Someone dial 999

[hellandbackpack]

[Sorry everyone, this is all written out in a jagged scrawl, very jumbled and run-on in nature.]

Help-

Rin just collapsed? We were talkin' and I went to leave and- they just went down? No warnin' or nothin' just on the floor-

This drone is useless, wouldn't go get help-

They're not responding? Like there's a pulse but barely it's slow, there's no blood, nothing looks wrong, I can't see anything wrong, they just won't wake up and I don't know what the hell to do-

[Clearly Charles is doing Amazing here. Thriving even. He's absolutely not about 5 seconds from an epic little meltdown and is only holding it together because SecUnit needs help.]

Comments

[obeir]

[ Sometime after this... ]

Are you all right? Did something happen to you too?

[hellandbackpack]

I'm fine. Messed up Rin- was an accident but-

Nah. Nothin' happened to me.

[obeir]

[ Something to do with his abilities as a ghost, maybe? Curious. ]

Found Rin and all the rest. But where'd you go?

[hellandbackpack]

Wasn't good for them, me bein' around right now. I... somethin' about ghosts messes up tech. Like... normally it's fine, but I dunno, I'm all over the place right now.

Just. Figured it'd be better if I'm not makin' it worse for them, yeah?

[obeir]

I haven't experienced any difficulties being around you and I'm living technology.

[ But he's going to carefully avoid commenting on Rin's own tech status, even if it's sort of public knowledge at this point. ]

Do you mean you've been upset? And that's when you're able to affect technology like that?

[hellandbackpack]

Nah like... I'm always kinda doin' it. Ambient affect of bein' made of nothin' but energy now, Edwin'd call it yeah? Guess the normal amount's just not bad enough to hurt you, but it'll fry a phone or computer after enough time.

[And he's glad that he hadn't accidentally wound up hurting K too.]

I guess... it kinda gets worse when I'm overemotional. Energy just starts flarin' out past 'me' and all.

[obeir]

[ It's likely that if he has been affected by Charles, it's probably just gone unnoticed amid the worsening headaches and other anomalies he's been experiencing lately (the unsurprising consequences of trying to mess with his own programming). But he opts to keep that to himself, figuring Charles must already be feeling bad enough about things out of his control. ]

So you're sort of like a walking electric current. Charged particles. Could have interesting applications if it's something you could control. Like being an android battery.

(That's a joke.)

Is Edwin like you? [ A ghost, he means. ]

[hellandbackpack]

[Please don't tell him, he will not be okay realizing that at this point.]

Somethin' like that. I can do it on purpose- messin' with tech I mean. But usually I gotta be meanin' to do it that way. Like focusin' on it, same as focusin' on keepin' a body together.

Edwin? Yeah, he's been dead longer than I have. Wicked smart, absolutely brilliant. I dunno that there's anything he can't do if he puts his mind to it. One of those big brain blokes. Absolutely the Sherlock to our detective agency.