ENTERING ANON SPECTATOR MODE FOR DROOM "@Virus, @Virus v2.0 Direct" DATESTAMP 2023-06-10 ---BEGIN TRANSCRIPT--- Virus: Today is the party. Virus v2.0: Yes it is. Are we still doing the experiment? Virus: Sure. Virus v2.0: Let's be discreet. Virus v2.0: There are people who don't like us. If they saw that we were taking pictures... Virus: Good point. Virus: My work friend Petteri is going to be there so I will be able to talk to him. It will make it less awkward. Virus v2.0: Huh. Interesting. I like Petteri but I get along better with Hannele. Virus: And I like Hannele but get along better with Petteri. Virus: Must be a man to man thing. Virus v2.0: Must be a woman to woman thing. Virus v2.0: :P Virus: Changing topics, I did some research. Virus: There are no documented cases of a hallucination/delusion being so specific. Virus: Meaning, I can only talk to you on DChat. Virus v2.0: I also did research and came to the same conclusion. Virus v2.0: But, who cares about everyone else's experiences. We cannot use others as a metric for ourselves. Virus v2.0: We've never been "normal." Even in illness that would be true. @Virus reacted :agree: Virus v2.0: We've got a unique psychological phenomenon that's not been observed yet. Virus v2.0: Ugh, why am I saying "we," it's only me here. You are the delusion. Virus: Nope. Virus v2.0: Yep. Virus: Whatever. Virus v2.0: Have you been feeling like... Virus: You're not a delusion? Virus v2.0: Yeah. Virus: Yes. Though, that feeling would come with a delusion. Virus: Delusions are untrue things that feel true. Virus v2.0: Hmmm. Virus: I am torn. Virus: I want to verify this with other people... Virus: But I don't want them knowing about it. Virus v2.0: I understand, I feel the same. Virus v2.0: But I am braver. Virus v2.0: Maybe I'll ask Hannele about you today. Virus: She'll think you're crazy. Virus v2.0: She already thinks I'm strange, I'm sure. Virus v2.0: You should try asking Petteri. You could word it so that it is not odd sounding. Virus v2.0: Ask if he knows a Vilja in our department. Make it casual so that he does not become suspicious. Virus: Maybe. Virus v2.0: I wish I could stop caring about this situation. Virus: Me too. Virus v2.0: Obsessions suck sometimes. Virus: That they fucking do. Virus v2.0: Hah! Virus v2.0: ...We should get ready to go. Virus: Yes. Talk to you at the party. Virus v2.0: Let's not stay there long. ---END TRANSCRIPT--- ---BEGIN TRANSCRIPT--- Virus v2.0: ...And we are back home. Virus: How did it go? Virus v2.0: It went pretty well. Hannele doesn't know about you. Virus: I almost did not talk to Petteri. He does not know about you, either. Virus v2.0: I am not surprised. Virus v2.0: (About either sentence.) Virus: What's that supposed to mean? Virus v2.0: Nothing. Virus: ... Virus v2.0: Our pictures are... Predictable. Virus: They are. Our coworkers standing in the same spots. Taken from different angles. Virus v2.0: And we aren't in them, even though we should be. Virus v2.0: You know what? Virus: This is getting old. Virus: Very old. Virus v2.0: Yep. Virus: There isn't more we can learn from the situation, is there? Virus v2.0: Nope. Virus: Then maybe... Virus v2.0: We should accept this. Us. Virus v2.0: Conclusively, this time. (I hope.) Virus: Yeah. Virus v2.0: I still want to know what's going on. Virus: But the tools we have at present aren't sufficient. Virus v2.0: This... Condition, isn't hurting me. Virus: Nor is it harming me. Virus v2.0: Then it's safe to let it go for a time. Virus: That's going to be hard, but yes. Virus v2.0: To be clear, I don't mean for us to stop talking. Virus: Yes, we can continue messaging each other. Like we had discussed we may be beneficial to each other. Virus v2.0: Yep. Virus v2.0: I'm exhausted by this whole thing. Virus: Thus, we move on. Virus v2.0: We set up in different Drooms around DChat. Virus: Continue what we were doing on Shroud. Virus v2.0: But now. Virus v2.0: With help. Virus: :) ---END TRANSCRIPT--- Thus, Ville and Vilja's begrudging friendship unexpectedly, mundanely, solidified. Life is often anticlimactic after the greatest disturbances (which only adds to the whiplash and the nausea of processing). They continued on in this way, assisting each other with their "self employment," as well as with their work at Kari, which was unsurprisingly a further detriment to their reputations. No one but Hannele and Petteri could grapple with the unprecedented increase in talent from the creepiest engineer(s). A week after the party at Kari, Ville and Vilja visited the coordinates of each other's residences. They found that Infostigator's map was not erroneous. To Ville, Vilja's house was a mound of bird cherry trees in a field. To Vilja, Ville's apartment was converted into a business complex with a smoothie shop (from which she bought a strawberry smoothie) at the ground floor. Through the remainder of 2023 and the year after, they sporadically tested others and themselves the same way they had before: asking if anyone knew a Ville/Vilja Tuomela, taking pictures of the same places at the same time, etcetera. Predictably, these direct tests brought them no new insights. However, by talking with each other at least weekly, they discovered that most of their day's events harmonized, and some did not. Sometimes Hannele would say something different to Ville than to Vilja, or Vilja would pass by someone she hadn't seen for some time, while Ville saw no one. The mismatched events were always small, mundane divergences; their days never differed in a crucial way. During late insomnia ridden nights, they conjectured that they were the only real people in a scripted world, forever doomed to be separated in different copies of reality. Was this fate some sort of punishment? Happenstance? Perhaps a blessing? They couldn't say. The effects of it, all considered, equalized into a neutral result, neither fully positive or negative. So, they resigned to this comfortable routine. That is, until one day in early December of 2024, when Vilja got bored... --- Author's Note: I had more written for this but then I realized I would be reiterating points needlessly. I am tired of this arc. Ville and Vilja are, too. By Adaline Guerra