[video] (Backdated to 22nd sob)

[umbrael]

[Normally Doyle would be a little more hesitant to throw his face onto the network for everyone to see (as opposed to carefully picking comments), but this is a little bit of an emergency, which is also why he's broadcasting at this hour. The wall behind him is blank and lit - well lit, casting a sharp shadow behind him. The same light is making his face look washed out, and making the bags under his eyes look more pronounced. Well, it's either the light, or how he's been sleeping terribly lately.]

Okay, okay, I thought I was going crazy, but now I'm pretty sure this is some numbers-related bullshit. Has anyone noticed-- Aha!

[His eyes - red, no contacts tonight - dart to look at something offscreen, and suddenly everything blurs as he turns the camera.

It stops, to look at a nightstand. The lamp on it casts dark little shadows under the stuff littering it - a digital clock, a ring of keys, a wallet, a little notepad and pen, a kleenex box with a half-crumpled tissue beside it - but there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. He gives it a second, just in case, but nope, nothing to see here.]

... Dammit. Nevermind. Uh.

[The camera pans back to himself. He still looks a little rattled, but hey, he thinks he's doing a pretty good job keeping cool about it, all things considered. He clears his throat - gives the room another glance-around, just in case, and gets back to his message.]

R-right - I've be seeing stuff moving, uh, mostly in the peripheral. Mostly where it's - darker. It started a few weeks ago, I think, so, uh. Anyone else getting stalked by something just out of sight? It can't just be me.

[Of course, as he says this, his shadow - wavers. Not like his lamp moved or anything- the edges of it wriggle. It's only for a few seconds, though it moves most noticeably when he says 'stalked'. He doesn't notice this one, since it's behind him.]

Comments

[Video]

[scramasax]

[It might be perhaps dubious sympathy having Anthony, likewise, on with a visual from the get go, head ducked and huddling a bit, has no idea if this is appropriate as it's blatantly not helping matters, but, potential commiseration is potential commiseration to serve whatever purpose it might - in a total equivalent of very timidly raising one's hand:]

- Uh -- me - ! I'm uh -- [Presses some uncontrolled roughness out of his voice - ] - ordinarily just seeing things - though...

[And he'd had an eventful enough previous night that he can't be entirely sure if that little shift of movement in the video he's watching was anything.]

[Video]

[umbrael]

[Doyle nods, but it's slow, and he tries not to sound too... disappointed, crestfallen, some adjective like that. Adjective? No, that's right.

All right Umbr- Doyle, get a hold of yourself. He tries not to sound too disappointed.]

Ah. Was that - uh, did that start after you got your numbers?

[Video]

[scramasax]

[Nods, bit more clear and earnest.] -- Yes, sir. - I umm. I've had - my numbers since April; I - received the - pulse - that - started it in... - October, I - think.

[Video]

[umbrael]

All right - okay. So it's numbers stuff but wh...

[You know, he hadn't noticed at first from the angle and the lighting not playing well with his screen, but when the kid nods, he notices something off.]

H-hold on, are you, uh.

[A wince, because even he can tell this is probably going to get insensitive.]

Are you the, uh, zombie kid?

[His shadow seems to quiver a little in sympathy with his awkwardness]

[Video]

[scramasax]

[No insensitivity detected but he does blink a little wider and recoil from the screen a tad in the spirit of an "oops", exactly why he can't pin - the movement keeps him from catching the movement by the shadow enough to make anything of it.]

-- I er - I am a zombie - ...yes. [Difficult to say with absolute certainty whether anyone among them is necessarily "the" anything! He'll not ask why he asks, it'd be keep-things-moving filler and possibly unintentionally defensive-sounding.]

[Video]

[umbrael]

[Why? Uh. Just, y'know, just... curious... ...

He grimaces a little more, but nods a little.]

Ah - uh - geez. I'm sorry, man.

[Y'know, 'sorry you're a living corpse, my condolences'.

... Hey speaking of anything else,]

So - definitely a network thing. Do you see anything clear or is it all just out of sight?

[Said quickly while conspicuously trying not to stare]

[Video]

[scramasax]

[Grimaces a little on his own end, with just a bit of tightening of in-tact muscles, he didn't mean to make this awkward, manages to shut up until the question comes along.

He'll gladly help along the return to the original topic!]

Clear - yes -- I uh - hear things, too - but uhm. [More spoken-up.] They're only hallucinations -- ! They don't um. Actually - mean anything, with me.

[part_time_overlord]

Can't say that I have. Sounds pretty creepy, though.

[video]

[umbrael]

[Exasperated, exhausted, with an expression to match:]

You're telling me.

[part_time_overlord]

I don't think it's just in your head at least. Your shadow was just sort of wriggling a bit.

[umbrael]

My what?

[It's said very flatly, and with a squint. Forgive him, he's tired.]

[part_time_overlord]

Your shadow. The one on the wall behind you. It was moving weird for a second. Did you get an echo recently?

[umbrael]

[Doyle goes still, and his shadow - well, it snaps straight straight as well, but a few little tendrils peel off from the main thing and curl a little, as if ready to act.

Then Doyle suddenly twists around, and hey what do you know, his shadow keeps doing the weird thing this time, and he gets to fully see and appreciate it. Only for a second, though - because then he yelps and starts flailing away from the wall.]

WHAT THE FUCK?-!!

[He drops his phone and, by the sounds of it, falls off the bed. His voice can still be heard off-screen:]

Ow - fuck.

text;

[siesinddasessen]

Are your shadows watching you sleep?

Video

[umbrael]

[His eye twitches, and - actually he laughs a little, but it sounds slightly hysterical.]

Ha ha ha, christ, I hope not!

[But the fake amusement falls as he shoots another suspicious glance at the shadows in his room.]

text;

[siesinddasessen]

I'm sure it's fine. Just try to not talk about any secrets in your sleep while this is happening.

Video

[umbrael]

Thankfully I'm more of a sleep-mumbler.

[har har]

text;

[siesinddasessen]

Then pray that that won't change.

[ha ha

more seriously though]

You have no memories of shadows?

video

[umbrael]

[Snark response is cut off as he thinks about it-]

Assuming you mean echoes, n--

... Wait. I mean - I kind of do, I remember a shadow, and-

[Cue him feeling like an idiot. He blinks, and then kind of grimaces.]

[Voice]

[dododo]

Did it start seemingly without reason?

[Video]

[umbrael]

[He purses his lips, and glances to the side as he thinks.]

Uh - I think so. I only noticed it a little over a week ago, on the way home from work. Thought I was just tired, but it keeps happening.

[dododo]

Before it, did you feel a ... an emptiness?

[umbrael]

[... He's thinking about it. He frowns, but:]

...Nnnot really. I was, uh, kind of angry, actually.

[dododo]

Did you feel a heartbeat?

[umbrael]

[Wait he knows where this is going]

Nah - my last echo was at the start of the month.

... Are there, uh - delays on when what you've echoed back shows up, though?