savetheearth | 4th Cut -- [Audio

[The audio quality isn't great, but it's not due to the fact that the network feed filtered through Jack's phone is bad. It's that Jack is quite obviously drunk. Drunk as a skunk, slurring words and pausing to remember what he was trying to get at every so often.]

I dunno why any of you keep trying to fool yourselves. Fucking around with your art projects and fake IDs, asking questions about what any of this means... fine, ignore there's a damn war going on. With teenagers and kids getting dragged in. Are you happy about that? You think that's okay?

But I guess we're all damned if we do, damned if we don't, aren't we. This is all just gonna keep on happening, because I sure don't see any end yet when we don't even know what we're up against. More where they came from, I'd bet. So I hope all you volunteers had fun out there. [Added with a bitter, sarcastic snarl.]

Without even any front lines... can't trust the cops, the army, anybody... we're all still just wandering aimlessly...

[Jack's voice trails off abruptly after taking a sharp turn from irate to morose. There's the distinct glug of him taking a drink straight from the bottle.]

Nothing we can do. Nothing I can do anymore...

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, I'm sure getting drunk off your ass is a good way to prepare for war. [Even if you're in a drunken stupour, Jack, the sarcasm coming from the kid's voice is super clear.]

What did you expect with a mentally imbalanced commander intent on going offensive right off the bat while toying with lives other than his own? Far too many people want to be heroes while lacking the wisdom to fulfill the role. We need resources and to get those we need time. Sadly, that seems to be in short supply.

[Not that she isn't trying. She's tapped into an alliance with Dick, promising to put his blackmail to good use. Anything to usurp Casval. It'll get the money flowing from contacts outside the city soon enough. She just needs time.]

...Jack? Jack Sears, is that you?

[ You can almost hear her planting her hands on her hips. ]

How much have you had to drink? No, don't answer that.

[ She sighs. There's a pause as she thinks to herself that she's done all she really can do for him, even if what that amounts to in the end is still laughably inadequate. She worries at her lip a little, then leans back against the wall of the hallway she's standing in. ]

...Do you need me to come home and hold your hair back? Or...! I could order pizza? How do you take yours, Mister Sears?

[Doesn't even care, sullen even though he's getting scolded by... either a woman or a little boy, he's not sure right now.]

What good am I gonna do... Without a single good arm. Without anything.

And what resources are you going to get? What's going to help this situation? Tell me, because I'm all ears.

[Ah, sarcasm rises again in Jack's voice.]

[[Hell, voice for voice, why not]]

And what else are we supposed to do...? Stare at the sun until we burn out our eyes and go blind?

That won't help anything....

Cash, weapons, and manpower.

[Might as well use her pull with her father's "old friends." Bleed them dry and get resources while avenging the destruction of her family. She's nothing if not efficient.]

So your solution for everyone is to just give up like you are?

[Busteeeeed. But Jack's beyond caring, taking another sip. That glug was that bottle of cognac. Yes, he is drinking straight from the bottle, thank you for asking.

On the other hand, he is staying at Euphie's apartment so he tries to tone it down a notch.]

Right, because I'm gonna answer the door looking like this. I don't need anything.

[Dammit, Bakura]

Get away. Go somewhere else until it's over.

Even if that were possible what good would it do? Leaving those we care about behind... there's no way any of us would let that happen. And there's too many people to take them all with us, even if we were going to let ourselves be chased from our homes.

I don't buy that. There's always something. Otherwise, we might as well all go turn ourselves in right now. I think I'd rather explore a few other options first, y'know?

Maybe I... No... I don't know...

[Jack's not quite sure where he was going with this any more, lost in alcoholic fog.]

I don't know. Maybe it's better... for kids and families, get the hell out of here.

[Jack snorts.]

What, hired mercs to fight off a bunch of hellbeasts? Yeah, that sounds great, sign me up too while you're at it. Then when the General starts picking bullets out of thin air at least I'm not gonna be the only target.

That assumes that Locke is the only place where these things are happening.

I didn't say we'd be using manpower against the threat. Just as a means toward resources.

[Drones, to be specific. The government has them and she knows quite a few companies are intent on developing their own. Probably where her access to Antebellum Industries will come in handy. It's the one thing she needs Casval for before she decides whether or not he's worth shooting with the gun he placed in her hands.

~~inb4 no Une. automated weapons almost got you killed in canon. OTL~~]

[ This man... he's seen some very sad things, hasn't he? That's the feeling Colette gets as he speaks. He's drunk, that much she's certain of, but he sounds like a man who has seen more than his fair share. Tired. The weight of the world... it must be a heavy thing. She's never had to carry it but this man, he sounds like it presses upon him very firmly. In a way she resonates with that even though she can't understand why. Her words are softly spoken. ]

... I'm sorry.

You'd rather get killed out having a good time on some werewolf hunt, right? Good times for everybody! Why not.

Oh yeah, and what options are those?

[Jack's still angry, bitter and sullen in his replies, and his response to Colette is no exception.]

For what? Which group are you in, the fools or the idiots?

Yeah well, if it's not... fuck.

[Now seems as good a time as any for another brief swig.]

And you got some reason for not using your resources to keep people from getting hurt when everything went to shit last weekend?

Well I could answer the door if I was coming back, silly. Are you sure you couldn't use some pizza?

...oh! Jack, do you need anything while I'm--

[ ...probably not productive to ask the drunk guy, but the least Elizabeth can do is try. Try to get his mind off things, try to lend him some small slice of 'normal,' try to give him some kind of respite from the rest of the world. So she takes a deep breath and starts again. ]

I bought some bar soap. It's blue...? It doesn't smell like flowers. Um, let's see what else I've picked up-- Razors, spare clothes, deodorant... Do you want different shampoo? The one I've got smells like strawberries. Oh, and is there anything else you usually use? I feel like I'm missing something...

The pied piper had already played his song and my time was lacking. It'll take me a few months to bring everything to fruition but I'll have something concrete soon enough.

Well, mostly right now I'm trying to find ways to...I dunno...get ready for whatever's coming. Like, learning to defend myself, stuff like that. Maybe that seems stupid to you, but to me it seems better than just rolling over and saying fuck it.

Page 1 of 8

4th Cut -- [Audio | Cellphone]

Voice

text

audio

Voice

[Audio]

[Voice]

text

Voice

[Audio]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

no subject

[Audio]

no subject

Re: [Audio]

audio

[Voice]

[Voice]

audio

no subject

[Audio]

no subject

Re: [Audio]

[Voice]