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Daycycle 113 [ October 23 - October 29 ]

daycycle 113

[Oct 23 - Oct 29]

[OOC Plotting for this Dacycle can be found here.]

[Specials can see a Specials Supporters Anonymous chat leaked onto the network in the wee small hours of the morning, here.]

Early Morning [0800 - 0900] — All Troubleshooters Report for Duty

Allison Argent and Peggy Carter, have been selected for today’s mission. Details are below:

‘There have been multiple reports of sightings of unregistered mutants near the south sewer entrance. Go investigate with caution.’

Please debrief the computer on the status of your mission by the end of the Daycycle here.

Morning & Afternoon [0900 - 1600] — Service Firm Positions
All Troubleshooters not assigned a mission should report to their Service Firm for their daily duties, unless specifically assigned a different shift.

Evening [1600 - 2200] — Citizen Improvement
All Alpha citizens are encouraged to better themselves through Alpha’s wide variety of educational, entertainment and cultural opportunities offered each evening. Attending these sanctioned events are not mandatory, but is highly encouraged by The Computer. Citizens choosing not to take advantage of these opportunities, have a growing number of other options available to them in how to spend their hard earned credits and free time.

Tonight’s event will be at 2000 in Warehouse 97 in the R&D Sector and will be hosted by the Alpha Fight Club. Martial Arts and Boxing are skills all Alpha Citizens should have. Join us as we demonstrate how to get started and how to fight properly.

Alpha Curfew Restrictions
All Alpha citizens should be in their quarters within the Wagon Wheel by 2200, unless they’ve been given permission from a GREEN or higher clearance level citizen. Sleeping Aid gas is dispelled each night in the Wagon Wheel at 2200 to assist citizens in getting a productive sleeping period.

Confession Booths
There are hundreds of confession booths available around Alpha Complex if a citizen would like to communicate directly with the computer. Please use these confession booths to report mission statuses, report treason or terrorist acts, unregistered mutants, confess your trespasses against Alpha Complex, request propaganda or speak with Your Friend, The Computer, at any time.

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They have been getting more serious and Matt is well aware of that even if he isn't ready to admit it. The more serious they get, the more difficult Matt finds it to sleep without the sleep aid or without Lydia. He knows he's in deep, and he's reasonably sure that Lydia is in deep as well.

He hasn't seen her since early that morning when he'd snuck back into his own room to get ready for the day so it's nice when she finds him at lunch. He looks up at her, watching her slightly longer than usual. She gets a smile out of him and he shrugs. "I've acquired a taste for it, apparently." He will be taking some of the real food down to HQ to make sure that some of the other specials get some real food, particularly the fruit and vegetables. When she leans in to kiss him, he turns into the kiss, drawing it out for just a moment. "How's your day going? You were shooting that commercial, right?"

Lydia hums softly with contentment against Matt's lips when he lets his kiss linger. Then, she draws back a little. "Yeah, actually...so far, so good. Steve's pretty good at this and Gracie's such a sweetheart. So after lunch, we're going to do Steve and Allison's scenes and then just Allison's and then we'll be done and I think Gracie is going to cut everything together for me," she answers, picking at his plate absently and taking a little carrot stick to pop into her mouth. It doesn't occur to her that she's crossing a boundary. That's probably an indication that she is, indeed, in pretty deep at this point.

"What about you? How's your day going, sweetie?" she asks, leaning against him a little to give him a gentle nudge before turning her attention to her food. It doesn't look all that appetizing. Lydia tends to save the real food for dinner, like a pat on the back to herself from herself for a day of hard work. So lunch is kind of gross. It is what it is.

He nods, pleased to hear her day is going well. "I'm excited to see the finished product," he tells her. Honestly, he doesn't mind that she picks at his plate at all. In fact, he pushes it a little closer to her so that she can do exactly that. At least they're in the same place together emotionally.

Her question has him pausing, taking a deep breath. He's not entirely sure he wants to have this conversation with her in the commissary. "It's okay." He rubs at his temple. Headaches are near constant these days. He doesn't blame her for saving the real food for dinner. He used to do the same thing. "I'm trying to get things caught up. I suspect there'll be some new things to work on after yesterday."

Maybe after she's finished lunch they can walk and talk a little about the vision implants and what he thinks he wants to do.

