[Unintentional Video]

[monochromatically]

[The feed opens to the rather confusing sight of a hand being pressed on the screen. Poking and prodding it curiously, while childish mumbling was heard. There’s more static interference, sometimes jumping across it. It wasn’t Mono’s fault, of course, it just happened when he was around things that broadcasted.]

I don’t like this. [Although, Mono hadn’t been fond of the tellphones to begin with either.] Why’d they gotta go and make it like a little tv… [There’s a frown in his smaller voice, before he tapped on it again.] I dunno... but I don't think it's the same.

[Kid probably doesn’t really realize he’s broadcasting on the network. They don’t have phones like this where he’s from. At least before the whole 'voice' function made more sense. Someone might want to teach him a little more about them, or at least let him know he was sharing the video.]

Comments

[hellofishies]

[ She laughs very lightly and waves more enthusiastically ] Hello! I guess it was an accidental recording?

If they made it they should be able to. Maybe. Unless they didn't make it.

[monochromatically]

I was just messing with it but I guess I did a thing! [He wasn't too sure, but he must have because now he was talking to someone! At least it was someone he liked.]

If they didn’t make them, then who could’ve? Kinda weird that they just happened... I didn’t think I broke it. Do other people need to get theirs fixed sometimes?

[hellofishies]

Rude thing for it to do! [ Though she seems kinda amused by it. ]

Good question. Maybe they made themselves. [ Makes as much sense as anything to her. Then again things make weird sense to her. ] I've never had to fix mine but I don't do much with it. It seems like they'd be easy to break.

[monochromatically]

Yeah, very rude! What if it happens to someone didn’t wanna be seen? [Like him! What if he didn’t have his bag on when he started messing around with it? He didn’t always wear the darn things when he was alone.]

I didn’t think I broke it, but maybe I did. I don’t know how this stuff works, and I’ve broken things before…? [That, Mono thought to himself, would not be a tragedy where the phone was concerned. The only ones weren’t great but at least they didn’t have screens.]

[hellofishies]

Then I guess that person would just have to hide real fast. Or maybe just pretend it didn't happen and hope people followed. People follow a lot of what others say as truth. [ So who knows, maybe it'd work? ]

We've all broken things, sweets. Some of us bigger things than others. I broke my world once. [ Opps. Now why admit that? ] I don't think you broke it.

[monochromatically]

I guess if they're really fast, or really good at convincing someone.

[He tapped the side of the bag lightly. Mono knew he wanted to be a lot more careful with the phone now... He did not want to accidentally use it again. He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to use the video function again.]

You did? [He asked, his voice small and just a little curious. At least until he continued talking... He really wanted to stop talking!] I might've, though! I broke a lot of TVs back in my world; they blew up when I used my power to travel with them sometimes.

[hellofishies]

Some people are really good at convincing people what they say is the truth. Or they have ways to make sure they convince them.

[ Like people she knew back home. Or maybe herself sometimes. Now and then. ]

I did and a lot of people died. We didn't mean to break everything but we did mean to hurt people. [ She frowns and then looks pretty confused on why she'd ever say that. Quickly focus the conversation on him. ] Do people get hurt when the TVs break?

[monochromatically]

Were they people who wanted to hurt you, too? [Because that seemed like a fairly important detail to Mono. He'd hurt people himself, after all... People who wanted to hurt him or his friend.

He'd... Well, Mono was pretty sure a few of them weren't alive anymore. Other's he wasn't sure if they were alive to begin with.

But the subject of the tv gets a little shake of his head.] Not really, not many people left... But if the faceless people are around, they get really mad when their TV breaks.

[hellofishies]

Yes. They wanted to use us and the powers we have. [ She hangs her head and doesn't look back up. ] But we were tired of being used. [ So they decided not to be anymore. It just went a little south. ]

What happened to all the people?

[monochromatically]

People shouldn’t do that, they shouldn’t hurt and use people and not expect us to get mad at them! [Mono responded, tone just a little more serious than before.] If no one else is gonna help, then sometimes you gotta help yourself, right? I didn’t wanna get hurt in my world, or for Six to hurt… So sometimes I had to do bad stuff too.

[He shrugged a little at the question.]

A lot of them disappear into the tv eventually, after their faces are gone. [And then… he thinks they become part of the thing inside, but he’s not sure.] Some people just kinda have accidents I think… [His face scrunched up,] and I think a lot of people just went away before the tv could get them? There were a bunch of papers about a place called The Maw, and this boat kept coming and people kept getting on it.

No one ever came back, so maybe it was a better place than the city was?

[hellofishies]

I've seen people do bad stuff, sweets, protecting people isn't bad stuff.

[ She bunches her eyebrows up and looks a little disturbed by his description. ] Like the TV eats their faces? [ She shook her head. ] I dunno. A maw is jaws of a big animal. That sounds bad. [ There was no way she'd trust a place called the Maw, that just sounded sinister. ]

[monochromatically]

Really? Even if it means the people you're protecting your friends from might not be okay after?

[Not that he regretted it, both he and Six survived a lot because of the decisions they'd made. Still, sometimes he wondered if he should have done something different... Sometimes he wasn't sure if he remembered it right, either.

Mono nodded quickly to the question.] They do! Or... Maybe they just kinda suck it off when they get too close. Bad stuff is in the tv, a big... gross thing, with lots of eyes... And a scary tall man.

[The kid gasped a little, he hadn't known that was what a maw was!] Really? So it might be a big scary thing too? ... We thought maybe we should try to get there, to get away from the city.