Open Misfire Log!

[microbrobotics]

WHO: Hiro + anyone with a comm!
WHERE: Your comm, courtesy of data-jumping and the server misfire event
WHEN: October 3rd
WHAT: Hiro tries to jump back into his own comm and misses. Badly. Repeatedly. Shenanigans ensue.
WARNINGS: Probably none!

[ The good thing about being able to data-jump is that it makes the commute into De Chima ridiculously easy. Set up two beacons - one in his comm, the other at his work terminal - and just follow that path back and forth. He doesn't even have to think and he's there.

Unfortunately, those beacons are just as dependent on the server update as the rest of the network ... and when the misfires start happening, Hiro's beacons get mixed up too. What should be a big bright arrow pointing to his comm is just complete garbage ... meaning he's going to end up in a whole lot of comms that he shouldn't be before he finally makes his way home.

For those getting the misfire, there's a only a quick ping, like receiving a message, before a very confused teenager's face appears on the viewscreen. He does, at least, keep from going through any data, but that means he has to look out at the surroundings to try and figure out where he is. Which means staring up at whoever's comm he's in now. ]

Seriously? Not again.

Comments

[mathemagier]

[Hermann's on the couch, crouched over the coffee table and peering intently at a computer screen that reflects in his lenses. He's either keysmashing or typing at an insane speed, it's a little hard to tell. He's muttering under his breath about Kaiju, specific dates, and other nonsense figures, and he eases up on the poor keyboard until the sounds resolve into a recognizable pattern of typing. His fingers slow, frowning in distraction, and he chances a glance down at his phone and finally stops]

..Hiro? [A surprisingly informal address, but he's rather surprised to see a miniature Hiro on his screen, standing in front of a wall of text messages from Newton. Leaving whatever dissertation he's writing, he plucks up the device and adjusts his glasses]

That's not how video works..

[microbrobotics]

[ It absolutely isn't how video works. Hiro seems physically inconvenienced by the messages, trying to find a comfortable place to stand without messing any of them up. He opts to carefully stack them all one side of the screen where they'll bounce back to normal eventually. Hopefully.

He looks up at Hermann, then over at the computer screen. Whoa. Definitely not his room - he's somewhere completely different. ]

No, uh - I'm inside your comm. Hi?

[mathemagier]

[Hold up a minute, Hiro. Hermann nudges his glasses up and drags his fingers over his eyes in an attempt to get rid of the afterimage of the document he's been staring at for hours. A few blinks later and that's a little better]

A power of yours? [Because if that isn't the strangest thing he's seen today. The boy is interfaced with his phone. He almost wants to ask if he's stuck, but that seems a little absurd- right? There are ever more mysteries in this world.

Hermann's thumb hesitates over the return button, then presses it to bring them back to the uncluttered home screen. There's just a cool image of the super blood moon that happened less than a week ago, and a few shortcuts up top.]

Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Hamada?

[microbrobotics]

[ Whoa. Nice. And way less cluttered - Hiro can "sit" right in the middle of the moon image and hang out there without messing with anything. He knows how much he would hate other people snooping in his data, so he tries not to do it to anyone else. ]

Yep, it's definitely a power. Usually I use it to go between work and home? But the network is messed up. None of my beacons ar working.

[ In other words, he's lost rather than stuck. Unless Hermann decides to turn off the wifi functions for some reason. ]

[aggressiveapathy]

I knew the machines were rising up against us.

[ A day of messages from randoms and now...robot boy's face on her screen. The same screen she'd been texting away one a minute ago, meaning Hiro mostly gets a good look at April and the living room full of raccoons giving a small pack of dogs a good grooming going on behind her.

She'd known Tony Stark caused this somehow. ]

[microbrobotics]

I'm not a machine, I'm just ... not in my comm.

[ There are ... raccoons. Huh. That seems kind of weird. He tries not to think about it too hard - no he has to ask. ]

Why do you have raccoons everywhere?

[aggressiveapathy]

People living in communicators don't get to ask things like that.

[ But she shifts the comm so he can get a full look at the half dozen domesticated raccoons. Some of them wielding brushes and hair ribbons. ]

[ursawhiner]

[The room is glittery. So glittery. And there's a kitten peering back at Hiro quizzically. In the distance, Hiro can probably hear someone scribbling furiously in a notebook.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Wow. That kind of hurts his eyes, in fact... He carefully presses himself close to the viewscreen to see who's there... ]

Dipper?

[ursawhiner]

[The scribbling stops, and there's the sound of shuffling before the kitten is lifted out of the way and Dipper's face fills the screen.]

Hiro? Did you call me?

[hands4healing]

[Winry's at home, thumbing through a few library books. Ed's books. She should return them to the library.

The ping! attracts the attention of a black and white dog, who snuffles at the screen. Sometimes people talk to her. She lays back her ears and whines, her tail wagging madly.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Whoa, giant dog. Or well, a normal dog that looks giant from a tiny comm viewscreen. That's about all he can focus on here, so he still has no idea where he is now. ]

Good doggie, nice doggie...

[hands4healing]

[Zoey chuffs and that gets Winry's attention. She marks her place in the book with her finger and turns to the comm, nudging Zoey out of the way.]

Hiro?

[That frown.]

evening;

[amadaman]

[Despite all the distraction provided by the confusion and subsequent excitement from the misfired messages, Ken's not quite himself today. His conversations are kept light and casual, avoiding too-deep conversations and avoiding contact with people in general for the most part. He stays in his room all the way to evening, much like he had, in fact, since October started. It was just not an enjoyable time of the year for Ken, or any of SEES.

