03 | video | And did the children really understand the things you did to them?

[the_vishual]

[ Chase has been busy. She's been out of sight for a while, even to the group she normally can be seen trailing--the time of her disappearance coincides with the second wave. The arrival of the Crowing. She's been hard at work doing something, though what it is exactly is hard to tell.

She's in the room her and Capa share, both beds void of any covers, the entire thing crumpled up into the corner. Her hair's tied messily back and she's scribbled things on the walls--quotes from the religious book she's been holding onto for dear life, and the drawings of a four year old in chalk: blue stick figures with wings, a blue stick figure with horns, one in a brown trench coat and above it, a symbol all too familiar for people that have seen her holding her book. ]

More have gone.

[ She addresses the communication device with something other than concern--of cold detachment. ]

More will follow.

Comments

[video]

[sweetmotherofgod]

[Everything about what she's just seen sets Heather's internal alarms jangling. Cute little girl who also seems to maybe be more than that, caught up in some kind of fervor? Definitely not good, either for the little girl in question or the people around her. But Heather's memories only put her on one side of that problem, so that's where her concern is going for now.]

Are you... I want to help you. What can I do? Where are you?

[video] omg perfect username for heather

[the_vishual]

I'm fine. The others have gone. To their world, or disappeared.

[ Her smile is thin, but she recognizes concern when she hears it. ]

The theories are different but the fact still remains that they're no longer on this ship. It started with two disappearing. Now, more.

[uncodlyawwesome]

wway to be fuckin forebodin as hell

[the_vishual]

[ Oh. It's the one that talks oddly. ]

Maybe you'll go. Maybe I will.

[ She wrinkles her nose. ]

Not my place.

[notpanicking]

People you knew?

[the_vishual]

Yes.

This ship is small--it's difficult to not know everyone. The first wave, was. Before the second wave.

We can only hope that the ship brings in more people then it takes out.

[bottlearum]

[Have a raised eyebrow.]

I've no idea what you're talkin' about, luv.

[the_vishual]

People come to this ship, people leave, sir.

[ That beard is... Yeah, Chase is just going to stare at it. She's never seen anything like it. And inch closer. ]

I should think that's fairly.. Is that real?

[statsraaden]

What do you mean? People are missing? Who? [Stats doesn't quite understand what's happening here, but he hopes people are not leaving. What if they didn't go home, but disappeared altogether? This was worrisome enough.]
Did you lose friends? I'm sorry.

[the_vishual]

It started with Heatwave and Corazon. More left. I could see it.

They're just gone.

video;

[awakenings]

[She watches her with a sympathetic gaze.]

Chase...

video;

[the_vishual]

Re-l.

[ Her own voice is distant. Cold. ]

encrypted audio;

[widowing]

[ well that's...troubling. ]

Who else?

encrypted audio;

[the_vishual]

Numberless. Now they're nameless.

VIDEO

[consulting]

Was this listed in the scope of your - [ a beat ] - premonitions?

[ He vaguely remembered it being mentioned; he was always skeptical but he had to redefine his standards for impossible constantly. However, the is no hint of sympathy on his part. No one he was attached to was lost ]

VIDEO

[the_vishual]

Was what in the scope of my premonitions? I've never had people disappear before. They're gone and the Crowing has arrived. The Crowing to be.

[51stcentury]

[Okay, Jack has experience with creepy little girls who tell the future. Enough to know to trust them to know what they're talking about. Which begs the question...]

What do you mean?

[the_vishual]

I mean they've left. Gone. They're not on the ship anymore. I don't know if they're coming back or where they've gone.

[ She recognizes Jack, though, and offers the tiniest of smiles. ]

Not on the jump, either. They just went.

[unwaveringloyalty]

Explain.

[the_vishual]

People were here, but... They're gone now. You've heard some were lost in the jump? These weren't. They just left.

[video]

[circumitus]

That's how it usually goes.

[video]

[the_vishual]

People leaving?

text;

[vestalvogue]

[Cryptic as hell.]

While That May Be True I Am Not Following You At All

[permavideo]

[the_vishual]

[ Oh, more troll text! At least, she's assuming--it's easier to read than Eridan's, though. Thank god. ]

People were on this ship before any of the jumps. They disappeared. The first wave came. Then the second. People from the first wave disappeared after the first jump, which introduced the second wave. You, miss.

[ She clears her throat, nodding. ]

And shortly after, more people disappeared. But it didn't involve a jump. They're just gone.

[edle_gestalt]

[...Well that just makes him feel sick.]

Who left...?

Was there a pattern at all? In who was chosen to be taken away, I mean.



[The things he concludes.]

[video]

[the_vishual]

[ She shakes her head, smiling softly--she likes Austria, even if she hasn't seen much of him lately. ]

I'm not sure there is a pattern--I thought, maybe, with the jumps, there would be a bit of the beginnings of one, at least.

[video // encrypted 95%]

[the_crowing]

[He watched this video. He watched the drawings that he reconized. The stick figure winged blue people... he had drawn them before. The Keywork. He knew it so well. He did NOT want to reply. At all. He did NOT want to get into another conversation that he would regret. This kid scared him, but mostly for what she represented.]

[And as much as he didn't want to respond, he wanted to snoop every one of those encrypted lines. He could see them if he wanted but... but he was scared of what she might be saying in them. It took him a while, because it wouldn't leave his mind, but he replied, at last]

You know... it's creepy as hell to see all those drawings and actually reconize them. I think I've drawn them too. [Only he drew them alsmot to perfection...]

Umm... [softer sounding now...] W-who'd you lose? Friends?

[video // encrypted 95%] LAAATE SOB

[the_vishual]

[ Chase has at least had time to calm down, but she tilts her head to the side, curious. The Crowing addressing her--she wasn't sure it would happen, given his state. Still, the second question throws her off guard and she licks her lips, trying to find the right answer. ]

One of Capa's crew. The first to go.

You know what it's like to lose people. I.. I didn't. Not until now.

[godseer]

[ Rose appears on the screen, back in the ship-appointed jumpsuit. She's walking in a corridor. ] That's quite self-evident. Obvious, even. The interesting question isn't where they've gone but why.

[the_vishual]

[ Chase quirks an eyebrow in her direction, looking pensive for a few seconds. ]

Do you have theories?

[scratched]

im so glad youre here captain obvious i was in certain danger from overwhelming simple facts

[video]

[the_vishual]

If you're in danger from little facts, then I think this is going to be a problem.

[ Yup, she has no idea what snark or sarcasm is. ]

video

[france]

Ah, but of course! This is how things work with life: some people come, some people go. There is an absurdity to it, so, we should not allow ourselves to be consumed by it.

[ wow way to miss the point France ]

[video]

[the_vishual]

[ Allow Chase to stare at France for a few moments, vaguely alarmed. ]

You're not concerned as to where they go?

[ video ]

[zooms]

[ Unlike what seems to be the vast majority of people who respond to Chase's video Hotspur understands completely. His shoulders sag as he holds th little comms device in his hands, watching the video feed with a quiet, pensive sadness. ]

Chase...

[ He doesn't quite know what to say. There's a wealth of emotion and concern in his voice as the words trails away in to silence. ]

Re: [ video ]

[the_vishual]

Most of them I didn't know.

But the fact that they can go missing... And not just in jumps...