(no subject)

[vesania]

[Not everyone in Paradisa is aware of it, but there's a radio system in he castle. Not many even use it, aside from Mark and his weekly broadcasts. But this is certainly not Monday, and when the radio crackles into life, the all too familiar raspy tones of Leonard Cohen are nowhere to be heard.

Instead, they get a stranger's voice, American, for certain, and very panicked]

I don't know if this thing is reaching anyone or if it's even working. Hell, I could be talking to a herd of buffalo and no one else for all I know. Damsel? Reno? Flora? Any of you getting this at all? Please, if you can hear me, we need desperate help in Winchester.

...Or is it Fairfield? My sense of direction is shot.

The Collectors, they latched onto us, we've got maybe a five days between us and them. If we're lucky. Look, I know you guys aren't big on community spirit, but we're desperate here. We didn't get through all we have just to die in some tacky Spaghetti Western set. No offence, Reno.

Aliens. It had to be aliens. I hate this place and it's love of irony. [The static picks up again] Goddamnit, I'm losing signal. Just...please. Anyone out there- we could really use the help. I repeat. We're in the Winchester/Fairfield area. Come qui-

[And the signal cuts out. There'll be no more responses from the man. So, Paradisa, do you help a complete stranger, or do you stay behind and protect your own?]

Comments

dictated

[kungfuwitch]

[What the hell?!

Phoebe's book hits the ground with a THUD as she scrambles off her chair and races over to the radio. Wait. That's not going to work it's only one way. She grabs her journal instead]

Hello? Hello?!

[She pauses, waiting for a response that she's pretty sure isn't going to come.]

Did anyone else hear that?

dictated

[courageous_wit]

[wait those are all names of First Gens. Wait, he's talking about Winchester and Fairfield. Those are places on the map, and past changes!]

Hello? Are you still there? We hear you!

Dictated

[putuporshutup]

[Meg puts down her trashy romance novel and looks around for the source of the strange voice. Winchester? Had to be coincidence, it sounded like he was talking about a place...]

Uh, guys? What was that?

Dictated

[cyan_maid]

[Oh, no, that's not Mark at all. Jane pauses and listens with rapt attention until the broadcast cuts, and she opens her journal immediately, wondering if perhaps it might have caught something. You can't talk back if you're just listening to a radio, after all, and there is always a chance of a journal being nearby.]

Hello? Sir, hello? We can hear you!

[toobravehearted]

[...That's definitely not a Hard Harry original.]

[He doesn't know the people, but he definitely recognises at least two of those names and as the message cuts out he fiddles with the dials on the radio in the console, trying to get the voice back while scrabbling for his journal with the other hand.]

Hello? Hello! We hear you! Are you still there? [He gets static only from the radio and thumps the console.]

[hard_talker]

Doc, I know those places. I ain't been there, but they're on the map, and ...

[he's breathless, still shaken from not having been able to reach the man in time]

... and you've been there. It's in that bigass report Zelos took up from Lois. I've read it enough to know it in my sleep.

Filtering from people that intend harm, etc, etc.

[toobravehearted]

[Pause. Pause.] Mark! [Mark, to coin a phrase he's heard around, you're a little beaut. He starts enthusiastically nodding while giving the console another pound but that's no use.]

I recognise the names from the same, but also, Seventh Floor, 718. Reno, she has a room here.

Deep breaths, Mark. I'm going to ask you to not stop talking.

Ditto, to end

[hard_talker]

Thanks. ... [he does take a moment to calm down]

Even if we do send people out there to help ... there's a really huge chance that whatever's goin' on will be done by the time they get there. I mean ... that's what happened at Terre Haute, right?

[toobravehearted]

He said his people had a few days between them and the- Collectors. If we go to them I'd sincerely hope you're wrong and that we're not looking at a repeat.

[hard_talker]

A few days. ... Okay, well - good news is, Fairfield and Winchester are a lot closer on the map. You're right, we -

- holy shit, we might just be able to get there in time. Especially if we can take the TARDIS to the edge of the Dead Zone and use all that steam-powered stuff that people made for the races!

[toobravehearted]

[There's a smile, a little grim to match the situation, but still.] Mark, you really do take my breath away. I'm right ahead of you.

[He pauses a moment, thinking.] How do you feel about a trip?

[hard_talker]

[and just like that, the floor drops out from under him. a trip. the expedition. with the Doctor. he's always wanted one, but at the same time, he'd always known he wasn't practically capable. the last time he'd even tried was something still within the powered zone, and not even far from the castle grounds, but into the caverns that Slenderman had left behind, a simple post-catastrophe investigation. even then, he had almost gotten hurt and had to rely on others to help him.

it had opened his eyes, made him realize that he was more help staying where he was safe, that people had enough trouble looking after themselves. he knew how much of a liability he could be.

and then he'd started learning to defend himself, taking lessons in nonlethal weapons from Zelos, gotten decent enough with the staff he'd been given by his tutor for Christmas ... and he'd proven he could hold his own at least marginally when they'd been dumped in the middle of all those damn dinosaurs. the initial panic he felt, the rush of guilt that he'd always felt at having to decline for his friends' sake and out of fear ...

... it wasn't lasting as long as it usually did. his fear for the others out there - especially since Nancy might be out there, and he considered her a friend - was outweighing all of that, for the first time. even so ...]

Maybe. I ... I want to. But I won't go without Nora. I need to talk to her, first.

[toobravehearted]

[He knows what he's asking. God, does he ever. The pause from Mark and his words however, it says a lot. Maybe he's mature enough to handle this. Nora as well.]

You should do that. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[hard_talker]

Arright. I'll let you know. ... If she doesn't wanna go, let me at least send some radio parts with you, so they can fix their stuff, okay?

[lara_the_explorer]

[Lara's attention was definitely caught by that radio broadcast]

Fairfield? Collectors?

[She stood in silence, contemplating what it could be. She just sighed sharply when the broadcast was cut short]

That sounds worth a look.

[hard_talker]

SHIT. Shit shit shit. Shit. Hang on, I --

[Mark dives across his room and starts fumbling with the dials on his own radio, trying to fix the frequency, make it clearer, stronger, ANYTHING]

.... Fuck.