Wouldn't want to have to resort to extremes. I think we'd all prefer to avoid that.

...

[ He points at the phone. ]

What're you looking at?

Mm...

[ yeah he wishes karma would just drop dead on his own without anyone having to feel bad about killing a middle schooler

anyway, looks down at his phone, then back ]

Oh... you don't have phones either, huh?

We do have phones... but I suspect it's similar to the difference in religions and otherworldly orders.

They're not a small tablet of... metal?

[ What kind of phone does he even have. ]

[ it is an iphone. i think it's a 7 or something. ]

Oh, so just the regular old landline ones, then?

[ you are one of the first people who's asked about his phone who's had any conception of what telephones are at all. ]

What year is it for you?

1942.

[ Someone already told him they're from 2205 and there's others who are from entirely different planets. Todomatsu could say anything and he'd just be like ok... fine... at this point. ]

[ damn he won't be born for another ten years... ]

Okay, well... toward the end of the century, they came out with these cell phones that transmitted by waves in the air or something instead of using lines, so they didn't have cords and you could take them with you anywhere. Then in the 2000s they came out with smartphones, which basically also work as a computer... and camera and music player and video game system. Like, pretty much anything involving communication or media.

Anyway, that's what this is.

Mm.

...Mmm.

[ He's got slightly furrowed brows like obviously this is kind of beyond him but Todomatsu's explanation isn't bad? ]

So a telephone, radio, and camera, all in... that.

[ Wow. ]

It's very compact. How is it powered?

[ IT HELPS THAT HE LIVED THROUGH ALL OF THESE MILESTONES AND ACTUALLY REMEMBERS USING ROTARY PHONES AND SHIT AS A KID ]

It's got a rechargeable battery inside it! You just plug it into a source of electricity to charge it again.

Unfortunately we don't... have those... so it's going to be dead for good in a few minutes here unless I can convince those cult guys to give me a generator or something.

A generator would be handy to have in general, actually... the phone alone is plenty of reason to ask for one.

Trying to tune into the radio... calling for help.

[ Granted he feels like. Maybe Todomatsu is smart enough to have tried that. So far he doesn't give off dingus energy. Still, doesn't mean they should just give up this avenue? ]

Have you tried asking any of the four we met this past Sunday yet?

Yeah, unfortunately the waves don't seem to reach outside of this pocket dimension, or whatever the hell it is. Definitely tried calling the police first thing when I got it, and nooo signal whatsoever.

[ sighs... and shakes his head. ]

I meant to write them about that this morning, but then, you know. [ LEECHES HAPPENED AND HE GOT UPSET AND DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT. ] I'll do it in a little bit here.

If you want to separately ask them for a power source that might not be a bad idea, though. Maybe they'll cave if enough people keep bothering them for the same things.

Could be good to keep it open regardless... even a short burst of access could change things.

Unfortunately I've exhausted my first boon. I asked for extra medical supplies which I got pretty quickly. That's a good sign at least.

If we have other things we'd like to think about though, I can ask next time.