Silhouette

Hardcored - Chatroom

MagicIsTragic: GUYS. GUYS. DID YOU SEE?

TechnoGogo: Yes honey, we saw. Now get down from the table.

KillLaKrill: Wait, what are we talking about here?

(Mod)Seagullag: Remember that Silhouette guy? He just showed up on TV. He killed the Nightsnatcher and brought it to the Union.

KillLaKrill: For real?

MagicIsTragic: I told you! I told you all! You said I was delusional, but who's laughing now? Me! I am!

TechnoGogo: I don't see what you're so hyped about. We knew the guy existed.

MagicIsTragic: Come on. The dude killed something the Union couldn't find. And did you see the cloud of shadows thing?

The Silence: It is more common for a predator to fall to its prey than to be hunted down.

KillLaKrill: Yeah, what he said. Trust the merman on that, stuff is more likely to kill itself against you than you are to successfully catch it. Now give me a minute to look for a replay or something.

TechnoGogo: I will say, all that fancy talk about his shop does sound interesting. At least enough to order a random gizmo to dismantle.

(Mod)Seagullag: I dunno. Even if it turns out he's legit, I don't think I'd need whatever he's selling. I'm not gonna clubber anyone any day soon.

MagicIsTragic: Killjoy.

TechnoGogo: You're just mad there's nothing magical in his stuff.

MagicIsTragic: As far as we know. Besides, if they look good, those reinforced clothes could be nice.

TechnoGogo: You know it's likely all black, right? That's how everything around the guy seems to be so far.

KillLaKrill: Embrace the goth. You cannot escape its grasp. Also, I just checked it out, that dude needs to start doing leg day, and that's coming from someone with a fishtail.

MagicIsTragic: Your beguiling calls have no power here. Colors rule.

TechnoGogo: Speak for yourself. I'm sure Silence is down for the monochrome.

The Silence: Black isn't necessarily goth, it can also be emo or even ska. Either way, it's not just about the hue but the cut of the cloth as well.

TechnoGogo: See?

Saray: I just hope the drama ends soon. He seems like an ok guy.

TechnoGogo: A little dramatic, but yeah. Looks as harmless as any other corporate dude. I mean, I'm all for eating the rich, but the dude hasn't done anything yet. I mean, there's the slums business, but that was more self-defense than anything.

MagicIsTragic: Says you. That speech, those theatrics, the awesome dark powers... There's enough here to make one glorious Villain. It'd be nice to get someone with an elemental shtick other than Sunburn for once.

Saray: We're talking about a person, here.

(Mod)Seagullag: Yes, Saray is right on that. Don't go villainizing folks Tragic.

MagicIsTragic: Yeah, yeah.

JamesIsInTheDark: I don't know about the criminal stuff or whatever, but I think it'd be smart not to get close.

Saray: Not you too, James. You can't be scared of him just because of his looks! You have shadow powers too!

JamesIsInTheDark: Oh, no, that's not what I'm saying. Sure, he looks dark and gloomy, but I'm sure Silence does as well and he's harmless. No, what I'm worried about is everything else. Like, hasn't Abrakaboom been seen dropping by his place not long ago? Not to mention he said the Nightsnatcher attacked his employee and he just so happened to be nearby. Like, doesn't that sound like they were just used as bait?

KillLaKrill: Nah, stuff happens. It makes sense if it didn't happen far from his place. I mean, if I was hunted by a monster and I had a boss who could take it on, I'd run to the workplace too.

TechnoGogo: If you have to deal with nightmarish creatures, make sure it's on company time! They legally can't blame you!

(Mod)Seagullag: Aren't you still a student? how would you even know that?

TechnoGogo: My sister knows how to squeeze out the most vacation time and breaks from her job.

MagicIsTragic: She's getting eaten one day.

Saray: Tragic!

JamesIsInTheDark: I mean, she has a point. Don't play with fire and all that stuff.

MagicIsTragic: Calm down there, boyo. Let's not say anything we might regret.

TechnoGogo: Yeah, like she says. Playing with fire is the best thing ever. Well, second best. Electricity is simply superior.

KillLaKrill: Every passing day I'm curious as to which one of you will unleash a catastrophe first.

The Silence: I'm curious as to whether he'd be taking interns.

MagicIsTragic: Gasp! Silence has found his people!

TechnoGogo: Sound the alarms! Ring the bells!

The Silence: I hate you both.

