agoge | > @BROKEBACKSTAB

@POINTANDKICK All very valid concerns
@POINTANDKICK I promise not to rip any holes in time and space while on a hunt for a drink

@POINTANDKICK No judgement here
@POINTANDKICK I'm an assassin
@POINTANDKICK Still just an assassin

@BROKEBACKSTAB You'll have to forgive my disbelief of any said promises. Guilty until proven innocent, etc.

@BROKEBACKSTAB That's a lot better than I was coming up with. No, I'm not mentioning them.
@BROKEBACKSTAB Any thievery or forging skills? You know. Just in case.

@POINTANDKICK Forgiven. Just stick around and see if you get a weird feeling in the air or something

@POINTANDKICK Well
@POINTANDKICK I specialize mostly in murder
@POINTANDKICK But I suppose going undercover a lot provides a lot of opportunities for thieving.
@POINTANDKICK Like to think I can do a little bit of anything if I set my mind to it

@POINTANDKICK Now what about you?

@BROKEBACKSTAB What, like I'm some sort of dowsing rod for stupidity? Or promises being upheld?

@BROKEBACKSTAB Given, since that's in the requirements for an assassin career path.
@BROKEBACKSTAB Alright, fair enough.

@BROKEBACKSTAB It's not going to make much sense, I'll admit.

@POINTANDKICK Only if you're that interested in the outcome :)

@POINTANDKICK Why, do you need something stolen?

@POINTANDKICK Try me

@BROKEBACKSTAB Maybe yes, maybe no.

[ He's going to keep tabs anyway, because he's a nosy fucker. ]

@BROKEBACKSTAB No, just digging for information.

@BROKEBACKSTAB Alright. I work in corporate mind heist. Essentially, the stealing of information and ideas through a process called extraction.
@BROKEBACKSTAB It utilizes a technology that hasn't been invented in this time yet, obviously.
@BROKEBACKSTAB Technically, I don't do the extraction– it's never been my specialty, as that takes an abundance of schmoozing I don't care for. But, research, wiretaps, hacking, blackmail, record digging; you name it in that quarter and I've done it.

@POINTANDKICK I'll keep you in the loop

@POINTANDKICK Funny enough, I think I follow
@POINTANDKICK Sounds complicated though. Probably would make more sense if I were to witness it in person rather than hearing it as an explanation
@POINTANDKICK So this tech allows you to root through what, their actual mind? Hence "mind heist"?

[ he's had to fight an anime girl in his own subconscious dream before so lbr, this sounds reasonable enough to follow ]

@BROKEBACKSTAB That's the nicest thing someone has said to me in months.

@BROKEBACKSTAB If I had the technology handy, it would be much faster to explain. Kind of a "see it to believe it" deal.
@BROKEBACKSTAB Something like that. There's an art to it– you've got to know the target, understand how not to set off their subconscious, what they'd accept as reality vs. fiction.
@BROKEBACKSTAB Most of the time they've got their secret or information locked in a vault, so it's about coercing them to give it to you willingly.

@POINTANDKICK Let me guess, nobody in your circle keeps you in the loop

@POINTANDKICK I get it. Sounds like fun
@POINTANDKICK Like building an elaborate lucid dream

[ not that he understands a lot of what arthur means by "set off" their subconscious, but he thinks he gets it. he also doesn't realize just how literal this exchange between them and their target is. ]

@BROKEBACKSTAB It's like they're all allergic to telling me things. Me. The guy that keeps the whole job together.

@BROKEBACKSTAB That's exactly what it is. Lucid dreaming, without the target knowing it is.
@BROKEBACKSTAB There's a ton of ways to build it, but the best way is to disguise a maze underneath it all. It keeps the target from slipping through the cracks and gives whoever knows the maze a way out, just in case the subconscious starts trying to shoot you full of bullets.

@BROKEBACKSTAB Risky business, in dreamland and topside, but it pays well.

@POINTANDKICK Maybe a training exercise is in order

@POINTANDKICK Now I'm very curious to see what all this is about
@POINTANDKICK Damn you for getting me so interested in your job that I most likely will not get to see in action

@POINTANDKICK No doubt it does. But nothing's worth doing if there's no risk involved.
@POINTANDKICK At least thats my rule of thumb

@BROKEBACKSTAB I don't know, maybe? I could set up treats, like agility training.

