007 ♦ action -> handwritten

[peacefulwinter]

[Just another day at school, thankfully with nothing untoward happening, other that than weird buzzing noise she's put up with since Saturday. As much as she's trying not to worry about it, it's starting to grate even on her... but maybe it was better to leave this one to the others. They could at least defend themselves if something came up. All she could do was hide and try to patch them up after, and that only through mundane means.

That thought had gotten through her morning, bringing her to lunchtime; she wasn't one of the many that chose to eat lunch outside while it was still nice, so she sat in the cafeteria, pondering the world's mysteries while she ate, and listening to the others speaking around her.

...Right up until the conversation suddenly became one-sided, and one of the other girls nearby started to ask questions. Winter came back to herself, then, and took a closer look: the one that had been speaking just fine a moment ago was now totally passive, staring into space and precious little of note beyond physically being present and occasionally offering a slightly spacey response to a question, after a delay. While it worried her, it happened often enough - though perhaps not to this severity - that she didn't really dwell on it, and after the girl snapped back to reality a few minutes later, she almost forgot about the incident entirely.

And she wouldn't have thought about it anymore at all, except that it happened again just a few minutes later, as another girl seemed to space out right next to her. This time, she became concerned right away, and put a hand on the girl's shoulder, starting to ask if she was okay, and getting back a dreamy "I'm fine" in response. This was starting to really creep her out, and to make matters worse, she could feel... something stirring. After a moment's considering, she realized the feeling, and zoned out for a moment herself, though for a completely different reason: an Echo. Not-her and several others, including the pink-haired girl, were watching a TV report... people were collapsing... and then a sharp thud behind her, and several adults were on the floor behind them. She didn't catch everything, but a chill ran through her heart at not-her calling for her mother to wake up. That left her badly spooked as the feeling passed, to the point that the girls were now asking if she was okay. Reassuring them, Winter quickly excused herself, no longer hungry, and escaped to the student council room, currently deserted, and pulled a notebook out of her bag, starting with her number and continuing to write in a very shaky hand:]

Something's wrong... two random people just completely spaced out right in front of me, for no discernible reason. I know it's not totally unusual, but... I have a bad feeling. Has anyone else noticed anyone just... zoning out? If not, maybe I'm just overreacting. But I'm starting to learn that we can't be too careful.

Comments

( handwritten )

[argents]

If you think it's related, we can't just assume that it's not. Not anymore. But it's completely normal people being affected this time...?

[peacefulwinter]

That... bothers me. We can defend ourselves, at least a little. We can't protect the whole city if things start to happen, and if things happen to everyone but us, we're going to attract a lot of attention we don't want.

To say nothing of the fact that these people are innocent, aside from living here.

[argents]

Me too. That's so low, targeting people who have nothing to do with this to get at us.

[peacefulwinter]

It is! How dare they hold people hostage because of us!? This is unacceptable, and I'm going to give these people a piece of my mind when we finally meet them.

[argents]

[ ...Wow, that almost made him rear back from his notebook. ]

Keep an eye out for anything weird, and I will too. There should be a reason, right? Like us with the water. But just because it's not happening to us doesn't mean you can't be careful too.

[peacefulwinter]

Of course. I'll keep an eye out, but I want to make this right. Part of my job as a member of the student council is to protect this school and its students, and I'm going to take that seriously.

[...Winter, dear, you're going to break your pencil. Stop pressing so hard. The words come out in sharp, dark text, very unlike her usual neat, graceful hand.]

[argents]

They're lucky. It's in good hands. Though

[ Banagher underlines a particularly dark and jagged series of letters for emphasis. ]

You sure yours don't hurt after that?

[peacefulwinter]

My wha

[There's a pause; that's as far as she got before his words clicked, and she finally realized she was making the pencil bend under the pressure, and with a hiss she shook her hand out. After a little while, in more normal lettering:]

Sorry. I'm a little on edge, with, well, everything that's happening.

[argents]

I know. As if the buzzing wasn't bad enough, now this.

[ A few dots appear, where he taps his pen. ]

Something I noticed was that the sound gets worse the farther downtown I am. Maybe we should see if the zoning out is worse around there too.

[peacefulwinter]

Further downtown? That's a good place to start, then. I know people are investigating the sound, but if people space out even worse than this downtown, there'll be problems. I might see about taking a look in a little while.

[argents]

No one's mentioned anything about it yet, but it could be that they're not looking for it either. What the heck is that phenomenon called, when you hear about something once, and suddenly it's everywhere?

[ HELP HIM OBI-WINTER KENOBI you're his only hope when it comes to smart stuff. ]

[peacefulwinter]

Deja vu? Or perhaps a confirmation bias? In any event, you're right. The only way to be sure is to look for ourselves.

[argents]

"BAADER-MEINHOF PHENOMENON"

[ Caps because he's proud that he found that on the first try. ]

Really, who's going to remember a name like that — I had to use google. But I think you're right. Just walking around is probably enough to do it.