| 003 | VIDEO |

[briefly]

Let me start this by saying that I feel absolutely silly for having not thought of doing this a long, long time ago, but - well. That's obviously not longer the case. But I ought to get it out of the way anyhow.

[a breath.]

Katherine Stewart.

Marguerite Chadwick.

Stanley Chadwick.

Anthony Proud.

Delphine Gaudin.

Emilia Gorski-Grumley.

[With a little tension in her voice-] Julia Grumley.

[And after a pointed pause, exhaling again - this name is the hardest to say.] And Frederick Grumley.

I don't suppose anyone here has seen either of these people. Or - is any of these people? Who knows how long I've been here, but considering how long we've all been here, I... I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. If I'm here, chances are one of them might be, too. Not that it would be ideal, but I'd rather know about it.

[Read: she misses them. And she's worried about them. So there you have it.]

Thank you.

Comments

voice.

[allbloodyhail]

Doesn't ring a bell.

[voice--encrypted 100% & unhackable]

[ryuuzaki]

I can't say I've heard of any of them either. The month before the last time we spoke is the only one I've missed since 10.

Who are they? The ones who aren't obviously family members.

[Tactful.]

[briefly]

[le sigh.]

Suppose I should feel relieved for that.

( same! )

[briefly]

Right. Thank you for answering.

Er - friends and coworkers. And... Fred is my boyfriend.

[allbloodyhail]

But you're not. [ he knows that feel. ]

video;

[sweetmotherofgod]

Julia Grumley?

[It's a little tentative - she doesn't know if she should mention it, really, because if it's the same person it was never someone she knew, just knew of.]

Did she ever go by Jules?

[invisibilitea]

I'm sorry, haven't heard of any of them.

Are you all right, Poppy?

text;

[grayleader]

No, can't say that I have. Do you have any descriptions for them?

[Hey it never hurts to ask, he'll keep an eye out. He knows what it's like to be without familiar faces.]

[briefly]

... I can't help but miss them rather selfishly, I'll admit.

[god forbid, she even misses Jules.]

Re: video;

[briefly]

--yes! She did. Was she - was she here?

[allbloodyhail]

They're better off not being in space hell, at least?

[briefly]

Considering everything, yes. Just terribly homesick.

And you?

[invisibilitea]

That must be awful. I'm lucky that I have my best friends here with me.

I'm all right.

[briefly]

That's all right, I figured it might be rather far-fetched.

I'll look around for them. Thank you. May I have your name-?

[grayleader]

This place has done that already, people are here that shouldn't be.

And it's Jai.

video;

[sweetmotherofgod]

Yeah. I mean, I didn't really talk to her, but she was tight with a friend of mine. They knew each other from home, I think.

She left kind of a long time ago, though. Sorry.

[Video]

[vivelavenir]

I am sorry to say, I have not met anyone by these names during the duration of my stay as of yet.

Should I run across anyone fitting of the titles, I will let them know of your search.

I-- hope? That you may find them soon, be it here, or returned to your home.

[briefly]

Oh, I - thank you! That's very kind of you. I don't believe we've met-?

[briefly]

Jai. It's nice to meet you, I'm sure.

I take it you've had experience with that?

[briefly]

Well, it's a double-edged sword, isn't it. Either you miss them or you worry about them being here. This isn't exactly a place you'd invite your friends over to.

[briefly]

What was your friend's name? [She knows most of their names, even if she and Jules don't really get along. Ever.] Was she all right?

[briefly]

A bit sad that 'at least they're not in space hell' is what makes their absence comforting.

[sweetmotherofgod]

Hotspur. I mean - his name was Max, Max Southey, but nobody called him that. I guess he didn't like it much, always introduced himself as Hotspur. He served under her back home, I think.

[She chews at her lip a moment, because that second question - wow, now she feels selfish.]

I'm not really sure about what happened to her. I'm sorry. He died, and I kinda stopped paying attention. Were you close?

[briefly]

Max Southey. [Huh. Deep thoughts.] Doesn't ring a bell.

[Damn. But if Jules worked for him, she must have been her... editor? Yep, must be it.

Except wait what]

He died? [NOT AS PLANNED] She's my - well, she's my boyfriend's sister.

[There's a pause. Her hand settles over her mouth.]

My God, I hope she's all right.

[sweetmotherofgod]

He was alone when it happened, so she would have been safe. And the way he went was pretty rough, but... I don't know. She always seemed pretty together, and you know military folk. They're trained to deal with the bad stuff, right?

[Pure speculation. Heather has no idea of how the military works and what their training involves. Especially not in The Future. But that'd be a given, right? You can't just train people to kill other people and not teach them how to deal with that properly, it'd just be irresponsible.]