[ dave doesn't relax but he slows his frantic texting by a hair. kind of. he's still apparently feeling an intense need to open a dialogue with whoever the light of his life is about...whatever he's worried about. ]
How many people have you clocked followin' you? Before you met up with me.
[ although samaritan doesn't really need human agents to follow people around. dave bites his lip, because the kid probably will not agree to go dark, and there isn't a real need for it now if the thing isn't killing him, but still - ]
[He made the guy panic. The guy knows what this is. It's freaking him out and he won't tell Dirk.]
Not sure. Seein' you threw me off. [He'd noticed the other guys then got confused by Dave and then there were guys again.]
I always keep everything bricked until I need it.
[That... is a weird attitude for a fifteen year old to take? Look, it doesn't take knowing about Samaritan to be incredibly conscious of a society where information is constantly recorded and repackaged for use by others. And Dirk likes his privacy.]
Okay. If you need it, can you use my phone instead for a bit?
[ he halfway considered saying "can you use a network if i give you the information" but that wouldn't be just putting dave himself in danger, which is negligible as a concern. he cannot give up their secure network information without placing everyone he loves in danger.
he can try to minimize the kid's use of non-secure networks for as long as possible, though. he already deletes every conversation and call he has as a matter of habit. ]
[ he opens his mouth a second time to ask if they can try to avoid security cameras, figures that sounds shady enough to set the kid off again, and closes his mouth instead. sometimes dave learns. or at least he knows he's saying the wrong things, because honestly the kids he gets best were the ones like him: the ones raised by people who hurt them, not people who actually gave a fuck. ]
Where's the destination? Sunny said somethin' about gps coordinates but I didn't have a chance to look 'em up.
[ walking is fine. dave shifts back into casual mode, although he's scanning the area with affected disinterest that covers legitimate concern and a need to figure out who he has to worry about before the kid gets killed before...ultimately getting killed or taken. shit. he has to figure this out somehow, and yet.
We're here. If you wanna dodge the cameras, don't follow me.
[Because next stop is in fact the three-pronged arch, which means Dirk is on top of an archway and is about to walk straight into the middle of the road to check out the Nautilus sign.]
[ STOP WALKING INTO THE MIDDLE OF A FUCKING ROAD, SHIT? dave follows hurridly. laughs. he has to be close enough to slam dirk off the road if needed? not everyone can be trusted to slam on the breaks or change lanes just because a kid is reckless as fuck. ]
[ samaritan will ignore dave unless he fucks it up. it isn't ignoring dirk. he doesn't touch dirk since he didn't have to tackle him - still hasn't actually touched anyone, but he rarely does, although he allows touch to happen when the others initiate sometimes - but he hovers, scanning dirk up and down with a frown. ]
[ military. a panicked glance and a knack for stupid puzzles (when he bothers) at least gave dave that, but he hadn't bothered to decode what it was since he'd been more concerned with the kid. ]
Do you mind if I make more morbid cynical comments about who could have set this up?
[ re: the resources needed for placing all these clues in all these places, some of them city-approved. ]
And it isn't unlikely. I mean - you at least take second place.
I mind if they're vague and unhelpful and not any goddamned answers.
[Dirk noticed that too. A poster on a pole was easy, same as the website posting that started it. Graffiti could be done by any street artist. Motorcycle safety month posters? Someone has control over city ordinances or is really good at setting things up.
Now, Dirk doesn't just want to win. He wants to understand what's going on.]
Givin' you an answer would be the single cruelest thing I could do to you.
[ they don't have a server to protect the kid. he has no idea what rose or her daughter or jade could cook up as a stopgap. he's not sure asking wouldn't put them all in terrible danger.
they are so lucky, right now, to be alive. dave will always gamble with his own life: he will never gamble with everyone else's.
this leads to a brief sideways thought wondering if he can't just somehow flip his security onto dirk. surely one of them has the bullshit abilities to do that, right? rose would kill him, but also: he can never leave kids alone. ]
Lettin' you figure it out is probably the second worst thing. Don't talk about it too much unless we're dark.
