001 ♦ Jesse Finch ♦ Audio

[rigging]

So I've got three guesses as to what this is right now. [ The voice that comes through the communicator is quiet and calm. The undertone to this voice, however, is not at all -- there's a hint of panic and a whole lot of anger underneath. ] One, I traveled back in time to land in some Twilight Zone-Silent Hill bullshit. Two, I've finally cracked and I've gone insane, which, y'know, could be worse, my brain coulda put me in somewhere much more terrifying than a room with a camera -- or three, I'm dreaming. [ Which is what he's afraid of. There's a beat, and then the sound of a lighter being flicked on, a cigarette being lit. ]

Watch, m'just talking to myself. I don't even know if anybody's out there. [ It's been an hour and he hasn't seen anybody yet, after all, though to be fair he hasn't gone very far. He's waiting. Come get him, nightmare. He's not scared of you. ]

Comments

[Audio]

[onteamdyson]

HEY! Hey, you. This is your conscience speaking. You're in a ... meditative state. And I'm here to guide you to an important self discovery and majestic inner truth.

[audio]

[rigging]

No thanks, already figured out the self-discovery thing when I was twelve. And a lotta times since.

[audio]

[onteamdyson]

Awh, come on! Minor realization? Inconsequential epiphany?! I'll throw in a surprise revelation for half price!

[audio]

[rigging]

Actually, I could use an inconsequential epiphany, not gonna lie. You wanna give me some deets, babygirl? [ Is flirting with your conscience weird? Probably. ] What've you got t'offer?

video;

[greenisnteasy]

Don't worry; you're in a dimension purely of sight and of sound.

I'm Bruce Banner.

[audio]

[rigging]

That'd be a relief if I weren't actually ninety-five percent I'm dreaming.

Name's Jesse, though, Jesse Finch. Are you part of my "conscience" too, or are we going another route?

[greenisnteasy]

Unfortunately, you're the 5%. You're not dreaming; there's no waking up from this. [And he delivers the news like a doctor, too, telling someone their brother is dying.]

No, you wouldn't want me crowding up your conscience. [Ha.] I'm just another unfortunate person who found myself here one day, just like you.

[ audio ]

[gleans]

[ For a second, there's just silence. Jesse might hear the sound of someone swallowing quietly. ]

... Jess?

[ audio ]

[rigging]

[ Now that gets a response.

There's silence, no reply, and then, grimly: ] So I was right. [ A beat. ] You gonna let me outta here, or do I gotta come beat your ass a second time?

[gleans]

I -- what? Jess, no, it's me. Where are you?

audio

[hung_garian]

Welcome to the past. If you wanna make your way to the village hall, there's plenty of mead and pig to go around, so long's you don't mind wrestling for it. Make sure you get done by 8.30 sharp though, we're having a sacrifice to Odin later, great fun, you won't wanna miss it. Hope you enjoy your stay.

[It rather sounds as if someone was going for a welcome guide voice, but accidentally fell headfirst into a pool of sarcasm.]

[audio]

[rigging]

[ Well, he wasn't expecting this, but: ] Wait, regular wrestling or mud wrestling? S'important, I gotta decide how much I want that mead.

[audio]

[hung_garian]

Typically regular. If you want the other kind I'm afraid you'll have to bring your own mud.

[gloryisbullshit]

Come on, now.

[audio]

[rigging]

Wanna be a little more specific? Getting real tired of the 'let's jerk the newbie around' game.

[gloryisbullshit]

Don't wanna, not really. What're you called?

[VIDEO]

[afallenstar]

[ Super helpful Anna is super helpful! There's some clicking of fingers and tapping of the communicator to bring Jesse's attention to it, and all that is displayed on the screen is a piece of paper some words messily scrawled onto it. ]

I know it sounds crazy, but you're not dreaming. There's a lot of us here who have all appeared and no one knows how or why. We're trying to work out how to escape.

[ She pulls it away long enough to write something new, which will give Jesse a thirty second view of red hair and concerned expressions, then the paper is back up again. ]

Do you need help??

[audio]

[rigging]

[ Jesse's been told it's probably a good idea to keep his face hidden, so he will until he figures out how to not broadcast to the entire universe. He watches the video, amused, and thinks a moment before replying. ]

That's a relief. [ He takes a drag off his cigarette, squinting at the paper. ] ... I dunno, maybe. You trying to not wake someone up from a nap or something? Why you writing? [ Wow, insensitive, Jesse. ]

[VIDEO]

[afallenstar]

[ Well it's nice for some who have the option to remain on audio, but some of them don't have that choice. Her response is scribbled down faster, which of course means her writing is even worse than before. Have fun translating that, Jesse. ]

It's a long story. Where are you?

[ Just because she can't speak at the moment doesn't mean she's not going to try to help, after all. ]

[audio]

[solidrighthook]

I'm not quite sure what a Twilight Zone or a Silent Hill is, but I can tell you that it's not any of those three options, unfortunately.

[audio]

[rigging]

S'what I've been hearing, yeah. Yer better off not knowing what Silent Hill is, but you never heard of Twilight Zone? [ Here, let him hum the theme song. ]

[audio]

[solidrighthook]

[ There's a long silence where she doesn't respond, and if anyone could see her they would know that the eyebrow being raised is very unimpressed.

As it is she's just on audio, and she has to clear her throat rather pointedly instead. ]

No, I haven't heard of 'Twilight Zone'. Is that relevant?

audio;

[silvergat]

The fuck are there two of you....

[ May or may not be whining. ]

audio

[rigging]

Two of -- what?

audio

[silvergat]

You, I didn't fuckin' stutter. [ No but you have a ridiculous southern accent... ]