video | day 71

[voliere]

[ Okay, so figure out the things you know, Elizabeth. List them off for sure.

This is solid ground. She knows - it's a little disorienting, really, because as stable as Columbia is, you're always aware you're on what is essentially a giant hot air balloon. Sort of. Not really. The physics are complicated.

She's in a church. It's devoid of the imagery she's used to, though. No Prophet, no Lamb, no False Shepherd. No Booker. No men trying to capture her (yet). And no tears, or at least, none she can see at the moment. The thing on her wrist is a little like a voxophone with a screen, she's thinking, squinting at it thoughtfully. It had spoken to her a few minutes ago, but she hadn't been able to get it to play again. In fiddling with it, she's managed to start recording herself, though she has no idea that she is on camera.

Alright. So that's figured out. Now to find Booker. He has to be here - did she accidentally bring them somewhere? They'd just been outside the Hall of Heroes - she had heard gunfire, and then she was suddenly here. What's going on? ]

Mr. DeWitt? [ She calls quietly, the camera only half on her face as she opens the door to the outside, frowning. ] ... Booker?

Comments

[charring]

[At least this new face is relatively calm?]

Hi. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it is highly likely your friend isn't here.

[voliere]

[ hOLY --

... Okay, maybe she jumps at that. Where is that coming from? It takes a second of her looking around herself, and then back down at her wrist. Oh! There's a face on the screen. Frowning mightily, Elizabeth holds the communicator a little too close, unsure of how it works exactly. She can guess, but it's still odd. ]

I'm sorry, what? How would you know?

[charring]

I didn't mean to startle you. [Charlie grins a bit, definitely amused and embarrassed that she found that so amusing.]

I know because I've been here for a while and know that's how things go. It's how the people that run the place do things.

[voliere]

[ That sounds foreboding. ] The people that... [ >:c ] Who are you? Where are we? This is not Columbia, I know that for certain.

[persolvo]

[ This job just keeps getting worse. He's still buzzing from drinking the Shock Jockey, but everything around him has changed so suddenly, it's hard to tell if it's actually the vigor's fault, or plain old disorientation.

It's warm, and -- this is a cemetery. A church looms close by, and he can hear the ocean, smell it, like something real. In fact, he, too, notices the difference in the way the ground feels. This feels like solid ground. How in the hell did they get down here?

He doesn't get the chance to think about it before he hears a door open, and hears a voice that sounds like Elizabeth's. Booker pushes himself up off the ground, gives the headstone behind him a wary glance, and moves toward the voice, patting himself down to check his belongings. A pistol -- didn't he swap that long ago? ]

Elizabeth? That you?

[voliere]

[ She's pleased to hear that voice in return! The girl on the screen said that Booker probably wouldn't be here, but she seems to be wrong. And, well, Elizabeth is glad that she was. A familiar face, even one such as Booker's, is nice to have around in such an unfamiliar place. It's been a long, long time since she's been on the ground. ]

You are here. [ She scoots out of the church quickly and approaches Booker with a small smile, dusting the front of her skirt. ] Are you alright? No life-threatening injuries, I hope.

[persolvo]

[ Once he's done checking his things, his attention is grabbed by the thing around his wrist. He frowns at it, looks it over, pulls at it -- nothing. He's pretty sure he heard a voice coming out of it earlier, though. God, he's getting sick of things happening to his body. ]

Nothin' more than a pounding headache, but that ain't new. [ She looks alright, too -- he's glad. Booker scans the area. It's so quiet. ] This one of your tears gone awry?

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[dowhatisays]

This is the first time since arriving Charlie's seen a broad in what looks like normal clothes to him. Sure, maybe it's a few years outdated by his standards, but it's still a hell of a lot more familiar than what he's used to seeing.]

Don't know any Mr. DeWitt in this place, sorry sweetheart.

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[voliere]

[ Sweetheart is relatively tame, so she lets that one go. Instead, she fiddles with the thing on her wrist trying to figure out how to record. There should be a button, right? That's how - oh, here. Here we go.

