[text]

[unfearing]

[ She's just come in on a flight from the opposite coast, so she's a bit worn out for her usual video posts. As such for now she's simply writing something up for the network. It seems that the act of writing in of itself is helping her sort her thoughts, for which she's immeasurably grateful. There's just been so much going on. ]

This is Elizabeth Bishop.

My friends and allies, you may have noticed a marked absence from me over the course of the past week. I finished my exams and as customary for me after every quarter, went to spend a week with my father at home. Upon doing this, I have discovered something troubling.

When I arrived at home and for the entirety of the week I spent there, I remembered nothing of the things that have happened here. Not once did I think about the network or my access code to it. I spared no time recalling the werewolves or the statues, and at no point did I think about the relationships I've forged with people through this crisis.

In fact, I distinctly remember my father asking me what happened to my hair. We Skype once a week, and I'd told him that I decided to dye it pink. But I didn't have any idea what he was talking about. I told him not to be silly, and he told me he would never understand today's teenagers.

My hair was blonde again that entire week.

In many ways, I do not even think I was myself.

In fact, it was not until my plane touched down again at the airport here that I felt that there was something markedly amiss about how I'd spent my last week.

I do not know what to make of this, but I implore anyone intending to travel outside the city to do so with great caution. We are helpless without the knowledge we've gained. Those who do not realize they are in danger are the most at risk. I do not know the exact radius of how far it is safe to go due to the distance that I traveled, but it is not something that should be recklessly tested.

Please be careful.

The sheer amount of what we do not know far outweighs that which we do.

Casval, Jack; You will both call me and tell me what has happened in my absence or I will find you. And you will be honest with me, or I will find you. Am I understood? Good.

Brendan, I'd like to discuss matters with you if you have the time. Did your exams go well? Have you been eating? No, don't answer that. I'll call your sister.

Banagher, if you have a moment free today or tomorrow, please also give me a call. Thank you.

If anyone at all has any questions or concerns, please feel absolutely free to bring them to me. I will do my best to help.

Thank you for your time.

Comments

[ text; cellphone ]

[secondcomingof]

Nothing happened.

[ WHELP

Biggest Bullshitter of the Year Award goes to... ]

[unfearing]

Captain Casval Mass, you have clearly mistaken me for someone else if you think that I believe you for a fraction of a second.

[secondcomingof]

[ Someone get this guy an I TRIED star. The worst possible one. Because boy was that a pathetic effort, indeed. ]

...Jack and I got into a disagreement.

It's been resolved.

[unfearing]

[ If you thought that was going to somehow make her worry less, Casval, then you really need to brush up on your game. ]

What kind of disagreement?

Casval, where are you?

[solfage]

I guess that means it really is just happening here, huh...

[unfearing]

It might be a little soon to say that it is only here, but there certainly seems to be a geographical component.

[solfage]

For us, it might as well just be here. We're all local and if we can't leave without losing track...

Though if it's not just us, maybe it happens in...pockets?

PRIVATE; text

[kingside]

You had better be bluffing. She's worried enough.

[unfearing]

I'm only bluffing if you've been taking care of yourself.

...are you well, Brendan? Stepping off that plane-- My heart stopped, I'm certain.

private; text FOREVER

[kingside]

I've been eating regular meals and sleeping and everything. Honest.

Are you all right now? Do you need anything?

text

[hollowleg]

wait, so... when you left, you forgot everything? just like that??

[unfearing]

Exactly like that. Of course, I didn't realize that I'd forgotten anything until I returned. I just went about my normal life and routine as I would have before all this started. I can only imagine what would have become of me if I normally spent summer at home.

[hollowleg]

so... if we leave, all of this weirdness, it just goes away

thats convenient

( audio )

[argents]

Hey. ...Welcome back.

[ Not the best circumstances, but. It'd always bear saying. Concern shines through, however, clear as a bell, almost like an unspoken question. ]

[unfearing]

...Banagher.

[ Elizabeth sounds uncharacteristically tired. Worn down, almost. She lets out a quiet, unsteady puff of breath and offers him a weak laugh. ]

It's good to hear your voice.

[ He's the first person to call her rather than simply respond through text, so he's the first familiar voice she's heard since getting home. ]

Has... Has everyone been all right since I've been gone?

[ Has Casval gone and done anything reckless again? She doesn't know quite how to voice that just yet, so she leaves it unspoken in the silence between her words. ]

[argents]

[ Though he wouldn't go so far as to say he's comforted by how she sounds, his tone of voice loses much of its edge once he hears her. It wouldn't do either of them any good. ]

Yours too.

[ That part is in earnest, spoken levelly. ]

Everyone's still here. [ Alive. ] Things have... been happening to us, still.

[ Whether or not to launch into details makes him hesitate. Eventually, he settles on: ]

But it sounds like you've been through a lot.

[ursoreckless]

so if i want to go visiting the folks, i better say no?

[unfearing]

It's a decision you must make for yourself, but this development makes it very difficult to predict what will happen if you leave. Not to mention how there will be no way for any of us to reliably contact you or warn you of anything.

[ursoreckless]

and we can't actually have our information laying around for just anyone to get ahold of given some of the evidence i've seen.

[iaijutsu]

That is disconcerting.

I'll put it in the FAQ.

[unfearing]

Thank you, Hajime.

Has everything been well with you...? It's been quite a while since we've spoken.

[iaijutsu]

[Has everything been well. What a question.

Well, I nearly took someone's arm off and he decided that I get to be the one to kill him if he flips his shit, which is a completely terrifying and unpleasant prospect, and also my best friend kissed me but neither of us has said anything about it since then, so I'm not entirely sure where we stand anymore.]

I've been well enough, I suppose.

[earnedmystripes]

...Same thing happened to me. Kinda creeped me out when I realized.

Did you get everything back all at once, too?

[unfearing]

More or less. Some specifics came back faster than others, but it essentially felt as though I was one person one moment and another person the next.

[earnedmystripes]

Yeah, it was like. Not even like I was forgetting something and just couldn't place it. Everything from the last month and a half was just gone. Feeling like a completely different person about sums it up, really.

One of the things I'd gotten back randomly popping up out of nowhere in the middle of the airport didn't help either, heh...