cape_kore | video/action ❆ day 181

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video/action ❆ day 181

[Meja's in the hydroponics bay, because nowhere else would there be a large green backdrop for this message. The plants are doing well, and today she's modifying their runes, just slightly, to give them a little more nutrients. It's part of her recent tinkering, an improvement she's stumbled upon. Being in this place and forced to stand still, while unnatural for a Valkyrie, is good for getting things done.

Sitting on the work table in front of her is a little box and its note. She found it in her room just a few hours ago; it's unopened. Meja has seen too many tricks to trust this box at all. In fact, it strikes her of a certain trickster so much that she can barely stomach looking at the note at all.

But she's fairly certain the trickster is, in fact, building-shaped, and not her old foe come to rain new problems on her.]

Hei hei, and good morning. Does this look familiar to anyone? [She holds it up for the camera. Roland the rat scurries into view to peer up at it.] It was sitting on my floor, in front of the door. I wasn't meditating, and I didn't have my back turned. It simply... appeared, I believe. [Unless she lost the memory of some other kind of arrival... No, no, best not to think of that right now.] Please be careful with them, if you've seen one. If you know what they do, please let me know, and if you're in need of help, also let me know. The more we all learn, the better we can deal with this new excitement. Tusen takk.

[And with that, she cuts the feed.]

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[ Oh! Hi there Meja! Donna scrunches up her nose at the box. ]

Oh! I had one of those boxes in my room when I woke up too. I might've sorta opened it. [ Hey, she's a curious creature! She can't help it. ]

Kinda rubbish if you ask me. A puff of smoke or sommat and then nothing. [ Oh Donna. If you only knew. Oh well, she'll find out soon enough. ]

[She smiles to see Donna, though the smile does a little worried waver when Donna says she opened her box.]

And you're feeling all right? Did it look exactly like this one?

[Maybe that's relevant, maybe it isn't, but Meja's still curious.]

Yep! One hundred percent the same, I'm sure of it. And I feel fine. No nasty side effects so far that I can see.

Maybe I got a dud box. Not that I'm complaining.

[Meja hurms, turning her box over once in her hand.]

Perhaps so. I don't recommend opening more to see if that's true. I'm certain at least one other person opened theirs. We'll find out soon enough.

Yeah, I've no plans to open any more. Wouldn't want to push my luck! Maybe we could collect the rest of the boxes up and lock them in a room or sommat? But then again, I suppose most people here are adult enough to decide whether or not to take the chance...

Perhaps if there's a pressing need to, but for now I'm hoping that that would be unnecessary. [Hopefully no one feels like opening another box if they've already found the one in their room and done the deed.] I'm not encouraged about the situation, given that yours was empty...

Maybe it's like the crates that appeared on the cape way back. I mean, some of those were filled with explosives and other nasty surprises, but others were filled with food - I even got a camera.

Maybe it's pot luck or sommat?

Given the message this place wrote, that's a... terrifying thought. [Explosives in some of the boxes. Not comforting. Still, a hesitant smile remains on Meja's face, because she's faced worse situations, in the end.] But it would fit the pattern of previous bad situations here.

I guess we just got to make sure everyone is as safe as can be, right?

Right. [She nods. Of course, that's pretty much Meja's first concern. It's the general in her. Or, she supposes, the 'foolish hero', as Lady Ingibjörg says.] If you notice any changes with your box, or you, let me know. It's better to know the full size of a situation.

I'll be sure to let you know. Stay safe, Meja!

MEJA! [Garrett sounds way louder than he usually does, speaking in an emphasized tone that comes from not knowing if anyone can hear him. He's trying to put on a brave face, but he looks a lot more wide-eyed and scared than he normally does.] Either this place got a lot quieter or something's wrong with me!

[She can't help it — the louder tone makes her jump. Especially in hydroponics, where it's always very, very quiet.]

Garrett? [Meja frowns. Seeing him so obviously frightened makes her heart sink to her stomach.] Can you hear me? Where are you?

