[Jaunt-Locked] Missing persons

[howexciting]

Perdonatemi... I do not think we have all officially checked in, yet. Leonardo da Vinci, present... but that is not really why I meant to speak with you all.

I had originally thought there might have been a few more Infiltrators than average, but... I can say with certainty that I have been all over most of the islands, and Genevieve and Alcuin and I have not caught sight of Malik whatsoever. Has anyone seen him? Or Ambrose? Daneel? Riddick, or Armin, perhaps? Raidou seems to be missing. I remember Liara, too, from the Grid, and I have not seen her since Melasurei. And a young woman from Armin's world, Mikasa, I believe, whom I have not seen since Liminal Space. And there is another gentleman I met recently, by the name of Tick-Tock, whom I cannot seem to locate either.

I do not mean to alarm anyone, but... they couldn't all have just... disappeared, could they? Not before a Jaunt even began. Some Travlers vanish after a Jaunt, true, but I saw most of them in Liminal Space... this is unprecedented.

[And that's really not something he wants to think about - the "rules" they had in place suddenly changing on them.]

There may be others I have not yet met who might also be missing, therefore, if you notice someone else who does not appear to be present, please let us know. Perhaps I am worrying over nothing, but... I am worried.

Thank you for your time.

Comments

[shiroganeheir]

Oh balls. This is Naoto, for those who have yet to speak to me.

[It's a bit cruder than Naoto generally is, and his mental voice is deeper than usual.]

I have not seen either Ambrose-san or Armin-san either. This is... quite disturbing. I will let you know if I come across any of the missing Travelers. Whatever this is, it cannot be good.

[howexciting]

As I said, it could be nothing. Someone should check Liminal Space and see if there are any dungeon portals open. I can volunteer if no one else is able.

... wherever they are, I hope they are all right.

[shiroganeheir]

I would be happy to, but I do not have the ability to go to Liminal Space. The other issue is that with gender and racial swapping going on, it is difficult to recognize people sometimes. I barely recognized Naoki-kun, who is Infiltrating.

[Souji she knew right away, but that's different.]

I hope they are alright as well. It's awful to lose one of our own.

[howexciting]

If no one else can, I will do so, yes.

This is true, but... I could have sworn I had an idea of whom everyone was despite that. I could always be wrong.

... but this is not just one. This is three-quarters of a dozen. That is almost a sixth of our total number of Travelers, gone, missing.

[shiroganeheir]

Same here. I think I know everyone by sight, but I can be somewhat thick sometimes.

You're right. That is extremely disturbing, and as much as I really don't want to say it, something that we possibly cannot truly investigate at the moment, unless a few people stay in Liminal Space to do so.

Wherever they have gone, if they are truly gone, I am somewhat doubtful we can find that mid-Jaunt.

[howexciting]

That is a fair statement. Still, if anyone else thinks it to be viable to search, we may as well try. I would hate to be stuck somewhere for a month while a Jaunt was in progress, if it were me...

[shiroganeheir]

Oh, I would too. That would be awful, especially if they are not together.

We can only send hopes and prayers that they are safe and will come back to us when we are done here.

[howexciting]

... I still wish there was something we could do.

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean's attention is caught when s/he hears the names Armin and Mikasa. The bad feeling he had just grows stronger as he hasn't been able to contact the two either.

This is not good.]

I haven't seen or been able to contact Mikasa or Armin either. I saw them both at the recent Liminal Space when I... arrived.

[Jean's voice, even if in their minds, is a girl's for now. The misunderstandings this will cause are least of his worries though.]

Ah, my name is Jean Kirstein and I'm from the same world.

[howexciting]

Well met, Madonna Kirkstein. [Whoops, sorry for the misgendering there.] I wish our first meeting was under better circumstances.

Have you located the others from your world?

[rustyhonesty]

Madonna?

[Unfortunately, or fortunately, Jean's not very familiar with the term. Such a small and uneducated world he lives in, really.]

Levi is here. I've been talking to him since I came here.

[howexciting]

It is how one addresses a woman in my world.

That is good. Is he himself, or is he Infiltrating?

[rustyhonesty]

[A wo... man. Jean's mind goes to a keysmash for a while, so he's not answering right away. He knew contacting anyone would be a bad decision!!]

I'm... actually a guy. This place's just messing with me.

Himself.

[howexciting]

... oh. Oh! My sincerest apologies, messere.

[Clearly this is the perfect moment to avoid embarrassment with a TOPIC CHANGE.]

Naoto has also reported a change of sex, though I am not sure who else might have also experienced it. I am still myself, just with different clothes...

[Very familiar clothes, but that is neither here nor there.]

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean's happy about the subject change, even if he doesn't say (or think) anything of it.]

Is this kind of thing common for this... place? [Could you call a world that changes appearance a place, is a question of the month.]

