001 | video

[oracledriven]

[Alright. This isn't something he normally does, but everyone else has been so quiet about it that it's starting to drive him a little nuts. So in the true form of someone who can't keep their mouth shut— here's Noel.]

Okay, so. Who else stayed in town when people went out to the desert? I can't be the only one who noticed the people in town acting strange, right?

[He frowns a little, thoughtfully crossing his arms over his chest.] It was like they couldn't figure out what to do with themselves, but even when I ask them what happened, they look at me like I'm crazy. [Which he's not. Right??] Like they don't even remember it happening.

Anyone else notice anything strange happening back then? And for everyone who went out to the desert— anything strange happen with people out there? Anything see anything like that happen since you got back?

[He's about to cut it there, no introduction, no nothing, but he pauses to add:] Thanks.

Comments

(TXT) —

[opheliac]

theyre looking at u crazy bc u are crazy.

[oracledriven]

yeah? that make you some kind of hallucination or something?

[opheliac]

no but im made out of all of ur worst nightmares.

[oracledriven]

you sound pretty sure of that. what do you know about other peoples nightmares?

video;

[bulleting]

I was one of the group that went into the desert. It was...something. [As someone that did not experience those being Marked before, it was all...new. This whole place is new, really, but it's something she's not sure she wants to actually get used to.]

There were...ghosts? For lack of a better word. They appeared after dark. Vi told me they were similar to something that happened here before I arrived. They had marks on their skin, blindly attacking everyone in sight.

[oracledriven]

[The first thing Noel notes is that she looks a bit familiar. For a second, he looks like he's about to ask, but-- it makes sense when she mentions Vi. Maybe he's seen her around or something. At least now he can focus on what she's saying.]

... Vi's right. That does sound familiar.

[A grim frown. Not exactly his favorite subject these days.]

You notice anything else? Any of them just...stop in the middle of what they're doing, or suddenly forget what they're up to? Stuff like that?

[bulleting]

[No one seems to like talking about what happened then. From the little Caitlyn's learned, she can't say she blames them.]

They seemed to react to the items we found throughout the ruins. Like the items belonged to them. They calmed, when the items were returned. After that, they didn't bother us any longer.

video.

[kiseijuu]

[ There's a visibly nervous teenager responding to the message, clearing his throat a couple of times and then swallowing hard before he speaks up. ]

Hello. I stayed behind, too. I did notice some people acting pretty.... strange, but I didn't approach them. Just kind of took observations from afar...

[ Or, well, he stayed standing there from a safe distance and let Migi take observations. The alien has been filling up a notebook with findings... ]

It seems to me like maybe they're sick...? I didn't want to get too close in case it was something going around.

[ ...Aka Migi wouldn't allow him to, and has been carefully checking on his temperature and other such things every day. ]

It's good that you posted this — people should know what's going on. Even if I'm not sure how to explain what that is...

[oracledriven]

[A quick smile flickers across his face, maybe not at Shinichi's nervousness, but a little in response to it.]

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. It was pretty strange. I've been here a few months, and I'm not sure I've ever seen the locals acting like that before.

[Not that he remembers, at least. Noel is way more familiar with illness than he'd like, so when Shinichi mentions it, he frowns thoughtfully. They didn't seem sick to him -- not any kind of sickness he'd ever seen, at least, but maybe...]

I can't blame you for hanging back, if you thought they were sick. Better safe than sorry. On the other hand, I haven't noticed anyone acting strange like that since everyone came back...have you?

[kiseijuu]

I haven't, now that I think about it.... you're right.

[ Shinichi gives a soft frown of thought. Is there... a correlation between that? The Chosen returning, and the locals returning to normal? Or... whatever "normal" may be for them; there's still so much about this place that Shinichi doesn't know. He's worrying his bottom lip for a moment, anxiety curling in his stomach. This is all so strange.... ]

I wonder what that could mean.... Ah—!

[ Don't mind him seeming weirdly startled as his right hand suddenly reaches for a nearby notebook and starts jotting things down. Shinichi clears his throat, looking downwards and trying to make it look like he's intentionally writing..... ]

Just... going to take some notes.....! If that's okay.... Um, you said you've been here a few months? Have the locals always seemed pretty friendly about us coming here to their town?

[murderingjustice]

I am also one of those who went on the expedition. But it is good to hear of you who stayed behind.

Say, did anything happen to trigger these changes with the locals?

[oracledriven]

not that i know of, no. but it wasn't constant. every so often, they just started acting...strange. did anything like that happen in the desert? someone acting normal and then they just...stopped?

[murderingjustice]

Interesting.