Have Elizabeth smiling down at you, Charlie. ] Actually, I've just found him, safe and mostly sound. He seems to have come with me to... wherever this is. Are you another resident?

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[dowhatisays]

[One of the few to show up with someone. Lucky girl.]

Guess you could calls me one of thems but it ain't by fucking choice, lemme tell you. You and your pal, you're both doing alright?

Voice

[recognize_an_opportunity]

I assume that by now, the basics have been explained to you?

voice

[voliere]

For the most part. I know that this is Cape Kore, and that we've been brought here for reasons nobody knows. There doesn't seem to be any way out. Was there anything else that I should know?

Re: voice

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Food supplies are low, and sometimes... strange things happen. Dangerous things.

video

[nedofpies]

[ Greeting new arrivals is always a little bit heartbreaking, but all the same Ned feels like he ought to say something. ]

Has anyone told you where you are, yet?

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[voliere]

[ So many people responding! She's gotten the hang of this communicator thing and she turns it on. When Ned calls, he'll see what looks like an empty house in the background. Elizabeth is scouting out. ]

Cape Kore, or so I've been told. A dangerous, reality-bending town, where time makes no sense. [ She says it like she's some sort of radio announcer, smiling. ] It all sounds like something out of a science fiction novel.

[nedofpies]

[ Wow she is coping... really well, actually. That's encouraging. Of course smiles can be faked and humor used to cover up fear, but this demeanor is easier for Ned to deal with, in any case, than if she were having a near-complete breakdown the way he did his entire first day. ] That's pretty much what it's like here slash exactly what it's like.

[ But rather than focus on the darker elements of her new sci-fi setting - the horrible men behind the horrible cameras just waiting to do horrible things to them - Ned would rather talk about the best thing about this place: the people ] There's a robot, a vampire, an alien, some telepaths, and a whole lot of people with strange gifts and abilities and powers.

[ SO IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE Elizabeth, Ned's just saying you aren't alone. ] I'm Ned, by the way.

[magnets]

[ It's gotta be one of the calmest introductions he's ever seen show up here, kind of a mind boggling thing. She's a slight little thing, pretty girl, but she's not scared, she's just there. ]

Ya ain't worried.

[ More of a question than anything. ]

[voliere]

[ Nope, not scared! More curious than anything. She's exploring this building when she receives Jesse's call. She offers him a little smile. ] There's time to be worried, and that time has passed. Wouldn't you be a little curious if you were thrown into a new situation?

[magnets]

Uh. No. [ Not entirely undeterred by her adorableness, but then again he's not the most pleased of prisoners in this place. ] Kinda depends on the new situation, don't it? There's like, hey, I found a new candy store, and then there's, hey, someone kidnapped me and threw me inta some shithole.

[gleans]

[ It's a little while later, but hey, it can't hurt to ask. ]

Hey, did you find who you were looking for?

[voliere]

[ A while later, Elizabeth and Booker have found a house to stay in, and she's looking through the clothes and things left behind. ] Oh, yes! [ C: You're the first to ask, Galen. ] He landed not too far from me. Thank you for asking.

[gleans]

[ Yay, that gets a little smile. ] No problem. I wasn't sure how new you are, but I know it sucks not having someone around. So. Thought I'd check, y'know?

( v i d e o )

[mentis]

Hello. [ Have a cheerful and sympathetic looking face. ] I'm sorry, I doubt you're friends are here.

[ At least not that he's aware of. But all that could change. ] I suppose people have already explained to you that you're in the cape, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to make your acquaintance either way.

( v i d e o )

[voliere]

[ A smiling face! Here, have a smile back. ] I've had a few try to explain.

It's good to meet you - I'm Elizabeth, but I won't be here long.

( v i d e o )

[mentis]

Charles. Xavier. There's a lot of us. [ Of Charles', he means. But he thinks he's the only one using his name without a nickname. ]

I hope you're right, Elizabeth. Many of us have tried to leave and failed.