He's lying in his room when his comm pings, yet again. It's not so late in the day but it's still dark in here, with the curtains shut and lights turned off... though it isn't complete darkness Ken's plunged himself in. In fact, there are millions of dots of light scattered across the ceiling visible from Hiro's position in the comm, turning the room into a little cut-out of the universe. The projector itself is on the floor, not visible from where the comm is lying on the desk.

But Ken's already moving, getting up from his bed upon hearing Hiro's voice. There's only about five or ten seconds of seeing the bedroom-turned-planetarium before an arm reaches over and clicks on the desk lamp, breaking the illusion, and Ken peers down at the screen of his phone.]

Hiro?

[microbrobotics]

[ Oh. That's lovely. Hiro doesn't even say anything past his initial annoyed comment when he sees the ceiling. From the comm it's extra gorgeous, like he's somehow jumped into a comm that's in space. Alas, not actually the case.

He jolts a bit as the illusion breaks and he finds himself staring up at Ken's face instead. The differences between a normal chat and Hiro actually being in the phone are probably already apparent to Ken: Hiro being stuck in front of whatever Ken has pulled up, a complete absence of natural lighting on his face, etc. ]

Did I wake you up?

[amadaman]

[Ken remembers what that looks like from when Hiro was kept in his comm, so he's not confused for long. And texts have been going to the wrong people all day, too, so he figures it out quickly enough and sits down at his desk, propping his phone up so he can see Hiro better. He turns the lamp back off, too, and they're back in the little starry space.]

No, I wasn't asleep. Did you send yourself to the wrong place?

[Not sleeping isn't a lie, at least. He hasn't seen Hiro in a few days, and rest hasn't come easily in those few days. He yawns, and he sighs, and there are bags forming under his eyes.] You sound like it's not the first time you ended up somewhere unintended.

[superposition]

[Hey Hiro. I heard you like robots? 'Cause wherever this comm is, you're looking up at a disembodied robot face. Qubit's in the room, too, but he's got his back turned to look at something else, and ignores the ping at first. It's when the comm starts spitting out a voice on its own, without him accepting the call, that he hastily turns and grabs it (in the process getting that Modeusbot offscreen thank you very much don't look at that).]

What in- Hiro?

[Good grief. This is why Qubit sticks to Mirrornet, the devices themselves are ridiculously insecure. How'd he force a video call? Or ... no, that's not even what he did, is it? There's no background, for one, and something just feels off with the comm. Like the hardware's running a lot harder than it should all of a sudden. 2 + 2 = ...]

What on Earth are you doing? [He thinks he knows, but.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Whoa. That was not what he was expecting to see, even with having jumped to multiple comms lately. Even the Pines twins' glitterocalypse wasn't as startling as a robot face thing. He jolts again when Qubit grabs the comm, despite having no haptic feedback inside the comm for stuff happening outside it. Just instinct, is all.

In addition to the lack of background and extra processing power being used, there's also no natural light on Hiro's face. All flat with no shadows. In case he needed another hint. ]

-- What the heck was that?!

[superposition]

Nothing you need to concern yourself with. [NONE OF YOUR BEESWAX, KID.] Now, what are you doing here? You're physically inside my comm system right now, correct?

[blahnik]

[ a white ceiling and the sizzling of meat are all that greet hiro until claire steps into view, pair of tongs in hand. when she lifts her phone, the kitchen comes into clearer view, neat and clean with the sole exception of a mangled stuffed toy almost out of the screen. pets, man. ]

Wrong number? [ her mind doesn't make the leap to teenager in the comm because why on earth would it, so she regards him with thinly veiled amusement. probably trying to call up his girlfriend only to be redirected, poor thing. those years are so hard. ]

[microbrobotics]

[ Well now he's just plain hungry. Two strange things may mark him from a normal video call, if she's observant: he's got no background (literally none, just transparent onto the rest of her comm) and there's no lighting on his face. Just ... flat. It's kind of weird looking.

Anyway, he peers for a moment more. He ... has no idea where he is. ]

Uh - kind of? I'm trying to get home but mostly I'm meeting new people. Who are you?

[blahnik]

You called me. Shouldn't I get your name first?

[ clear teasing made clearer as she does not give him time to answer, ] I'm Claire. What's this about trying to get home? Are you lost?

[attainment]

[This rousing piece of music manages to drown the notification ping, so for a moment Hiro is simply treated to the awkwardly-angled sight of Barnaby sitting on his sofa.

Most people would probably just relax or maybe even clean while listening, but no. Barnaby is actually moving his arms to the music, eyes staring straight ahead as he guides his imaginary orchestra with pale hands that keep hitting an invisible focal point in the air before elegantly gliding back out again.

For once, he's wearing a genuinely relaxed smile.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Wow. He really hates to interrupt that ... Especially with all the armwaving and smiling going on. So he just watches for a minute, until the song is about done. ]

Didn't think you were a classical kind of guy.

[attainment]

[The voice breaks Barnaby's reverie. Eyebrows shooting up, he whips his head toward the source. And who's there to greet him? None other than Hiro Hamada himself...well, his face, anyway.

Despite his best attempts to hide it, shame creeps into his face, tinging his cheeks an impressive shade of red. Not many people can say they've flustered Barnaby before, but Hiro managed to achieve it with only a few words.]

Hiro! I...[He flounders for a moment, clearly confused by this bizarre scenario.] How long have you been watching?

[He doesn't even sound angry, just embarrassed and maybe a bit panicked.]