[It's delivered with a certain mockery in the monotone. At the same time, Dirk's angled away from any cameras being able to read his lips, his phone is bricked, and Dirk's voice is quiet enough that it would be too muffled to be understood by Dave's phone.]
[ like. yes? dave has avoided security cameras the entire time they've been together, when possible. if dirk thinks about it, he'll realize the guy has always angled himself away from them when speaking, occasionally looking down or to the side at weird times to facilitate this if need be. he has never raised his voice above a quiet tone edging towards inaudible for anyone not directly next to him.
he'd been trying to sell dirk on taking him through shadier areas with less surveillance, less because he wanted to shank dirk or something - that's clearly still not a thing, whatever dirk believes - but moreso because he's doing what he can to avoid the prying eyes he knows exists.
his alias may protect him, but dave doesn't like testing the limits of the damn thing. he's too aware that losing his cover might result in the others losing theirs, too. ]
[ to his credit there's zero hesitation following through on his previous offer. dave just takes a second to tap in his passcode before handing it over.
he's careful about some things and haphazard about others. all his outgoing and incoming call history and text messages are deleted immediately after he receives them, so there's nothing there. there's no contacts, either, so he probably has all the numbers he needs memorized.
his phone background is a shitty sbahj comic about unreal air. sorry. there are like no photos on the camera since he deletes those religiously, too. there are scattered applications: a few mobile games, a few weird voice changing apps (not...for serious use. one is a helium balloon voice thing), a few applications that no one could possibly ever need but which he found funny.
the thing that exists most on the damn phone is actually dave's music collection, eclectic and large.
it also seems to use a weird secure server network so. ]
[He notes all of that, what he can in the flicker of his eyes, but that isn't why he demanded the phone. Dirk flips it over, grabs the back, and pulls the battery pack out.]
Government conspiracy.
[It's that weird line again: serious-not serious, maybe ironic except maybe not. A kid doesn't work this hard to keep himself out of consistent records if he isn't wary about being dragged into the system.]
[It isn't a response Dirk has any patience for. He slams the phone back together easy (those preschool reports on dexterity were not a lie) and shoves it back in Dave's hand. It's all he does before he turns his back on Dave to get to the bus.]
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Yeah. I ended up destroyin' my computer and bookin' it.
[On the bright side since this is a recruitment method Samaritan probably isn't trying to kill Dirk yet.
When he doesn't give these habits up after joining Samaritan, though...]
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How many people have you clocked followin' you? Before you met up with me.
[ although samaritan doesn't really need human agents to follow people around. dave bites his lip, because the kid probably will not agree to go dark, and there isn't a real need for it now if the thing isn't killing him, but still - ]
What all do you have connected to shit right now?
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Not sure. Seein' you threw me off. [He'd noticed the other guys then got confused by Dave and then there were guys again.]
I always keep everything bricked until I need it.
[That... is a weird attitude for a fifteen year old to take? Look, it doesn't take knowing about Samaritan to be incredibly conscious of a society where information is constantly recorded and repackaged for use by others. And Dirk likes his privacy.]
no subject
[ he halfway considered saying "can you use a network if i give you the information" but that wouldn't be just putting dave himself in danger, which is negligible as a concern. he cannot give up their secure network information without placing everyone he loves in danger.
he can try to minimize the kid's use of non-secure networks for as long as possible, though. he already deletes every conversation and call he has as a matter of habit. ]
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I won't need it.
[Not a yes but hey it's not a no, either.]
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[ he opens his mouth a second time to ask if they can try to avoid security cameras, figures that sounds shady enough to set the kid off again, and closes his mouth instead. sometimes dave learns. or at least he knows he's saying the wrong things, because honestly the kids he gets best were the ones like him: the ones raised by people who hurt them, not people who actually gave a fuck. ]
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[it's the one universe where 'please' won't work on Dirk! amazing.
(for now)]
We have to walk from here.
[So Dirk will stand because walking is important.]
