☼ 002 [audio]

[got_it_memorized]

[Axel doesn't usually feel the need to hide his face--he's gotten good at concealing his thoughts and making sure he doesn't give himself away... but everyone has a breaking point. Waking up to find Roxas' room as empty as Xion's suddenly was a less than a month ago is apparently his. He has to keep reminding himself that he doesn't have a heart, this can't actually hurt, it's only residual phantom pains, leftovers of memories... So why can't he just make it stop?

[There's a beat of silence, and then his voice sort of tumbles into the recording, like he tripped over his own tongue. His tone is a little strained, as if his throat hurts or he swallowed something terribly bitter.]

How often do people come and go from this place? I've noticed there seems to be a lot of turnover. A good number of people leave, a bunch of new faces show up, but sometimes old faces show up too. Is there any sort of pattern anyone's found?

Comments

[ audio ]

[agodintheopen]

I count every three to four weeks.

[ captainobvious.jpg ]

[ audio ]

[got_it_memorized]

[He sighs sharply, then stops and holds his breath a moment. Okay, he wasn't specific, that was his own fault. He pinches the bridge of his nose and grimaces a bit, and you can probably hear it in his voice.]

Right, yes... I meant more any pattern to the ones who come back.

[ audio ]

[agodintheopen]

I think that depends on how well the Initiative likes you. I've seen a few familiar faces come and go, but the only thing they had in common was that those who were here longer tend to come back at some point.

And why wouldn't they? Some of us can be so endearing to others.

voice; wow i'm braindead, you saw nothing

[ex_velveteened856]

[The voice, though unfamiliar to him, is gentle.]

Who was it?

[voice]

[got_it_memorized]

[He frowns--this voice isn't familiar, so why do they sound so much like they give a damn? He makes a sort of sibilant noise.]

Who was what?

[You're not fooling anyone, Axel...]

[voice]

[ex_velveteened856]

Usually when people ask stuff like this, they got to thinking about it because either someone left or someone came back. So, I wanted to know who it was.

voice;

[limitstorm]

[ ... he knows that strain of voice. he heard it himself when talking to tamora. so his voice is quiet. ]

Most people arrive and then disappear. There's no pattern--just that people usually arrive at the beginning of the month.

voice;

[got_it_memorized]

[Well at least there's one familiar voice from home still around, even if it doesn't belong to someone he's quite ready to call a friend. A constant is still a constant, though, and for now he'll take what he can get. He does a decent job of just simply sounding contemplative and businesslike, but anybody who knows him can probably tell there's more to it.]

Yeah, I noticed the arrivals tend to be early in the month, but there's really no rhyme or reason to the departures. Someone I met on a mission left and came back, though, which surprised me. I just wondered if there was any precedent.

voice;

[limitstorm]

[ there's a grand old pause before-- ]

I left and came back. With my memories.

As for the departures, you're right. It's as random as who's picked to be here.

[iorhael]

I'm afraid I haven't noticed a pattern yet.

[there's a pause. It's a guess but]

I'm sorry, Axel, for those you have lost. At least they have gone back home.

[got_it_memorized]

[He pauses in return, unsure at first what to say to that. Sheesh, is it that obvious? Maybe he's losing his touch.

[He clears his throat awkwardly. He wishes he could be confident that the kids are safe and sound at home, but he doesn't trust Xemnas' intentions one bit, and the idea of someone else looking after the two little Keyblade wielders makes his stomach turn. Imagine if Demyx was put in charge of them? It would be a disaster!]

I find myself wondering if home is any better for them, to be frank.

[iorhael]

How could it be worse than here?

audio;

[gingerscoops]

I've been combing the network to log information like that and haven't noticed any pattern with regard to the people who leave. Unlike arrivals, which definitely happens at the beginning of the month, it seems like the transports getting pulled out of Exsilium are completely random. Sometimes there's a small spike to the end of the month, but not with enough regularity to call it a real pattern.

As for the people, it seems totally random - just as the people pulled to Exsilium are such a colorful bunch.

audio;

[got_it_memorized]

Oh, fellow dataminer, eh? Yeah, I didn't notice anything particularly organized aside from the influx at the beginning of the month, but it's always good to get a second opinion.

[And then he gives a bitter chuckle.]

Colorful. That's one way to put it.

[gingerscoops]

Fascinating, isn't it? I never would've guessed there'd be so many different people in the, well-- the universe I suppose. Apparently not everyone comes from the planet Earth, or not as I know it anyway.

video;

[hatesvampires]

'fraid when people leave, there's no real rhyme or reason for it!

Completely at random. I left and came back in the space of a few months but uh, even then it was apparently for no reason at all, and even then the returners are about single digits compared to the truckload we've lost.

We're talking a one in a million chance, basically.

How come?

[Like he doesn't know.]

[still audio]

[got_it_memorized]

[Wow. That's some bright hair you got there, dude. And this is coming from someone with fire-engine red locks.

[He exhales audibly and rubs his forehead.]

One in a million. Story of my life. Ah... no major reason, I guess. Just wondered. Seems a lot of people have been leaving recently, so I was just curious what the odds of any of 'em coming back were.

[hatesvampires]

A lot of people?

Friends of yours included, maybe?

[audio]

[termayanator]

[HAVE A MANVOICE. Trying to talk lightly.]

Is somebody missing?

[audio]

[got_it_memorized]

[WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE HE DOESN'T KNOW]

Well, we're all missing, if you think about it.

[AND HE WILL CONTINUE TO BE VAGUE AND OBTUSE UNTIL PEOPLE IDENTIFY THEMSELVES.]

[audio]

[termayanator]

[Deal with it]

Well, I mean, missing from here! But I guess if you put it that way...

[antitactical]

All the time. Not in big groups, as far as leaving, that seems to happen less frequently, but the large groups coming in started happening at the beginning of the month back in... was it October? September? Before then, we were pulled in whenever the Initiative could manage to make their machines work across dimensions.

( Collette leans her head to the side, resting on one hand. It makes talking slightly difficult, but it's a familiar, and comforting, pose. )

There's a good chance you'll recognize a name or face coming in, but there's people who've never met anyone from their world here, or who haven't since they first arrived. But there's always that chance! It's not something to get too upset about, especially with people from your home. Those are the most likely to always know you, at least! If they go and come back again.

[got_it_memorized]

[So many unexpectedly helpful strangers today, this is weird. He waits until this particularly talkative one finishes, then makes a 'hmm' sort of noise. Something in him wants to be indignant about the 'don't get too upset' remark (how dare you decide what I deem important enough to get upset about!?), but he reminds himself that without a heart he can't actually be upset or offended anyway.]

I'm not upset, I was just asking a question. No sense worrying about things you can't change anyway, right?

[boundbyheart]

[Wait....people can leave? Why wasn't she told this?!]

People can leave?!

[got_it_memorized]

Can, yes. May, however, not really. It's not like they get to decide when and how; sometimes people just get booted and there's really no indication of why those people go and others stay.