eachdraidh | A1. video. [ open to both courts ]

[ it doesn't immediately occur to thomas that he could probably just communicate through a text system--as far as he knows, the locket is a lot easier to use by video, and so he does. the network is presented with a pair of big, brown doe eyes before he leans backwards a little, revealing a face that could be rather familiar to some--dark hair, a button nose, moles like spots littering his face.

this is not the man you are looking for, however: this is thomas "murphy", and he clears his throat before he introduces himself. ]

Hi. I'm Thomas Murphy, and I'm--kind of a new arrival. I guess they'd call me a greenie if this was back home. [ there's no hint of humor on his face, but he did actually just try and make a joke, and his tone is a little lighter, for it. ]

Can anyone tell me about the Seelie and Unseelie--in your own words, if that makes any sense? What you know about it...you don't have to tell me any secrets or anything, but, maybe why you're there, I guess. [ he's not going to say which court he is (though it's obvious eventually, by the background of caer scima), but he just needs to know. ] Or, if you're okay with where you are. Not that I'm not, but...I don't know. Is there any reason why someone wouldn't be? They apparently brought us here for a reason-- [ again. ] --since we have these "shards", or whatever they are, but I don't have a lot of trust for anybody who says that, because it's usually a load of klunk.

I guess that's all I've got to ask. [ a beat. ] Actually, that's not true. Is there another map around here? Besides the one they gave me, I mean, it's not very good. [ ... ] No offense.

[ thomas is just going to shut his trap now. he almost physically winces and shakes his head. ] That's it, honestly. I'm just going to... hang up now. Thanks.

[ thomas does hang up, and the feed ends--for all of five seconds, before he snaps it back on. ] Oh, wait--also, I want to know if anyone here's ever heard the phrase "WICKED is good." It has to look like this. [ after a second, there's a typed out phrase that appears instead, with WICKED fully capitalized. ] That's really all this time. Um, thanks.

[ click! for real this time. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Maybe it's one of those phrases that the kids say. Like...calling something "cool" or "hot" and not really meaning either of those things.

[He wasn't prepared for 21st century slang.]

[ aw steve bless your heart. ]

It's the name of an organization. WICKED--World in Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department. They were kind of important back home.

[Catastrophe Killzone Experiment...]

Really? Because it sounds like they might be exactly what they call themselves. What do they do?

They're trying to find a cure for a virus. [ that's the easiest way to describe it, he thinks. ] My friends and I were part of it.

[ unwillingly, for the most part--unless you're thomas. he lifts the locket and it wobbles for a moment, but when he turns it around, it's showing the back of his neck, shirt pulled out of the way, to show a tattoo of some kind.

PROPERTY OF WICKED
SUBJECT A2: TO BE KILLED BY GROUP B ]

Are they really trying to do that by killing people?

[Maybe another one of those weird figures of speech? He kinda doubts it.

And then another thought occurs to him.]

Are you sick from the virus?

No--I'm a munie. [ he pauses for a second, remembering that not everyone understands their words, and clears his throat. ] Immune, I mean.

The idea was that they'd study people who were immune to try and figure out what made their brains different from everyone else's. [ and thomas would know, right? ] And since it was in the brain, they usually had to do lobotomies or something to try and get at them, but...they never got to me.

[ tommy wouldn't let them. he fought and screamed and escaped from rat man's touches before the scalpel cut into his head. ] It's a badge of honor now, I guess. They didn't think I'd live that long.

I'm glad you did.

[Being something of a lab rat himself. But at least he'd signed up for it. His best friend, not so lucky.]

I'm Steve.

Thanks. [ he nods his head, a little awkwardly--was it really good that he survived? sometimes thomas wonders--but he'll take the compliment with just a faint flush to his cheeks. ]

Thomas. [ though he said that already. ] Have you been here long, Steve?

A couple of months. It hasn't been exactly what I was expecting.

How so? [ did you sign up for the questions brigade: no too bad ]

[It's ok. There are no stupid questions.]

Well, I was told that it was a war, and that the fate of my world might rely on the outcome. But then I arrived at some fancy feast, with a lot of people who just aren't soldiers.

And don't get me started on the shards.

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