[Open Broadcast + Sensory Livestream & Memory Sharing]

[detectivewonder]

[Tim's voice starts talking against a blank, black viseal, and then he projects himself, picture-in-picture, as a talking head in the lower right corner of the "screen" as images start to play across it.]

Hi. I'm know I'm not always the most social Traveler, so let me take a minute to introduce myself. Tim Drake. Vigilante, barista, accredited forensic technician. I've got a decade-long background in criminology and investigative science, a lot of it based in computers and media.

I'm giving you the resume because I've been working on a project for a while now, with Mai. And she doesn't seem to be around right now. So, just in case I vanish too, I wanted to bring you up to speed, because it could be important. Watch this now, or don't, but at least it'll be archived on the network.

[The first image that pops up is a computer screen, glowing green against a dark backdrop - a cave of some kind? - with a series of stylized images on it.

A valentine heart, a kneeling statue with hands cupped in supplication, a pair of easter island heads, facing one another, mouths open; a conspicuous blank space, a theatrical mask with an almost comic expression of alarm, and finally, a rosebush sporting a damask rose over a spray of red berries and pale blossoms. Both types of flower called May Roses.

The images vanish, replaced one at a time with words framed in brackets.

[PSYCHE/LOVERS][WANT][TALK/CONVERSATION][YOU OKAY?][WORRIED][MAI]

Mai's voice speaks, replacing his for a moment.]

I really want to talk to you again. I want to know if you're okay. I've been worried.

[Tim's voice cuts back in, and he re-appears in the corner of the screen, which is now filled with a four-by-four grid of images, mobile Liminal Space 'videos' seen from a Robin's-eye view. Flying between dark spheres in white colored space; hanging like a gargoyle over a sinister highway full of angry, animate cars; flopped in a giant marshmallow like it was a beanbag; using gummi worms and licorice to catch gummi fish out of a ballpit moat... the playback continues on a loop.]

Mai and I believe that the Trumps communicate with us through Liminal Space, constantly, using symbolic communication and archetypal imagery. We were looking for a way to talk back. Her messages are... probably a little friendlier than mine. But as hostages, striking up a dialogue is the first step to negotiation, and that's the first step towards release. Or... the first step towards building a good, predictive profile of what the Trumps want from us. Either way.

I'm looking for people to review images with me, and try to puzzle out what their messages have been, as specifically as we can.

And I want for people with a good grip on Liminal Space, who can help me sculpt a few responses, just in case they're paying attention - our own little message in a bottle.

Anyone interested?

Comments

[neverfeltthatway]

I don't have any records for the liminal spaces during the jaunts when I was infiltrating - so nothing during the Spark, Brooklyn, the Labyrinthine Shoals, Austin, Harrogate, the Digital Frontier, and now the Lightning Age - although I do have the first one in the Lightning Age. Everything else, I've recorded. That's got to be... at least twenty-five or thirty. My notebooks are in my room, but I'll check and get you the actual number later. No I won't.

[detectivewonder]

Excellent. You've infiltrated less than I have, and you've been around longer.

[neverfeltthatway]

I also have mental records of most of those, though not the earliest ones.

How do you want to start?

[detectivewonder]

Anything from right after the Shoals to the tree after the Masquerade - I missed everything between those entirely.

[neverfeltthatway]

All right. Mental or physical records first?

[detectivewonder]

Mental.

What kind of physical record do you have?

[neverfeltthatway]

Just my notebooks. I write a report on each jaunt, about what happened and what it could mean, but I do smaller entries describing each of the liminal spaces too. Less useful than mental records, maybe - though I detail theories and speculation there as well - but it's a backup for if I ever vanish, or lose my memory.

[Armin pauses for a moment, digging out the liminal spaces from right after the Shoals, both in his memory and on the network.]

Are you ready?

[detectivewonder]

Ready.

[neverfeltthatway]

[He begins to stream his video entry to Tim, walking through the metal amusement park - and occasionally using his 3dmg to get on top of something or get a different perspective. At the same time, he starts explaining the strange effects accompanying the liminal space.]

Each of the metals besides bronze had some sort of mental effect on people who were near it - compelling them to be truthful, or making them more aggressive, or inspiring them to be philosophical. Easy enough to avoid, or to take advantage of, once you've figured it out - but potentially dangerous if you don't realize what's happening.

I have a full list of the metals and their corresponding effects in my notebook.

[detectivewonder]

That's... I wonder if anyone kept any samples of the metals, and if they'd retain those qualities now.

[neverfeltthatway]

I did keep a piece - but no, it doesn't work anymore.