ataraxion | oo2. video. failed lock; open. day 4 of mutiny.

[ Static. Bleary audio. This video had been intended for privacy and instead blares across the open network like a tiny digital blizzard of interference. It would be easy to scroll by, even when a voice, distinct to those that already know it, manages to cut through-- ]

--if you aren't asleep. I don't actually know what time it is, so you'll have to forgive me.

[ And there, through the static snow, Charles can be seen, and he has his communicator raised level. He is seated, likely on the floor, head rested back against a wall, and underslept, unkempt. He does not wear grim well, and even through visual static, there are signifiers of stress -- his jawline is haughty and tight, tense around the mouth, eyes half-hooded as he considers his communicator and darts a look, now and then, past it, at everyone else.

Or whatever else.

He swallows. ]

There isn't a lot of hope to go around, so perhaps you have some in reserve. Even if it's kept filed under the notion that even I couldn't be this bloody foolish. [ A crookedish smile at the end of that. Quick to wane. ] I've only just gotten through on this machine, so I hope you receive-- this. I can't keep in touch the usual way, in here, I'm sure you've noticed. It wasn't personal.

Regardless. Your turn, I believe. I could use the company.

[ Aaand end transmission. ]

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[ By now resigned to this little misstep, Charles can at least count on the idea that those that reply are well meaning. He answers this next unfamiliar response, looking no happier than how he began.

But there is a touch of a smile in his eyes, despite the static. ]

Fortunately so, as it happens. Not to speak ill of my present company.

[ A nod is meant to indicate the rest of the bridge. ]

But no, it was intended for a friend. I should've guessed this might happen.

[ surprisingly, she wasn't being condensing or sarcastic in her response, as she normally might be with these kind of mistakes. teresa has no personal stakes in this mutiny (unless something came of it and right now that's not looking good), but she doesn't fault them for trying. ]

It's okay, I'm sure they're feeling the same way. [ not the most comforting thought, but she offers him a half smile. ]

So, is this what you meant by not keeping in touch "the usual way"? I wonder why the signal is so weak in there.

[ There's a thin and not insincere smile down the lens for this first part -- Charles is not an easily comforted person as it is. The absence of it is almost easier to accept. ]

Barring the usual explanation of 'it just is', I suspect a location like the bridge might have in-built jamming of some sort to disrupt any attempts at tampering with communications, computers, so forth. And telepathy.

Which would be the usual way, for me.

What's your name?

[ teresa's whole expression changes, and her current train of thought comes to a screeching halt. her eyebrows shoot up and her gaze widens at the screen. ]

Wait. Did you say telepathy? You can talk to other people in your mind?

[ she almost forgets his own question. she wants to try to reach out to him, but he already said the bridge blocks his telepathy. ]

It's Teresa. What's yours?

Charles.

[ And he doesn't try. He's been trying. Leaning into the doors, forehead pressed to cold metal, tendons flexing desperate in his hands--

No. None of that, now. ]

And yes, telepathy. Reading minds. I'd come along as a sort of communications asset. Do you have companions in here, Teresa?

[ it figures that this happens now, when she might actually get some answers about her own ability. ]

I guess I just got stuck with the communications part. [ reading minds is on a whole other level. ]

But it's just me. I'm the only one I know here.

oo2. video. failed lock; open. day 4 of mutiny.

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