I'm sure you've heard of it already but at the desert we faced adversaries of our own. I believe what we were dealing with beings who were once people. They had been affected by a similar ailments as some of us did a few months ago when the brands began to appear.

It seemed like there were two stages, those who's infection hadn't proceeded far and those who had been completely overtaken by it. At first the former group were harmless but once the others appeared they turned hostile -- as if they were suddenly controlled by something. We were able to 'cure' the former group by reuniting them with their previous lives through items.

I wonder if these events are linked.

video;

[entreats]

.. are you suggesting those two things might be linked?

[ Ange, please, the least you could do is offer up some information yourself before asking that--

But she just can't help it. She's curious as to what this guy is thinking, and not even in a bad way. She'll gladly provide information if necessary, but she likes gathering other people's opinions on things too.

As long as said opinions aren't dumb, anyway - but if this guy is even bothering to inquire at all, Ange figures he's putting some actual thought into this. Using his brain. It makes her willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. ]

[oracledriven]

I'm saying I don't know.

[Okay, that sounds a little more sullen than he meant. He frowns thoughtfully, shaking his head.] If the locals acting strange was connected with what happened in the desert, I'd expect some similarities. Right? Maybe things happened at the same time, or maybe some of the things in the desert acted similar to the people in town...doesn't sound like that's the case so far. But it's hard to say.

[Still, he can't get the markings out of his head. Maybe because he was personally affected, but--]

Those things in the desert are definitely similar to something that happened in town a while ago, though. So far, everyone who saw both of those things seems to agree about that.

[entreats]

I see. I'm still relatively new here, so I haven't been around for that. [ At least she readily admits to that. There's no use in pretending to have information you don't actually have, after all - it'll just muddy the waters, when Ange feels like information is one of the most important things they've got here. ]

I imagine that does mean though that you're talking about the more human-like people that attacked us back in the desert though. [ Else they couldn't be compared to the people in town in the first place.. ] I hadn't considered a link with the town myself just yet. Instead I've been thinking about how they were attacking at practically the same time as those strange ghosts out in the desert.

[ Like there might be a link there.

Or, you know, just unfortunate timing. ]

video

[baldrshand]

When you say that--it doesn't sound like you're talking about a momentary confusion, but something more serious, right?

There were specters out there who bore the same--[uh. sensitive topic. too late she started the sentence.]--the same brands that you and the other people enthralled by the monster had.

[oracledriven]

Honestly? I'm not sure what it was. At first it was just a couple of moments, but...it kept happening.

[That was the weirdest part of it, honestly -- it wasn't a full-tilt change, but an intermittent happening that he couldn't really predict. Noel is kind of worrying himself into a corner over it when she mentions the brands. A brief grimace crosses his face, but he forces it down. He's gonna have to get over that shame eventually.]

... So I heard. That part definitely doesn't sound like a coincidence, does it? For something like that to happen again, out of nowhere...I don't like the sound of it at all.

[baldrshand]

It kept happening? I know that people can sometimes be unaware that they've fainted, in certain circumstances... but I don't think that could happen to an entire town at once.

[she taps her chin meditatively... worriedly.]

No, it can't be coincidence at all... and I don't like the sound of it either. The desert must have been a place that the monster visited before. One where it wasn't defeated.

video

[caregives]

[there's... a little bit of relief in Leanne's expression, not even gonna lie.]

I noticed too. I was starting to wonder if I was just seeing things, or if it was a prank.

[she doesn't know why they'd prank them like this... but details.]

Do you think they could be getting sick?

[oracledriven]

[A brief smile flickers on his face. A prank, huh? That'd be one hell of a prank.]

If you've been seeing things, then so have I. But I think it's more likely that we're seeing it right, and they're the ones not noticing.

[Which is a whole nother level of concerning, but.]

Someone else said they thought the locals might be sick, too. I've never seen a sickness that can do something like this, but anything is possible, at this point.

[caregives]

[listen, she has no idea what anyone's capable of.]

Well, the sickness that caused those markings all over everyone a couple months back was irregular too. I'm getting to where I wouldn't be surprised by much.

[she looks thoughtful.]

We should keep our guard up, maybe. Just in case strangeness gets bad again, quick.

text

[mooglebow]

People were acting strange? Strange how? I was out in the desert myself, so I didn't realize people were... weird here.

[oracledriven]

it's hard to explain. it was as if they forgot what they were doing and just...stopped. or were frozen in time or something. later, they didn't even realize it'd happened. or they'd just repeat something they had just said, like a loop.

[mooglebow]

Huh... was it kinda like when we were in Augusta Tower? When everyone was acting weird? ...you didn't suddenly go back there, did you?