✤ thirty three; (finally higher, and wire to wire)

[windmill]

[✤FILTERED AWAY FROM DRONES.]

So...

Who th'fuck is Jack?

'Cause I sure as hell had files for John Smith at th'pharmacy a couple 'a days ago, and I don't any more.

Comments

[eminent_lady]

Oh, he was probably shuffled out for a more amusing drone.

And by amusing I mean he'll probably be a pain-in-the-ass.

[windmill]

It ain't that easy, Mariya.

Nobody in th'Smith household has ever changed here. Ever.

[there's tension in his voice.]

[eminent_lady]

Oh, I know that. Don't think I don't have my own resources. My guess is still plausible.

[windmill]

Somehow, I don't think it's that simple. They have no reason t'want it to be 'amusing'.

At the pharmacy. John Smith's records. They're fucking gone. All of 'em.

[bornwithskison]

Someone, obviously.

[windmill]

Someone that... shouldn't be here. It'd take a while t'explain, but...

[bornwithskison]

I have plenty of time. No one else seems to fill me in.

[windmill]

That family's never changed before. The only one that hasn't.

[buildstherobots]

I thought he died back when the town was turned grey.

[windmill]

...Who?

[buildstherobots]

John Smith. The person they shot on the tv was obviously the alternate town's version of him. Maybe it carried over.

[windmill]

He was still around after that. I've seen him around town; I'm kinda friends with his wife.

[wafels]

Isn't Jack a nickname for John? Maybe he just... changed it?

[windmill]

Can't be. All th'pharmacy records are rewritten, Bel. And I'm one of the only one that has access to 'em.

[wafels]

Huh?

So what d'ya think is up?

[windmill]

Not sure, but it's making me feel kinda sick. That house's never changed before.

[stay_cool_bro]

It's not exactly the first time that family changed. Remember the Maipole thing? They killed the dad on TV. He was in the house where the Smiths lived.

[windmill]

Ja, I do- and I also know that John Smith was still around after Maipole. That he came into the pharmacy, that I had his records, that he was the same damn guy.

[stay_cool_bro]

I'm not sayin' that John's gone because they killed the Russian guy. We all know death doesn't stick here. But they were changed, in the first place. Didn't even look the same - if they were just going to be Russians, going that far wasn't necessary.

[of course, even Horohoro isn't sure what his point is. But it does bug him.]

[windmill]

...I wonder.

Were we in Mayfield then, or were we... [he trails off.] Tch, never mind.

It could've been 'em. But the timing's strange. It's been two months since Maipole. Why replace him now?