ataraxion | second bet [video]

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second bet [video]

[ Booker's not falling-down drunk the way he'd been the last time he posted on the network, but despite his sobriety, he's still not looking great. He looks tired, more than anything - stressed and worried, with dark circles under his eyes, . ]

Askin' at large here...anyone who knows anything.

[ There's a pause while he considers how to word this. Finally, he shakes his head. ]

Just wondering if anyone's noticed any...odd behavior from anyone lately. Would've probably started about when those things in the hallways were around, maybe after an attack. People actin'...not themselves. Sayin' they don't care about anything, maybe they don't feel anything.

[ Another pause. He runs a hand through his hair, looking uncomfortable. ]

Maybe doin' things they wouldn't normally do.

I'll take any information. Rumors, gut feelings. Anything.

[ OOC: to clarify - Elizabeth had her soul torn out by a hellhound during the event, and Booker isn't too pleased with the way she's been acting since. ]

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[ oh my god ]

You might have just mentioned me by name if you were going to be so blunt about it.

[ Did you know that you can be better without a soul? Because she is. ]

I told you the truth.

[ Well he should have expected this.

heavy sigh ]

You told me what you know.

I'm just trying to see what else I can find out.

But, you also don't trust me.

[ Trust her to make her own decisions, anyway.

She, too, sighs. ]

I'm still me, you know. No matter what happened, or... what you think of me.

That ain't it, Elizabeth.

[ OK, maybe he doesn't entirely trust her right now...but he's also just plain worried about her. ]

I know you are.

If you weren't, I wouldn't be bothering to try and help.

[ She goes quiet. She wants to ask "are you doing this for me, or for you?" but doesn't. She knows the answer.

Or, thinks she does. ]

... It must have something to do with the attack. Doesn't it? Or, else, with whatever they did to me in Medical. Did you see them do anything... strange?

[ Some kind of injection, maybe? ]

[ The fact that she's not fighting him on this is a pleasant surprise. He'd been bracing for a much uglier reaction.

Maybe she's not so far gone after all.

Booker hums thoughtfully, furrowing his brow. The possibility that something had happened in the medbay to cause this hadn't occurred to him. ]

Mostly they just patched you up. They did give you some drugs, though, for the pain.

...I don't think it's likely. They don't seem the sort. But it's worth looking into.

[ Again, she has something to comment on; he mentions the staff in the way that he talked about knowing her, that is, with conviction but no backing, in her mind. "How can you judge what sort they are from one meeting?"

For now, she holds her tongue. ]

I haven't heard much that's useful about the attack, either. It doesn't help that we can't really describe them...

[ Hmmm. ]

It could be that I'm the only one.

[ He wouldn't have had much of an explanation even if she did comment. It's nothing more than gut instinct that leads him not to suspect the medbay staff. But then, with the utter lack of solid information that he has, gut instinct is all he has to go on at this point. And it certainly won't keep him from investigating them, or any avenue that might lead to clues about Elizabeth's condition.

Speaking of which. He frowns. ]

Whether you are or not, we'll figure it out.

[ We. Overly optimistic, perhaps. But she does seem willing to speculate on what had happened, at least for the moment. Better than her insisting that there's no need to do anything at all. ]

[ Willing to speculate and willing to take action in a way that puts herself at risk, as she sees it, are two very different things. ]

... I don't think we have much of a chance unless someone can recognize those monsters by description, since they seem to be gone, now.

[ That was a good thing, of course, but it meant they had nothing solid to point to and examine, if it was even possible. The potential culprits were gone, for now, leaving only her bizarre condition in their wake. ]

[ He shakes his head, feeling dismal. She's probably right, of course. Invisible monsters, gone without a trace? There's not much there to go on. ]

Do you remember anything? Anything you might have heard, or even felt, while it was happening - I know it's...not nice to think about.

[ He doesn't want to have to make her relive it. Unfortunately, she's the one with the most information to offer here. ]

But anything you can tell me might help.

No. [ She shakes her head. ] I was afraid, of course, and I hear growling, like an animal, but that was all. It tore at my arm and then my stomach.

[ And she'd passed out, as he knows. ]

I didn't see a thing, but I felt it. That pain was very real. It's amazing that it didn't kill me.

[ Is she trying to make him feel helpless and guilty, or does she just not care? The latter, he supposes, and he sighs, shaking his head. ]

It was real enough.

[ It had taken the better part of a day to get all her blood out from under his fingernails. He shoves the memory away, focusing on her. ]

It's early yet. Someone might know something more.

[ Yes, it's the latter. Someone without a conscience can't feel bad about inadvertently hurtful phrasing. ]

Well... let me know what you hear. I'll see if there's more that I can remember.

[ Elizabeth might usually keep him company in person, lurk over his shoulder and offer her opinions whether he wants them or not.

This Elizabeth has opinions, but feels no need to be in his presence. ]

[OH I DUNNO MAN ELIZABETH SEEKS PERFECTLY FINE TO ME okay no not really.]

Well, "odd behavior" is pretty par for the course here, but... I might've noticed somethin' screwy goin' on with a few people lately.

[ Pendleton. Maybe not the first person he would have chosen to ask for help...but at this point, he'll take what he can get. ]

Anything like what I'm describing?

[Back at'cha, Dewitt.]

Well, I noticed some people sure as hell aren't actin' the same since they got back from those corridors. I'm guessin' it might have somethin' to do with that.

Looks like it just might.

Do you know what happened to any of them? If we can find something they've all got in common...

[ He hesitates, not eager to share too much. But...Murphy's proved he cares about Elizabeth, if nothing else. ]

The thing that got Elizabeth...it was...invisible. Still dunno what it was.

She's been...different ever since she woke up after.

Invisible...?

Couldn't have been that mannequin thing, I know that.

[He'd fought plenty of those back in Silent Hill, after all, and they didn't seem capable of altering a person's personality. Murphy would know that for sure.

[No, this has to be something else.]

Did you hear anything? Whatever attacked her, did it... make any noise?

[ He's silent for a moment, thinking back. ]

Sounded more like an animal than a man.

It was...growling. Barking, maybe. I thought maybe it was a wolf.

[ But of course, wolves aren't invisible. And they certainly can't change the way people act. ]

An invisible dog...?

[Definitely doesn't sound like anything Murphy ran into in Silent Hill. And the "doll" thing Booker and Elizabeth had encountered also sounds more like a crazed woman than anything beastly.]

Well, it looks like the creatures that were in the hallways were familiar to a lot of people on the ship. Chances are, somebody's gotta know what the hell that thing was, and what it did to the people it's attacked.

If anyone knows, they're not talking.

[ He sighs, discouraged. ]

We don't even know that it's the creature that...did this. Elizabeth thought they might have done something to her in Medbay.

...

[Well shit.]

That... would make things a little more complicated. [Considering Murphy doesn't really know anyone on the medical team, he can't vouch whether they would or not.]

...I'll try askin' around. Somebody I know is not... actin' right, either.

[ Booker doesn't see how it's complicated. Deranged medical personnel are a lot easier to confront (and threaten) than invisible beasts that aren't even here anymore.

But it's not worth arguing about. ]

All right.

Let me know if you find out...anything.

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second bet [video]

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