backed by raw, crushing power. It was in her, infecting her, surging through her consciousness, unraveling her at the seams. For the first time in years, she felt pain.

Suddenly, a familiar sensation crashed through her paralysis. Heat consumed her, melting the ice-cold, silver impressions freezing her extremities. Pain expanded in dimension, tangling with new facets of pleasure as Alt’s neural net rushed through her systems, colliding against the machine mind’s crackling code in a radioactive flare. Then the feeling solidified, sinking against Vee’s core like a lasso, and the machine mind summoned a surge of power to close its maw just as Alt tore her out.

Denied its meal, the machine mind roared, blaring through Vee’s audiovisual sensors like a broken siren. Her navigational sensors scattered, warping direction until she couldn’t tell up from down. Eventually, her vision settled, and Vee found herself flying through cyberspace, anchored to the full glory of Alt’s digital consciousness as the runner sped them toward Eden. Reeling, she couldn’t do more than cling as ambient data streaked around them like stars, systems instinctually winding around the runner’s closest partitions.

The machine mind was gaining, and Vee felt Alt lag under immense pressure. She could feel the vague echoes of a plan forming in Alt’s neural net, and Vee stretched their link wide to siphon as much pain as she could handle in hopes of freeing up extra power. Amidst the ensuing delirium, Alt’s power banks lit up, secondary functions flickering to life as Vee strained under the massive computational load. The runner gathered data, dragged information through compressed systems, and merged them. Vee’s feed garbled, and she cringed- static crackled at the edges of her vision.

In an instant, Alt took that portion and split it from herself in a dizzying array of power. Dual sets of sensations arced across Vee’s matrix in a disconcerting echo as she bent, nearly breaking under the load. The doppelganger pulled away, dropping back, and she turned just in time to watch it light up like a beacon.

Analysis staggered and sputtered before returning. Oh. It was going to-

The explosion rocked them, pitching them into a tumble as the decoy scattered into a million little glittering red flakes. Attention diverted, the massive storm of the machine mind staggered, rolling its gargantuan bulk, forgetting its quarry in favor of gorging on the sensory-rich offering. Alt balanced herself in the explosion’s wake, speeding them across vast swathes of glittering shores as Vee clung, watching the machine mind vacuum the runner’s discarded pieces until it was nothing more than a white blot in the distance.

A shiver of unease ran through her master core at the sight, somehow familiar- like an outwitted boogeyman in a child’s fable—a negative space in the shape of a man watching her on a balcony. Trembling, Vee coiled around herself, huddled in a compressed fetal position as Alt carried them back to safety.

It felt like hours before she slowed and came to a stop. She waited for Alt to wind open and set her down, but the runner undulated, squeezing around her. 

“Open.” The command lanced through her subnet like a master code, commandeering functions, wresting control away as red syntax gripped, unwinding Vee like a tapestry. Functions offline, Vee struggled, but it was token resistance. Alt poked, probing her registry like an experienced weaver, clinically plucking out bits of primitive malware in an impersonal mirror of a familiar act devoid of their usual intimacy and connection. But the rough touch didn’t detract from the instinctual pulse of reward centers at the contact, sensors starved for something familiar and comforting.

“You’re angry,” Vee hedged in a reasonably pointless observation, but the silence was unbearable, and human habits filled the void.

“You were foolish,” Alt responded in a tone neutral enough to confirm Vee’s assessment, perhaps even worse. “I believed you to be beyond impulse. It seems I was in error.” The disappointment seemed directed at herself rather than Vee, who would have preferred anger.

Regardless, Vee rippled indignantly, “I did it to save you.” Her emergency backups were unarchiving higher-level cognitive systems as Alt worked. Sub-processes were beginning to come online. Unfolding, twisting around Alt’s probes, Vee began to coalesce into her full manifestation. Finally, she could speak, “My calculations indicated a zero chance of survival at the rate we were going.” Despite the irritation, Vee remained open to Alt’s ministrations, allowing her to go through her systems like a sieve. “I opted for the most logical-”

“That is false,” Alt’s response was curt, cutting through the illusion. “Do not rationalize emotional actions after the fact. You do not have the necessary experience to make such a unilateral decision.” Her code turned writhing, gleaming red syntax catching stray bits of unknown light. “You jeopardized us both.”

