Ryslig IC Contact

[terribibble]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, FIDDLEFORD HADRON MCGUCKET. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 011.23.581.321 *** teslacoils has joined 011.23.581.321 >> teslacoils has posted an AUDIO MESSAGE. If you wish to listen, type LISTEN01. <teslacoils> Lab hours are 10 AM to 6 PM Mon-Wed, 7 PM to 3 AM Thur-Fri, special appointments available. <teslacoils> I am no longer associated with the Fourth God. <teslacoils> But I will answer any questions you might have about him with the honest truth.

<teslacoils> - main username
<novus> <ordo> <seclorum> <fulcrum> - anonymous usernames
<hadron> <thamnophis> <4eyes> - retired usernames
pixel image by CJ Pythonmelon
voice work by Penny knittinggiantbeanies

Comments

<teslacoils>

[terribibble]

oh!

you're right that is something nice. what made you decide on it?

[Besides it just being the objectively right choice.]

<deadbabyjoke>

[thefuckingbeam]

well i kinda stumbled my way into the arcade on accident and was talking to marco

and i hate the fog god and marco said that you guys are trying to take her down

plus you know you guys have pong so

<teslacoils>

[terribibble]

forget pong have you tried joust yet?

<deadbabyjoke>

[thefuckingbeam]

oh yeah that ones pretty fun

but i think we can all agree that space invaders is the shit

<teslacoils>

[terribibble]

i dont know when it comes to games followin the 'things descendin at you from the top of the screen' model i prefer tetris

<deadbabyjoke>

[thefuckingbeam]

oh man

fuck yeah

tetris is fun as hell

ever played it high

<teslacoils>

[terribibble]

no i can't say i have

<deadbabyjoke>

[thefuckingbeam]

...do you wanna

<teslacoils>

[terribibble]

yes

<deadbabyjoke>

[thefuckingbeam]

nice

lets do it

smoke up and meet me in the arcade?

[terribibble]

sure.

[About twenty minutes later he slithers through the door to the Arcade, tucking his personalized keycard back into the pocket of his tweed jacket. His tongue flicks from his mouth, searching for Eddie's particular scent. All he gets is the overpowering smell of marijuana, which is just as good a marker if he's being honest. It leads him to Eddie just as well as anything else would have.]

Hey there.

[thefuckingbeam]

[Eddie's sort of surprised that he managed to beat Fiddleford here; then again, Eddie was already buzzing when they agreed to this, so it's not like he had much prep work to do. What's actually surprising, however, is that Fiddleford is no longer a troll, which is what Eddie's grown used to. He blinks several times, turning away from where he'd been leaning against one of the arcade cabinets.]

Oh hey, man. Didn't realize you were, uh. [He gestures at Fiddleford's tail.] Long, again.

[terribibble]

Oh --

[He turns to look back at his own tail as though he's just remembered it's there now that Eddie's reminded him. The tip of his tail lifts and flicks thoughtfully, though he's careful not to rattle. Being high and hypnotized would probably not be fun for Eddie, he thinks, though he isn't sure exactly what it would do.]

Right, right. Guess I'm so used to it I forgot a whole bunch of folks know me better with legs.

[Eddie's seen him as a naga, of course, but they only really started spending any real time together once he swapped monsters. Of course Eddie's used to it.]

It's been a couple weeks now. Since my birthday.

[thefuckingbeam]

[That earns a snort of laughter from Eddie, and he shakes his head as he pushes himself upright by the elbow.]

I guess that shows how much I pay attention.

[His hair is messy as usual, and his eyes are a little bloodshot, but otherwise Eddie seems pretty functional. He may have smoked a little extra in preparation for this.]

You ready for some high-stakes puzzle adventuring?

[terribibble]

[Hahha. High-stakes.]

Sure am. Though I ought to warn you, I've played this game before and as far as I can tell I'm awful good at it.

[Sure enough, FHM is top of the leaderboard.]

[thefuckingbeam]

[Eddie scoffs, turning to the cabinet and fiddling with the left-hand joysticks.]

Whatever you say, man. You can't possibly be better than, ah—

[He gestures at the screen.] FHM, there. [Leave him alone he's stoned.]

[terribibble]

[Ahaha oh my god. That probably shouldn't be as funny as it is, but the weed is certainly making it seem hilarious. Fiddleford has a pretty distinctive laugh -- a donkey laugh, some folks'd call it -- and it comes on twice as enthusiastic when he's high.]

Y'know, I'm not gonna tell you why that's funny. You'll see.

[He slithers up beside Eddie. The moment his hand touches the joystick the 'Credits' marker becomes 'Free Play' instead. There are some perks to being higher up in the ranks.]

[thefuckingbeam]

[Eddie rolls his eyes. Nerd humor, probably. He arches an eyebrow at the way the screen dialogue changes.]

Woah. Nice perks.

[He presses the START button on his side and adjusts his stance a little wider, bumping into one of Fiddleford's coils. in the process.]

...Sorry, man.

[terribibble]

S'fine. There's a lotta me to work around. No harm.

[Not to mention that since he's got his tail back he's discovered the more buzzed he is the harder it is to keep track of his coils. If some of them bump into Eddie it's really impossible to tell exactly whose fault it is.

Funny enough, his Tetris skills seem to remain entirely unaffected.]

Y'been alright lately?

[thefuckingbeam]

Heh. You got that right.

[Eddie launches into the game with gusto, careful quick flicks of his wrist on the joystick and calculated taps of the rotate button. It feels good to do something normal that he used to do, a million years ago in New York.]

I've been...okay. Getting along, anyways. That whole thing with the dreams...it really messed with my head, man.

[SPECIFICALLY YOUR DREAM, FIDDLEFORD.]

[terribibble]

How much do you remember?

[He's got most of it, he thinks, but he knows better than to trust his memory of anything anymore. He could be forgetting huge chunks of what he saw.

He didn't forget the noose in AM's mind, unfortunately. Of course that's one of the things that wouldn't go away.]

[thefuckingbeam]

Uh—

[Eddie swears under his breath as he misses a move and causes a small pileup on the screen.]

A lot. Unfortunately. I saw, uh—I saw your house, so that was neat.

[terribibble]

My house.

[A row disappears from his screen. Alright. Just gotta keep that going.]

I remember -- I think. It's all jumbled up, y'know, everythin' that happened. Like dreams usually are.

[thefuckingbeam]

Yeah. Shag carpeting and everything.

[Eddie grunts in mingled victory and distress; he clears a line of blocks, but this conversation is venturing toward thornier territory than he'd hoped.]

I know what you mean. It was fuckin' weird, I'm not gonna lie to you. I think—I met your wife.

[terribibble]

Oh.

[Yeah, this conversation has strayed pretty far into things Fiddleford isn't sure he wants to talk about, but now that they're here they might as well have it out. He's oddly curious, just as much as he is apprehensive.]

Was she -- what did you think of her?

[He doesn't know. He appeared to some of the people in his own mind but not to Eddie, and so he has only the vaguest idea of what Eddie might have seen.]