exsilium | First Transmission

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First Transmission | Audio/Voice

[When Walter’s voice first comes in, it is loud despite his actually speaking in a normal tone; microphones were not so advanced in his day, and he has followed the example of his day in holding the microphone close to him when he speaks.]

I’ve been told we’re to use these things when we want to get in contact with each other. Frankly, I don’t see much of a point to it in a location like this. We’re all grouped so close together that a public announcement system would be a more efficient use of resources. If you want to talk to someone, you can just walk to their door and knock.

[There is a pause in the recording in which he frowns, though it cannot be seen on the screen of whoever it is that happens to be listening in due to Walter’s electing to make the recording audio-only. But if the listener is patient enough to endure the two-second pause, the young voice with the King’s English accent returns.]

I’ve been told to give this a try either way, so here it is. If you’re feeling at all helpful, you can respond in whatever way you want to let me know I’m actually doing it right. No small talk required. I just want to be able to use this thing in case of an emergency.

[And with that, the recording ends, the listener left to respond or disregard the message at will.]

[Speaking of going to someone's door, whoever walks into Housing Unit 131 will find a note posted to the inside of their door. It's written by hand, in cursive largely typical of the 1930s-40s era, though with a few unusual flourishes here and there on some of the letters.]

To whom it may concern:
I have been duly informed that these are to be my assigned quarters. I expect I shall be running into one of you in the near future, though my hours aren't exactly normal. As a matter of consideration, I have an acquaintance in the West Wing with whom I will be staying from time to time, so do not be alarmed at my absence. I might also bring her here in the future. That aside, if you wish to find me but are unable to you may contact me by means of the "tablet" devices we have been given.

Sincerely,
Walter C. Dornez

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

But where would society be without the ability to broadcast their every passing thought whenever the moment struck them? I shudder to even consider such a world.

But, yes, you're utilizing it correctly; your lifeline to the denizens of this base in a time of dire need has been adequately secured.

[The humour, though not quite like his own, is something Walter can appreciate. And though the colour of the message strikes him as odd, he shrugs it off, likening it to writing with coloured ink. A means of personalization.

He takes a moment to locate the text application of the device, and types one back in the default font, in the default colour, black. He'll leave his personalization to actual handwritten notes.]

No doubt they would manage to find some manner of captive audience. At a group dinner, perhaps. Thank you, by the way. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

I'd certainly hope not; trying to muster up enthusiasm for mealtime here is difficult enough as it is without the threat of dying of boredom while tied to a cafeteria chair looming over my head at all times.

All the same, you're quite welcome. I'm hardly fit to be a member of the fictional welcome committee but I try to meet my compassion quota however I can.

[This time, the message he receives actually manages to make him crack a small smirk. As mild as it is, he's officially amused. And that's saying something, considering the foul mood he was in when he first arrived.]

Consider it met for the evening.

Thank you ever so much for providing me with the opportunity to meet it. I was beginning to fear that I might have to admit to being a horrible person and watch my carefully constructed facade fall apart around me.

Somehow I doubt that. But I must say it does paint an amusing picture. It's been a pleasure. I might even look forward to hearing from you in the future. Or exchanging letters, as it seems to be your preference.

Text offers a bit more privacy than plastering one's face across the network, which is a commodity that our recent uprooting has made doubly precious. I look forward to our next missives.

We were previously in a much larger location.

[This person. He wonders if they even listened to the whole message before replying. It seems an awful lot like they only waited until they felt sufficiently defensive before responding.]

So I have heard. As was I. But even with a means of ringing someone up, many people still actually took the trouble to go and see them if they were within walking distance or range of public transportation.

[He recalls the reply he received just prior, and adds as an afterthought:]

Surely that is better than subjecting the entirety of a community to one's random thoughts.

[Walter at least only ventures to bother someone when he actually wants something from them. Something tangible. Waffling on for extended periods of time for the sake of waffling is not his idea of entertainment.]

Your tablet is functional.

It is during emergencies that the network may yet fail.

[If the head injury Walter received before his arrival wasn't enough, this little bit of information serves well to produce a budding headache in his skull.]

I should have suspected as much. It's a miracle this facility is even intact, with the level of competence I've seen.

[More precisely, the lack there of.]

Thank you.

[Now, to think up some alternatives just in case the bloody network does fail.]

[ He shouldn't feel so offended when he cares little for the Initiative and their foolish mission, but one grows a certain loyalty for those he speaks for. ]

If you have knowledge of better competence in such things, you could show us. For a generous renumeration.

