IC Inbox (Redshift)

[superposition]

"You've reached Qubit. Leave a message."

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[text; un: longinmouth]

[abheirrant]

[Shortly after Creepy Joe's post goes on the network, Qubit gets a link in his inbox, along with a note:]

Please find this door and make sure it is locked. Thank you.

[superposition]

I'm a little busy at the moment.

[abheirrant]

[Gosh, what is he even doing.]

Should I put Peter on it, then? Because who knows if this lunatic can be trusted, but he seems very adamant about this thing behind some door and how bad it is.

[superposition]

Right now Peter's busy trying to get himself killed. I'm busy trying to stop him. I'll look into the door once we've stopped that lunatic running loose in the station. All right?

[abheirrant]

You're all busy trying to get yourselves killed or keep someone from being killed, and you yet you found the time to return my message. I will question your priorities later, assuming you aren't dead.

[Which is honestly his way of saying "Don't die, Qubit."]

[superposition]

Oh, don't start. You'd have complained either way.

[text; un: longinmouth]

[abheirrant]

[Not even a week after his last message, and Carlisle is back in Qubit's inbox again.]

Hello, Mister Qubit. Are you busy?

[superposition]

Not especially. What do you need?

[ After all, Carlisle doesn't contact him out of the blue unless he needs something. Not that he's offended by that, it's just the nature of their friendship thus far. ]

[abheirrant]

[There's a gap between texts. Wow, it must not be very urgent if he's taking this long.]

Nothing. I was just taking a walk DOWNstairs and thought of you. You are often so HELPful on walks.

[superposition]

[ ... Subtle as ever, Carlisle. "Helpful on walks," what would that even mean. Still, he drops what he's doing and heads for the elevator. It'd be nice if he'd been more specific, but the phrasing suggests he can't. As if someone might look over his shoulder... ]

I see. One day I'll have to join you. Unless you walk alone?

[abheirrant]

[Must type faster; curse his poor typing skills and his reluctance to work on said typing skills, as that would require him to further familiarize himself with technology and who has time for that when everything is terrible.]

Why ever would I walk alone? Even now, I have company.

[Good company. Not the kind of company that would make him want to ask Qubit specifically for help.]

[superposition]

[ Company. That's what he thought. But who? Does Carlisle even have any enemies? Who would -

Kabal. It's Kabal, isn't it. God damn it. Really should have seen this coming. But on the plus side, that means he knows exactly where they are. ]

Ah, of course. Safety in numbers. It seems something's just come up - I'll speak to you soon.

[ And by "something" he means "this", and by "soon" he means "in about three minutes." STAY STRONG, CARLISLE. ]

[text; un: m.tenebris]

[einselective]

[Marian doesn't care for messaging much in terms of keeping her timeline in synch, but as long as she isn't doing anything crazy during the course of a conversation, it should be fine. And lets her send passive-aggressive emails with Dirac notation for the basis of 'qubit'.]

Do you have an actual name, {|0>,|1>}?

[Carlisle's 'technomancer' gibberish was off-putting, but it does nag at her a bit that whoever this must at least have some technological knowledge to use that as a pseudonym.]

[superposition]

[ Well hello, you have his attention. It's been a while since he ran into someone who knew the first thing about quantum computing. ]

Well, typically I render it in English. Easier to pronounce. Who is this?

[einselective]

Dr. Tenebris, a relatively recent arrival. It was suggested that it might be worth talking to you about some more technological aspects of our current situation. You'll have to pardon my reluctance to use a "quirky" pseudonym.

[The one thing about text is is conveys that dry and unimpressed tone pretty well. For at she knows, he's still just some kook.]

[superposition]

You're excused. [ It's less adept at conveying sarcasm, unfortunately. ]

But yes, that's correct. I manage a good chunk of the day-to-day maintenance and security around here, among other things. That's a discussion I'd rather have in person, however. Do you know where R&D is?

[einselective]

[Fortunately (?) exasperated eye rolls aren't conveyed either.]

Yes. I'll meet you there.

[Not that she isn't mildly anxious about meeting Anchor's residents in-person, but there's always an easy way out for her if things get dicey. She'd just rather not use it... and with that thought half in mind, she decides that she should wait, tapping her foot, at a spot in the hall that at least (as far as she can tell) appears to be out of sight of any security cameras. That could be a complication she hadn't had to consider before...]

[superposition]

[ The cameras have pretty good coverage in the R&D hallway; Qubit's lab isn't just where he keeps his dangerous experiments and valuables, but also where he sleeps, so he's pretty invested in keeping it secure. They're not without their blind spots, but getting to them does involve crossing a couple of vision cones.

He exits his lab less than a minute after she arrives, the door sliding shut behind him. She's not quite what he expected (he may or may not have been subconsciously expecting a dude), but who else is she going to be. ]

Doctor Tenebris, I presume?

[text; un: longinmouth] - early February

[abheirrant]

Have you thoug h to investigte the other Anchor?

[Forgive his typing, Qubit. His hands are kind of shaky at the moment.]

[superposition]

[ Huh. That's odd, usually Carlisle's not one to typo so much... ]

Been meaning to, yeah. I scouted it out briefly when it opened up, but it's tricky getting a drone past those guardians. Why do you ask?

[abheirrant]

I am considering going msyself.

[abheirrant]

[No, wait—]

Myself.

[abheirrant]

[And then one more, as if it's an afterthought to that correction, and he won't be satisfied unless he makes it.]

I wouldn't be going by myself, of course.

[superposition]

Right, I know what you meant. I'd be happy to take you. [ That is what you meant, right? ]

Though I have to admit, I'm surprised you want to. Is everything all right?

[abheirrant]

I'm fine. I wanted to see what resources they have that wer could use.

[Which isn't really what Qubit asked, but Carlisle is feeling remarkably irritated with his shaking hands at the moment. He really needs to read over these messages before sending them. Why didn't he do that? Stupid hands and stupid technology and STOP SHAKING, DAMN YOU.]