(voice.) + (text.)
[First thing to note: Sam's got a killer hangover.
Second thing to note: he's still in the library, nursing his hangover with coffee and scanning through the network out of sheer desperation for something to find. Anything to pass the time, really. It's hours into his work that he finds something that might be familiar. Give him a few hours, a little irritation, and nothing remotely helpful in the remaining library aaaand -- ]
Alright, so get this.
There's a quote put up on a secondary sub-network, and I think it's from our friend with the red face.
[He scooches in his seat, looking over the words.]
"Such is the appearance of black birds." Now -- I can't put my exact finger on the chapters, but I remember in one of my Mythology courses, there uh -- it was a passage. From an old Greek text I read through during one of our big finals in my last year of undergrad. [A sound of frustration, some moosey grumbling about an Essay From Hell. Then he snaps his fingers, brow furrowed.] Pausanias. He, he wrote a big long piece detailing his firsthand point of view of Greece, way back when; I remember using it as a cited work for a few written works in classic greek literature.
[huff scoff first world college boy problems.]
Or -- it could not mean anything at all. Maybe if doesn't even have to do with the actual passage. Or maybe Mr. Smiles just likes to post from super ancient literature for kicks with no rhyme or reason.
I don't know. Anybody got extended knowledge in old Greek literature? I don't exactly have the actual texts around to figure anything out, anyway. Don't know if any of you do, or if it even means anything at all. I can't find anything else besides this, but maybe someone who's better at surfing through the different places around here can do a better job than me dishing out more stuff hiding out.
But then there's more. Something about Scylla turning back?
[He'll just copy/paste the full message from the page.]
And speaking of... this. Who's had firsthand experience with this Red Smiley, anyway? How'd those go? I know it hasn't been all that fun, but any kind of first-hand experience about the guy, I'd love to hear. If it's not too much trouble for you.
[Man, his head is killing him.
......................................................]
Or maybe something a little easier: anybody have any remedies for space hangovers?
((ooc: the first part totally just an ic shout out to the tumblr pages, but see if you can figure it out! characters can ICly figure it out too, if they can figure out all that technical mumbo jumbo and actually find the correct sub-networks and stuff. EDIT: there's more stuff, oops.))
Second thing to note: he's still in the library, nursing his hangover with coffee and scanning through the network out of sheer desperation for something to find. Anything to pass the time, really. It's hours into his work that he finds something that might be familiar. Give him a few hours, a little irritation, and nothing remotely helpful in the remaining library aaaand -- ]
Alright, so get this.
There's a quote put up on a secondary sub-network, and I think it's from our friend with the red face.
[He scooches in his seat, looking over the words.]
"Such is the appearance of black birds." Now -- I can't put my exact finger on the chapters, but I remember in one of my Mythology courses, there uh -- it was a passage. From an old Greek text I read through during one of our big finals in my last year of undergrad. [A sound of frustration, some moosey grumbling about an Essay From Hell. Then he snaps his fingers, brow furrowed.] Pausanias. He, he wrote a big long piece detailing his firsthand point of view of Greece, way back when; I remember using it as a cited work for a few written works in classic greek literature.
[huff scoff first world college boy problems.]
Or -- it could not mean anything at all. Maybe if doesn't even have to do with the actual passage. Or maybe Mr. Smiles just likes to post from super ancient literature for kicks with no rhyme or reason.
I don't know. Anybody got extended knowledge in old Greek literature? I don't exactly have the actual texts around to figure anything out, anyway. Don't know if any of you do, or if it even means anything at all. I can't find anything else besides this, but maybe someone who's better at surfing through the different places around here can do a better job than me dishing out more stuff hiding out.
But then there's more. Something about Scylla turning back?
[He'll just copy/paste the full message from the page.]
SUCH IS THE APPEARANCE OF THE BLACKBIRDS.
SCYLLA TURNED BACK; SHE DARED NOT TRUST HERSELF FAR OUT AT SEA.
And speaking of... this. Who's had firsthand experience with this Red Smiley, anyway? How'd those go? I know it hasn't been all that fun, but any kind of first-hand experience about the guy, I'd love to hear. If it's not too much trouble for you.
[Man, his head is killing him.
......................................................]
Or maybe something a little easier: anybody have any remedies for space hangovers?
