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[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.

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[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. ]

[oracledriven]

[Noel nods; he gets that. He doesn't want to get too personal with the details, but he can at least give her a basic run-down of what happened back then.]

A while ago, some of us woke up with marks on our bodies. After a while, the people who were marked started feeling like they were compelled to obey this creature that attacked the town. It's possible that if the creature hadn't been stopped, the ones under its control would have ended up like those ghosts you found in the desert...wandering around nameless with no memories.

[That's a pretty grim thought, but he can't help making the connection.]

I can't tell if they're connected to what happened with the locals. For them, it was almost like they were stalled out, like it was something they couldn't control. That didn't happen to the people who got marked a few months ago.

[entreats]

[ The girl is quiet for a moment, even after Noel is done explaining. It's like she's trying to process it all - thinking about the information he's giving here. It's rather extensive, yet doesn't contain unnecessary information, so she can appreciate that much.

It's why she's seriously thinking about it in the first place, rather than dismissing him outright. ]

I see. Did you notice any of those markings at all on the townspeople while we were gone? Or were they just acting strangely without looking different at all?

[oracledriven]

[She's asking good questions. He thinks about that one for a second before he answers.]

No. No markings on any of them. They didn't notice they'd done it either.

[What's more--]

It happened a few times to parts of the town, too. A few letters on a sign would disappear, or a piece of fence...little things. They came back, but it was weird.

[entreats]

Odd behaviour, little things disappearing or changing..

[ Ange mumbles as she repeats those words, like she's trying to line it all up for herself. It is kind of nice to get thorough information like this on what happened here, since it's not like she had any idea about it while she was gone. ]

I guess it would be a pretty big coincidence if things would get weird both here in town and outside of it at the same time without them being connected. Maybe the effects of what was going wrong out there in the desert were so big that they managed to affect everything else in this world as well? [ Granted, it's not like they have concrete proof, so she could guess at anything.. ] Especially when it sounds like it were mostly minor things that were happening here.

I guess we'd need to know more about how this world works in the first place.