Ned & Meyer § Video 04 § Day 114

[nedofpies]

[ The video, when it flickers on, shows Ned, a pencil tucked behind his ear and a faint bruise on his jaw, care of the earthquake a few days ago. Which is, as a matter of fact, the subject of the message. He dives right in, speaking at a rapid clip: ]

I can't be the only one who thinks there was something fishy about that earthquake. Fishier than the usual amount of fishy in this place, I mean. I'm not exactly new to the whole weird-things-happen-here phenomenon, but this isn't the first time there's been an earthquake. I feel like, normally, when things go sideways here they do it in a new and interesting way. The fact that this has happened more than once seems significant. We've been... trying to guess what's behind all of it, but we're kind of coming up short on the ideas front. So, uh-

[ Ned hesitates, glances at someone near him, and then turns the camera towards the other half of the 'we' in question. Meyer sits near him, busily scribbling something into his small notebook, which looks to be running out of pages quickly. He looks up when Ned turns the camera to him, and offers that slightly too-toothy smile, brushing his hair back from his forehead. ]

Like everything else that goes on around here, different people witness different things. For our parts, we only saw a small amount of what happened during the earthquake. We need more information.

[ He gestures to the papers strewn in front of them. ]

I don't doubt that our captors're somehow... involved in this. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that we've had other earthquakes. So if any of you saw anything out of the ordinary -- more out of the ordinary than usual for this place, I mean -- it'd be appreciated if you could tell us. Maybe we can get to the bottom of at least some of this.

(OOC: Since this is a joint post, either Meyer or Ned will respond - if you have a urgent preference just let us know!)

Comments

I HAVE AN URGENT PREFERENCE FOR NED

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[After the message is posted and the video's no longer recording, he turns to Ned again, eyebrow raised, looking somewhere between thoughtful and skeptical.]

How likely do you think it is that anyone's going to have the kind of information that'd actually provide us with enough help to figure out what really happened here?

[He's well aware that he sounds cynical, perhaps tiresomely so, but cynicism has served him well in the past, and somehow, he has the feeling that Ned's not much more optimistic than he is. He feels like he's been chasing after information that may or may not exist for quite some time, now, and he's growing frustrated.]

I have an urgent preference for your face

[nedofpies]

Judging by our luck, not very likely to incredibly unlikely. [ The determination that he'd shown when he was broadcasting the message ebbs away almost immediately, leaving him looking much more worn, much more pessimistic. He's been going over it himself, with Meyer too, trying to piece together why, logically, it would be an earthquake in particular that was happening over and over again. ]

But it can't hurt to try, can it? [ If no one is the wiser than them, at least they'll have established that no one knows anything. Which Ned would like to think of as a start rather than a dead end, but he can't quite bring himself to. ]

[ With sudden fervor, he says ] I'm so sick of just sitting around waiting for the next bad thing to happen.

Re: Well y'know my face IS pretty great

[recognize_an_opportunity]

It can't hurt to try.

[He swipes at his hair again with renewed irritation. It's too long, and that's just another thing he hates about this place. The smallest of irritants seems to take on larger meaning here -- he's well aware that his cynicism might be overblown, but at least Ned seems as pessimistic as he is.]

I don't like waiting around either.

[He shuffles the papers once again, for something to do with his hands rather than anything productive.]

The way I see it, though, there's not much we can do except research. Our hands're tied here.

[nedofpies]

[ He makes a little scoffing noise when Meyer says 'research', but this is a conversation they've already had. Ned knows that the main benefit they can reap from this endeavor is a distraction, that the chances they'll find out anything that could lead to a concrete improvement or even a complete answer are very slim. ]

[But he keeps from losing his cool in part because, well, if Meyer can keep it together, he can too. Still, he's not all that successful at hiding the itch of restless energy under his skin. Strange, how some days the captivity slips by like its nothing and he nearly forgets, and some days he feels like clawing the paint off the walls ]

Meyer, um. [ It's occurred to him, speaking about the earthquake in his message, that there's something important he needs to do ] I didn't- I still haven't said thank you. For helping me.

[video]

[zen_navigator]

And you didn't think to bring a detective in on this hunch? [HE IS SUPER OFFENDED YOU DIDN'T THINK OF HIM OKAY.]

[He sighs deeply] Did you notice the animals?

Re: [video]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

It's not exactly a large-scale investigation, at this point.

[Although from the amount of notes he's taking about it, it might as well be.]

The fact that the animals didn't act strangely beforehand? I'd heard someone mention it.

[video]

[zen_navigator]

Yes. No heading for the hills, as one might if they knew in their little animal brains what was going to happen. The birds outside my window were nearly as startled as I was.

This speaks to either a strangeness of the local fauna hitherto unnoticed, or a peculiarity in the quake itself.

Re: [video]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Well, I think we can both agree that the local fauna is pretty strange, considering it includes sabertooth tigers, but we've got no reason to suspect they wouldn't respond to an earthquake, if they felt one coming. And if they didn't feel it coming...

[A shrug as he jots down another note.]

We're right back to thinking that this wasn't a natural occurrence.

