01. video, webcam.

[betroth]

[ Good eve, Numbers Club. Say hello to a big pair of baby blues all up in the webcam's business for the two seconds it takes to scoot back and allow it to refocus.

A pocket-sized blonde sits on the other end! ]

Ah — ! You do work both ways! Thank goodness. I didn't think of this number for a long time, until I started to hear that awful buzzing noise just recently. I thought maybe it had an expiration date.

[ She lifts a hand to tuck some hair behind her ear and clears her throat. ]

A-anyway, hello, my name is Chloe... I've done what reading I can since I learned I could, um, connect. Things seem very... chaotic for everyone right now. [ Her look turns soft. Are you ready to be helped, are you. ] It's only natural to be wary, and I can't offer very much, but I want to help however I can! So please consider it. My family owns a little bit of property outside of Locke if anyone needs a place to stay where there aren't so many people. The buzzing is also quieter. I promise you wouldn't be imposing, but if you're worried about that, the upstairs of our barn has been renovated into a room since we had our new stables built. It's kept very clean. And I own a truck, if anyone needs help getting around.

[ SHE CAN TOO SEE OVER THE WHEEL WITHOUT A BOOSTER SEAT SHHHHHH SHOOSH just

getting that out of the way, okay.

There's a short pause as she chews on the inside of her cheek. ]

I have one more question! Since it seems like we can share memories among ourselves... does anyone have memories of flying? Or more precisely, being propelled through the air. It's — very unique.

Comments

( video )

[betroth]

It was and wasn't! ...I'm not making this very clear, am I? [ An awkward laugh. ] At the very least, I know it wasn't a spaceship. But you have memories of one?

[audio]

[moarnomsplz]

Not rill, really. [He sounds almost apologetic.] Maybe, bee, you could sort of propel yourself up, but then had to glide, or something-ing?

But yeah, other-me was, like, a cadet on a spay, spaceship. I haven't remembered much more about it yet.

[betroth]

[ Her face lights up. ]

That does sound similar! Gliding and — and then swinging...

[ Man she is just pleased as punch now. She turns that excitement on him. ]

Ah! So that means... you've been off the Earth before?

[moarnomsplz]

I'm pretty sure other-me started off not on Earth, err-thuh. But then sort of, like, crash-landed here.

Do you remember having wings, ing-zuh?

[betroth]

That's amazing. I imagined we'd be from all kinds of walks of life, but not like this...

[ She takes a grounding breath. Not from Earth, goodness. ]

No wings of my own, I'm afraid. It was a mechanism that was helping me fly! A man-made one, I've been told.

[moarnomsplz]

Maybe it'll show up! Peep, people have gotten stuff from their other lives.

There's all kinds of different crazy, zee, memories popping up. If we were playing-ing "sci-fi and fantasy species, shee-zuh," bingo, we'd have a winner by now.

[betroth]

Oh, I'm hoping so! If I could just learn to fly like that again...

[ MORE MYSTERIES SOLVED. IN THEORY. ]

Some of the physical changes sound a little frightening. If you weren't from Earth originally, does that mean you've had them too?

[moarnomsplz]

Yeah, I've been real lucky, kee, that way. [It's audio, but his eyeroll is probably practically audible.]

This repeating-ing sounds thing is from a pulse, and I can kind of halfway shape-shift, shiff-tuh? Just eyes and a tail. But I know I'll end up sort of senn, centaur-y.

[betroth]

[ She makes a sympathetic sound. ]

It's not the first time today that I — I've heard about shapeshifting, and yet... [ WORRY WORRY ] I hadn't realized they were quite so extreme.

[moarnomsplz]

Most peep, people seem to be at least vaguely humanoid. I'm kinda one of the exceptions, shun-zuh.

[betroth]

I'm sorry if this is an awful question to ask, but, ah... your family? How do they...?

[moarnomsplz]

It's okay, kay.

They don't know anything-ing. Which means I get in trouble a lot for snee, sneaking out to do numbers club stuff.

[betroth]

Secrets are hard things to bear with, sometimes.