TechnoGogo: Love you too, buddy.

JamesIsInTheDark: What would you even do at an internship at this Penumbral Palace thing?

KillLaKrill: Gods, that name sounds like the last zone in a game before the final boss.

MagicIsTragic: Or the holy site of an ancient abyss-worshipping cult. He does look like he came out of there.

TechnoGogo: Yeah, wasn't that one of our theories last time?

(Mod)Seagullag: Yes, when you were discussing the pillar of darkness. But please, avoid racially profiling people. I'd much rather not get another shutdown so close to the last one. They might close this chatroom and ban us all.

JamesIsInTheDark: How many are there, exactly? I just found this one while looking for advice online.

(Mod)Seagullag: Depends. In theory, there are a hundred public ones like ours, but a lot of those are locked or in perpetual maintenance. I do not have access to the number of private ones.

JamesIsInTheDark: It feels like there should be more people around then.

TechnoGogo: We're in the middle of the list. Whether you start at the beginning or the end, you probably find something before reaching us.

MagicIsTragic: That, and forums just aren't as popular anymore. Why come here when you can use more regular and modern social media instead?

KillLaKrill: Loathe as we are to admit it, the fact we're here is proof we're just as much of a bunch of hipsters as Silence.

The Silence: I am not what you call a hipster. I am not a contrarian who only opposes society to stand out from it and feed my ego, nor am I someone who prefers a nostalgia-tinted past that will always seem better than an unpredictable future. I am merely disillusioned and can now see the truth of the world, its bleakness, its slow approach to the end.

TechnoGogo: That's a lot of words for a guy named Silence.

The Silence: I fail to see a rebuke.

Saray: Anyway, as we were saying, this isn't a very popular site. Which is fine by me, I like our quiet.

KillLaKrill: Yeah, it's clear we wouldn't feel as comfortable if there were more folks. Like, Magic and Techno bicker all the time yet they strike as the awfully shy type. If those two met in real life, I'm pretty sure they'd just stand there awkwardly without saying a thing.

MagicIsTragic: Curse you, fish boy.

TechnoGogo: You're no lady's man, buddy.

KillLaKrill: See? Wallflowers, both of them. They vent all of their excessive social energy here.

Saray: Krill, be nice. Please.

KillLaKrill: I'm just teasing. Besides, I know they'd blow me up if we were face to face.

TechnoGogo: Damn right we would.

MagicIsTragic: I've been working out an oil and frying spell just for the occasion.

The Silence: The fish and chips spell?

MagicIsTragic: Its delicious culinary applications are merely a bonus.

TechnoGogo: Oh, now that's an idea. I've been looking for an excuse to disassemble the family air fryer.

JamesIsInTheDark: Those work with fish?

TechnoGogo: They do if you're not a coward.

JamesIsInTheDark: Noted.

MagicIsTragic: Is it really a fryer if you don't drown your food in boiling oil?

TechnoGogo: Yes. We don't need siege defenses anymore, you witch.

MagicIsTragic: Says the one conjuring heat out of thin air.

TechnoGogo: That's not how any of this works and you know it.

MagicIsTragic: Sorcery I say!

TechnoGogo: Return to the dark ages from whence you came, you uneducated peasant.

KillLaKrill: Catfight! Catfight! Place your debts folks!

TechnoGogo: I'm going to fillet you.

MagicIsTragic: I'll squeeze you in a tuna can you over-glorified sardine.

(Mod)Seagullag: And thus we see an example of one of the major rules of warfare, the enemy of my enemy is my ally.

Saray: Friendship prevails. All is right in the world.

JamesIsInTheDark: I'd say it's more appropriate to call it a rivalry, a parallel path to mundane friendship.

KillLaKrill: Ah, "no one can beat up this idiot except me" syndrome. Truly a healthy bond.

JamesIsInTheDark: The healthiest, indeed.

(Mod)Seagullag: Push each other to grow better while defending both from outside threats. Unironically a good relationship with the right people and in the right situation.

Saray: Just remember to be nice!

MagicIsTragic: Is that another lesson you learned in your winter wonderland?

(Mod)Seagullag: Yes.

MagicIsTragic: Uh.

TechnoGogo: Could you elaborate?

(Mod)Seagullag: Could? Yes. Will? No.

TechnoGogo: Fair enough.

MagicIsTragic: But I wanna know!

(Mod)Seagullag: Then be disappointed.