[He can read his name off of her lips, but little else. He waits until her mouth stops moving before answering.]

I cannot hear you! I think-- I think I cannot hear anything. [He pulls at the ears on top of his head, flattening them down in his distress.]

[Feeling slightly lost for a moment, it suddenly comes to her what she's holding. Technology. It's a new thing for her. She pulls up the on-screen keyboard.]

It's all right, we can talk this way. Did you open your box?

Um, is this bad time to mention I cannot read or write?

[Which is part of the reason he opened up the box to begin with, being unable to read the note that came with it. He means to mumble the words, but they once again come out much louder than he anticipates. It's being driven home to him just how isolated he's become from everyone in the Center.]

[Meja makes a sympathetic face. Great. That takes care of a potential edge. But it's absolutely not Garrett's fault. They'll find some way around it. She thinks for a moment, before gesturing around him to try and ask where he is. This will be easier in person.]

[Time for Garrett to use his best charade interpreting skills! He cocks his head, watching Meja intently. At least they left his sense of how to interpret body language intact.]

Uh, there's something around me I should look at? [A quick glance around makes him dismiss that guess.] Ummmm....where am I right now?

[They're going to have to utilize those skills to get by for a while, Meja's guessing. She nods in response to his second guess, smiling. If she can get to him, maybe she can heal whatever happened. It's a long shot, but she's going to try.]

I am right outside my room. [He hadn't realized what he'd lost until the lack of any noise in the hallway tipped him off. There was always the sounds of people coming or going, even if they were pitched too low for human ears to hear.]

[She nods again, gestures to her and back to him — I'm coming — before ending her call and getting to her feet. Given the place is a labyrinth, reaching his room, if it's in the same place, will still take about ten minutes, even with Meja's attempts to memorize the pathway. It's hard to memorize something that changes in such small, and occasionally big, ways.

But on this particular trip, the Center is quiet and she meets no one else along the way. All she has for company are nagging thoughts of worry. When she spots Garrett up the corridor, she waves expressively to get his attention.]

[Garrett sits around, trying hard to fight at the rising panic growing within him. If it had been any other sense, he could've shrugged it off and adapted better. But his ears....the only other sense he relied on more was his nose.]

MEJA! [He uses that same unable to judge how loud his voice is tone as he bounds up to her.] My ears are broken.

Hei hei, Garrett.

[Even though he can't hear, he can still read his name from her lips, and likely her greeting. Meja takes one look at the body language he's throwing off and pulls him into a brief but warm hug, kneeling down to get a good look at him. He certainly doesn't look any different.]

I'm going to try and help, but I don't know if it will work...

[Garrett cocks his head, his ears straining for sounds that he already knows aren't coming. The hug from Meja does wonders for his jitters. If anyone can set him right, it's the sensible Valkyrie.

He gives her a jerky nod like he knows what she's planning, his paws clenching and unclenching into fists over and over again. He braces himself, unsure if what Meja's going to try will hurt.]

[She gives him a gentle smile, shifting her hands to place them over Garrett's ears, so that his head will receive the most energy from her. Then she closes her eyes and concentrates, though it's easy enough after seven hundred years. But because of the situation, she uses more healing energy than she usually does. Just in case it does help.

It doesn't hurt, however. Almost the opposite — a rush of warmth through the body, like a fire-warmed blanket. Starting with the head and ending at the toes, in this case. Meja opens her eyes and puts her hands on his shoulders when she's done, partly to steady herself and partly to stay in one place and see if there's any noticeable change. It was a lot of energy, and that always makes her feel a bit dizzy for a few seconds.

There isn't an external change, of course, the problem being trickier than that. Her stomach sinks a little bit.]

[Garrett waits for a sign that something, anything is going to happen. He can feel the warmth in his ears and it builds his excitement. When it becomes apparent that the healing was not a success, his ears visibly droop. He tries to hide his disappointment, though he's not very successful.]

Thank you for trying.

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video/action ❆ day 181

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