[Video]

[neverfeltthatway]

Hello, everyone. [Though overwhelmed when he first returned, now Armin is calm and composed - nearly solemn, almost military in the way he goes about this. He doesn't enjoy this task, but he takes it very seriously.] I'm sorry it took longer than usual, with everything that happened. [Being sent on a different jaunt, not knowing if he'd see any of his friends ever again.] But... I have the list of people who vanished over the course of the last jaunt and haven't come back.

[He takes a deep breath, then begins the list - slowly and clearly, with a small pause between every name.]

Damian Wayne. Jason Todd. Neria Surana. Lucina. Ryuunosuke Ibuki. Sanosuke Harada. Connor Graham. Labrys. Nick Burkhardt. Phèdre nó Delaunay. Oona. Ken Amada. Junpei Iori. Yoon Yoorae. Chizuru Yukimura. Inigo. Takakage Kobayakawa. Janos Audren.

...

I'm sorry. If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer.

Comments

[prolificarse]

Considering the sheer number of disasters that do seem to have precedent, you'll have to forgive me if I don't find that comforting.

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin gives a thin smile.] ...You'll have to forgive me if it wasn't really meant to be comforting.

[prolificarse]

So what connects these worse months?

[neverfeltthatway]

I couldn't say, specifically. I've only been keeping track these last few months. But in Belljar, the first time we remember failing a jaunt, we lost well over half our number. And though I could give you the numbers, I think we had a worse time of it just before our first trip to Nibiru, about nine months ago.

[prolificarse]

Was the Jaunt before that a failure, too? Our sentence in Purgatory certainly seems to have been...

[neverfeltthatway]

...As far as I know, Belljar and Purgatory have been the only times we've failed a jaunt. At least, as far as anyone can remember.

[prolificarse]

Only twice? That's...well, it would be impressive, if we had any idea what the endgame is. It may still be, in an unnerving sort of way.

If they're even half as obvious as they were with the murderous metal things, I'd think any other failures would be quite memorable.

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin takes a moment to realize what he means by the metal things, but he quickly nods.] The highways, the tattoos, the darkness - they weren't exactly subtle, no. And like I said, after Belljar we lost 2/3 of our numbers.

...But we wouldn't know if there had been any failures before Moebius.

[prolificarse]

Another complete turnover? Or something more sinister?

[neverfeltthatway]

[Even through his projection over the network, the hint of fear that appears in his eyes is unmistakable.] M-more sinister, I'm afraid.

Nobody remembers much of Moebius. [And what little they do remember, they wish they couldn't.] But something happened to us there. There are many of us who were Travelers before that point, but nobody who could tell you what happened before then.

[prolificarse]

You've forgotten your lives before that point entirely?

[There's shock there, and horror - such a loss of self seems beyond nightmarish, and inflicted on so many people, all at once...]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin quickly shakes his head.] Not all of our lives. Just everything that happened before that but after we became a Traveler. Our memories of home are - as far as we know - unaffected.

[prolificarse]

So it was a targetted removal, then, and not a blanket one. That's quite a bit more sinister.