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[ walking is fine. dave shifts back into casual mode, although he's scanning the area with affected disinterest that covers legitimate concern and a need to figure out who he has to worry about before the kid gets killed before...ultimately getting killed or taken. shit. he has to figure this out somehow, and yet.
dirk if you take him to a bar he'll just. sigh. ]
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[Because next stop is in fact the three-pronged arch, which means Dirk is on top of an archway and is about to walk straight into the middle of the road to check out the Nautilus sign.]
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Dude.
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[Of staying off the grid, obviously. Dirk is not heating Dave's scolding. He's tilting andβyes, he has it.
Okay he'll leisurely walk off the road now w/e he calculated that car and whether or not it will hit him, it will just narrowly miss. yolo]
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[ samaritan will ignore dave unless he fucks it up. it isn't ignoring dirk. he doesn't touch dirk since he didn't have to tackle him - still hasn't actually touched anyone, but he rarely does, although he allows touch to happen when the others initiate sometimes - but he hovers, scanning dirk up and down with a frown. ]
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Dude. You saw no cars hit me. I'm fine.
[No scan is needed??]
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[ his heart cannot take this. ]
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[184th, and 3rd. Now it's time to go visit a biker bar. Dirk will go to get another bus for this reason.]
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[ military. a panicked glance and a knack for stupid puzzles (when he bothers) at least gave dave that, but he hadn't bothered to decode what it was since he'd been more concerned with the kid. ]
Do you mind if I make more morbid cynical comments about who could have set this up?
[ re: the resources needed for placing all these clues in all these places, some of them city-approved. ]
And it isn't unlikely. I mean - you at least take second place.
no subject
[Dirk noticed that too. A poster on a pole was easy, same as the website posting that started it. Graffiti could be done by any street artist. Motorcycle safety month posters? Someone has control over city ordinances or is really good at setting things up.
Now, Dirk doesn't just want to win. He wants to understand what's going on.]
no subject
[ they don't have a server to protect the kid. he has no idea what rose or her daughter or jade could cook up as a stopgap. he's not sure asking wouldn't put them all in terrible danger.
they are so lucky, right now, to be alive. dave will always gamble with his own life: he will never gamble with everyone else's.
this leads to a brief sideways thought wondering if he can't just somehow flip his security onto dirk. surely one of them has the bullshit abilities to do that, right? rose would kill him, but also: he can never leave kids alone. ]
Lettin' you figure it out is probably the second worst thing. Don't talk about it too much unless we're dark.
no subject
[It's delivered with a certain mockery in the monotone. At the same time, Dirk's angled away from any cameras being able to read his lips, his phone is bricked, and Dirk's voice is quiet enough that it would be too muffled to be understood by Dave's phone.]
no subject
he'd been trying to sell dirk on taking him through shadier areas with less surveillance, less because he wanted to shank dirk or something - that's clearly still not a thing, whatever dirk believes - but moreso because he's doing what he can to avoid the prying eyes he knows exists.
his alias may protect him, but dave doesn't like testing the limits of the damn thing. he's too aware that losing his cover might result in the others losing theirs, too. ]
You are, in particular.
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Give me your phone.
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he's careful about some things and haphazard about others. all his outgoing and incoming call history and text messages are deleted immediately after he receives them, so there's nothing there. there's no contacts, either, so he probably has all the numbers he needs memorized.
his phone background is a shitty sbahj comic about unreal air. sorry. there are like no photos on the camera since he deletes those religiously, too. there are scattered applications: a few mobile games, a few weird voice changing apps (not...for serious use. one is a helium balloon voice thing), a few applications that no one could possibly ever need but which he found funny.
the thing that exists most on the damn phone is actually dave's music collection, eclectic and large.
it also seems to use a weird secure server network so. ]
no subject
Government conspiracy.
[It's that weird line again: serious-not serious, maybe ironic except maybe not. A kid doesn't work this hard to keep himself out of consistent records if he isn't wary about being dragged into the system.]
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[ this is the mildest objection anyone has ever had to anyone else pulling their phone apart? but is apparently the only one dave is making. ]
I unfortunately do only have a police salary to work off of. Which for the record? Is less than stellar.
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