[Audio]

[neverfeltthatway]

Hello, everyone. I... I have the list of those who have vanished. [For once, Armin doesn't use his image when making a broadcast, and he's definitely shorter and more terse than normal. It's definitely unusual, for him - but anyone who knows him well enough to notice might figure out why as soon as he starts reading off the names.]

Ivan. Levi. Joscelin. Yua. S-sansa. Adachi. Neeshka. Hitsugaya. Sera - umm, the unfriendly one. And Xaldin.


[Locked to former Illuminated]

I heard some of what happened during the walkabout. If you don't mind, I'd like to hear more about it from each of you in person. When you're feeling up for it.

Comments

[thornsofmalkav]

[She'd known about Joscelin. Had figured it out with Alcuin. She hadn't known about Ivan. Or Yua.]

Fuck.

[neverfeltthatway]

...I'm sorry.

[He sounds it - and miserable as well. He hates doing this, but it's better for everyone to let people know right away.]

[shiroganeheir]

Well shit.

[There are a lot of things that she could say, but she leaves it at that. She sincerely hopes that Yua is in a better place. She knew about Levi, but it still stings to hear it.]

[neverfeltthatway]

...Yeah.

[What else is there to say?]

[leftbehindagain]

[Naoki already knew Levi-san was gone - he'd caught sight of U going to Naoto - but the list is still a double punch to the gut. He'd talked to both Yua and Adachi-san, he knows they made it back from the jaunt all right, but...

Well. Seems he can't keep a sister in his life. But he can't let himself get hung up on that forever; it'd do all of them a disservice.]

...I hope she doesn't come back, this time. I don't think she could bear it.

[neverfeltthatway]

...Yeah.

[It's just a thought, now, not even his voice. And the answer is reluctant, because he's not sure he hopes she doesn't come back - that would depend on what he thinks happens to her if she doesn't - and his opinion on that is different than most of the Travelers'. But that's a discussion he rarely has, and now is not the time for it, for either of them. He'll let the boy believe what he wants.]

[creativefool]

Man. I... I just hope she's okay, now. She only told me how bad things were when we were in the mountains.

Private

[solvethepuzzle]

[He mentally files away all the names as he always does. And Sansa's name -- and the way Armin mentally stumbles over it -- tells him all he needs to know about why the format of this communication deviates from the norm.

[That the second part of this message is transmitted privately fails to surprise him somehow.] Of course you would. [While he is capable of communicating tone over the psychic network, there is none here. Business as usual, really.]

Private

[neverfeltthatway]

Of course. [For once, Armin's voice is as toneless as Near's.] Were you involved?

[willyousee]

[Yua. Neeshka. Levi. Sansa. Joscelin. Each name lands like a blow. Confirmations of suspicions, given the party and attempts to reach them and yet. His response is several long moments coming.]

Thank you, Armin. It is kind of you. Do we know if any new portals have been sighted since the change in liminal space?

[neverfeltthatway]

...Not that I know of, no.

[comebewe]

Vanished? And you just...have a list handy?

This happens regularly?

[neverfeltthatway]

Vanished. To dungeons, or on walkabout, or... to wherever they go when they're done Traveling. Back home, maybe. It happens every month - most often between jaunts, though that's not a hard rule. [Not that Armin believes that. But most people seem to - or seem to want to, anyway. Far be it for Armin to dissuade them.] And... I try to keep a current list of the Travelers, and I check it against who's still around every liminal space.

Private

[amadine]

Are you...

[No, of course he isn't all right, that's a stupid question.]

If you need anything - a drink, a distraction - let me know.

Private

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin lets out a shaky sigh, a bit of which actually comes through over the network.] A distraction... would not go amiss, once I'm done here. And I probably wouldn't say no to a drink, either.

[senpaidol]

Adachi really was here, huh...?

[It's not that she doubted Naoto, it's that her rattling off a list of acquaintances that included a non-murderer version of him had failed to really register.]

[leftbehindagain]

Yeah, he was. Surprisingly not that bad a guy.

