[Video]

[neverfeltthatway]

Hello, everyone.

I'm sorry if I alarmed anybody this last jaunt. For those of you who don't know what happened, I started as an investigator - and, two weeks in, abruptly became an infiltrator.

I'd been trying to delve into my mind, to gain access to the memories I knew I had from the last time we were here. I guess I succeeded a little too well. But, well... I think I could do it again. Turn into an infiltrator. And I think I could probably do it to someone else too, if they were willing. [Strangely, he's not going to address whether he thinks he could do it to an unwilling subject, and instead leave the implied answer as is.] More than that, I think it's probably possible to do the opposite - to turn an infiltrator into an investigator. But I haven't figured out how, yet.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Apart from that, I... I have the list of Travelers who are no longer with us. Wherever they are now, they're not in this liminal space. The list may not be quite comprehensive, but I did the best I could.

Jack Badd. Lila Zarchov. Batman. Mason. Ryuzaki. Natasha. Souji Seta - or, um, one of them, anyway. Erwin Smith. Dargor. Shuu. Mai. Dorian. Winnifred. Hijikata. And Pitch.

I'm sorry.

Comments

[loyalrebel]

[Promptly]

I give you, and whomever else can do it, blanket permission to turn me back to myself, or in to an infiltrator, if I am more useful that way.

[neverfeltthatway]

Thank you. I'll keep it in mind. Although if it's ever advantageous to turn you into an infiltrator, I would think we'd have a chance to discuss it first. [He then frowns again, considering. If someone were trying to extract information they couldn't afford to give away, perhaps...]

[loyalrebel]

[Not that Malik wouldn't ruin his ability to speak if that were the situation, but that's a tactic better left for last resorts.]

You never know what sort of situation may arise. We likely could have used an infiltrator when we were stuck in that crypt.. or whatever it was in the desert.

[littleladyluck]

Mai is gone?

...I sincerely hope that the Trumps took her home. She, like the rest of them and the rest of us, deserves that much.

So! Er, you were an infiltrator with next to no warning, right?

[neverfeltthatway]

She is. [He doesn't even bother asking if they'd been friends - Mai made friends with everyone.] She was like a sister to me.

[He's quiet for a moment. He's not sure home is where she'd want to go - she'd told him about her amnesia, and how many times she'd died, and found herself in a different world. She's not safe, home.] ...I just hope that she's happy, wherever she is.

Umm. Yes - I'd been trying to recover my memories, and somehow instead of unlocking them I submerged myself in them. It was something I did to myself, but it hadn't been what I intended.

[littleladyluck]

I adored her to bits and pieces. How could anyone resist, honestly?

[More quietly, more concerned.] Is home not the best place for her? I... I retract my previous statement, I simply want her to find somewhere peaceful.

Really? So you'd been there before, then? I haven't been here long enough for any repeat experiences. Consider me intrigued!

[just barely here]

[abweichend]

[Levi's response is brief and almost apathetic:]

Do what you need to do where I'm concerned, one way or the other. Use your judgment.

[He'll have questions later, probably, but for now he's apparently content to leave it at that- once he's said his piece the connection cuts off.]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin makes to respond when he feels Levi's presence withdraw. If he doesn't want to talk... well, Armin will respect his privacy.]

[what_do_you_see]

How? How do you do it?

[The voice is intense, demanding.]

[neverfeltthatway]

It's... complicated. How familiar are you with the psychic network? Have you figured out how to stream what you see and hear to the network, or how to share memories with other people?

[what_do_you_see]

No.

[solvethepuzzle]

[Mai, he knew about already. When she hadn't found him, he'd reached out psychically and come up with nothing. There are other names of note, but one in particular hits him harder than Mai's does.

[Mason. That is the name Mello had been using. They'd had a pattern; encounter one another in one Liminal Space and not the next, interact in some fashion on the Jaunt. He hadn't seen him on the Jaunt, hasn't seen him here yet. And now he knows why.

[But it's fine. It's fine. Nothing that has not happened before.

[His mental voice is exceptionally clear, but still his normal monotone. He is not addressing the disappearances; there are other matters to discuss.] And if they were unwilling?

[Private]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin clamps down hard on the psychic link when Near asks that question - he doesn't mind answering those who care enough to ask, but to bring such a thing up publicly seems likely to cause a panic. Nobody likes the Trumps being able to mess with their minds - the thought of a fellow Traveler being able to do it too is not one that would go over well, even if he denied it.]

I honestly don't know. There are things I can manage without permission, but this... [He shakes his head.] I'd have to try in order to find out.

[Private]

[solvethepuzzle]

[Armin having specified 'with permission' should have had any halfway intelligent person consider the possibility of being able to do so without it, anyway. But he is content to leave it at that and hardly begrudges the shift to a private conversation. And between the two of them, it is likely as protected as a network conversation can possibly be.]

Hm, yes. And without extenuating circumstances, that would be rather unethical. [Not that Near has a problem with unethical practices in general, but this is something that could generate a lot of backlash. Understandably so.]

[leftbehindagain]

So that's how that happened. [There's a pang at the mention that Dorian's gone - Naoki really liked him - as well as Seta-san, but they never really got around to talking properly.]

This is as good a place as any to say so: There were two Trumps on the jaunt, Hanged Man and Chariot. If you talked to one of the weird proxies, check yourself for a surprise tattoo. From what Zed-san said, Chariot made their choices pretty quickly.

[creativefool]

...Proxies? Dude, there's no way I can remember every proxy I met over there...

But... Yeah. That explains a lot.

Might as well let folks know. Chariot got me.

[leftbehindagain]

Hanged Man was legless. Spent a lot of time caught in airship rigging. Chariot, from the sound of things, was in quite a hurry - I didn't actually bump into that one. Zed-san also said something about Chariot taking a picture of him.

[Naoki's lack of reaction to Kanji's announcement is probably indication enough to anyone who knows them well that they've already talked about this.]

[Private]

[timelessinventor]

Did I tell you details about my conversation with... well, I guess it's Hanged Man, considering the surprise ink I have on my chest now?

I should perhaps relay that information.

[But she's currently hesitating for perhaps obvious reasons.]

[shantiprayer]

I'm glad Pitch is gone. One Horror trying to gain influence in Liminal Space is more than enough.

[She'd offer him support for Erwin's disappearance, if only she knew he was someone from Armin's world. Alas, she hadn't spoken to him since the Heartport and hadn't made the connection.]

[Privately:]
Oh, is that what happened? Thank goodness. It happened so soon after we'd talked, I'd thought...

[whydoyoushine]

Pff, that guy was nothing. I've seen his type before.

[In the mirror.]

[Private]

[neverfeltthatway]

No matter what he thought of himself, if the Trumps can control him so easily, I'm not sure we'd have much reason to worry. Still, it is a relief.

And... y-yes. I'm sorry if I worried you. [He looks mildly perplexed, not making the connection.] Wait, what had you thought?

[permastubble]

Arlert, glad to see you’re okay. So that’s what happened, huh?

[He’s tempted to think about if that had happened to him. Would he have not screwed up so badly? No, better not—]

It sounds like it could be useful. Keep me updated?

[neverfeltthatway]

Thank you, Mr. Doujima.

I think so too, though it could be dangerous if not used carefully. But I will.

[unagreeable]

Course the arsemunch sneaks on out of here without me.

[neverfeltthatway]

Who?