oo5 video;

[mstitel]

[Hey Tranquility. This is a face that's been kind of missing for a while, and boy does he look tired. Tired and worn and just kind of like a kid who's seen way too much shit in way too short a time.]

Hey, um. [Well, that's eloquent. And kind of scratchy, like he hasn't actually spoken in a few days. He clears his throat, shifts around a bit, and tries again.] I'm back, sorry... for disappearing, I guess. We got stuck in a weird part of the ship when lockdown hit.

[There's a long bit of silence where James just kind of looks off to the side of his communicator, spacing out. And it's more than obvious that he's pale, with dark circles under his eyes. A bit gaunt from not really being able to find much food from his little getting lost thing.]

Libby's... gone. And I found... if I can just- if a Miles and a Jesse who knew her can get in touch, that'd be... she told me to tell you.

[For now, he's saying nothing about the latest addition to his room.]

Comments

[deprecate]

Shit, really?

[ Gone where, he wonders? But he's not brave enough to ask it aloud. Perhaps it's better to think she'd gone home, but then, maybe home hadn't treated her any better than this place ever did. Certainly he'd seen too much of himself in the girl's darkness to imagine she'd had a happy life, but then, who does? ]

[ A moment's more silence and he rubs his jaw. ]

Not that I much knew her. Thanks for, erm. Lettin' people know.

[ Maybe once he would have been sadder, but lately it feels like his interest in human connection has gone down the drain. Which is maybe why he doesn't ask if the guy is okay (about her disappearing, about time in a strange part of the ship.) ]

[mstitel]

[If he did ask, James wouldn't hesitate. He'd call her dead. Say it out loud, let it just be said. He's optimistic about some things, sure. About the people who were healthier, who disappeared in less obvious ways. About their futures here, on this crazed ship.

But with this? With the situation they'd been in, the way it had happened? Even he couldn't coax that optimism into a full flame.]

It's a big ship. [He shrugs] Kinda impossible to know everyone, just- people shouldn't be left wondering. It's better to get it out there.

[The Tranquility; killing off basic human compassion since 2011.]

[deprecate]

Yeah, no, you're right.

[ He sighs. ]

Big ship, though, you haven't seen someone in a while, you kind of hope they've just gone for a walk.

[ Obviously there's evidence that going for a really long walk isn't exactly fun, but the alternative is — no. No, better to imagine people go home. That one day, he will too. ]