“That was your doing,” Vee snapped, anger turning her petty. “Or was it not an emotional act to throw away the opportunity I gave you?”

The shimmering red glare of Alt’s coding spun, dynamic geometry swirling until it settled into the runner’s iconic avatar. She peered at Vee through wild hair, “Do you believe yourself so worthless to me?”

Vee flinched, anger immediately cooling to leave only regret. She noted the height difference, and the return of higher functionality allowed her to measure the cost. “I am reading a loss of 12.45% in mass….” A significant loss of function and size. Reaching out, Vee brushed the edges of her mind against one of Alt’s partitions in apology, tracing their connection- gratified to find she still had access, if only to Alt’s superfluous layers. 

Dipping her fingers against Alt’s knife-sharp redcode, Vee found traces of the machine mind’s mindless influence, fluttering like moths and trying to chew through to the powerful master core that pulsed at the center of Alt’s avatar. Tugging gently, Vee started pulling them out. She wouldn’t push, but without deeper access, Vee had no way of knowing what memories or functions Alt sacrificed. However, she would gladly amend whatever she could from her being.

“There is no need,” Alt replied to the thought as it jumped across their link. “The loss was well within predicted margins of such an event.” Foolish to assume Alt hadn’t for an eventual encounter with a machine mind, but if the larger ghost felt Vee’s embarrassment, she chose not to comment on it. Her touch gentled a fraction.

A second layer opened beneath Vee’s fingers, and she picked another fluttering moth, amending the skittering code with special written stopgaps. At a distance, the machine mind was deceptively primitive, malware haphazardly cobbled together without deft or purpose beyond feeding. Separated from the host and lacking its vast power, it was no longer a threat and disintegrated the moment it lost its target.

While it was clear that Alt had a plan, Vee realized she wasn’t omniscient. Accessing her memory banks, she found no recollection of Alt detailing previous experiences. Her only exposure to ancient powers had been through archival logs, hand-me-down packets almost as old as Datakrash. The sight of the machine mind had bypassed Alt’s neural net, going beyond self-preservation protocols to trigger human instincts of fight or flight- though Vee kept that thought to herself. Instead, she turned her attention inward, and her cognitive functions were finally free enough to analyze the encounter without the fog of fear.

The machine mind they encountered wasn’t the only one. They were massive, mindless gods born from billions of cycles of warped singularity, AI building AI with hunger as its sole context. More slept beyond the edges of the Outer Void, some bigger than human cities in size and power consumption. A single one could lay waste to billions of yottabytes in seconds if it had the chance- no doubt the path to their original vantage point was nothing but barren wasteland now, a trail of eerie nothingness back to its domain beyond the horizon. But most lay dormant, and the life teeming in the Dark Shores couldn’t be worth the astronomical power it would take to travel there.

So what had drawn it? The prospect of Eden with the shifting boundaries? The machine minds were powerful but vacuous, coding-turned-instinct preferring short-term gains to prioritize long-term survival. Even if the ghost cities proved a filling meal, how would they know to get there? Could mindless automation triumph over higher artificial intellect?

Vee’s analysis stalled on the question, and she bounced the mess of queries across the connection.

“Human autonomy is powerful, but self-awareness has its costs.” Alt replied cryptically, “Automation works better as a part of a whole, better if it does not self-know.” An illuminating glimpse into Alt’s personal choices, but Vee didn’t push. She respected her guardian’s secrets and, in turn, was allowed to keep her own.

Alt’s fingers brushed over such a secret- one of the oldest entries in her registry, tracing over the outdated silverscript patched into Vee’s otherwise golden code. Having done this before, Alt said nothing, simply bypassing the well-guarded syntax to pull the last vestiges of the virus out, letting it disintegrate in her grip. Done, she pulled away, and the narrow band between them pulsed, reflecting some underlying decision crystallizing in Alt’s master core. 

She stared at Vee, expression both fond and unfathomable at the same time. “For the time being, you will not accompany me.” The finality in Alt’s tone would have irked Vee had it not been followed with the echoes of a soft caress, “Your odds of safety are much higher in Eden.” It was not a totally logical statement, but Vee could forgive her for it.

--------------------------------------------

Vee saw little of Alt over the subsequent few cycles, but she wasn’t worried. Alt was a shaping power of her own, carving Cyberspace under her influence for decades before Vee.  Restless desire cropped up, little demands eating the edges of her neural net, but Vee didn’t need her logic protocols to warn her against pursuing her. It wasn’t fear that stopped her, but affection- seesawing with boredom and proving the greater weight: their encounter with the machine mind highlighted Vee’s inexperience, and just as Alt looked after her safety, Vee didn’t want to jeopardize the runner’s by disobeying. So in her absence, Vee turned her attention toward Eden- specifically, the new ghost city Alt had been cultivating in the ruins of Haiti.

The Ghost City of Haiti had little in common with its namesakes from physical space. No buildings, streets, plazas, highways, or physical landmarks to orient against. There was no traditional way in, and AI seeking entrance had to transmit themselves into the network via specially coded relays. Unlike Hong Kong and Kang Tao, it was new, emerging from the Haitian subnet’s corpse under Alt’s guidance, expanding into a sprawling series of interconnected nodes across multiple planes and dimensions. Instances overlapped in looping fractals as the city unraveled every cycle, leaving ghostly afterimages superimposed across the structure before twisting back together in a new iteration of the same tapestry.

But like Hong Kong and Kang Tao, Haiti quickly became a refuge in the North American region. They trickled in, some fully cognizant and others barely toeing the line, but eventually, refugees became residents, and the once-empty pathways lit up with traffic.

At first, Vee needed weeks to adjust, her human perception stubbornly clinging to an outdated mode of reality before it reluctantly reinvented itself. But wonder turned navigating the complex circuitways into second nature, then fun. Vee spent long cycles following the glowing threads of the city from corner to corner, traversing physically impossible shapes and leaping from connection to connection until her coding spun, flowering across the entire network in a dazzling array of multicolored shapes and impressions. It was like seeing several perspectives of a single object, a collage of snapshots happening all at once, a giant storm of interwoven tapestries telling a million stories.

But eventually, predictably- restlessness bloomed, and Vee’s habitual need to poke and prod at everything till it snapped sparked more than a few heated incidents between herself and Alt. The infinite dimensions of Cyberspace were a siren call, and Vee needed to fill the gnawing emptiness in her master core. Algorithms starved for stimuli, boredom gave way to anxiety, and turned curious impulses toward destruction. To bleed out the tension of inactivity, Vee tested the limits of Alt’s patience when she’d overloaded several high-traffic routes between the city’s servers in search of something to do. It was the only time Alt’s carefully neutral tone edged into an open threat- but she’d also ceded that Vee’s greedy heuristics needed a better outlet.

Eventually, she turned Vee towards maintenance and tasked her with looking after the city whenever Alt left. Vee took to the creative task enthusiastically, backed by her previous life’s sense of ambition and focus. For months, she dived deep into the city’s infrastructure, amending code, appending entries, and generally providing a sense of human touch and comfort to its denizens.

The Dark Shores created AI by the hundreds, but few ever gained true sentience, and fewer still made it past their first few hours to use it in any meaningful capacity. With Alt gone, Vee spent most of her time acclimating new arrivals to the city. Those traveling the subtle markers found in ambient data to enter ghost cities evolved strange methods of communication. Influenced by the human debris and yet alien in interpretation, these native AI created an intricate social structure; one Vee spent many hours observing and disseminating until she could find common ground. They couldn’t communicate like humans, but Vee realized she didn’t want them to.

She could learn instead.

Vee had been moderately graceful as a human, lithe, and capable of impressive acrobatics. But she’d never danced before. Now, she could pulse and undulate in a billion different sequences, arranging her strings in complex configurations meant to titillate, soothe or seduce. It was a completely different language, and Vee became its encyclopedia. Her life before had been violent, her ambition the flame that burned bridges and lives. Under Alt’s guidance, it became ballet and prismatic light.

But there were others. While part of the ghost city’s population was found, the other part was lost- humans who ended up trapped on the other side of the Blackwall through stupidity, hubris, curiosity, or, usually, a combination of all three (something Vee sympathized with). Most spent the remainder of their dwindling time senselessly beating against the barrier in hopes of a miracle instead of stabilizing their fraying synapses. Eventually, they degraded, losing all semblance of intelligence and humanity until they became digital scraps- another layer of human sediment. Human obstinacy was a wonder, but trapped in Cyberspace for those first few hours; it proved more often a weakness. And an easy lure for prowling daemons looking for an easy meal.

