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?

[opheliac]

everyones playground is the same isnt it? coming home to see everything u know and love completely OBLITERATED. and u standing there as the smoke hiss into the skies. alone. no one to turn to. no one to run to give u squishy hugs.

unless u want to run into the fire to be one w/ them.

[oracledriven]

guess that counts as standard, more or less. pretty bad, but i wouldn't call it the worst, either

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.

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...

[opheliac]

oh yeah? u got a better worst nightmare?

[oracledriven]

if i did, you really think i'd tell you all about it?

[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?

[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?

[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.

[opheliac]

well spill it, sunshine. we don't got all day.

[oracledriven]

thanks for the offer, but i think i'll pass

[oracledriven]

Belonged to them?

[Now that's different. Noel's eyebrows lift for a second as he thinks about that, tilting his head.]

Almost like...whatever the items were, it triggered their memories, maybe? The people in town who had those marks before... [choosing his words carefully here] It took something personal to get them to snap out of it, too. Almost makes it sound like it was the same marks.

[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?

[opheliac]

oh COME ON! u cant just say u got smth better and NOT let it out! thats the WORST way to defuse the conversation!!!

[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?

[oracledriven]

if you're so curious, how about YOU share first? that'd make things about equal, don't you think?

[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. ]

[opheliac]

i just did, peanut for brains.

[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?

[oracledriven]

i heard about that, yeah. you think they were once people? after they were...'cured,' did they turn back into normal people?

the 'second stage,' did they seem like they used to be people too?

hard to say whether they're related, but it sounds like those things were definitely linked with something. if they had the same types of markings as we got, i think there has to be a link