vii. voice

[firstroar]

–omeone...

[a beat, a breath heavily drawn and shakily exhaled. sentences are punctuated with overlong breaks.]

Help me understand. Not one person I have spoken to recalls this mission...But she is still gone. [breath.] Physis is. Others, perhaps? I don't know. No one has any recollection...

Comments

voice;

[aequivoci]

It would do you well to be more clear instead of just "this mission."

[firstroar]

[beat. breath, a slight huff.] It...She gave no details, had...little details. Renaissance?

No one I've reached out to knows. I'm told...none by her description was ever called. I don't understand.

[salvagedsoul]

[What is... this?

.......]

No one recalls what mission?

[aequivoci]

Is she one to fall quiet for periods at a time?

[firstroar]

She has never left my side for long. And even so...[another lapse, biting back a wincing sound.] I would know where. Where she was. [thickly:] I cannot find her. Physis.

[firstroar]

Kaworu. [a beat. a shifting sound.] She...said she was needed. That her talents were sought for by them, the Initiative.

[another lapse.]

I can't. Find her, no one will tell me where...when...

1/2

[salvagedsoul]

[She said she was needed? And she has left...?

Kaworu doesn't know her very well, but... to disappear without a trace, leaving Blue in a state of ignorance...]

[salvagedsoul]

[...she's at least the fourth, now.

Something is going on.]

Where are you? You must calm down. Blue.

[aequivoci]

When was the last time you spoke with her?

[firstroar]

Not...far. [or...far? wait. no, it's not far.] But I'll need help. Returning.

[firstroar]

Days... [another breath, slower. a beat.] Five days since. I inquired when she would be back, if something had changed...and I felt it. The emptiness that question fell into. They don't know of any mission, where she is...

[salvagedsoul]

[I'll need help. Those words, coming from Blue, fill him with a sense of dread.

In the background of the audio, Kaworu's hurried, shuffling movement can be heard.]

Where? I'm coming. If you're close enough to feel me, show me where.

[aequivoci]

And did she seem like she was being forced to do such a thing?

[firstroar]

[there's a delay.]

No. Not yet. [beat.] North of the Hold. You'll be close enough, then...

[firstroar]

[there's another lapse. his voice is wearier, vexed:] She assured me...insisted. That she would do her best, return soon. I didn't understand, but... [a shifting sound. softer:] I wouldn't say no.

[salvagedsoul]

[it takes him a few minutes, even with hurrying. but when he's close enough, it's immediately obvious. this feeling is the feeling of Blue reaching into him. for once, it's a welcome feeling.]

Blue. Are you alright? [Blue should be able to sense the sentiment itself, but Kaworu says it out loud so he can project his voice, too.] Can you make it towards me?

Text

[lexiconning]

Physis went on a mission? What are you trying to say?

[firstroar]

Turn this way.

[his will imposes a weak kind of trail – where when noticed, things out of focus darken just enough to make the light of him brighter, a little trail cutting the sharp turn and long walk to where Blue's had to stop.

seated at a bus stop bench, he's sagged forward, head in his hands and fingers curled tight into his hair. the tablet's in his lap, so at least when he needs to say something the sound can fall down toward it.

exhausted, but still burning with distress and irritation. while his jaw is clenched this tight, it's easier to think than speak.]

Forgive me. I meant to get up...

[firstroar]

[there's some delay, as it takes him time to recognize there's a message waiting for him.]

It may be a lie. No one remembers this mission...remembers seeing her leave.

[aequivoci]

[ he pauses for a moment, running through his head different scenarios and outcomes that could come from the clues he's being given. but in the end though... ]

The chances of the UE having an involvement in this..."disappearance" are more than likely. I highly doubt they would bother taking one person, though.

Is anyone else you are acquainted with missing as well?

[salvagedsoul]

[Soon enough, Kaworu shoves his hand through the miasma around him to grab Blue by the shoulders. His AT Field prickles against his own fingers for a moment, but he ignores it.

Wordlessly, he lifts one of Blue's arms and crouches to pulls the frail man's weight onto one shoulder. Even if he were heavy, it would be no task for Kaworu to lift him from the bench as he straightens himself again.]

Blue.

[This is heartbreaking in a way that is very foreign to Kaworu. He has never respected someone as deeply as this man, and to see him like this is bizarre.

The tablet had clattered to the ground. Kaworu glances at it for a moment, and it floats upwards into the air and into his free hand.]

...Blue, pull yourself together.

[lexiconning]

[ sorry strange old man, but only text for u ]

You think something happened to her?

video

[gamora]

Gone gone?

( hey blue. )

voice, but locked!!!

[heartsink]

So, Physis is gone... and you're sure she wasn't Ported out, right?

[ she is not even playing at pretenses today. ]

voice

[quisling]

...

Do you know any of the specifics of the mission?