mental link, day 22

[sizeofyourbaggage]

( Got some information for you guys - Annie was good enough to get some of her makeshift spycams going, and we set ‘em up with the leaders of the envoys. Activated them last night. )

[ There’s a curl of gratitude for those who went along with his plan, for those who spun stories or distractions or contributed to convincing the leaders of the envoys that the trinkets of Annie goo were part of a mourning ritual. Is he gonna talk about the fact that he basically disappeared after that until they boarded the airship? Nah. Instead, he jumps right into it. ]

( Didn’t get a lot from the Carpathans or the Meradans, unless you wanna know what the inside of Saridian Black’s room looks like or what other gifts people’ve been giving him, or see more of the Meradans trash talking each other while playing games.

Got the same Second that Annie saw last time, who’s friends with the Seconds I know, and this time he was with Ysiddia Cabrielle. He’s her son, and they were talking with a Second from one of the other Houses about the murders and the Circle having its work cut out for it when we get to the Red Coast.

And the Descendents - pretty sure we got a couple of them talking about the murders. They were wondering if “they” were discovered, who discovered them and what their intentions were - might have something to do with the last time we spied on people through Annie, and she saw the Carpathans that got killed talking about new friends. That, and blood debts and someone named Casiria, and that no one in Black’s retinue could know about it. Didn’t know this until a little bit ago, but guess what information got passed onto Black’s retinue? )

[ His mental “tone” is deliberately neutral there, but the difference from the usual warmth to his mental link is probably pretty telling. ]

( One other thing, about the circle that was found burned in the ground a while back when we were still running around on the ground and the tracks next to it - Rhan said the circle doesn’t look local, but the tracks appear Rabadocean. Hard to pin down more than that so far, except they don’t really match the Hypyrians. )

[ Is he fixating on that a little too much, to be thinking about it still? Maybe, but he's not gonna let it go. ]

Comments

[shiro2hero]

(These Descendants wondering if they were discovered or the bodies...?)

[He pauses, in thought. Just bear with him a second here, Sam, he's going somewhere with this:]

(People used to think when 'aliens' would land on Earth, their ships would burn or press shapes into the ground they landed on. Most often, it was a circle shape.)

(... think maybe whatever was out there... wasn't part of the party?)

[sistershoggoth]

( You're welcome, scumsuckers. )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ There's a hum of consideration as Sam thinks about that, and then the mental equivalent of a shrug.

He can't be sure, honestly - he'd thought they were talking about the Carpathans being discovered and then killed, but who knows? His mind opens a little more, beckoning Shiro in with an offer - see for yourself?

Shiro's other comment gets a soft huff, amusement curling out. ]

( I'd say I can't believe we're talking about crop circles, but back home we got aliens who travel by rainbow bridges that burn circles in the ground, too, so - yeah, that's exactly what I think. Just can't tell if someone joined the party or left it. )

[shiro2hero]

[His own response is as close to a nod as possible, given it's mental and all. Out of everyone, it's almost like Sam doesn't need to ask anymore.]

(And we have aliens who open and close their own wormholes.)

(Is there any way to get some kind of headcount of who should be here, do you think?)

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ Sam's already said thank you, so he's not gonna repeat himself here - but his mind opens up a little bit more towards Annie's, basking in the familiarity. ]

( Hey, how you doing on art supplies? )

[aluminumandash]

[ Rust listens, his thoughts clean and deliberate as pen strokes. Smooths Sam's retelling where it gets tangled in itself. He's heedful of the proffered analysis without taking it at face value.