[As irritated as the bloke sounds, he does have a point. There's a small delay in Walter's response as he thinks back to the communication technology of his era. Such technology is by no means his expertise, but perhaps if he conferred with someone with greater knowledge in that particular arena, some sort of emergency back-up devices or system could be made.]

I'll see what I can do. It wouldn't be as fancy as these tablet... devices, but if what you're saying is true, it might work better in an emergency. It's fairly reliable.

Reliable. Reliable is good.

[ He rather misses his beloved doves and their reliability come rain, come shine. Pity pigeons cannot fly in the moon. ]

You may call me Cesare. I belong to the Department of Initiative-Transport Relations and will answer any queries as I can.

Actually, I do have a question for you, Mister Cesare. One of the people who responded to my initial transmission said something about an "Extra for Exiles" fund. Something about pooling salary to help out the extra people who ended up on this base.

I don't know why money of all things would be pooled. Rationing and sleeping in shifts would at least help with the food and space problems. Unless the money could be used to buy food from wherever the supply missions run to.

The person who told me about it said he thought someone named Collette was in on it, but I suppose if anyone would know about such a fund, it would be someone in your position. Could you tell me more about it?

Please, Cesare will do.

[ He wouldn't mind being called Signore Borgia or Don Cesare for that matter, but this English term sounds strange to his ears. But he knows a dodgy dealing when he hears it. It takes one to know one. ]

We have not heard of such a fund. Should you choose to contribute, it will be at your own discretion and not ours or the Initiative. But do not worry, we have enough rations for all so long as greed does not prevail.

[There's a bitterness he feels at the perceived deception. As ornery as he is and as much reason he has to be angry for being here in the first place, his attempts and ideas to help have been genuine. To have that abused, and abused by a brat with no work ethic to top it off, leaves him craving retribution.]

...I see. Thank you, Cesare.

[Much as the English term sounds strange to the other's ears, a name without an honorific used for a person he does not really know seems strange to Walter.]

I will get to working on what we talked about. Oh. And you may call me Walter, if you like.

[And as to the matter of the fund, he is already thinking of ways to punish the person or people behind it.]

[ Retribution is sweet. ]

Walter then.

You must call on me for help or even for company. I should like to see how this network is crafted.

[Yes. So very, very sweet. Just the sheer ability to vent and have that venting be productive will do wonders for his temperament.

Not that it will prompt much of anyone to like him better. But at least he won't be so cranky.]

I can manage that. If I can get the materials and a working design together, I'll contact you.

[ Who even cares about being liked? Certainly not Cesare, not when it serves him no other purpose. ]

Contact me for the materials you need as well. We have volunteers collecting supplies occasionally.

I will.

[But first, he's going to try to find someone who might be able to shrink the design derived from the technology of his era to a more manageable size for others. He can't imagine a great number of the transports bothering to lug something the size of a lunch box around.]

... Dude! You don't need to swallow your mike for us to hear you, back up a bit. Actually, it makes it harder to hear you if you're right up against it.

[There's a bit of laughter in his voice, and it sticks around.]

An' didn't they tell you? We can travel through time! So we're not always gonna be stuck on the moon. [Never mind the fact that he's already leery of the time missions now, and he doubts he's the only one. It's the principal of the thing!] Anyway, it's so freaking hard to navigate around here, sometimes it's easier just to leave somebody a message with this thing.

[Odd. No one has brought up the quality of the sound before this point. But, Walter backs up a little bit regardless. He's a little bit of a perfectionist in some things.]

I've had no problem navigating around here, and I've only been here slightly longer than a week.

[Then again, Walter managed to find a single building within an entire city in the middle of a war-zone. Suffice to say, his navigation skills are at least slightly above par.]

How's the sound now?

[Bro, that is not above par that is just plain insanity.]

... Seriously? I mean, I've only been here about that long too -- uh, here on the moon, I mean -- but everything looks the same! All the halls an' the doors and... seriously, how?

[A beat.]

Oh, right, it sounds pretty clear now. If you crowd the mike too much you'll make a bunch of static, so.

[Insanely good, you mean. The insanity part came when he actually jumped from the plane without a parachute. Or at least that's what the bloke from the RAF thought.]

I see. Microphones are slightly different where I'm from. Larger. I wasn't quite sure how to adjust the distance.

And navigating is easy. If everything looks the same, you look at whatever maps or schematics are around, and count.

