1st Genius α Video/Action for New Bark Ω

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[It takes him a bit to figure out how the hell to start the feed. When he finally does, all PokéConnect is treated to the sight of a deceptively calm man dressed in purple pants and a white shirt tied with a gray obi, the traditional psychic’s outfit. An Absol keeps pacing behind him, as if expecting him to fall over at any moment and preparing itself to catch him. Honestly, that’s because it is, since its new Trainer has had a massive panic attack that caused him to pass out once already, and Absol can sense that there will be more to come. This is going to be a long partnership.]

Morgan, if this is a prank, alright. You got me. You win the war.

[The man holds up his hands in defeat, still unnaturally calm.]

I don’t know how you did it, but you can stop now. I get it. You can make the Pokémon go away. Once again, I have no idea how you did it…

[His throat gets tight. He struggles to keep his breathing even.

Please, Morgan. Please oh please make this stop.]

But you can stop it now. I have a lot of work to do, and giving me strange clothes, asking a woman to pretend to be my mother, and trying to make me doubt my own sanity is not helping.

[Please let this be a prank. Please say he’s not completely insane.]

And you can turn off the music while you're at it.

Comments

Text;

[remainingtwin]

I don't think it's a joke.

[She hesitates a moment, not sure if she should get involved (not sure if she's mentally capable of handling that yet), before she sends another text]

Do you need help? [because asking "are you okay" seems kind of dumb when he's clearly not]

Text;

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[Oh fuck. Fuck fuck fuck the weird computer thing is beeping at him. He almost doesn't look at it because he's still on the edge of another panic attack, but then he finally pulls it from its place on the ground.]

No. This has to be a joke. Pokémon aren't real, that woman is not my mother, and the creature that keeps pacing behind me is not biologically viable.

[Yes. Yes, he needs help.]

[ video ]

[colorsofthewind]

I'm very, very sorry, but this isn't a prank. It's quite real.

[ video ]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[Oh shit, this thing has a video function too?]

That's not possible.

[Stop it. Stop saying things that further confirm that he is having a massive psychotic break.]

video

[kyoukashotennis]

[He remembers thinking that this was a prank by his own schoolmates once... so he can relate. Even if he took a little more humorously.]

I first thought this was a prank, but I can tell you it's not... it's all real.

video

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[Yeah, you'd take it less humorously too if you'd spent your whole life terrified of inheriting schizophrenia from your mother.]

Why do people keep saying that? It's not true. Look--

[He sits down on the ground, his psychic outfit fitting him very well (he'd actually sort of like it if it weren't for the fact he's panicking) and he points at the Absol. The Absol actually rolls his eyes and pads closer to his Trainer, but Reid shies away immediately, every instinct screaming for him to get away from the wild animal.] I-its--its paws are clearly made for traversing a mountain environment, b-but it has red eyes, which in mammals are usually indicators of albinism because they're caused by a deficiency in melanin which would be extremely bad in an environment with a lot of sun and a requirement to see sharply during the daytime--I mean, it's possible that this animal is an albino of its species, but everyone insists that it's normal and even then that doesn't explain the extremely inefficient placement of its horn--

[He's talking at lightning speed now. Absol sits down on his back legs, wondering if he should do something to prevent another panic attack.]

[video]

[pinnedbangs]

You don't look so good.

[video]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

I'm fine, I'm fine. [He is not fine.] I just have a lot of work to do, and my teammate is taking a joke way too far.

[video]

[vulpesvivus]

Sorry, but it's really not a prank.

[video]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

Then explain what it is, because it's not real. [Either it's a prank, it's a psychotic episode, or something else that he can't really think of and that he hopes you can explain.]

video;

[worktodo]

Stop talking and breathe steadily through your nose before you start hyperventilating. Around here, wandering around talking to yourself doesn't just make you look like an idiot — it attracts the local welcome wagon to turn up and stumble through trying to explain what's happening to you, and who knows, you might want to be conscious and coherent for that.

video;

[leftinbasketforfbi]

I am conscious and coherent!

[But yay! Someone who's approach to calming him down is slightly more than saying 'nope this is real and maybe you should chill out'.

He takes a deep breath through his nose, then back out, then in, then out, over and over. Absol raises his head to look at the man who got his Trainer breathing properly, nodding quietly in thanks.

Finally, he's breathing normally again. We'll see how long that'll last.] Who are you?

video;

[heartdive]

Yeah... The music won't be stopping any time soon.

video;

[leftinbasketforfbi]

Where is it coming from?

[Because it's starting to drive him nut. Or, well, more nuts than he probably already is.]

[Video]

[roemance]

[Have some disgruntled looking guy all up in the feed. He'd look like any normal human aside from when he speaks you can see he still has sharp fangs, and that accent is so not normal either.]

It ain't a joke, the music wwon't stop and you're stuck here so wwhoewer you are, you're just gonna hawe to deal wwith it.

[Video]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[Your teeth are sharp.

Why are they sharp.

They should not be sharp.]

Who are you?

[He's already given up telling people that it's not real because they all just keep saying that it is, so he's waiting for Morgan to come and make it go away. Or to finally reemerge from his psychotic break in a few days. In the meantime, he's trying to calm himself down by gathering information.]