"Me too, honestly," Lydia admits. "It's not like we can really watch dailies or whatever with the limited equipment we've got, so it'll be just as much a surprise to me as anyone else," she explains, taking another carrot when he pushes the tray in her direction. Sometimes she takes for granted the fact that she has access to food that other people in her clearance level or lower don't because Matt lets her do this; pick at his plates when they eat together.

Her brow creases with concern at the way he rubs his temple. "...are you okay?" she asks, tilting her head a little and reaching to rub his arm affectionately in an attempt to be comforting. She catches his response to her question, but her focus is more on her concern for him, because that particular movement isn't one she sees often from Matt. In general, it typically suggests stress or the fact that someone isn't feeling well. Because she doesn't see it a lot from Matt in particular, she's not really sure which is the explanation that applies.

She pushes her soylent around again for a moment before wrinkling her nose and giving up on it. She'll just eat off Matt's plate when he's finished if there's any leftover or else she can wait until dinner. Lydia's seldom in the mood for soylent, but she's feeling especially turned off by it today. Given they both fall into clearance levels that allow them to essentially make their own hours, they technically have all the time in the world to spend with one another this afternoon. Lydia intends to draw out this lunch period with him for as long as he'll let her. Matt has clients to get back to eventually; Lydia just has robots.

"I hadn't thought of that," he responds, but then he's got no experience with commercials or filming of any kind unless trying not to be caught on security cameras counts. Well, if anyone is going to benefit from his clearance level besides him, it's her. She's his first concern when it comes to the other specials.

"Headache," he responds. "It's nothing. I've been trying to read more of the network and files rather than trust transcriptions." And by that, he means the ones his assistant does for him. He wants to make sure she's transcribing accurately.

He picks at the soylent on his plate as well, but doesn't eat much of it. For the most part, he shares the vegetables on the plate with Lydia. He's entirely okay with drawing out their lunch period. He's not likely to get a lot done in his office with this headache and spending an afternoon with Lydia is preferable. Besides, he's too much in his own head right now. After a few minutes of them both just picking at plates, Matt speaks. "Why don't we go take a walk? It's more appealing than lunch today."

Maybe they'll end up in HQ where they can talk.

"Mmm," Lydia hums her understanding, pouting her bottom lip out sympathetically. "You know you can always ask me to come up more often, baby," she offers. "Then you don't have to trust her. You shouldn't read too much until you get used to them. You'll strain them. That's why the headache."

On that note, Lydia reaches up with one hand and gently guides his head to bend his neck down. Knowing fingers move up the upper part of his spine until she finds the indentation where his spine meets the base of his skull and she presses her fingers hard against it, stimulating a pressure point there. "Lean back into my fingers a little," she instructs him. It'll relieve the pain of the headache entirely. Though, when she removes her fingers, that pain will slowly fade back into him, but at least she can give him a moment of relief.

When he speaks again, she lets her hand fall away, rubbing his back a little before she nods and agrees. "Yeah, no kidding. That sounds good, where to? My room?" she offers. It'll be quiet there, because she lives alone now and it's mid-day, so she doubts anyone will be in the corridor. Something tells her that he could use the quiet if he's got a headache.

"I know," he tells her and he does. He just hates to bother her. "I used to be incredibly self sufficient," he tells her. "Now...I can't even do my job without someone helping me." It's driving him a little crazy.

He bends his head, letting her massage that hollow at the base of his skull. He does as she says, relaxing a little and sighing with relief because it does take the pain away. He takes deep, slow breaths while she's rubbing at his head, tries to make the most of the pain free time he's got.

He nods at her suggestion. "You're room is good." They won't be interrupted and he's not really going to say anything that is overtly treasonous, at least not as far as he's aware. He could definitely use the quiet. He stands, picking up his tray with one hand and holding out his hand to take hers.

Lydia gives him a sympathetic look and then frowns. "Yeah, but that's not your fault, Matty. This place isn't accessible and it should be. Haven't they ever heard of Braille, for Christ's sake? I mean even little kids learn about it. I never learned to read it or how to sign, but I've known both existed since I was like seven, this is ridiculous." And it is. Lydia would probably bring it up to Friend Computer except that Matt can see now, when he really needs to, and once he gets used to them, it'll be easier. So, she figures the Computer won't be all that inclined to put resources toward making this place accessible to a blind man who is no longer blind.

When Matt gets to his feet, Lydia follows and gives him a little smile when he holds out a hand to take her tray. "You're so cute," she coos, giving him her tray to let him carry it for her and Lydia puts a hand on his arm to still be able to touch him as they start to move. Once his hands are free of the trays, she moves closer, into his side, leaning her head on his shoulder as they walk.

"You wanna take a nap? Or do you have a lot of work to get back to? I'm kind of digging this whole Robo-staff thing I've got going on. I programmed them to do literally everything, so I can kind of come and go as I please in the store and it doesn't affect my business." Not that business is exactly booming yet, or anything, so...

"It's not accessible because they consider anyone handicapped to be defective," Matt scowls a little. It's a sore point for him. "It's more ridiculous that I was operated on without my consent because someone considered me defective," he responds. She's right about what this place should be, what every society should be. What he would really like is to be blind again and have his senses back.

"Am I?" he chuckles a little, taking her tray, appreciative that she sticks close to him. He likes having her close.

"I'm reasonably caught up on everything right now. I can take a break." He turns his head so he can brush a quick kiss to the top of her head. "I'm so proud of you." In case, he doesn't say it often enough.

Lydia sighs softly, hands moving to his shoulders to run down his arms in a gesture that used to be reserved for Allison, to calm her nerves when she stressed herself out. Lydia's started giving the same attempt to comfort to Matt for a while now. "The Alphas do. The Computer clearly doesn't or you wouldn't be here, Matty," she says gently. "And I'm definitely not debating that. There's nothing okay about what they did to you."

Lydia just wishes there was something she could do, but there just isn't.

As they walk, she smirks a little. "Yes, you are. You're the cutest," she gushes playfully, "carrying my tray for me like that."

She's glad when he says that he can take a break and she opens her mouth to suggest again that they head to her room for a cuddle and a nap, but then he's kissing the top of her head and the sentiment makes her blush. "Thank you, Bae," she says softly, tilting her head up to kiss him chastely on the lips.

Lydia leads them to the nearest elevator and presses the button to call it. "I left Gucci downstairs, do the PDCs have alarm clocks on them you think?" she wonders aloud as the elevator doors open and she guides Matt inside, pressing the button for her floor.

It's a good attempt and it works today just as it almost always does, but it doesn't erase his anger and his bitterness. That's not Lydia's fault. He's not certain anything can erase that anger or bitterness, simply ease it to the background so he doesn't focus so much on it. He exhales, a bit of a sigh, nodding because there's nothing to say.

No, there's not, but there's nothing anyone can do. Lydia makes things better for him though.

He smirks at her gushing and shakes his head. He can't deny that it's nice, being gushed over. He never knows exactly what to do with it though.

Lydia shows her affection in pet names and gushing. Matt shows his in quieter ways, like the kiss to the top of her head and complimenting her on her talents, her skills, her actions. He's not accustomed to giving compliments about physical appearances so despite the fact that he can see her and he knows she's gorgeous, he rarely compliments the way she looks. Besides, he gets the feeling that his sort of compliment means more to her. It's something she hasn't had most of her life.

"They've got timers and stop watches." He uses both sometimes when working out. "We can set a timer to make certain we don't oversleep." If they choose to nap. He's not certain how she will handle the discussion he wants to have.

Lydia nods and leans against him. She rarely uses the PDC for anything beyond communication with other Specials or using the screen as a flashlight now and again. "Sounds like a plan to me," she says.

If she knew that he wanted to have a serious discussion, she'd probably be more attentive, but at the moment, she thinks he's just frustrated and tired and Lydia can't ever turn down an opportunity to cuddle with Matt if it presents itself. It calms him, she thinks, almost as much as it calms her to just be held and relax a little bit in one another's arms. It would be for nothing, though, if they slept for too long and didn't eventually make it back to their jobs. They're allowed to make their own hours, but that's assumed to be within reason.

Once the elevator door opens, Lydia leads him to her room and once they're inside, she closes the door and locks it, drawing him into a hug and pressing her lips gently against his.

It's reasonably useful, which isn't something that can always be said for things here.

He is frustrated and tired, but part of it is because of the options that have been cycling through his thoughts. The opportunity to cuddle with Lydia and have a relaxing couple of hours is really just something that makes the idea of the discussion more bearable. She's right; being held and relaxing in her arms does calm him. It also makes him remember that not everything about this place is horrible. Everyone here needs that, he thinks.

He relaxes into that hug and kiss, arms folding her against him. He returns the gentle kiss, resting his forehead against hers, eyes closing as he simply basks in this feeling for a moment. He takes a deep breath. "Come on, let's lay down." It'll be easier to have the conversation if they're not standing up. Of course, he can't help but think it'll be harder for her to run away from him if she doesn't like what he wants to do as well.

Lydia has the sudden feeling like something isn't quite right. Like Matt has something on his mind he isn't sharing and she wishes that he would so that she could help carry the weight of it for him. If he doesn't tell her then she can't help him with it, whatever it is, and Lydia gets the feeling that it's heavy. From his body language to the fact that he'd started in a terrible mood and now he just seems tired.

"Of course," she agrees easily, taking his hand and moving toward her bed, guiding him to sit on it before joining him. She supposes she'll just always be doing that by reflex: guiding him; leading him. Even when he doesn't need her to do it anymore, really.

Once he's seated, she joins him, shifting to lay down on the bed and reaching for him, drawing him down with her. "You want to set your PDC or should I set mine?" she asks.

He's going to share. He'd just waiting for the right moment. It's far too big to drop on her suddenly. He's also worried about how she's going to react. He doesn't know for sure that this isn't a deal breaker.

it's a good thing that she's used to and comfortable with guiding him because soon, he's going to actually need it. He still hopes that eventually he'll get his senses back, but that's not something that's going to happen any time soon as far as he knows.

He lies down easily with her, wrapping one arm around her. When she mentions setting the alarm he nods. "I'll do it," he says because he's familiar with it. He chooses to use the voice function that Ray was kind enough to equip his PDC with. "Set timer 2 hours."

It's long enough to talk and long enough to take a short nap if that's what they decide to do. Once that's done, he puts his arm back around her, his fingers going to stroke a length of her hair. He rests his forehead against the back of her head.

"I want to talk to you about something," he says. He's not anxious to get the concern off his chest, but he figures the sooner, the better. They both know it's coming anyway.

Lydia curls against him easily and her stomach tumbles and knots itself with nerves. She can feel it, there's about to be a conversation of a serious nature and Lydia has no idea what about, so much as it's just a feeling. It's like when your body knows something awful is going to happen and reacts to it before you have any idea what that thing could possibly be. She's anxious as he strokes her hair and settles against her.

And then he confirms her fear partially. Yes, serious conversation is about to be had. She still doesn't know what about, though, and that's admittedly kind of terrifying.

A part of her feels like she should roll to face him, but another part of her is too afraid to; too worried that whatever it is he wants to say — please, God, don't let this be a breakup talk... — is going to be upsetting, which she doesn't want him to see. So for the moment, she stays still, lacing her fingers through his. "What's up, Matt?"

He knows that she's probably nervous and anxious about this. They really haven't had many serious talks between the two of them. He knows he should probably just come out with it, but he's nervous about talking to her about this as well.

Really, he thinks it'll be easier to tell her this when he doesn't have to see her. He's so afraid she's going to be disappointed and he doesn't want to see that disappointment on her face. This is definitely not a break up talk though, not unless she wants it to be.

"You know I've been having a hard time adjusting to the vision implants," he starts off. "And I haven't hid how much I hated that it was done against my will." He takes a deep breath. He doesn't want to put off telling her any longer for both of their sakes. "I want to have them removed."

The way he's dragging things out is almost agonizing, but at least once he gets the ball rolling with his preface, Lydia feels a little less wound up that it might be a breakup discussion. Admittedly, it's overwhelming and confusing how hard his words hit Lydia where she didn't realize it would hurt. She'll miss those implants a lot more than she ever would've thought. She liked knowing he could see her. She liked him being able to look her in the eye when he told her he thought she was beautiful. She's going to miss those sorts of things a lot.

...but it's a disappointment that will linger until she gives herself time to deal and then she'll move on a lot faster than Matt will probably be able to adjust to the implants if he keeps them. It's a no-brainer. Lydia loves Matt. She's going to support him every step of the way. The removal of the implants is no exception.

"Then have them removed, Matty. If someone will do it and you'll be safe when they do...get them removed. Do you want me to go with you for moral support?" she offers, finally turning over to face him.

He doesn't mean to drag this out, but he's as anxious to tell her about this as she is to hear it. He doesn't want to disappoint her or hurt her. Seeing her is the only real reason he wants to keep the implants in this place. He used to want to see the sky back home, but there's no sky to see and this isn't the city that he loves. He struggles with the implants every day. They give him headaches and he's overwhelmed by the amount of visual input. Maybe things would have been different if he'd had the choice to have the implants put in, but he didn't and he can't change that.