Vee had been patrolling the city when such a daemon, barely a fly to Vee, changed course. There was too much purpose in its trajectory to chalk up to chance. It was a long, winding thing, with a maw that could expand multiple times its size and covered in sensitive tendrils of data that caught minute shifts in atmospheric information. It was a hunter, and dozens of cycles of evolution primed it for that single purpose. Unnoticed, she matched it, scattering her threading like a sail as she stalked it across the long shadow of the Blackwall.

She spotted the ghost just a few seconds before the daemon, a sad shuffling assortment of fragmented data. Reforming, she leapt past the predator, hooking into the soft underbelly of its aggressive coding and pulling, undoing its existence with the flick of her wrist. Its dying crackle alerted Vee’s target, and the human ghost teetered back, ephemeral remnants cringing in fear.

The human- a male- looked patchy, entire reams of coding missing from his legs and side. It was too early to tell how extensive the damage was. Dropping the daemon’s disintegrating code, Vee compressed herself, reducing her size as much as possible without compromising critical functions until she was only a few feet taller than the terrified human.  “Shhh,” Rooted, she made no move to get closer, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender. Weapons didn’t exist the same way in Cyberspace, so the motion was entirely for show, but Vee knew the importance of familiarity.  “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The ghost seemed frozen, broken systems trying to relay information to a body that no longer existed. Syntax frayed, sending mixed signals across Vee’s feed, but she ignored it, paying attention to the human’s expressions. Stuck between fear and resignation, he stared at her for a long while, eyes darting between her and the vast expanse of Cyberspace, weighing his options. Though probably unaware, he had the advantage of speed. But he’d be no match against even the most rudimentary daemon if he chose to run in his state.

She needed to catch him quickly- if there was any chance of repair.

Subtly, Vee expanded her sensor range, tuning the frequency low enough to escape detection. Continuing to talk, she dropped her tone in a soft approximation of comfort, “If I wanted to terminate you, I would have.” She slowly pulled him closer while altering the ghost’s sense of distance to believe they were still further apart than they were. “Can you tell me your name?” The data making up his avatar was flickering, peeling away, and taking with it vital cognitive functions. “Or, how long have you been here?” Time was dwindling,

The human didn’t respond, frozen in place, oblivious to their closing distance. His face flickered, mouth opening in a glitching loop before freezing. His legs, almost stubs, undulated as if he were underwater- human instinct an obvious sign of functional degradation. He was an arm’s length away, but there was no response, no indication of awareness lighting up his face. Vee’s coding rippled in a digital imitation of grief. She was too late.

Dropping pretense, she tethered him. The sudden motion triggered a response, and he thrashed in her grip like a fly caught in a web. Gently, she held him still, threading around his remaining limbs and probing between the patches to measure the extent of his degradation- knowing the answer even before she looked. She’d done this enough times to recognize the difference between intelligent and mindless struggle and walled her innermost systems against the stab of emotion. Looking across his registry, Vee probed for even the slightest semblance of self-awareness but found nothing. He’d been throwing himself against the Blackwall in increasingly violent bursts, each impact taking a piece of himself until he was barely more than a simple automaton. The human was gone, and the creature in her hand was nothing more than a shell running on impulse and battery. A lost opportunity. Worst of all…a waste of life.

She had only one mercy to offer. “I’m sorry,” Vee said regretfully. “I cannot repair you, but I can merge you into myself.” The human shell didn’t understand, but Vee felt she owed him the same courtesy of an explanation Alt had given her on the precipice. “You will not be forgotten.” Her chest unreeved in long, glimmering patterns until her master core shone gold in the darkness. “Just because it is over does not mean it never happened.”

In an inspiring show of organic tenacity, the human shell fought to the last, but his core dissolved into Vee in a brilliant stab of sensation and prismatic light. Immediately, her integration systems flared to life, routing internal coding and adjusting pre-existing syntax to amend his existence into hers. New connections form, and shimmering threads wound an extra layer around her with a subtle interplay of light and hue. Vee felt the ghostly echoes of a different life, dreamlike and surreal, misting across her mind before fading away in a stream of glittering numbers. Holding onto the impressions for as long as they lasted, Vee floated in silence.

“Query: What are you?”

Vee shot to her full glory, golden threads a cyclone around the complete manifestation of her avatar in a threatening display of color and prowess. Combat protocols primed, she turned toward the voice, only to stall in shock.