[Okay, maybe he simplified that a little too much when explaining. But it's all pretty simple in his head. Numbers corresponding to wings and sections of wings. It's sort of like finding one's way in an office building.]

[We're starting to think there isn't much difference there.]

Eh, so you do have microphones! [He wasn't sure.] How much bigger? I thought only computers had a huge phase.

[Have a bit of a sigh (no it's really a huff because what is maturity).]

I dunno if you've noticed, though, but there's no maps or schematics around and I'm not gonna go around countin' a whole moonbase. Even if it is kinda smaller than it's supposed to be...

[Although he skips over the topic in favour of responding to the last comment, the answer to the first question is much bigger. Think microphones used for radio. The big ones.]

It's hardly my fault if you're too lazy to put in the effort.

Man, why is that always people's first reaction? Some of us don't keep maps and numbers crammed in our heads, you know.

And that's the reason you still have a hard time navigating, while I don't.

[Hurrah for circular arguments. Especially when they're rigged in his favour.]

[Good thing he's used to rigged arguments!]

Nah, I'd say it's 'cause they don't label their damn space station. [Almost cheerfully.] There'll be a map eventually!

[Or he'll scribble something, but he really is kind of a lazy bum.]

Sure, there will be a map. But you'll be too busy being lost, you won't know where to find it.

[Until someone actually goes to the trouble of putting the full map on the network.]

You're too pessimistic! I could always ask somebody to send it to me over the tablet. Don't wish bad luck on a perfect stranger!

I wasn't wishing bad luck on you. You just need to show more initiative. You can't expect to rely on the charity of others forever.

Ahh, you should be more careful what you say, then! You never know what your words might cause, especially in a place like this.

[His voice dips a bit to sound mock-solemn, but springs back up again immediately.]

You have a pretty funny idea of charity, though. I mean, we're all in this together, so it's more like cooperation, isn't it?

[Somewhat baffled at the persistence and the whole upbeat tone that has permeated the other youth's responses, Walter nevertheless remains like a stubborn brick wall that won't budge. But he does at least recognize the other boy is tenacious in some respect. It's something, now if only he had the motivation to turn that persistence in talking to other, more productive pursuits.]

It's only cooperation if you offer something in return. Otherwise, it's charity and freeloading.

[He's very much used to people picking at him and on him and generally being sanctimonious at him (and also being brick walls at him, while we're at it), so Naoya really thinks nothing of it.

If anything, it's kind of nostalgic.]

I don't think you can call freeloading when we're all kidnapped. Anyway, I'm already doing plenty to help out!

[Or just a couple of things, but he's totally working on it.]

How about you? You sound new and all, so I'll cut you some slack. Didja remember to donate some of your Initiative salary to the Extra for Exiles fund? It's important!

Extra for... Exiles fund?

[Nope. He doesn't even know what that is. Maybe he missed it while he was raging at the people who kidnapped him.]

Yep! Technically there aren't supposed to be any Exiles up here at all -- aside from the Initiative, I guess, but they don't really count -- but we ended up with some anyway.

[Accidentally rescued some, smuggled some up, it's all the same difference in the end.]

So... technically the moon base doesn't really have enough food or space or anything for that many people, so we had to pool something to help out! If you head over to Room like 340 or something they can probably hook you up.

[Unfortunately, the room doesn't actually exist.]

[340 or something. Or something is right, because he hasn't seen that number on a door yet.]

Are you sure that's a room number and not a time? I stayed with someone else in the living quarters wing with the highest numbered rooms and it only went into the two-hundreds.

[Whoops.]

... Ahh, well, you do know the layout better. Maaaybe it was a time, then... You'd have to ask somebody else! [Good thing he already established he had no sense of direction.] I think there was this cool gal named Collette who was helping out with that stuff. Maybe if you could find her?

I'll keep an eye out for her.

[Maybe he can ~~bully~~ persuade the Initiative to let him see the housing assignments chart. There has to be a way to do it.]

[What hath he unleashed--]

Good luck, then! Work hard!

[Something horrible, Naoya. An ill-tempered English butler.]

I always do.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

First Transmission | Audio/Voice

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audio; Naoya actually lied to him. Apparently there is no fund.

audio; oh dear me >)

audio; Yes, Naoya's going to get a valuable lesson. Thanks for making it possible so quickly!

audio; well good, Cesare likes facilitating revenge

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sorry Walter

He stayed with Seras in Room 196 so he can guess.

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