Arrival broadcast

[amicably_absent]

Who: Glitch and anyone interested!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Now?

[He comes awake slowly, almost peacefully. His dark eyes stay unfocused and close again, still relaxed and calm.

The second time they blink open, there's a bit more focus and they shift to look around him.

Then he freezes.

It's a fear reaction. It's the rabbit in the headlights, stay still, maybe you won't be noticed reaction. His eyes dart around to take in details, but then he relaxes when he realises he's alone.

His hands come up and feel along the zipper in his scalp, checking with ages old familiarity for any change. Apparently satisfied that everything is right, he lowers his hands down.]

Hello? Someone? Cain… ooh, flashy light, what's… oh! Are you a Far Speaker? Miniaturised far speaking technology, look at the clarity of the screen, that's a mirror quality image.

[The communicator is grabbed and starts being turned around in his hands. His clothing seems to have once been very fine, but is now torn and dirty. His pale skin is marked with small abrasions and the dirt of living rough.

He's also still chattering away quite happily to himself.]

I wonder what sort of broadcasting signal this is using, wireless magics don't get this small, usually, but if it were pre-Witch-

[He goes stiff with shock.]

Merciful light, the Witch! DG! Where am I, I need to get back, I have to- I have to-

[He blinks and his face relaxes, all the sharp panic gone.]

Ooh! Far Speaking technology! It's so small, how did they manage to get it that small?

Comments

[amicably_absent]

I know, but that's not actually my name, it's just what I use. I had a name before I was headcased.

Cain would know. I'm sure he would.

Oh no.

[His face falls as he realises.]

I'm going to forget them. Cain, DG, Raw... I'm going to forget who they are.

[theoniongirl]

[oh...no.

his hurt at that realization is palpable and her own expression echoes it.]

Maybe--

[shit. this wasn't going to be easy, was it?

There's a brief pause as she shifts, leaning out of view of the camera long enough to grab the nearest piece of paper to her bunk. A pencil is retrieved from behind her ear (almost like magic the way it seems to appear out of those ridiculously tangled curls), and then she's back--though she glances down every once in a while as she jots notes for herself.]

Glitch. This [what had he called it?] farspeaking device is really important. You need to hang on to it, so someone can help you if you get lost.

Do you have a safe pocket to put it in? Then you would be able to hear people even if you don't remember to look at it.

[amicably_absent]

[He hugs himself. In other people, it might be folding his arms across his body, but it looks far more like he's hugging himself for comfort.]

Hang onto it, yes... I can do that. Probably. I could make a thing, to tell me where it is... but then I'd need to remember that.

Pocket. I have pockets.

[He starts emptying things out of his pockets. It's a really odd assortment of things, nuts, bolts, pieces of wire and string, a few twigs, a bread roll which he starts absently eating as he works.]

[theoniongirl]

Glitch, this is Jilly.

[because she's assuming he's forgotten]

Put the farspeak device in your pocket.

[amicably_absent]

Jilly, yes, I know.

If I put it in my pocket now, I won't be able to see you while we talk.

[Apparently, he hasn't glitched out yet.]

P.S. You are breaking my heart. :|

[theoniongirl]

[that gets a small smile] That's no loss. [her heart might be aching when she glances down at the notes she's collecting, but that won't stop her from cracking a light joke]

But you'll be able to hear me, and you won't lose the device.

p.s. you are welcome

[amicably_absent]

Hm. Yes, I suppose you're right. Though I might get very confused about where the voices are coming from for a while.

[He supposes he'll get used to it eventually. He tends to accept things fairly quickly because he forgets it was different.

A hand picks up the communicator and it's put into a newly emptied pocket.]

Of course, if I knew how the broadcasting technology worked, I could make a, a bracelet, with a speaker and microphone which could relay off the main device. I wouldn't even need moritanium, just something with a good quality conductivity for basic electrics, like silver or copper...

