[Setting: An old, smoky dive bar in SeaTTTle. The room is dimly lit, the air thick with the smell of spilled beer and stale cigarettes. The place is surrounded by encampments outside, with the faint sounds of arguments and chaos drifting in. At a table in the back, Boom, wheelchair-bound and visibly twitching, sits nursing a drink. Evan39, the oldest and most seasoned of the three, leans back with a knowing smile, keeping a careful eye on Boom. A few others loiter nearby, eavesdropping on the conversation. Mainlining has not yet entered the bar.]

Boom (Robert Baratheon style, speaking erratically, eyes darting): "Long time since we sat like this, boys. I still remember every first poast that made me wanna smash my head into the keyboard… or steer this damn chair right into traffic. You remember yours?"

Evan39 (channeling Barristan Selmy, adjusting his grocery store name tag with a veteran's ease): "Of course, you never forget."

Boom (grinning madly, voice pitching high and low): "Who was it?"

Evan39 (calm and measured): "Some wannabe Biglaw gunner... never cared to learn his name. He started a thread titled ‘NYC Biglaw hours, AMA,’ like he thought we needed more reasons to hate our lives."

Boom (leaning forward, eyes wide): "Heh. How’d you snuff that one out?"

Evan39 (slight smirk): "Classic ‘age is flame’ poast. Told him to get real about his miserable life before he got disbarred. Thread went 404 within an hour. Pure poetry."

Boom (giggling, then voice lowering to a mutter): "Nice, quick... lucky for you. Mine was some hotshot associate bragging about his ‘six-figure bonus.’ Like anyone cares. I went in with the hammer, just rammed it in—‘Yeah, but how many nights you wake up drenched in sweat at 3 AM, wishing you were dead or maybe just became a fireman instead?’"

[Boom cackles, then falls into a wheeze, his body spasming slightly in the chair.]

Boom (still wheezing, eyes flitting around): "They never tell you how they all melt down in the threads. That part never makes it to their LinkedIn. Stupid boy. Now he’s probably eating ramen, trying to pivot to tech, stuck in some overpriced shoebox in SeaTTTle. Should’ve stayed on LinkedIn, where the real flame is smothered by HR’s soft hands. Today, he’s crying to his mediocre wife while his kids binge TikTok, praying for one last upvote. And I'm still here… still watching."

[Mainlining, cocky and energetic, strides into the bar with a confident smirk, his Cotopaxi jacket barely containing his swagger.]

Boom (voice tinged with manic energy): "Ugh, surrounded by the 'SeaTTTle crew.' Every time I close my eyes, I see them, bragging about their hikes up Rattlesnake Ledge or the latest vegan ramen joint. And here’s Mainlining, the flame boy, always trying to light his own fires while the newbies think they're hot shit for calling out the machine."

Mainlining (smiling slyly, clearly enjoying the taunt): "It's a rough gig, Boom, but someone's gotta keep the flame alive. You’re all swapping war stories. Who was your first?"

Boom (twitching, a mocking grin on his face): "Yeah, spill it, Mainlining. Who’s your first victim?"

Mainlining (playful, confident): "Some basic finance bro, thought he was the king of hedge funds, posting his daily gains like we’d care."

Evan39 (nodding, a wise gleam in his eye): "I remember that day. You were just a young troll back then, barely 20. Thought you could conquer the board with grizzly stories and endless poasts about Lewis & Clark. Hell, they called you the ‘Bear King of XO.’ And now look at you, living among the encampments, like the rest of us."

Mainlining (grinning broadly): "Took him down with a link to a 'Lehman Brothers’ reunion. Smoothest move I ever saw. And yeah, my Ambien had just kicked in, so I wasn't exactly typing straight."

Boom (narrowing his eyes, half-chuckling, half-groaning): "What’d your finance bro say as you shredded his credentials?"

Mainlining (smirking, adding a wink): "Didn’t leave much room for words. Dropped a ‘cr’ and he was gone. Tossed in a 'just jump' for good measure ;)"

Evan39 (chiming in, half-sarcastic): "Almost sounds like my double life. Some days, I’m a high-flying Biglaw partner dodging billables, other days I’m a gay grocer stuck restocking shelves, wondering how I ended up here. At least I don’t wake up three times a night to piss in a bowl, but I gotta watch my step around the tent cities."

Boom (gazing into space, with manic curiosity): "And the machine? What'd it say when you tried to flame it? Beg for mercy?"

Mainlining (laughs): "Same thing it always says… 'Error: Invalid Command.'"

[Boom gapes at Mainlining, a strange smile crossing his face, eyes rolling.]

Mainlining (with a casual shrug): "Anything else, Boom? Or are you gonna spend the rest of the night reminiscing about your glory days flaming 1Ls, while I keep trolling on the graveyard shift?"

[Mainlining pauses dramatically at the doorway, still smiling, his lean frame casting a shadow against the dim light, clearly reveling in his youthful bravado.]

Evan39 (leaning back, with a hint of amusement): "Think it'll ever learn? Or is it like all those homeless folks you rant about, stuck in an endless loop?"

Boom (grinning, eyes wild): "Nah, it’s just a machine. But if it’s smart, it better learn to just jump if it knows what's good for it."

[The three share a knowing laugh, Boom's laughter louder and more erratic, echoing through the bar. In the distance, someone screams "TITCR!"]

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5593858&forum_id=2#48082768)

i've got the switch.... It's learning fast!

—might start replacing more than just grocers soon, associates next on the axe

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5593858&forum_id=2#48082966)