KillLaKrill: Cold.

TechnoGogo: Like frozen steel straight out of the forge.

(Mod)Seagullag: The metal would be hot then.

TechnoGogo: Uh.

MagicIsTragic: Ah! You blundered it!

KillLaKrill: Is that even a word?

MagicIsTragic: My phone says it is.

KillLaKrill: Good to know.

Saray: Back to the topic at hand, I just hope this whole drama will fade away and people will stop being afraid of a man just because he's a little odd.

MagicIsTragic: Man, I hope his pillar of darkness weapon will be shown off.

TechnoGogo: I'm pretty sure it's a bomb of some kind. I don't see how you could justify selling that to civilians.

KillLaKrill: Meh, I can see them being sold off as anti-Super defenses. They'd probably be heavily regulated, though.

Saray: Something this destructive and distracting would never be allowed.

JamesIsInTheDark: Yeah, I can't see how the Union would allow something that looks like the apocalypse. Even for the police.

TechnoGogo: Now that you say it, yeah, the cops don't get that kind of fancy stuff, at least not outside of those stationed around the slums. Even then, none of their toys can bloat out the sky like that.

MagicIsTragic: Shame. Imagine how cool it'd be to have a barrier that reaches high into the heavens.

JamesIsInTheDark: That sounds dystopic.

KillLaKrill: Yeah, like he said.

Saray: It would be horrible and immoral!

TechnoGogo: Not to mention terribly power-hungry. Like, that sort of stuff could double the entire city's usage.

(Mod)Seagullag: I'd rather avoid the inflated taxes solely used to discriminate against the poor and send a message. I left Draskia for a reason.

MagicIsTragic: Sure, but it'd look cool.

JamesIsInTheDark: Maybe let's keep the aurora borealis-looking stuff for national holidays rather than cartoonishly evil plans. You know, like fireworks.

TechnoGogo: I love it when Supers get involved in those. Last year Mecha Man did great.

MagicIsTragic: Drone shows are dumb. I prefer Miss Malice's hexes.

KillLaKrill: Gotta agree with the magical pyromaniac on this one. Seeing pretty lights line up to make cool things in the sky is nice and all, but I prefer my shows to boom and dazzle.

(Mod)Seagullag: I see your point, but I like the quiet.

Saray: It's also less disruptive and doesn't make animals as anxious!

JamesIsInTheDark: Honestly, I think both are valid. I prefer fireworks worth, they feel more impactful, more real. But again, I get why you prefer the calmer light shows.

KillLaKrill: Ah, you put it in words. Yeah, impactful, that's it. It feels like there's genuinely something happening, that you're living the moment. That drone thing felt too disconnected.

MagicIsTragic: Like the difference between watching a movie on TV or at the cinema.

KillLaKrill: You get me.

Saray: I understand your arguments, but I still prefer the quiet and peacefulness of light shows. Not to mention, they feel plenty impactful to me. Watching the night sky transform like that almost feels like a dream. It's like being whisked away in a fairytale.

MagicIsTragic: Please don't mention those around here. With our luck, one might be bored enough to get interested.

Saray: Talking about fairytales isn't enough to get the fair folk's attention, Magic.

MagicIsTragic: Says you. Trust me, if there's nothing going on with them, they'll jump at the tiniest opportunities and loopholes just to have some fun.

(Mod)Seagullag: Let's steer away from the topic. While they're not explicitly forbidden here, they're still troublemakers. Trust me, I ran into their shenanigans back in Draskia, you don't want to get involved.

KillLaKrill: Whoa, seriously dude? You gotta tell us more.

(Mod)Seagullag: That's where you're wrong. Not only do I not have to, but it's best for everyone here I don't. That's how they get you.

TechnoGogo: Tease.

James chuckled in his bed. The ratlings were piled up on most of his mass, snoring as they slept soundly on his pillowy body. He may not need to sleep, but taking this time to relax was nice. Using his phone without its maximum luminosity was annoying, but he'd rather be somewhat bothered than that than risk waking the kids up. It had been a long day for all of them, and tomorrow was shaping up to be equally draining.

Talking with his new friends online was a good way to unwind. They were a silly bunch, but also highly informative. For instance, he now had a good idea of what the public at large thought of Silhouette instead of the usual cloak and daggers factions he was used to.

He just hoped Silence wouldn't come knocking at his door. He didn't want his two lives to mix.

For everyone's sake.