[theoniongirl]

[it's like glimpsing part of a room through a keyhole. It's just the tiniest snapshot of who he must have been, but it's like listening to the Professor when he was working on a new research project, or Christy when you could get him talking about the people he'd interviewed that week. Intelligence, passion, intense focus]

I don't think they have anything like that on your ship, but soon you'll be moved to a ship where you'll have more people around and we're at a station. We could help you get supplies for a bracelet.

Just...the Marsiva--the ship you are on right now-- is like a maze. If the communicator is in your pocket, you'll always have a way to reach someone if you need it.

[amicably_absent]

There was a maze at Finnaqua. I could always find my way to the gazebo, but I could never find the girls' favourite hidey hole without one of them guiding me.

[His voice is soft and distant.]

[theoniongirl]

[a few more notes, but she doesn't ask for details just yet, even though she's aching to know. There were stories there...fascinating ones, from the little bits he mentioned. Her curiosity warred with concern, however, and that was the one battle it would never win.]

I will really feel better if I know you can find your way back in this maze, too.

[amicably_absent]

[There's a thump that sounds suspiciously like he just fell off something.]

I'm okay! Hello? Who's there? I'm Glitch!

[theoniongirl]

[she hadn't forgotten that was coming. Of course she hadn't. If anything, she'd been bracing for it. But it still feels a bit like having a ball of lead drop in the pit of her stomach when it happens.

Not that he'd be able to see it, but alongside her notes, she begins sketching a keyhole.]

[Gentle, again, working back towards the more cheerful, welcoming tone that she'd had when she first greeted him. It's a bit strained, maybe, but still meant]

Are you okay, Glitch? This is Jilly.

[...]

I'm a friend.

[amicably_absent]

Jilly. Yes! We've been talking, about the far speaker. In my pocket!

I should make a bracelet interface, so I can keep it in my pocket without losing sound quality. Wireless for preference, but I could probably wire it along the arm, but that might overheat the metal...

Ugh. I wish Raw and Ambrose were here!

[theoniongirl]

...you remember.

[she doesn't mean to sound so surprised, or so relieved, but she's both. She...wasn't sure. Obviously, old memories had found a way to hold on, but if he could get back all of that--

What had he said? Ever since they took my brain

That lead ball makes a reappearance, shifting sickly in her stomach as those ideas connect. Dear God. Had someone done this to him?]

[amicably_absent]

Sometimes! With repetition, some things stick around. I can't remember my name, but I know I was the Queen's most trusted adviser.

[There's definitely pride at that. He knows it, he's always known it. It's one of the few things that never went.]

Numero uno. Even if no one believed me, I knew.

[theoniongirl]

I believe you.

[said with all the quiet emphasis she can muster.]

Did you build things for her? [the way he'd been talking about making the bracelet--]

[amicably_absent]

[There's a pause.]

For who?

[theoniongirl]

Did you build things for the queen? When you were her advisor?

[amicably_absent]

Oh, I built amazing things. I redesigned the entire Far Speaker network of Central City as part of my-

My-

... something.

[theoniongirl]

project? [she suggests]


...Is Central City where you're from?

[amicably_absent]

Maybe?

I don't know. I lived there. Once. Maybe? Yes!

[theoniongirl]

What was it like? The city, I mean?

[now that she's fairly confident that he's not about to get irreparably lost, she lets her earlier curiosity take over.]

[amicably_absent]

Oh, it's beautiful. It gleams gold in the sunlight and the marble soaks in the colour of the emerald shining from the top tower of the palace, overlooking the entire city.

[Sometimes, things just come flowing out, so long as he doesn't think about it.]

[theoniongirl]

[it's not just the words...it's the way he says it. She can practically see it, shimmering in her mind]

I would love to paint that...

[amicably_absent]

It was beautiful, back before the Sorceress...

[There's a silence and he blinks and looks at her, with a slightly absent smile.]

Hi! Have we met?