--Wait, when did you get here?

[loyalrebel]

[Malik still hasn't actually learned to lock his own responses. Oh. Well.]

If you want to talk, my door is open. Just show up.

That being the blonde Sera is a better descriptor, by the way. I find most of you about as friendly as she was.

[neverfeltthatway]

[...Before any discussion of the Trumps is happening, he is going to teach you to lock your posts, Malik. This is ridiculous.]

All right.

And... sorry. I only realized as I was saying it that I didn't know a last name or anything to differentiate her, and I didn't want to worry or confuse people. That... was just the first thing that came to mind. [If he'd had more time, he would have come up with a better way to distinguish the Seras.]

[wholeheaded]

Neeshka? But I just st-- saw her, and Monkey. In the mountain liminal thing.

[ and then he switches to private. ]

Started teaching her Violet magic, I was going to say. Uh. I'm okay to talk, I think. Anything in particular you want to know?

[Private]

[neverfeltthatway]

I'm sorry. But I always triple check the list before I broadcast it. She's not here.

And... it's hard to say. [Not precisely true - it's simply hard to say somewhere where the Trumps won't hear them.] I just want to understand what happened, and what we can learn from it.

[seventhbullet]

...Well then.

[He cares more than he expected to. Hearts are a bitch that way.]

[neverfeltthatway]

I'm sorry.

[backwordscompatible]

Oh, Armin...

[The first part, she hadn't meant to broadcast. It had been a reflexive reaction, focused on a single name out of all the ones he announced. And the way he's stumbled over it. Trying so hard to keep a brave face. Tossing it right in the middle, as if desperate to gloss over that particular loss.]

Where are you now?

[What she had to say to him...was probably better said in person. Not over a potentially public psychic connection.]

[Audio] -> [Thought]

[neverfeltthatway]

I'm in our...

[He takes in a sudden breath and suddenly the audio cuts off. His thoughts, when they come a moment later, are entirely toneless.]

...I'm in my room.

[happyhalloween]

... you're talking to me?

[None of the voices in Maria's head have ever talked directly to her before. That made it easy to ignore them. Not this time, though. She doesn't quite get about making her reply private either, but at least she sort of instinctively limits it to the ex-Illuminanants.]

[neverfeltthatway]

To you and the other people who hosted the Illuminance, yes.

[rustyhonesty]

... so he really is gone.

[Jean had figured that Levi wasn't there, but hearing a confirmation really sucks. Damn it captain. He needed the mental support.

Though that's not the only name he recognizes, sure.]

How are you holding up...?

[neverfeltthatway]

Yeah. I'm sorry.

...I'm all right.

[permastubble]

Adachi?! Yua too? Oh damn I—

[It’s a long time before he adds anything else, and then it’s private.]

I’m working on a report of what happened. It’s not done yet, but you can look at it if you want. I… don’t know if I can talk about it just yet, especially—

[The communication cuts off suddenly.]

[Locked to Liara]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Some time later, conversations with the former illuminated have Armin thinking about just what they know about the Trumps - and the possible ways to find out more. One of the conclusions he comes to is that, given what he knows, the telepathic network might be one of the best ways to discover more about them and what they can do. He knows now that they had been concerned about the overlays holding when the Illuminated had invaded liminal space - but Armin himself has some power over infiltration. Whether or not the Trumps intended such powers to be available to the Travelers is uncertain, but the more they expand on the network, the more they seem to reach Trump-like abilities.

It's a line of investigation worth pursuing, at the very least. And to that end, Armin reaches out with his mind to one of the Travelers he believes to be most adept at using the network, but with whom, for whatever reason, he had rarely spoken. As such, his overture is slightly hesitant.]

Liara? It's Armin. I know we don't really know each other, but I was wondering if you had time to talk.

[brokers]

[Given how infrequently they've spoken, Liara's definitely not expecting the contact, and so a hint of surprise carries along through her telepathic "voice".]

Armin? Of course - is something troubling you?