[video; open]

[51stcentury]

[Jack's been hit by the fear toxin. But he doesn't know that that's what it is.

He can hear them, over the intercoms. Their voices stilted, mechanical. Hell, Jack doesn't even know if they're on this ship. But they don't have to be. The one that was in Thames house was only an ambassador, Jack's sure of it. They've tracked him down. They know him. They're coming. For him. And by proxy, the rest of the ship.

So when he turns on the video to address the network, he looks harried, his eyes wide and blue. He's been running, trying to find them. Trying to stop them, but he can't get a trace on their signal. The 456.]

You have to listen to me. Please, this is Captain Jack Harkness. Whoever's out there - everyone out there - you have to listen to me...! They've taken over the ship. I don't know how, and I don't know to what extent, but they've...

[He takes a shuddering breath] I've dealt with them before. They have a poison. They have a poison that they're going to pump into the air in minutes if we don't...

[He stops himself. He hates himself for asking, but if they want to get rid of them, then they've got to make an exchange. And the only thing that they could possibly want...] How many children do we have on board this ship? [Another deep breath, and then his voice is loud, frightened, and commanding, and he hates himself] Someone tell me, how many?!

Comments

[voice]

[uncodlyawwesome]

[There is totally a moment where Eridan has a visceral terrified reaction to this, before he responds, because Jack is freaking out and that's clearly a sign of the coming apocalypse - but then he has to wonder...]

Wwait, wwhat?

[video forever! until otherwise stated]

[51stcentury]

Eridan. [One of the two people that he needs to make sure get out of this alive.]

You have to get to the shuttle bay. You have to... [And then it hits him. Oh god, Eridan's only six years old, right? What if they want to take him? What if they...

He looks quite possibly the most terrified he ever will be at the other, as he fights back his reaction to just say:] Eridan you need to get out of here.

[video forever too fuck voice voice is for losers]

[uncodlyawwesome]

[Whoa, whoa, whoa. Eridan stares at Jack like he's gone crazy which, Eridan is going to assume he has until he hears other people freaking out about this, because that's what the people on this ship do. They freak out en masse about things like poison and mutinies and shit.

But still, Jack being so scared is only making him scared, for reasons he doesn't even know yet.]

I'm not gonna get off'a this ship, it's the middle'a fuckin' nowwhere an' I'd die. Wwho the fuck are you talkin' about, right noww? Wwho's taken ovver the ship?

[51stcentury]

[Jack's not quite listening to what Eridan's asking him. What if they come back? What if they come for him? What if the only way he can save Ianto is to give up Eridan?]

Damn it, Eridan, don't make me choose between you...! The 456 are going to take you and they're going to use you for drugs. Do you understand me?! You need to leave and you need to leave now!! [His voice is practically hissing at the end]

[uncodlyawwesome]

[No, he doesn't understand at all. His face goes blank for a moment, and then he scowls. He's shoving blankets from off and around him, and it's clear that he is definitely on the move. And he sounds a little panicked himself, but what are you supposed to do when someone tells you you're gonna die? Flip them off?]

Jack, wwould you fuckin' stop talkin' crazy for fivve seconds an' tell me wwhere you're gettin' this shit from, because seriously? Drugs? C'mon, that's fuckin' bullshit fantasy crap an' you knoww it! Wwhere are you?

[51stcentury]

[Bullshit fantasy crap???] They took them! I saw them, I let them, and they took them and then fifty years later they still had them, still alive, do not tell me that I'm making this shit up...!!

[Breathe, Jack. He pauses for a moment, bringing his hands up to his head. Why is Eridan being like this? Why is he questioning them?] You heard what they said, they're coming. And we can't win. Not again...

text

[mutelunatic]

[POISON BEING PUMPED INTO THE AIR sounds like home.]

neurotoxin?

[uncodlyawwesome]

[Eridan raises an eyebrow and stares at the video feed. He is putting on his scarf because this seems like a scarf type situation. (All situations are a scarf situation, but I digress.)]

Uh, said? I didn't hear anyone sayin' anythin' before the comm pinged me wwith your crazy ramblin'. Nobody's said anythin' along the lines of "let's make drugs outta troll blood," an' believve me, I wwould'a been the first fuckin' person to hear that. So wwhy don't you tell me wwhere the fuck you are, so you quit fuckin' freakin' me out?

