A soft thud alerted an otherwise silent room that someone was trying to get in. Another soft thud and the door gave way, sliding open without a squeak. A switch was flipped and lights flickered on, revealing a rather messy Captain's quarters, and a rather disheveled captain in the doorway. Walking fully into the room, the door slid closed behind her. With a grimace to her desk, the woman walked over to her couch and collapsed onto it. She was sleepy, but her body needed rest. After a moment or two, she shrugged off the long, dark grey coat she had put on over her usual attire, revealing her blue symbol. She flung the fabric across the room and sighed. There was so much she had uncovered that she sincerely wished she had not.

She had only just begun to rest when her husktop pinged at her from her sylladex. Groaning, she idly wondered which Trollian she had forgotten to log out of. Grabbing her computer, she pulled up the offending program, sighing at the chat window. Of course, it had to be this one.

-arisenAnew [AA] began trolling alreadyGrasped [AG]-

AA: hey vriska
AA: are y0u there
AG: Yes, I'm here.
AG: What do you want, Megido?
AA: i was checking up 0n y0u
AA: i t0ld y0u that w0rld w0uld be pretty r0ugh
AA: but y0u had t0 g0
AA: and I kn0w better by n0w than t0 try and talk y0u 0ut 0f it
AG: Yeah yeah, if all you're going to do is taunt me for 8eing right then I'm going to log out.
AA: hang 0n
AA: i actually have s0me m0re inf0rmati0n f0r y0u
AG: Oh? Spill.
AA: its the w0rld im 0n
AA: i think i may have stuck the metaph0rical mine 0f brilliant metal
AG: I'm listening. What did you find?
AA: rebel intent
AA: there isnt much but if they c0uld find a leader the results c0uld be en0ugh t0 win us the entire w0rld
AG: You don't say.
AG: Alright. Send me what you've got, I'll set that place as my next target.
AA: 0kay
arisenAnew sent file
AG: Thanks.
AA: n0 pr0blem
AA: what exactly happened t0 y0u 0ut there anyway
AA: youre being m0re terse than usual
AG: Don't even go there.
AG: It's not even anything 8ad, just annoying as all fuck.
AG: So just never mind, okay?
AG: I'm going to pass on this tid8it of inform8ion to our mutual friend, alright?
AA: 0kay
AG: You know the drill
AA: yes
AA: delete the chat l0g
AG: Yup.
AG: Thanks for the info, Aradia.
-alreadyGrasped [AG] ceased trolling arisenAnew[AA]-

Clearing her chat history, Vriska logged out of one trollian and pulled up a second. Before she clicked on the trolltag, she figured she may as well calm down so she could be mostly civil with the guy. He had just changed his trollian account over and she had yet to delete the old one from her tag list, so she wasted about thirty seconds doing that. Then she closed her husktop, leaning back on the couch, lying down across it. She was sore all over from that strife. He had been asking for it, but that didn't make one bit of difference to the broken ribs and recently relocated shoulder.

Grimacing as she shifted, she raised the hem of her shirt to see the dark blue bruises forming around her chest. Great. She'd be out of commission for a while now. This was exactly what she needed. She only had herself to blame, but she had a good feeling about this world, and as it turned out, her feeling wasn't completely unfounded. She had met a young troll, just barely off of Alternia, who was willing to help her out. Said troll was currently out getting food for the both of them. But that was the only good thing that had happened to her on this stupid planet.

After about an hour, she was sick of feeling sorry for herself. Hauling herself upright, she pulled her husktop over, opening it and clicking on the trolltag of her compatriot.

-virtualMastermind [VM] began trolling pariahSavant[PS]-

VM: Saaaaaaaavaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnt
VM: Don't tell me you're 8usy.
VM: With a scoop like this falling in your lap?
VM: You're not going to 8e here for me to tell you in realtime?
VM: Laaaaaaaameeeeeeee
PS: HEY
VM: Oh, so you are here.
VM: Good.
VM: I found the perfect place for you to go next
VM: I just need to do a 8it of scouting first
PS: WOW REALLY
PS: GOOD LUCK WIITH THE 2COUTIING
VM: Sollux, stop hacking into his account, I need to talk to him.
PS: ON THE FIIRST NOTE
PS: IIM NOT HACKIING HE JU2T LEFT HIIS COMPUTER RUNNIING
PS: ON THE 2ECOND NOTE
PS: HE2 NOT HERE HE JU2T 2ORTA RAN OUT THE DOOR EARLIIER II DONT KNOW WHY
PS: ALSO OF NOTE
PS: II THIINK HE BROKE HIIS CAP2 LOCK II CANT TURN IIT OFF
VM: ahahahahahahahaha!
VM: Sounds like him, the idiot.
VM: Can't you just hack into his computer?
VM: Use the on-screen key8oard or something?
PS: DO YOU THIINK IIM AN IIDIIOT
PS: IIVE ALREADY GONE IINTWO HII2 COMPUTER2 CODE
PS: IIT DOE2NT DO ANYTHIING BUT CAPIITAL LETTER2
VM: Do you really want me to answer the first question?
VM: 8ut anyway….. Damn, it is really hard to type with only one good arm.
PS: DIID YOUR ENTIIRELY DESERVED ROBOT ARM 8R8K
VM: No, 8ut it could use a tune up.
VM: My other arm got disloc8ed in a fight earlier today.
VM: And I think a few of my ri8s are 8roken.
PS: OKAY COOL
VM: Thanks for your sympathy, a22hole.
PS: PARDON ME FOR NOT MUCH LIIKIING THE 8IITCH WHO TRIIED TO KIILL MY GIIRLFRIIEND USIING ME AS THE WEAPON
VM: Yeah yeah. Speaking of your girlfriend, she asked me to tell you something.
PS: WHAT
VM: That she is, in fact, okay.
VM: And that she misses you a fuck ton.
VM: I'm paraphrasing, 8ut you get the idea.
VM: What, nothing to say?
VM: Or are you trying to get hold of her on Trollian to m8ke sure I'm not pulling your leg?
VM: apocalypseArisen won't work, just so you know.
VM: I'll tell her to get in touch with you, seeing as you o8viously won't listen to me.
VM: And I'll try to touch 8ase with Pariah l8r.
VM: See ya.
-virtualMastermind [VM] ceased trolling pariahSavant [PS]-

Closing out the one chat window, Vriska toyed with the idea of opening a second. She hadn't spoken to him since she left, and even then she never actually managed to get in touch. It would be nice to hear from him, but she had no clue if the feeling would even be mutual at this point. Though, if she were to be totally honest with herself, she doubted she would much mind being chewed out if it was by him. He probably wouldn't even know it was her until she said so, anyway. Giving up her inner argument, she clicked on the trolltag, opening up the chat window.