[text]

[enjoymyatelier]

This is not some sort of prank, though I certainly understand why you came to that conclusion. Believe me, I thought the exact same thing when I arrived here.

[text]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

Then what is it?

[It's getting really uncomfortable how many people are involved with this.]

[audio]

[tapestodiane]

<sub>[It's kind of interesting, really, that Reid's reaction isn't one seen more often. Most people seem to respond with anger, disbelief or confusion, and although the latter is there in what Reid's saying, the panic bubbling beneath is what makes Coop react. Because he's been here a long time, and few people have taken it this badly.]

[And the thing of note is that not only is it a justifiable response, but an understandable one. So Cooper's kind of careful when he connects.]</sub>

Nothing to do about the music, I'm afraid. Are you okay?

[audio]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

No. No, I'm not okay. [His voice is soft, but it's getting faster and higher-pitched as he speaks.] I went to bed, then I woke up with a woman I've never seen before telling me that she's my mother and that I'm supposed to go on an adventure with a creature that is not biologically viable which happens to be following me around. And now I've had eight people message me on a device I've never seen before, telling me that it's not a trick, and that this is real. So clearly, either they're all in on the joke, or I am having a psychotic break.

[Reid is taking this particularly badly because he spent his whole childhood watching his mother spiral into complete madness and knowing that there was a very high chance that he would be following her there one day. He doesn't want this. He doesn't want his mind to break apart. He doesn't want to scream at things no one else can see while his loved ones have to watch. He doesn't want to be institutionalized. He doesn't want to be the ghost his mother is. He is absolutely terrified that his eyes, ears, and even mind are all deceiving him.]

video;

[eagletalons]

It's not a prank, unfortunately. It's all very real.

[Is that an Absol?? Ohai Hope doesn't see a lot of that around.]

The music cant be turned off either, but the PokéGear has a radio function that allows you to choose what you would rather hear.

video;

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[Well, at this point, he's realizing it's not a prank. Now he knows he's schizophrenic. This is extremely upsetting for him, so he's settling for going numb.]

It does? Well, at least that, I guess. Does the music ever change on its own?

[His voice has gone flat. He's crazy. He's crazy. He's been so scared for so long, and now it had happened.

And there had been nothing he could do to stop it.]

[Video]

[used_realtears]

[Nobita and his own Absol appear on the screen. Tamashii raises a paw to wave at Reid's Absol.]

It's not a trick! Or at least it's not one by your friend! Because I don't know him, so he couldn't be playing this trick on me. I'm sure lots of us don't know him.

And the music can't turn off. But it sounds nice!

[Video]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[Yang simply nods at Tamashii. Yang is pretty reserved in general.]

Please, just--

[He cuts himself off. Then after a deep breath, he says,] You wouldn't need to know him for this to be a prank. [But his heart is not in it. At this point, he's just concluded that he's schizophrenic.]

[Audio]

[foolishwren]

_{[The voice crackling in over the feed is a little smoky-sounding, but sympathetic. And young.]}

Sorry to be a bearer of bad news, but it's not a prank.

Pretty sure your friend wouldn't be able to pull something like THIS off in the name of messing with somebody. Unless he was like... the god of pranks or something.

[Audio]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[Young. Yes, she sounds young, but at the same time not. A little like the teenagers or young adults Reid sometimes meets during his work.

He lets out a frustrated sigh. He knows. He knows this isn't a prank. He's inherited his mother's illness.] We've both pulled off some things that would seem pretty impossible.

But... Morgan isn't cruel. Far from it. He would have stopped a long time ago. [The minute Morgan thought Reid was genuinely questioning his sanity, he would have called the whole thing off and dragged Reid out for an apology lunch. He knows how scared Reid is. He knows how awful this would be.]

[Video]

[friendyousohard]

[It takes a long time for her to say anything in response to this. This young man is clearly having an immense panic attack, and he needs someone to do something, say something, anything to help him calm down. But the fact of the matter is... he's perfectly in the right to be denying all of this! The whole thing is completely insane. It's enough to make anyone doubt their own sanity. How can she, or anyone else, give him something to focus on-

Wait. Focus. Maybe that's the key. A while after the other messages simply stating that this is real, she gives her own response.]

Excuse me, sir. I realize you don't have any reason to do what I'm about to ask of you or trust that I'm trying to help you, but I'd like to make a request of you anyway.

Can you find one thing, just one small thing, about this whole situation you find yourself in, and explain to me exactly why it's impossible? Don't go for the big things just yet... start with something minor, yet utterly ridiculous.

[Video]

[leftinbasketforfbi]

[Normally, he is a little on edge with all strangers. This time, he's too busy thinking he's crazy to even consider refusing this simple request.] The music. I looked around, and there are no speakers. The volume doesn't fluctuate no matter where I am and I can't find a single source for it to be coming from.

[That alone would usually freak him out. He's not sure if it's better or worse that other people can hear it as well.

But he seems a fraction calmer when he's focused than when he's not. He's an intellectual, and a verbose one at that. Talking helps him think.]