Poi 05 - Voice

[firewalled]

...It's Rich.

[Might as well not bother with preamble, though that's certainly odd for him. Odder still that he has the video off, even if there's still the faint strumming of guitar suggesting that he's nervously plucking at strings as he often does.]

I'm 18 now, according to the roster. Guess I missed my birthday. I knew it was coming up, but I was kinda distracted with stuff.

[Like having a mental crisis for the better part of two months at least.]

Anyways, was just wondering like... what's the longest someone's been stuck here before they got to go back home? Maybe, uh, maybe it was wishful thinking? But I was kinda thinking with the whole Ministry investigation and how fucking useless I am on the missions that the train would boot me off by now.

[He's really trying to laugh, trying to make that sound like a joke.]

Just. Was thinking about it. At this point, my friends back home probably assume my dad stabbed me or shit... maybe they'll believe those messages we got to send at that river, but more likely they'll think I'm nuts.

[Just another certified Rich Goranski Comedy Routine. He'll be here all week, folks.]

Comments

[firewalled]

[Rich's smile becomes a little softer as they walk along, a bit of longing in his own eyes. He's pretty sure their situations are different, but what Allen is saying still sounds familiar.]

Funny enough, that's kind of what I've been working on myself. Being a teenager... or at least not being as bad as I was back home. I don't want... someone else saying who I have to be.

[He gapes a bit when he hears that question, feeling a bit embarrassed.]

What? You don't need a teacher for stuff like video games, do you? Do you mean like... teaching you to be a teenager?

[mynameisallen]

I can understand that.

[Though it was more being told that he will be someone else someday, or at least no longer exist because of them.]

I mean, depends on the game right? Some of them don't really tell you what to do and so I can get confused. As for teaching how to be a teenager... I mean to me you seemed to understand it more than I did anyway. Even if you did just say you are working on yourself.

[firewalled]

[It's a tough thing, having your life dictated by someone other than yourself. It's something Rich has thought a lot about lately... but at least video games are a nice distraction.]

Well, I can be your tutorial for that... and I don't know about the teen stuff, but if you ever have any questions, you can let me know!

[mynameisallen]

We at least can learn about the teen stuff together, right?

[Because that was the best way to learn, right?]

But games probably the easier thing to learn. [He soon paused for a moment.]

Actually should really egt the game set up and ready shouldn't I?