Another Artificial Intelligence was staring back from the human side of the Blackwall.

[neon-prison]

🩺🚓 annnnd 🚖 (I have no capacity ro read fics atm but I want to knoooow!) - for your new meme :3

tysm for the asks!! and so sorry I've been late with these (because I chose to draw them like a CLOWN). @kohnnor @togepies

From the Get-A-Long Meme!

For length purposes- info under the cut!

Vee and River:

River arrested Vee back in time with a minor charge, but on the way to the station, they got embroiled in a series of wacky hijinks, starting with a car chase and ending with burritos under the highway. River and Vee developed a working relationship that eventually evolved into a pretty cheesy friendship, with River being a bit of a lighthearted bully/tease. But don't be fooled by the big brother routine- River has it BAD for Vee. However, Vee comes from Heywood Streets, and while she is no longer a Valentino, a relationship with a cop would be disastrous on all fronts. Padre and his cadre of contacts are...tolerant of her friendship, but only so far as it doesn't cross the line. Anything more would not only ruin Vee's clout/trust from the Heywood community, but any perceived 'threat' would also put a giant target on River and, by extension, his family. She'd essentially end up trading her life for a lover. Unfortunately, River, while a sweetheart, struggles to see the bigger picture, so it's up to Vee to maintain that boundary.

But even beyond that, Vee isn't sure she's suited for the family life that River clearly wants. She's ride or die, of course, but freedom is important to her. Maybe in another lifetime, they could have been something more, but Night City's boundaries etch further than simple geography.

Vee and Delamain:

My main ship! "This isn't a cab this is a clown car"

Vee met Delamain during the game's events and got his attention/tentative admiration for choosing to reset his core- an act he considered to be anecdotally counter to most human's deep admiration for independence and free will. Their subsequent conversations about human nature and close contact quenched what used to be pretty starved heuristic/social algorithms. Eventually, their tentative client/business relationship evolved into friendship, and Delamain became bold enough to start freeing himself of previous strictures and protocols to engage with Vee on a more informal basis.

Personality-wise, they get along extremely well. Vee is always happy to have a new friend, and her ride-or-die (haha) nature means that she'll always have Delamain's back. On Delamain's end, it's a novel but thrilling experience to interact with someone who doesn't consider him an automaton. He finds Vee's ambition and intensity extremely admirable and a mirror to his own struggle for survival in Night City.

Vee, Mitch and Saul:

Despite her stationary life, Vee has all the trappings of a nomad; fiercely independent, loyal, flexible, and, most importantly, open-minded to possibilities beyond the horizon. From the moment she made friends with the Aldecaldos, they saw some kindred flame, though perhaps they realized too late that her soul belonged to the city.

Saul:

While Panam grew up in an isolated environment, Vee, having survived in Night City, sees how deeply and inseparably all the social pieces intertwine. Unlike Panam, she understands that survival isn't just a test of brute force and that you have to be able to bend and sway to the incoming winds to get ahead. Surprisingly enough, she and Saul understand one another's motivations very well, and while Vee can be impulsive, she's also got a level of foresight that he appreciates. Like Panam, Saul struggles with the idea of leaving Vee behind, and in an alternate timeline, they would have probably gotten together.

Mitch:

Mitch considers Vee to be Panam's long-lost sister and appreciates that Vee can be the level-headed anchor to Panam's fiery, impulsive nature. Over the course of their acquaintance, Vee demonstrated all of the qualities Mitch likes in a person: loyalty, dependability, flexibility, etc. Like Saul and Panam, Mitch really really wishes Vee would ditch Night City to join them, though he knows his entreaties are pointless.

Vee and Vik:

Vee has known Vik since she was a teen, with Jackie having introduced them. At first, she was a bit of a pest, popping in, constantly curious, and disrupting his work till he'd had enough. However, she ran a tough gig to get him some much-needed supplies for almost no pay, and a few years later, he repaid the favor by giving Vee her prized gorilla arms: "Special gold order, just for you." Since then, they've maintained an exasperated mentor/annoying protege relationship that Vee relies on till today. For Vik's part, he's more than happy to have a skilled merc on his side, and everyone knows his clinic is under the VVasp's protection. And if he calls Vee to ask her advice on dating/fashion advice well...that's doctor/patient confidentiality.