IC Contact

[offtracks]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, NOBORI.

FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 17.128.903.472

*** NOBORI has joined 17.128.903.472

<NOBORI> Hello! This is Ingo!
<NOBORI> How may I help you?

Other Handles: Wayward [anon]

Comments

[i_am_emmet]

[Emmet reaches for his beer and takes a swig. Of all the conversations Emmet could have had with Ingo, Emmet could only think of one that might be more uncomfortable.]

They don't build houses for people here unless they pay for the materials, labor, and stuff. Or buy someone else's old home. You can take out a loan but you usually need to be in a decent standing financially and they will add interest to the repayment. If you can not do this, you can pay to live in someone else's home. It is usually the amount of the mortgage plus an amount for 'wear and tear', plus a little more on top of that for profit. If you lose your job and can not pay for the loans or rent, they will evict you from the house.

[offtracks]

...but that's just terrible! There are so many buildings in that city, there must be more than enough room! Space is a gift for everyone, which belongs to everyone!

[i_am_emmet]

Lots of people don't think that way, sadly. They have this verrry bad idea that if you can't afford a house or apartment, you're being a drain somehow.

[offtracks]

There's plenty of them. It's wasteful to let them stand empty if someone needs it!

[i_am_emmet]

I think it is wasteful too, yup. But if a soul-eater tried to eat from a landlord or a banker, I don't think they would get anything.

[offtracks]

Hm...

[Ingo goes a little quiet, mulling over the people down in the tunnels. He always assumed they must have been crowded out of the public housing after some disaster; a lot of them move about, and he figured that when they were not in the subway, they had found a proper place to stay. But do they just really have nowhere to stay at all? Temporary accommodations are one thing, but the space could be improved if it's for something permanent...

He doesn't verbalize this. He hasn't been talking a lot about all that in general - he already knows it's absolutely nothing compared to all the harm he's caused, he doesn't need to hear about it from Emmet.]

[i_am_emmet]

Plus I hate how it creates a self-feeding cycle, yup. They lose their job, they lose their home, they can not find a new job because they do not have an address...

[offtracks]

Why do they need an address to get a job?

[i_am_emmet]

Because it makes employers think that they just won't up and leave overnight.

[offtracks]

Anyone can do that.

[But it's sort of just grumbling. There's really no point in arguing about this with Emmet; they're clearly in agreement about how much sense it all makes.]

[i_am_emmet]

Yup, but they feel if people have made the investment of a residence, they won't.

[A beat.]

Can you imagine how much money a billionaire has?

[offtracks]

A billion, I suppose?

[He knows about numbers!]

I cannot imagine what could possibly cost that much. I do not think I have ever spent more than a hundred at a time.

[i_am_emmet]

Nothing costs enough for that, but to put it in perspective how much more money that is why billionaires should buy a few million bikes and get over it. I would have to work 69,000 years to get that much.

[Emmet knew this factoid from a Tinkatok video!]

[offtracks]

He ought to just give it away. Without these games.

[Ingo frowns, more intentionally, at the card. He'd sort of thought that already, but especially if the man just has that much money for no reason!]

[i_am_emmet]

You would think, yup. But rich people don't experience empathy. Have a distant cousin like that.

[offtracks]

Do we?

[i_am_emmet]

Yupyup, verrry much a trust-fund Baby. Thinks people in the 'lower' [finger quotes] ranks need to work harder to get where she is. Doesn't seem to understand the safety net she has in comparison.

[offtracks]

Well, that is just rude!

[i_am_emmet]

More money than sense, yup.

[offtracks]

Hm...

[.....]

We do still have to do the bingo, though.

[i_am_emmet]

Yup, luckily my card isn't bad at all. I can just do what I normally do with you but in a park.

Can't get the hair done with you though, nope.

[offtracks]

Mmm.

[Today's one of those days where Ingo couldn't even stand to look at himself in the mirror. He can't muster any response to the jab.]

It may take two sessions anyway. We both have work now, and we are not sharing shifts this week.

[i_am_emmet]

[The lack of pepper to the teasing made Emmet move so he can bump his forehead against Ingo's own.]

I'm sad we're not.

[offtracks]

It hardly matters. It isn't as though we can just stand around and chat.

[He leans back anyway.]

[i_am_emmet]

Still nice to see you.