ataraxion | video + text » shortly after sam's post;

[ before clara speaks, she cracks her knuckles. this is big news and big business, so she speaks crisply, ]

Alright then, so, for those of you watching the network, Mr. Winchester was nice enough to sound the alarm on subnetwork shenanigans.

At first, all you see is a cryptic-ish message, complete with a signature from our favorite shady benefactor. [ ☺ ]

[ She copy/pastes the original clues for reference. ]

☺
SUCH IS THE APPEARANCE OF THE BLACKBIRDS.
SCYLLA TURNED BACK; SHE DARED NOT TRUST HERSELF FAR OUT AT SEA
HERE ARE THE GRAVES OF THE CHILDREN OF IPHIMEDEIA AND ALOEUS.

It's all very literary and Greek — as was discussed. To make long story short, all the hints point to Anthedon, a town in ancient Greece and, more relevant to us space cadets, one of Alexandria's moons. Both Homer and Pausanius wrote about it — the old town, that is — Pausanias moreso. I think it was the farthest port, which makes sense in the context of the clues. No idea about the blackbirds, although I'd wager the two names at the end were mythological heroes or something of that sort. See Sam's post for more on the underlying meaning, if you put stock in that stuff. [ said as if she does, tyvm. ]

Anyway, I'm Clara Oswald, and I want to talk about the transmission that comes after you pop this buzzword in. I've transcribed it as best I can below, for convenience's sake. Of course, you can listen to it yourself, if you like.

[ in clara's transcription 'deep off-mike thumping' is LOUD CREEPY NOISE you're welcome. ]

UNKNOWN AUDIO LOG [LIVE FEED]

W: ░▓▓▒▒▓▒an’t keep this up forever. Th▒▓▓▓ ooking for you.

R: Watch me.

W: Hidi▓▒▒ will only ▒▒▒▓▓▓░▓t worse. ▓░▓▓▓▒▒▒▒░▓░░nly do so much to—

R: I can onl▓▒▒▒▒░ so much.

W: What are you going to ░▓▓▒▒▓▓▓▒▒en the ship st▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▓▓░░▓▓▓▓▓▓ damage contr▓▒▒▒?

R: If you want to take ove▒▓▓░░▓▓y guest.

[ DEEP OFF-MIC THUMPING ]

W: ▓▒▒’ll talk about this later.

So, we all agree that the woman is Resnik and the man is Ward, right? Any other thoughts?

[ aaand she pings THE DOCTOR because he's the smartest guy she knows. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Well. All of this sure is...somewhere right in the middle of horrifying and fascinating.]

This all goes way over my head, but -

[But she wants to help. She's never been all that book smart, never has known her mythology or her Greek literature, or anything like that. And clearly, she's not good with technology like Clara is. So she feels beyond useless in all of this. But Clara's told her a way she can help, and she knows that she needs to take it.]

Damage control? So does that mean the jump everyone's going on out about missing might not've been an accident after all? Or do you think all this doesn't have anything to do with that?

If we could pinpoint the time of the recording, I could give you a better answer. [ she frowns. she wants to ask questions, hundreds of questions, but there's no-one to ask. ]

[ still, she sticks with her first theory. ] I think it's recent, though, and that the double-jump was definitely a fail-safe of some sort.

Edited 2013-07-03 03:42 (UTC)

[She nods, biting at her lip.]

There's no way to go about doing that then? Finding out the exact time of the recording?

[She's not going to be able to do it, but maybe -]

The Doctor, he's brilliant. Beyond that, really! You know that, obviously, but just gonna say he might be able to do it.

Not as far as I know, but maybe someone will see this and lend a hand.

I pinged him. Hopefully, he'll be helpful. [ with an expression that suggests he has yet to say anything useful. ]

[And the look Rose gives her right back says that Clara shouldn't expect him to be.]

Doctor's always kinda...had his own version of helpful?

[She tries to find some little bit of optimism there, something to cheer the situation on.]

You might be able to scowl something on out of him. This version of him wouldn't do well with that, I don't think!