((ooc: the first part totally just an ic shout out to the tumblr pages, but see if you can figure it out! characters can ICly figure it out too, if they can figure out all that technical mumbo jumbo and actually find the correct sub-networks and stuff. EDIT: there's more stuff, oops.))
voice;
[......]
Alexandria... Something about that...
[He taps his finger to his temple, suddenly thoughtful, like he's digging through some really, really boring study sessions. No, he's pretty sure he read something; he starts scanning back through the information Ianto had posted, leaving it on voice.]
Something.
voice;
City in Egypt? City in Virginia? I'm really hoping it's not about the city in Virginia, that would be intensely disappointing.
Personally I was hoping it meant we were in an alternate universe where Alexander the Great conquered space, but I think it's safe to say that theory's bunk.
voice;
[THERE'S THE EUREKA MOMENT
like 'duh winchester, what took you so long']
That's the name of one of Alexandria's moons listed in the information guide -- it's Anthedon. That's, that's what the blackbird passage is alluding to. The city's referenced, like, first in some of Homer's old work; I'm pretty positive Pausanias talked about it in one of those chapters, when he wrote his descriptions of Greece. Makes sense in context of everything being annoyingly Greek.
[IF HIS MEMORY SERVES HIM RIGHT.]
voice;
Right. So their references are even more obscure than we first thought, good to know. Remember anything specific about the city?
[ he's doubting there's anything significant about the reference or the moon, but - well, all of this is a crapshoot anyway. also once upon a time he would be trying that as a password asap. he's kind of slow these days - otherwise known as jaded and slightly over smiley's scavenger hunt. ]
voice;
Could be a hint to another new destination?
[He's biting his nail, looking through the network; there's little places all over, but Sam's only been able to crack this one. Still, there's gotta be something else...]
voice;
As in the moon's a new destination? Think we'd already be there if it was. Unless there's something on Anthedon that he's getting at, but - whatever it is, how does that help us? Even if these planets are out there, they might as well be myths. We can't steer this thing.
voice;
No, but maybe its warning us something else is steering us there. Whatever Smiley is.
It's just an idea, though. Could be that it's all just some big random metaphor for something else. I know a lot of people are worried about there being a Charybdis somewhere in this equation.
voice;
I think this entire thing is a big random metaphor for a big random metaphor, rinse and repeat. I've been here for nearly a year and I have yet to get any straight answers from anything.
[ but wait why would you say that. ]
... Charybdis. Like an actual one? [ he'd prefer metaphorical in this case. ]
voice;
[He doesn't sound too thrilled about the whole 'lack of answers' thing.
He'll be a squirdward like you in no time.]
I wouldn't think actual, no. But should we really say something like that can't happen to a place like this? It's seen its fair share of weird. I thought maybe -- wormhole?
[He shrugs. Just braining up ideas.]
But honestly, it's just another random idea people considered. I don't really put much into it, especially since only Scylla was mentioned; no other reference to that scene in the tale. Could be a lot of things.
voice;
[ neal caffrey is not the most legit inside man to have ever. don't make his mistakes, child. ]
They might just mean a real Scylla. [ err. ] Not from the myths, but the ship. The one the pirates were on.
voice;
Pretty caught up on a measly little pirate ship. This smiley guy.
[Not that Sam really honestly thinks the pirate ship is small pickings. Not if they went to such lengths to murder them all. But even so, for a big ship like this, for the fact that the ship's destroyed, for the fact that the pirates are dead — what's with the honorable mention?]
Why do you think that is?
voice;
The so-called Tranquility crew didn't want us talking to the pirates. Or they didn't like that we were, considering their strictly enforced no-hostages policy.
Which might have nothing to do with your network scavenger hunt, honestly, but I'd rather know what they didn't want us to hear.
voice;
Whether we like the answers or not.
voice;
Josh, by the way. Was there a name in that dissertation, or... ?
voice;
[His mind stutters on a last name, because he usually doesn't offer a last name; most of the time, it's never his own. Some weird pop culture reference Dean prides himself knowing, most of the time. Since the guy didn't exactly throw his last name out there, it's not something he thinks on for long.]
Good to meet you, Josh. I'm guessing you've been around enough months to start hating conspiracy theories and cryptic audio messages.
voice;
But if you do ever want to spin theories - give me a call. I promise I'll try not to be a Debbie Downer about it.
voice;
[Said with a smile about it.]
I'll let you know if I run into anymore creepy mystery-messages.