-virtualMastermind [VM] began trolling adiosToreador -
VM: Hey Tav.
VM: What's up?
AT: uHH,
AT: hOLD ON WHOEVER THIS IS,
AT: i NEED TO SWITCH ACCOUNTS,
-adiosToreador ceased trolling virtualMastermind [VM]-
-daggerLancer [DL] began trolling virtualMastermind [VM]-
DL: oKAY,
DL: nOW THAT iM ON THE RIGHT ACCOUNT,
DL: wHO IS THIS,
VM: This is the person who's 8een feeding Pariah all the inform8ion on the planets you go to.
VM: Just thought I'd check in and see how you were holding up.
DL: oH, uH, oKAY,
DL: sO THIS IS, uHHH, sPIDERTROLL
DL: bECAUSE i DONT KNOW IF i CAN CALL YOU BY, uH, bY NAME,
VM: Usually I'm going 8y Mindfang at the moment.
VM: 8ut yes, it's every8ody's favorite Spider8itch :::;)
DL: wHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE, uHH, sPIDER EXPLITIVE,
DL: wHY CANT IT BE JUST, uhh, sPIDER TROLL,
VM: Take that up with the majority of people I talk to.
DL: uHH,
DL: sO, wHAT DID YOU, uH, wANT,
VM: I just wanted to see if you were okay.
VM: That's all.
DL: wELL, uHH, iM NOT PARALYZED ANYMORE,
DL: bECAUSE, uHH, eQUIUS FIXED MY SPINE,
DL: hOWEVER,
DL: i NEVER KNEW HE DIDNT, uHH, bELIEVE, i GUESS, uHH, iN ANESTHESIA,
VM: I could have told you that much.
VM: When he 8uilt my arm, he pretty much just jammed it into the empty socket.
VM: The only warning I got was a 8lock of wood to 8ite down on.
VM: 8ut I'm glad to hear you can walk again.
DL: tHATS, uHH, kIND OF SURPRISING,
DL: cONSIDERING HOW ENTHUSIASTIC YOU WERE IN, uHH, tAKING AWAY MY ABILITY TO WALK,
VM: I know.
VM: I guess I just
VM: I'm sorry.
DL: uHH,
VM: I'd give you all the reasons why, 8ut my energy is limited.
VM: I only have the one working arm at the moment.
DL: yOU ONLY HAVE ONE WORKING ARM,
VM: Yeah. Got in a strife with some moron and kicked his ass.
VM: Didn't m8ke it out without a few 8roken 8ones though. Oh well.
DL: aRE YOU, uHH, oKAY,
VM: Yah, I'll manage. It's nothing I haven't had to deal with 8efore.
VM: Not near as 8ad as some of the injuries I got FLARPing.
DL: i GUESS NOT,
DL: bUT WHAT DID YOU, uHH, mEAN WHEN YOU SAID YOUD GIVE ME ALL THE REASONS,
VM: There are a gr8 many reasons why I feel I should apologize to you, 8ut I can't list them all with only the one arm.
VM: I guess the main reason is that I'm 8ad at everything concerning emotions and shit.
DL: wOW, uHH, i NEVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD ADMIT TO BEING BAD AT ANYTHING,
DL: sO i GUESS iLL, uHH, jUST HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOUR ARM HEALS,
DL: sO YOU CAN GIVE A PROPER APOLOGY i GUESS,
VM: Yeah, looks that way.
VM: It's nice to hear from you, Tav.
VM: It's 8een forever since I've even seen one of our friends.
VM: 8ut it's worth it to know I'm at least doing something to help keep you safe.
DL: yOU AS IN ALL OF US, oR, uHH, jUST ME,
DL: iTS KIND OF HARD TO TELL WHAT YOU MEAN A LOT OF TIMES,
VM: Mostly just you, 8ut Pariah and company are included.
DL: oH,
VM: Well, I'm going to see a8out putting some ice on this arm 8efore it gets worse.
VM: I'll talk to you l8r, okay?
DL: oKAY,
VM: See ya!
-virtualMastermind [VM] ceased trolling daggerLancer [DL]-
DL: }:?

Logging out of Trollian, she recaptchalogued her husktop as her new friend walked into the room. She was wearing what she had been earlier, a white outfit that looked designed, oddly enough, for swimming; A small white top with an olive symbol on and a long white skirt, short hair and horns curved close to her head, a dour expression poisoning a face that might otherwise be described as quite pretty. Looking up, Vriska gave her a nod of greeting. "Welcome 8ack."

Setting down the acquired food, she said nothing as she picked up the first aid kit and moved to sit next to her, preparing to mend what she could. "alright, now let me sea what youve done to yourshellf."

Vriska did her best to wave away the other with her good arm. "I'm fine. I've had worse."

"theres nofin wrong with you," the olive said in her usual curt manner. She proceeded to jab two fingers into various spots where Vriska was suffering from some injury or another, making the other hiss, wincing slightly with each spot of applied pressure. "id say there is, in fact, somefin wrong with you."

"It's not that 8ig of a deal," Vriska countered, still reeling from the shock of pain coursing through her system. "It's not near as 8ad as when my arm got 8lown off, so calm down. I'll 8e fine in a few days."

"oh, cod. you sound just like an old frond a mine. 'oh / just a\most drowned myshe\\f, no b/gg/e.' that idiot nearly got himshellf krilled tryin to make a present for me. i have little tolerance for idiots who dont acknowledge when theyre hurt, so settle down an let me kelp you."

