The Army of Evil approaches... you need to gather your allies in a hurry! Send a messenger-pigeon to the McNinja, contact the Overt Operative with your Comm-Watch, and make telepathic contact with The Empath... ...or you could just text their cell phones. Frequently Lampshaded either by somebody pointing out that it would be easier to just phone 'em, or by somebody (Often a Genre Savvy individual) suggesting this kind of communication, only for the person to respond "Well, yeah, I could do that, but it would be faster to just send him an e-mail..." Examples of Reinventing the Telephone include: