text | username: xXx_trueblue_xXx & redlion

[competing]

[With all the information coming out, it's apparent to Keith and Lance that one big elephant in the room has been ignored: the infection among the recruits themselves. Keith is tired and on edge, as he needs nothing to do with the infection to be cranky. Lance is jittery, too. But they have to talk about that elephant before it gets too late.

And for some of them, it might be. That's what Keith is really afraid of right now.]

Hey. It's Keith.

and ya boy, lance! [Because things are already pretty doom and gloom as it stands, and maybe things could use a little lightening up? Or something...

It’s a little more difficult to differentiate between people in a group message like this, but it’s a better idea to get something down on text in case they need to refer to it later, and anyone who knows either of the boys can probably tell them apart pretty easily through diction alone.]

we know your mind-phones have been pretty busy lately, but theres something keith and i wanted to talk to you guys about.

Before we get a move on in attacking Zymandis' agent, we need to look at our own numbers. A lot of us are sick. Maybe less than I thought. Or maybe more. Either way, we have to know who's sick and make a plan to help our own. And I'm serious about HELPING. Not putting someone out of their misery or any of the other stupid stuff I've heard from some of this team. We need to stop this disease. We need to help our own. Once everyone's BETTER, we'll make a plan for what to do next as a team.

[It's harsher than necessary but likely less harsh than how it might be normally, given Keith's frequently frustrated tone of voice. Text mitigates some of it, even if his frustration definitely does become CAPITAL LETTERS.

Lance, meanwhile, is quite eager to gloss over that sharp reprimand because seriously guys — kumbaya.]

yeeeeeah, so — helping! getting a head count is definitely ideal. we cant afford to be silent on this and we definitely CANT be alone right now, cuz every one of us affected and on our own can be a huge risk to everyone here. so we were thinking… since the city shut it down, we can use the middle school. those of us infected can stay there while we wait for our people to find that cure. like a quarantine safe house.. i know its not ideal, but its something. especially for those who dont have any other contingency plans.

[A pause. Well. May as well get the ball rolling, right?]

ill be there.

( ooc; p.s. there is an information plotting post for the quarantine space! )

Comments

[ex_adept136]

Since he's a god, he's had ample opportunity I'm sure.

[Deities have all the time in the world till that Ragnarok thing, right?]

I'm an investigator with the Commission of Counter-Ghoul. When ghouls starve, they end up in a similar state...except their biology is far more adapted to hunting.

[competing]

[ hang on give him a second that sounds familiar ]

—Like Arima?

[ex_adept136]

Yes, Special Class Arima is my superior. I report to him back home.

[His boss, father-figure, and personal image of impending death, all in one]

[competing]

Whoa, "Special Class"? That's all kinds of fancy-sounding!

What's your title?

[ex_adept136]

Special Class is the top rank among senior investigators; you could say he's an elite. My rank is First Class, which is the initial rank for senior investigators. Generally speaking, my rank tends to be achieved later in an investigator's career, and many go no further.

[Thus he's a bit on the young side for where he is, but as in many things, he's an unusual case]

[competing]

Huh... So how many more ranks do you have to go before you get to be Senior Class like Arima?

[ it's always kind of fascinating hearing about everyone else's worlds. he never would have guessed things like ghouls and such existed, but half a year ago he definitely wouldn't have thought alien robot cats existed either, so...

who even knows, man. ]

[ex_adept136]

He's two rungs above me, though the gap is quite a bit larger than it sounds. Arima's level of skill is something very few people ever attain. Even under his guidance, I'd be no match for him.

[And he doesn't mind saying as much, because it's a simple reality for him. Arima is the standard by which everyone else measures themselves, that impossible-to-attain goal that one pursues only to fall short.

With a title like the White Reaper, one wouldn't be amiss in saying the man stands out]

[competing]

[ jesus i didn't realize tg was so extra ]

Huh... that's pretty intense.

[ he recalls something, then, the first (and only) time he'd ever seen arima fight... back on perdition's rest, when they'd been overtaken by bandits.

the question itself is innocent enough. ]

Do you all fight with the same kind of weapon? Those black sword things...

[ what is it with people and swords ]

[ex_adept136]

[Seinen's what the shounens become when they grow big and masochistic...]

A quinque, you mean? We do, but appearance varies widely. For instance mine is red.

[Sorry, the sword-train carries on]

[competing]

Yeah, a quinque. [ kink? ]

But that's pretty neat. We kinda got something like that, too, us paladins. Our weapons adjust to us, at least.

[ex_adept136]

[One of them does have a quinque that can function as a whip, so...take it as you will]

Adjust? Do you mean automatically?

[competing]

Guess so? It sort of happens unconsciously. I mean — I haven't managed to get it do change into anything else, not like Pidge, but I figure when I need it to, it will.

[ he quiets for a moment. it's got to. ]

[ex_adept136]

Some quinque can take different shapes, but it's more by design than something...intuitive.

[And a feat of engineering, at that]

[competing]

Yeeeeah, alien tech can be pretty wild. It's like it just sort of... knows, you know? It knows what you need and what you're good at and then just kinda rolls with it.

[ex_adept136]

So does that mean it has some sort of sentience?

[competing]

Honestly? Your guess is as good as mine. I'm no tech-whiz, so I never really bothered to ask.

[ex_adept136]

It's crazy to think of technology adapting to someone intuitively like that.

[A beat, as he catches himself]

...I say as we travel time-space trying to save worlds.

[competing]

[ at that, lance can't help out a brief bark of laughter. ]

Right? I thought after discovering evil-vanquishing alien robot lions, nothing could shake me. But I just keep getting proved wrong here.

[ex_adept136]

You couldn't find any of this outside of fiction where I'm from. I keep getting reminded just how small my world is.

[And not in the Disney theme-park ride sort of way]

[competing]

I wouldn't count your world as that small. It's definitely got stuff my own doesn't.

[ he thinks he'll take robot lions of people-eating ghouls any day... ]

[ex_adept136]

That's probably true for everyone, don't you think so?

[He's certainly heard of quite a few things his world doesn't include]

[competing]

Yeah, for sure! But that doesn't make your world any smaller for it.

[ex_adept136]

[A pause, before he just can't help remarking-]

You're a kind person, Lance.

[competing]

[ that catches lance way off guard. ]

Uh — thanks?

[ what did he even do... ]

[ex_adept136]

Well then, I think I've occupied enough of your time for today.

[Hit-and-run compliment, right here]

Please feel free to call if you need someone to talk to, once everything's set up. I keep pretty long hours, so you won't disturb me.