Sighing softly, she rolled up her shirt, revealing all the dark blue bruises around her chest that weren't obscured by her bindings. "There isn't much you can do a8out the 8roken ri8s. Most of the damage is internal anyway. Not sure what you're gonna do a8out that."

"i could always just cut you open an look aroun inside." The distracted tone of her voice was somewhat disconcerting with the casual way she had said that.

"I'd really rather you not," she replied softly. "Why are you so intent on helping me, anyway? You don't even know me."

"is it so wrong that i sea someone get hurt an i want to kelp them?"

"In my case, yes. It could 8e rather detrimental to your health."

"it would be detrimental to your health if you keep squirming."

Sighing softly, Vriska resigned herself to the treatment. When she was finished, Vriska sat up slightly, wincing. "Thanks. Though I do have a question. You didn't happen to hear what I was talking a8out 8efore that little strife, did you?"

"somefin tells me that if i heard anyfin it would be more than you would like."

"Not exactly. I was just curious as to whether or not you heard and agreed with any of it."

"i might have heard it but i dont know whether or naut i agree."

"I thought as much. Though a good portion of that might 8e from fear of what I could do with the inform8ion. Whether I'm for the new Condescension or against her. And if I am against her, that could spell 8ad news for whoever speaks up in her defense. Am I right so far?"

"or maybe i just feel strongly one way or the other, regardless of any loyalties on your part. did you think a that?"

"Of course. I tend to think of everything." God her head was splitting. Probably a result of the knocks on the head she took finally getting to her now that the pain from the rest of it was settling. "So tell me. What do you think of my friend on the throne?"

"she is the condesce, thats all that matters."

She nodded, leaning back again, sighing softly. "Good to hear. I'm really tired of having to defend her." That was what got her into this mess to start with.

"oh? how often do you have to do that?"

"Too often. With all the talk of how she didn't get the throne the proper way, and all the 8ullshit a8out her helper, and them all 8aying for 8oth of their 8lood, it's getting really old." She looked over to the other, wondering idly if she knew as much about what happened as the rest of this world seemed to.

"speaking of that 'helper,' do you know anyfin aboat him?"

"Why?"

"because i dont have much information on him, thats all."

"Well he happens to 8e an old Kismesis of mine. He and our current Condesce are Moirails last I heard, though I'm not the 8est to talk to a8out that. They don't tend to tell me much. He disappeared after saving Feferi's life and no8ody knows where he is."

"huh." Her expression suddenly changed from its usual dour countenance. She seemed almost reminiscent, but of what, Vriska could only guess.

"I strike a nerve?" Vriska looked over the girl, a curious glint in her eye. "What'd I remind you of?"

Returning her scowl to her face, she looked back up at Vriska. "nofin, just an idiot I used to know."

Shrugging, Vriska tried to rise to her feet, but was stopped with a gentle shove back onto the couch. "Am I not allowed to go to my own recuperacoon?"

"naut yet. i still have some questions."

Groaning, Vriska laid back on the couch. "Fine. What else do you want to know?" The questioning proceeded to sound more like she was at a doctor's office than anything else. Eventually, sick of answering all these questions, Vriska spoke up. "Why do you care?"

"consider it a follow-up. if itll make you feel better, i can even charge you."

Rolling her eyes, Vriska rose to her feet again. "I apreci8 it, 8ut my head is killing me, and so is the rest of me. I need some decent sleep and I can't do that on a couch."

"then get some sleep. ill be back tomorrow with some proper tools. maybe then we can sea aboat that whole cuttin into you thing."

Sighing, Vriska nodded. She had no more energy to deal with this woman today. "Just one question." As the girl turned to look, she continued. "What's your name?"

"finona."

"Nice to meet you. Thanks for the help." Shooting her a smile, she added her name just before the other left the room. Finding herself alone again, she fell into her recuperacoon, letting the slime envelop her. It had been a long day, and she needed all the sleep she could get.