[ PEOPLE AREN'T DOGS, ARTHUR........ ]

@BROKEBACKSTAB Sorry, should I have made it less appealing?
@BROKEBACKSTAB Oh, I guess you get shot at a lot. And the pain is residual– if you're shot in the kneecaps in a dream, the pain can follow you topside.
@BROKEBACKSTAB I got eviscerated once and felt phantom pains for a few days.

@BROKEBACKSTAB Depends on the risk. Generally I agree.

[ Haha he finds that funny ]

@POINTANDKICK Whatever you think would work

@POINTANDKICK Interesting
@POINTANDKICK Ive had a similar experience before but I don't think the residual effects were very pronounced
@POINTANDKICK But any attacks inflicted did hurt when I was there in the moment
@POINTANDKICK Do you die topside if you die within the dream

@POINTANDKICK Any hard No's?

[ DONT ENCOURAGE HIM ]

@BROKEBACKSTAB It seems like it would be a realm that would quickly devolve. Would require contracts so that treats don't get implied as sexual favors.

@BROKEBACKSTAB Oh yeah? A lucid dream then?
@BROKEBACKSTAB If you die in the dream you get kicked out of it. Just like when you're dreaming normally and you fall; your body instinctually jerks itself awake.

@BROKEBACKSTAB Hedge funds, investment banking, corporate politics on the front end. Anything that would leave me bored out of my skull, despite the inherent risk.

[ he will encourage the fuck out of anything that sounds funny ]

@POINTANDKICK Sounds like you work with a very lively bunch

@POINTANDKICK Mm, I hope so
@POINTANDKICK Wouldn't want anymore dreams like that to be quite honest
@POINTANDKICK I think mostly because I was fighting against a cartoon child
@POINTANDKICK Your job/technology sounds much more stable than what I experienced

@POINTANDKICK Oh good, those all sound terribly dull. Shouldn't even come up on the list.
@POINTANDKICK Anyway, I'm off on this terribly stupid and hopefully impressive hunt
@POINTANDKICK Any requests?

@BROKEBACKSTAB Yeah, gotta be a little crazy to work in dreamshare. Guess it rubs off.

[ And oh. He gets the first pang of missing it. Cobb dragged him through hell and back but he'd seen him get back to his kids. To James and Philippa, who'd only gotten presents and facetime with Uncle Arthur because he hadn't been blocked stateside. Who now had their father back. Dom Cobb, in his normal suburban life and picking up where he left broken pieces.

The rest of the team too. Performing inception had been no easy course, but the thrill still stuck to him, on the inside of his ribs. Despite the risk, despite limbo, despite Mallorie Cobb's projection trying to murder them all, dreamside, they'd made it. An event like that binds people together.

(He hopes they're all safe somewhere. Ariadne in Paris, centuries from now. Yusuf and Eames in Mombasa, Saito in Japan. Will he see them again?) ]

@BROKEBACKSTAB It's had some time to get worked out. Started as military research and then hit the civilian market, sort of.

@BROKEBACKSTAB Whatever tastes or smells the most like paint stripper, that's a guarantee it's a high proof.
@BROKEBACKSTAB Don't get caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

[ Oblivious to the emotions Arthur is going through, but he could probably understand it to an extent. He'd seen his fair share of turbulence in his own line of work. Leaving it behind for too long would leave a large empty spot in him. ]

@POINTANDKICK Fascinating. You'll have to tell me more
@POINTANDKICK One bottle of pure ethanol coming up
@POINTANDKICK Yes yes I understand. Not my first rodeo

@BROKEBACKSTAB Over drinks. I can draw diagrams. Really shitty diagrams.
@BROKEBACKSTAB Do you flirt like that with all the boys and girls?

@POINTANDKICK I'll try to keep my criticism to myself

@POINTANDKICK Only when they insist they're just concerned about the time continuity and not about me

@BROKEBACKSTAB Yeah, yeah, I'm sounding like a hypocritical asshole. It's a work in progress.
@BROKEBACKSTAB Go steal some shit, I'll catch you later.

> @BROKEBACKSTAB | @ALL

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject