[PRP]1405053 01 08011404? (Horace & ??}

[The Semblance of Unity]

He'd seen codes like this before and once he'd seen a cipher, he didn't forget it. The perks of eidetic memory or something. Horace frowned at the message. It was sad and it made his chest hurt a bit. Tapping a few keys, he sent a private message out.

RE: 11091212 1305 11091212 1305 11091212 1305 11091212 1305 11091212 1305

230825 0415 251521 23011420 2015 040905?

-horace

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

190805 1114152319 2308051805 09 0113 19080519 0715091407 2015 06091404 1305

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He frowned and felt his eyes cross a bit. Horace found himself singing the alphabet out loud and counting on some of the letters.

230815 0919 190805? 09 23011420 2015 08051216 251521. 030114 09 08090405 251521?


He had no clue how he could possibly help someone who was probably a computer virus (Horace made a note to run a malware scanner on his computer later), but he wanted to. No one should live in fear for their life. Also, he saved a series of numbers as a draft text message for later, when things were less serious. 19051404 1421040519, 151209220518.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

[i can't hide from her. The only way out is die

Bring it all down with my death stop all of it I just want it to stop]  

[The Semblance of Unity]

He swallowed heavily and rubbed his eyes, knocking his glasses askew. Horace didn't know this person from a hole in the wall, but something about the words...

1415 20080919 09191420 200805 230125
2008051805 0919 011223012519 01141520080518 230125
09 20081521070820 09 03152112041420 1205012205
09 20081521070820 09 03152112041420 08090405

141520 06181513 080518 06181513 080913 022120 09 040904

2308051805 011805 251521
120520 1305 08051216 251521

shibrgane

 

[shibrogane]

[do you mean it

You won't tell anyone where I am

Promise]  

[The Semblance of Unity]

[[never
I wouldnt do that to you
I promise
please]]

He took a deep breath and hit send.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

[can you come get me

I'm at the library at rider waite

I'm scared]  

[The Semblance of Unity]

[[Im coming
can you wait for me by the biography section upstairs
Ill wear a red scarf so you know its me]]

And then Horace sprang up from his desk like it was on fire. He grabbed his phone - just in case he got another message - grabbed his coat, his scarf, and bolted out the door. His heart was beating a thick tattoo in his chest. He didn't know the details, wasn't sure he needed to, but he remembered how it felt, how he'd needed someone to get him out. Caroline had been everything he'd needed. The thought crossed his mind that he had no idea if this person was telling the truth or wasn't some kind of other creature, but ultimately, he'd rather err on the side of helping someone.

Horace might have run three yellow lights on the way, but he was at the library in record time. He smiled at the librarian and scanned his ID. "Quiz tomorrow; forgot to study." She shook her head ruefully at him - it was a common story in the library. Soon, he was poking his head around the stacks.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

There was someone waiting for Horace. She was small, dark-haired, and pale-eyed. Her eyes looked almost purple with the red rings around them--they were probably gray--and it was clear she was waiting for him. She was hugging herself, very still, and looking out around her like she was waiting for someone to appear and shout at her.

She spotted him, and said, "Are you Horace?"  

[The Semblance of Unity]

She was waif-like, a ghost of a girl. "Yeah, I'm Horace. Are you from the listserv?" He fumbled around for his ID and showed it to her; Horace had been incredibly distrusting for a while.

"What's your name?" He looked around, too, worried someone might be listening. "Do you want to go?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Melany," said the girl. "I was the... glitchy-letters person."

Melany pulled the collar of her coat up around her face. "Thank you," she said. "I'm so sorry. Thank you so much."  

[The Semblance of Unity]

Melany. Well, that made things more complicated, according to the listserv. "C'mon, let's go. You can chill at my place if that's okay." He gestured for her to follow him.

"Who's trying to hurt people, Melany?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany squirmed inside her oversize jacket. "I... it's hard to explain. There's two of them..." She looked at Horace's shoes as she followed him, head down, hood up. "There's this woman who's been following me," she said. "And this woman who... sort of... is me... and the woman who's following me stopped me today and that and the thing that I did because the other woman made me, I'd never... I'm not dangerous, I'm not, I can't--"

She sounded like she was choking up.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Sort of you?" He stopped and spoke gently. "Hey, it's okay, I believe you. Take your time sorting through things, you can even write them down or in numbers if that works. Luckily, I can read that about as easily as anything else." He wrinkled his nose at her and pushed up his glasses. Horace just wanted to get her home so Melany could have a safe space to fall apart.

"I need to know one thing before we leave, though, Melany. Is that woman following you now?" If so, he'd try to lose her.

shibrogane