She turns over to face him and he opens his eyes to look at her. His hand goes to her face, fingertips gliding along her features. "Just be there when I wake up? If you can be," he tells her. "I will miss seeing this face," he tells her quietly, "but I'm not adjusting and I spend more time coping with the side effects than I do anything."

His eyes open and Lydia takes the opportunity to look back at him; appreciate that he's looking back at her. She gives him a solemn nod and a small smile which wobbles a little against a lump that rises in her throat when he continues to tell her that he'll miss seeing her face. Do not cry, Lydia Martin. Don't you dare cry. Don't you give him a reason to feel guilty or second guess his decision when you both know it's the right one, she tells herself and she nods again before giving him a chaste kiss.

"I know you're not, baby. It's okay. I'll be there when you wake up, I promise. And I'll be there when you go in, too. Until you go under, I'm right there." Quite frankly, she probably won't leave at all. The robots know how to ring the register at her store and she's not going to be able to focus anyway if she's worrying about Matt's progress the whole shift, anyway. So yeah she'll be there when he wakes up, because she probably won't leave in the first place.

Lydia nuzzles the tip of her nose against his. "I want you to be happy and these implants don't make you happy. I'll be right there beside you." Metaphorically as far as support goes, but also literally.

He sees that wobble and it makes him choke up a little as well. He strokes his thumb over her cheekbone then her lips. He doesn't feel guilty exactly, but he is afraid of disappointing her.

He already feels a little better about the surgery in general because Lydia being there makes this surgery so different from the one he'd been dragged to. "Thank you," he tells her. He doesn't blame her for wanting to stay. If he were in her shoes, he would want the same thing so he won't argue with her about that.

Emotion chokes Matt and an overwhelming love for Lydia fills him. He runs his fingertips over the bridge of her nose. "After I schedule it, I want to spend as much time with you as possible. Just you and me."

Once again, Lydia nods. "Of course," she whispers. She wouldn't have missed the first one, if she'd known. If it had been his choice. If things had gone differently, all together. Lydia still feels regret that she hadn't even noticed the change in him until the night afterward, because she'd been too busy. She shouldn't have been too busy for something like that...

"I can do that," she agrees softly. If Matt wants alone time with Lydia to let himself relax and feel marginally reassured before going under again, she can make that happen. If he wants to take the time to sear the sight of her into memory so that he doesn't ever forget, she an make that happen, too. Whatever he needs, Lydia will make it happen.

Curling against him, Lydia closes her eyes and tucks her head against his chest. "I think we both could use a nap. It sounds like we have a pretty important couple of days creeping up on us all of a sudden." She tilts her head up. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like you couldn't talk to me about this sooner, Matty..." she whispers. "I hope that's not the case..."

If things had gone differently, if he'd volunteered for that surgery, then he probably would have handled the vision implants better.She shouldn't feel that way; he's been avoiding the subject of his implants, avoiding mentioning anything.

He wants time to burn the sight of her into his memory. If they were somewhere with a sky and a sun, he'd want to take her outside so that he could sear both things into his memory. She really is amazing, and Matt won't ever believe otherwise.

"No, Lydia. You didn't, not ever. I've just thought if I acted like everything was okay, if I kept moving forward, I would get used to the implants."

Lydia gives Matt a sad look. She used to tell herself that about the voices in her head. It doesn't work that way.

"You never would've gotten used to them because they weren't there on your terms, baby," she whispers. "Nobody likes having something forced on them like that. You'd have always resented them. It never would've changed." Maybe she's talking more about the banshee thing than Matt's eyes at this point... Lydia knows most of the others are looking forward to finding a way to get their abilities back, but she's dreading it, personally.

Leaning in a little, Lydia gives Matt a soft, chaste kiss that lingers a moment before she slowly backs off, a hand moving to hold the side of his face affectionately. "It's gonna be okay. You don't need them anyway."

No, it doesn't. It would be nice if it did.

She might be talking about the banshee thing, but that doesn't make her words any less true. As for his abilities, Matt can't wait to get them back. He knows there'll be a period of adjustment, at least a short one, but he'll feel like himself. Maybe there will be a way for people to choose whether they want their abilities or not. "I"m sorry," he tells her. Sorry for not being able to see her much longer, sorry for not being able to adjust.

He gives her a slight smile. "I managed for twenty years without sight. I think I can manage the rest of my life too."

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