[video forever!] because he's way too wired to text :(

[51stcentury]

I don't know, they never said. The last time I encountered it, it worked fast. Everyone in the building was dead within 5, 10 minutes. If it comes to that here... We're sitting ducks. As good as dead already.

[He's got it right about there being gas in the air. Thank god fear toxin's not nearly as deadly as the stuff he's being terrorized with the idea of :x]

[text forever] because she's back to not talking weh

[mutelunatic]

no countdown.

[THERE'S USUALLY A COUNTDOWN THAT'S COUPLED WITH THE GAS.]

[kingofbabylon]

[ He'd been spending most of the day in his and Brian's room, just chilling the day away, until this panic comes over his comm device. ] What? What's going on? Who's taken over the ship?

...How young are you considering 'child'?

[51stcentury]

They're on the intercoms. The voices over the comms, they've... They've been there, all day. I tried to track the signal, but they're untraceable, and we're running out of time... ['Oh my god what do you mean you've never heard them what the fuck is going on' pretty much sums up the expression on Jack's face right now]

[uncodlyawwesome]

[...All right, then.

Eridan's pretty sure someone is fucking with Jack, and after the demon debacle? Eridan does not like the idea of someone fucking with Jack. He doesn't know how to trace anyone from his communicator (that would be Sollux's job, if Sollux... but no, not right now), but he's going to try and find Jack despite that.]

I havven't heard anyone sayin' anythin' ovver the P.A. system, Harkness. Tell me wwhere you are. [That is the most authoritative voice he's ever used on the ship, and his expression matches it.]

weh is right :(

[51stcentury]

They didn't give one last time. All they need is one final push. And if we don't give them what they want, what they're asking for... [The asking that apparently only he can hear BUT STILL] We won't need a countdown at all. It'll be too late.

[mutelunatic]

who is it?

[video forever!]

[51stcentury]

Young. Pre-puberty. It's the hormones, I think... They don't want them after the hormones start changing things.

[Sorry, Justin. He's usually a pretty stable guy, this fear toxin is just making him hallucinate his most recent worst memory and as such he is FREAKING THE HELL OUT] It's the 456. They've hijacked the intercoms. They're coming...

[oh derp, i always forget this. yes, video forever]

[kingofbabylon]

That's-- You want to give them over?

[ His jaw drops, a little horrified at what he suspects might be getting suggested here. ] 456? What? That... sounds like a boy band... There's no one on the intercoms.

lmao, it's okay, i just inserted it there out of habit, haha <3

[51stcentury]

I don't want to do anything! I never asked for this!! Not the first time, not the last time, and not again now. It's not my fault!!

[Whoa sorry you just pushed a button there :( He lost his lover and his grandson to these things last time, after all]

[51stcentury]

The 456. I don't know their real name, that just what we called them. They're... They're one of the most despicable alien races you could ever imagine...

[51stcentury]

[Something about Eridan's voice stops him. He's not sure whether it's because of that tone, or because Eridan's telling him he hasn't heard anything over the P.A. and he believes him on that, but he tells him where he is] I... I'm [insert location here], I don't...

[He brings his hands to his face for a moment, running them over it before he speaks again] ...what do you mean, you haven't heard them?

[mutelunatic]

why?

[uncodlyawwesome]

I said, I havven't fuckin' heard 'em, that should be pretty fuckin' obvvious. [Eridan is going to make the fuck out of his way towards said location; he's pissed off because people keep fucking with the few friends he has on this ship and he is sick and tired of it. He's sick and tired of a lot of things, and this jump is proving to be the straw that's going to break his back.]

I'm comin' to you an' then I'm gonna either hear wwhat you're hearin' an' flip the fuck out, or I'm gonna drag you to medical so you can get your fuckin' head checked out. Wwhere's Jones, is he wwith you?

<3!

[kingofbabylon]

Okay, okay, sorry. [ He's not really, because holy shit, who/what are you giving children away to? But Jack's freaking him out a little. ] But, Jack? I didn't hear anything on the intercoms...

[51stcentury]

No, he's... In the room, I think he was sleeping. I waited until he was sleeping, I couldn't risk... If I found them, he couldn't be with me, not this time, I can't... [He feels like he's losing it because there they are again, over the intercom, and he makes a noise of distress]

There! Now!! You can't hear that?!

[51stcentury]

Why do people keep telling me that, I can't... [He brings his hands up to his face] I'm not losing my mind. After everything I've been through, I'm not! Not like this!