A sense of steady pressure, emotions held at a brittle distance. ] ( When'd you find out. )

[sistershoggoth]

[ She is familiarly drunk is what she is. ]

( Didn't bring enough, was kind of in a hurry after waking up and all you fuckers had gone on a mission without me. Fuckin' sketchbook and a worn down pencil, fuckin' sucks. Don't have enough paper. )

[raw]

( Makeshift spycams? )

[ There's so much more pertinent information here and he's interested in a lot of it, particularly the stuff about Black's retinue, so maybe there's a listening kind of gratitude from this new kid, but mostly he's wondering how they managed cameras. ]

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ There's some people he doesn't ask anymore, who're in his head so much that it's likely that they already know what he knows - and if they don't, there's no question that they want it. Shiro's... not quite there yet, but he's close. And it's easy to pull up the information they've got and let Shiro see it. ]

( From all the envoys, you mean? We can try, but I don't know if we'll have much more luck than Bucky's had trying to match shoe prints. )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ That too. Something he's gonna put off commenting on, with how damn hypocritical it'd make him when he was drunk as shit for a day or two after Lavellan. ]

( Yeah, shame on the lot of us. ) [ As if any of them really had any damn choice in coming on these things, but it is what it is. ] ( I've got some, if you want. Bucky uses some of it to sketch sometimes, but the rest are just sitting in my stuff. )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ Sam is - more stable than the last time they spoke. He's remembered that grief is a familiar companion and he knows what to do with it, stopped trying to withdraw into himself and go it alone.

He opens their connection more under the pressure, a silent offer to show Rust so he can see it for himself, if he wants. ]

( About twenty minutes ago. )

[sistershoggoth]

( Yes! Shame on you. I'm the only one of you that is even halfway useful and you leave me behind? Fuck. )

[ She probably doesn't really think that, she's just drunk and cranky from throwing up again...... ]

( Yeah, sure, hork the shit over, I'll destroy it. )

[ She doesn't always think of her art as a destructive act, but in this context -- feeling so pent up and miserable -- anything she puts down on paper is just taking poison from her own mind and embedding it, sizzling like acid, into the real world. ]

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ There's a sense of focus as Sam pulls his attention in from the Nest in general to the feel of an unfamiliar mind. His side of the connection is flavored by the faint sigh of wind and brush of feathers, though he keeps most of his mental presence behind the cloud layer he uses as shielding. ]

( It's the ability her symbiote gave her. She makes some kind of slime, and she can see and hear through it. Comes with some side effects, though, they all do. )

[shiro2hero]

(He's been working on shoe prints?)

[Color him proud of Bucky. And he's not going to hide it, either.]

(It's worth a shot, I think.)

[aluminumandash]

[ Later. ]

( How? )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

( Must be frustrating as hell, being the only who can do anything. )

[ He's honestly not sure if she believes it or not - but he's not gonna treat it seriously, if she does. He's struggling enough being out of his element in all of this, on top of Bucky's increasing spikes of feeling useless. Sam's not gonna go down any kind of path there.

And he's not sure what to make of her saying she'll destroy it. He assumes she doesn't mean literally break all the art supplies, but still - ]

( That some kind of artist thing? )

[wille]

[ How strange to see the Hyrypians grieve and suffer so soon after Lavellan's passing made them endure the same. It's like watching oneself mirrored back, the repetition reducing its impact. Her tone is business-like, stripped of emotions. ]

( Two things. One: the Carpathans are split. Aligning with the Descendants isn't their formal position, and Black will make sure that never happens. But why? Don't forget the Carpathan farana said she's hiding from Black, maybe being found was enough to get her killed.

Two: we have to find this Casiria. )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

( Misato. She and Annie gave the info to Black. )

[sistershoggoth]

( It is really fucking annoying. But you know what they say: if you want anything done right do it your fucking self. )

[ There's a note of laughter there. She knows her limitations. That she's not really the one you should call when you want tech done, that she's not really the one you call when you want diplomacy done. And she's normally not the one you call to do covert spying bullshit, and yet here she fucking is. ]

( It's an Annie thing, don't ask questions you don't really want to know the answer to. )

[wille]

( I told him. I can tell you, too. )

[wille]

( Don't sound too smug about it just yet. )

[sistershoggoth]

( Don't tell me what to do. )

[wille]

[ A sigh, both frustrated and dissuaded. ]

( Did you want those two to die all along? )

[sistershoggoth]

( I'm flattered you think I'm that much of a fuckin' mastermind. )

[wille]

( It doesn't take a mastermind to see where the pieces might fall.

Well -- that makes me less of one. I didn't expect it to happen so fast. )