★ ＶＩＤＥＯ。

[descry]

[ river is sitting on the floor of her room, staring at the screen, and frankly it's easy to tell that there's something not quite right about her. she looks unfocused, and there's something haunted about her. unhealthy and not all that sane.

more notably, though, if you're not inspecting her face while she sits there silent, you might notice that she must have gotten her hands on a knife at some point, because half of her jumpsuit is missing. she has mangled the tranquility crew uniform - the legs of the suit are cut off at the knee, and the sleeves are gone entirely. she's decided to forgo shoes, too. it seems like she's trying to say something, but can't quite manage. her eyes drop to the floor. ]

You're living on a graveyard. [ she's not quiet, but she sounds distracted. ] Gathering wool. Everyone's a cotton farmer. They thought we wouldn't notice if they took our eyes, but the ears are a requirement for watching. Seeking. She can't hide, everything's exposed, tore you open to see how it ticks and they didn't sew it back up, your stomach acids will leak on the floor and give you away. They will. They'll come for you in the dark, it's why they put out the stars. It's all going to - to fall. Tiān fān dì fù.

[ she frowns, twitches very suddenly, like she's snapping out of a trance. she looks up at the screen. ]

... This isn't my space. [ and like a frightened child: ] S-Simon?

Comments

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

[Edgeworth looks in horror for a moment before responding - ]

Miss, are you...all right? Has someone attacked you?

permavid;

[descry]

There's a margin of error. Precision and accuracy have difficulty coinciding. [ the second question seems to confuse her, though. ] It... isn't a possibility. They're not solid. It's only smoke, and it works slowly.

video;

[golemized]

Not all of us have stomach acids.

[ Shale, you are probably not going to help anything. ]

video;

[descry]

[ she jumps at first, and her wide-eyed look doesn't relax even when she leans in to stare at the screen. ]

Do you wear your insides on your outside?

[ it's said like a very legitimate, perfectly normal question. ]

video。

[ownership]

[ Rosella blinks. ]

I have seen people like you before. They do not always live.

video。

[descry]

They find ghosts. But not never. [ she doesn't flinch, but her hands jump like they're recoiling, fingers curling, just briefly. ] Nn. Double negatives are bad.

voice

[stacked]

Pretty sure you watch things with your eyes.

permavid

[descry]

Vision is deceptive. The need to adapt arose, so they changed. Lim infinite.

video;

[talkstoengines]

[Oh, this is bad. This is so, so bad. It could be worse, but. Still very bad.

Kaylee is far from cheerful, now. She looks worried, maybe even a little frightened. She feels bad for River, and cares for her like any other member of the crew, of course, but she's seen things. She's seen River do things. Scary, scary things. There's a darkness that keeps her wary.]

River, honey? Are you okay? Simon's here, don't you worry.

video;

[descry]

[ something in her face sharpens and focuses. her eyes clear a little, like she's suddenly woken up. they're here. is that - she doesn't know if it's better or worse. it's hard to think enough. ]

Kaylee - [ a sharp intake of breath. ] Got lost. I didn't mean to. Is he mad?

[video]

[doc_pompous]

[As soon as he manages the video feed, the relief is more than evident on his face--he'll think about the implications later, after he's made sure she's uninjured and stable and safe.

Simon's obviously trying his best to hide the fact that the entire situation is still terrifying. Perhaps it's slightly less terrifying now that he knows where his sister is, but there's still that undercurrent of uncertainty that he tries to mask with a calm, placating tone of voice.]

River, I'm here, I'm coming to find you. Are you in your room?

[video]

[descry]

Simon— [ her daze shatters and the expression on her face just crumples. something about him being here hammers home the reality of it and suddenly everything is terrifying again. it had been panic when she woke up, but that had been overridden by everything else, the haze of new sensations - and suddenly she is frightened and small and upset because they're not home.

she's on the verge of tears, so she just nods miserably. ]

They branded me. [ and she holds up her numbered arm to show him. ]

video

[faderbroderson]

[This one is broken, that much is clear. But Godric has a soft spot for broken things at times, and the metaphors aren't all so abstract they miss the mark. They'll come for you in the dark, it's why they put out the stars. Apt. And though darkness is no enemy of Godric's, he understands the girl's fear.]

This space belongs to none of us, little one. You have someone to care for you? Your Simon?

video

[descry]

The concept of ownership doesn't apply. He... [ she struggles for the words ] - tries. He'll try now. Pieces with nothing to hold them together. The molecules don't bond. It's... [ a frown. ] Difficult.

[video]

[wolfdreamer]

[Fall, Bran thinks, and he almost does not make answer to this. But something is wrong--]

There are safe places here. And the stars are still there, even if they cannot be seen.

[video]

[descry]

[ she tilts her head. ]

Did you hear them?

[video]

[the_vishual]

Brought like sheep, sheep herded to slaughter and the laughter--the laughter, you hear it, too, don't you?

[video]

[descry]

[ she runs her hands through her hair shakily and nods. ]

Can't— it's everywhere. No way to find it, not without eyes and ears and knowing, but it's not - a sense, it can't be traced. It took to bones.

text;

[chaineddog]

[It's only default behavior for him immediately want to bypass the transmission. He doesn't care about other people on here, and if they're a woman then he really doesn't care - but there's something so parallel to Nill that it makes him pick up his phone.]

Whatever demons are after you probably can't make it up here.

permavid;

[descry]

They put them inside of us. They never go away. You can't hide.

video;

[mingus]

[ ... Huh. He's listening and well, he can't see what she looks like but she does sound-- off. Very off. He's leaning against the wall against the head of his bed, legs in front of him and comm held loosely in his hand when he replies. Kind of staring above the video but he knows it'll show him, and record his voice regardless. She can see, he can't. Kind of funny, really. ]

I don't know about that. My eyes were gone long before I got here.

video;

[descry]

Removal of the function is not an object. It can cut deeper. Steal your knowledge and you won't know.

[ video ]

[hostage]

[Jesse can tell she's not okay. But that's alright with him. Whether she's having a bad trip or she's just naturally like that, he tries to comfort her:]

Hey, it's okay...

[ video ]

[descry]

[ she shakes her head insistently. ]

You can't apply it. Can't contain the ring within K, it's broken. There are missing integers.

Voice

[deprecate]

How can we be gathering wool if we're cotton farmers?

[ Not that questioning her mad ramblings is exactly helpful. None of it makes sense, but he's not really sure how else to reach out to her. ]

permavid

[descry]

It's not an intent. It's... an accident. Incidental. It collects. Accumulates 'til you choke on it.

video;

[mathematically]

[ the way river looks reminds lydia of herself to an extent, in fact, it makes her think of what she'd look like had she gone completely off the deep end. a part of her is scared that maybe this is what she'd end up being like when peter finally leaves her alone. but the larger part, the part that's in control now takes a moment to seem equally as blank as river despite how her outfit (from home) isn't in disarray. ]

It's your blood that'll give you away, because it spilled onto the floor and there was so much of it. [ a beat and lydia looks back to normal and merely raises an eyebrow. ]

Technically, your room can be your space.

video;

[descry]

Blood can be traced. It has to be removed and we'll replace it with acids.

[ she shakes her head. ] Can't define it. I've been misappropriated.