[howexciting]

For Liminal Space? Things similar to it have happened - I have grown older more than once only to be reverted back to my normal age later. But gender is a rather... new 'thing', I think.

[rustyhonesty]

Ah, really? How lucky of me... getting to try something new...

[mysunnydisposition]

I think Damian's missing too.

I don't know. Maybe he's just hiding after... what happened in Melasurei, but I haven't been able to find him since.

[howexciting]

Damian? Ah, you mean... that is unfortunate. But I would not blame him.

I will keep an eye out for him, at any rate. Thank you for telling me.

[darkhourdear]

[oh geez.] I haven't seen any of those people either...

[howexciting]

As I had feared. But thank you for confirming it for me, figlio.

[darkhourdear]

[that still makes him stupidly happy.] Are you doing ok?

[howexciting]

I am well. A little worse for the wear from the challenges we were facing, but I am not seriously injured.

And you? Are you safe? [He is fighting every instinct VINCI left in him to run and find his Bit. Phillip probably wouldn't appreciate it.]

[darkhourdear]

[No, he wouldn't. He knows you're his dad and everything but he can totally do this by himself.]

Yeah, I'm fine. I got a giant dog! [this is totally relevant.]

[howexciting]

A giant... dog?

[Uhm. Is it a nice dog, Phillip??]

[darkhourdear]

Yeah! His name is Chara and he likes like Shakespeare. [he is a very nice dog.]

[abweichend]

Levi here. I can confirm that Armin and Mikasa are definitely missing. I've been looking for them since we got here, but they haven't turned up one way or another. None of the people you've mentioned have, that I've seen. [He sounds about as pleased as you'd expect. This is, as Leonardo's said, unprecedented.

It's concerning...]

Either this place is bigger than it looks and we haven't found them Infiltrating, or they've been taken somewhere else or left behind. If they were stuck in Liminal Space they could still communicate that through the network, unless something's cut them off... Are there any other possibilities I'm missing?

[Not that he's sure what the fuck to do about any of them, but again... Unprecedented. Gotta start somewhere.]

[howexciting]

... I had rather hoped I was incorrect. That there was some sort of... simple explanation in all this.

[His side of things goes quiet for a long while.]

Of the options you have presented, I think being taken somewhere else, or being left behind, are the likeliest options. Did they, perhaps, all fall into a pocket of Liminal Space, like the Travelers who disappear for several Jaunts, and then return?

[abweichend]

A dungeon?

[Though he's been doing this for quite some time, but Levi is still pretty fuzzy on how dungeons work... But even so there's a darkness to his tone that proves that really doesn't matter much. What could it be, other than what it sounds like...?

The few things he has heard aren't exactly good.]

[howexciting]

Perhaps, though that usually leaves a portal behind, does it not? People have mentioned before that they simply move into another part of Liminal Space that other Travelers cannot access, only to come back to where the rest of the Travelers are gathered weeks, sometimes months later. It has not happened recently, if I recall correctly...

[It is indeed looking grim, and Leonardo doesn't know what more to say.]

[nicotinized]

Toshizou Hijikata. The one from the future, though I spotted the other one around - I think he may be infiltrating.

And unsual maybe, but not unprecedented - while people seem to generally disappear at the end, we had a bunch go missing in the middle of Dolorosa, as far as I've been able to tell. So the beginning... well, it wouldn't surprise me.

There may be more of those weird patches of liminal space I got stuck in cropping up, too - I was the only one caught last time, but there was plenty of space for more.

[howexciting]

That is good to hear. Thank you for keeping an eye on the other one.

... but we also had a half-dozen or more appear in the middle of Dolorosa to replace them. It was during that large magic storm. Do you think another one of those might have occurred?

That is possible... I must admit, this is the theory I am leaning most toward. Do you remember seeing those big portals, before Liminal Space mixed together like paint to form this place? I wonder if perhaps they might have been leading elsewhere.

[nicotinized]

I didn't see them - but if they were there, it seems pretty likely they may have had a different destination than here. The Trumps can definitely cut us off from one another if they want to.

[howexciting]

... that is quite troubling, but... again, it seems the most likely answer.

[That doesn't mean Leonardo likes it, though.]

You think they will return after this Jaunt, then?

[nicotinized]

I'd say the odds are better than even, but it's impossible to know anything for sure, here.

[icy_heavens]

Hitsugaya Toushirou, here. [Yeah, he's kind of dropped his absolute insistence on his title here by now. Even if he'd still rather prefer it.] I've noticed a few of those faces missing, myself. We can't deny the possibility that we just haven't come across them yet, but I'm also able to open portals to check Liminal Space if necessary.

[howexciting]

It may be for the best that we do. We cannot discount any possibility until we have evidence to the contrary.

... if they were Infiltrating as a group, why would the Trumps keep them from us? Even during the Solstice, the Infiltrators arrived very quickly afterward. And we already have Infiltrators present. It makes no sense.