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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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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."

Shaking her head, Lydia looks apologetic, mostly because she thinks that she's made him feel guilty about making this decision in spite of the fact that both of them know that it's the right one for him. Lydia doesn't want to be that person; she doesn't want to be the reason he second guesses himself later and she hopes that he never does. Matt shouldn't have to live with a sense he didn't ask for via a surgery he never wanted just because Lydia will sort of miss knowing that he can see her. She'll move past that in a couple of days and it's only because she's so vain, anyway.

"Don't be sorry," she whispers, giving him another soft kiss. "I don't want you to be sorry." She doesn't; it's the last thing she wants, honestly. What she wants is for Matt to be happy, or at least as close as he can get to it in this place.

A small smile tugs up the corners of her mouth at his comment. "I think you can, too," she replies. "Come on, let's get some rest," she says again. He has a long few days coming up and he needs it. They probably don't have a whole lot of time to play with for a nap, but right now all she wants is to fall asleep in his arms and know that they're still okay.

She hasn't made him feel guilty. No one ever has to make Matt feel guilty. He does that all on his own; it's the Catholic in him. If he ever second guesses himself, it won't be because of something she did. As for whether he ever will second guess himself, probably dozens of times, but he does know that it's the right move for him.

He nods a little, reaching up to run his fingers through her hair, to tuck it behind her ear. He's watching her intently, eyes open and focused only on her. He knows having the implants removed is right, but that doesn't stop him from wanting to burn every detail, every freckle, every eye lash of her into his memory.

"Okay," he tells her quietly, but he probably won't rest much between now and then simply because he does want to see as much of her as possible before the implants are removed. He leans in to press a kiss to her forehead. They're absolutely okay. She needn't worry about that.

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Daycycle 113 [ October 23 - October 29 ]

daycycle 113

[Oct 23 - Oct 29]

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