[blackmagus]

I haven't been here very long. But earthquakes don't really fit the place, and you say they've happened before? [Fortescue cants her head to the side, slightly, thoughtful.] I've heard that some animals flee and act strangely just before one, but my cat was just as surprised as I was.

[nedofpies]

[ Ned listens to Fortescue, pauses before he answers her to shoot a significant look in what must be Meyer's direction. She's not the first one to mention the thing about the animals. That has to be important, doesn't it ]

What do you think that might mean? That the earthquake was artificial? [ That doesn't tell him much: he'd already guessed that. ] What do you mean, that they don't fit the place. [ He agrees, but he can't put his finger on why, wonders if Fortescue might have some more solid reasoning behind her statement ]

[blackmagus]

I suppose I'm saying... perhaps it wasn't an earthquake. Perhaps it only felt like an earthquake. [Her eyes squint a little, though at the wall and not in the comm's direction. It's frustrating, the small amount of information that they have at their fingertips.] I don't have anything solid, it's just that this place and its climate seem very... East Coast American, perhaps, and I've heard that earthquakes aren't the least bit common there.

[nedofpies]

Yes. That had crossed my mind. But then again, giant murderous squid monsters aren't really East Coast America either. And neither are mechanical bears.

[ Don't mind if he just buries his face in his hand for a moment. It feels impossible, trying to use logic around a place like this ]

You know of anything from your own world that could cause something like this?

audio

[servingmichael]

That I am aware of, there have been three. The docks, the dinner, the general store. All three effected food supply. Have there been others?

Re: audio

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Those are the ones I'm aware of, as well.

[A pause, and a thoughtful noise.]

You're right, they've all impacted food supply. Do you think they're targeted that way?

audio

[servingmichael]

I don't know. The locations also form the points to a triangle, but that is likely incidental. As near as I can tell, these aren't the result of natural plate movements either.

Re: audio

[recognize_an_opportunity]

At this point, I don't know whether we can call anything incidental, which is... frustrating, to say the least. You're right, though, these don't strike me as being 'natural,' either.

[hung_garian]

Out of the ordinary? Well - I can't be sure, but I'm pretty sure I saw a moose of frankly unusual size trying to walk on two legs, and I coulda sworn I saw Dean Winchester sober... unlikely though that may sound. And a tiny green woman with wings, but that mighta just been the absinthe talking.

[sorrynotsorry, he's not gonna be helpful. like, ever.]

[nedofpies]

[ At other times, Ned has found this guy's humor to be entertaining, but he's not in a particularly receptive mood at the moment. ]

So is this the kind of joking that is actually you working your way up to mentioning something that will be useful, or are you just enjoying the sound of your own voice?

[ Wow, that was astonishingly confrontational, for Ned. Usually he keeps his passive-aggressive side much closer to the passive. Blame the recent concussion, and the fact that he knows this whole exercise is probably pointless to start with. ]

[hung_garian]

If it were just me enjoying it, I'd be talking to myself instead. Twice the amount of me in one conversation! No, see, you're misunderstanding me - I'm a deeply altruistic person, you know. I thought that I'd come share the sound of my own voice with you poor souls. Spread the joy. Sharing is caring.

[He blinks innocently.]

Why? You're not in a hurry, are you? Somehow I don't think I'm wasting your time any more than you'd waste it yourself... not unless you think you're getting out of here any time soon.

[ video ] clint could not be less helpful if he tried

[greatatboats]

I didn't see much. But I was impaled in my leg by a tree branch. It's hard to see when you're kissing the ground. Well--floor? I dunno. I was in the attic. Didn't get a chance to see out there. [ It did seem to come out of nowhere. It's nice to see his housemate playing detective though. It's better than kissy face with the other guy. ] Investigator is a good color on your, Ned. [ He nods to the other guy though. He's not that rude. ]

Re: [ video ]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[He nods back, and, since Ned's in the midst of writing something down, decides to talk to this guy for the time being. It's always a good idea to get to know people around here, and they haven't talked before.]

Impaled by a tree branch? I hope you got medical attention for that.

i was so hoping for meyer. more than intrigued by boardwalk empire.

[greatatboats]

[ Clint's a private guy. Keeping to himself just seemed like the right thing to do at first. When you got as many secrets as him it's just instinct to keep them protected at all costs. Even if that mean isolating himself from potential allies in this chaos. ] Yeah. I got help. I'm stuck sitting on my ass most of the time, but it could be worse. Coulda gone more towards the middle if you catch my drift.

[kore_npc]

There's the really fun coincidence of things falling on me every time there's an earthquake. Sometimes entire buildings.

[nedofpies]

[ Oh. Oh. So this is... ]

You're that girl.

[ He's been listening in to the other conversations, and Maggie has come up, if not by name. Ned's a little surprised that she responded, but happy for the opportunity to ask ]

So you've been there, every time it happens? Near the center of it?

[ Because he's also picked up the fact that these are very localized events, and that only a building or so at a time has completely fallen down. ]

[kore_npc]

Well, I'm not a scientist, but two buildings fell on me and the docks fell from under my feet. My luck's been pretty bad. Even in the smaller once, I've gotten hit on the head. Maybe I'm just a pain magnet.