Audio | @silent, @parker, @riku | open

[callada]

[ It has been hours since the lighthouse crew returned to Beacon. You may have seen them around already - checking up on friends and strangers alike, making sure people are safe from the forest spirits and their violence. So it’s some time after that the audio file is posted to the network. ]

Riku: It’s done. The lighthouse is connected.

Peter: That’s the good news. [ a beat; frankly, peter’s tired and it’s reflected in the audible exhale of breath that follows the brief statement. ] Which means we can now communicate with the Lighthouse Keeper and she can communicate with us. I know— things didn’t exactly go as planned, at the lighthouse or — here, but Winters said there’d be a risk. [ the word’s enunciated carefully, with weight; it’s accompanied by the brief sound of movement. that they all knew there'd be the risk of death going into this doesn't change the gravity of what had happened, and though there's more to it than this, peter continues with: ]

—The spirits attacked once they figured out what we were trying to do. [ breath of a pause; amendment. ] Once they thought they figured out what we were trying to do—.

[ in person, peter's attention flickers between rosinante and riku. ]

Rosinante: They came for us immediately when they found us. We ran, but Winters was at the rear and they got him first. Five was first to try and help him, and they killed him too.

[ Said bluntly, matter-of-factly. There’s no desire to beat around the bush, though he does sound solemn as he continues. ]

I can’t speak for the others, but I’ll be here at the Invincible for now if anyone has questions, or needs somewhere to hide.

[ For now, all three are there around the tables by the bar, looking tired and covered in blood and dirt. Worse for wear, but alive. ]

((Feel free to either reply via network or come find them in person!))

Comments

[webshoots]

That’s the thing: we don’t know. We don’t know anything about this place. You do get that, right? That whatever action we take runs the risk of making our existence here better OR worse.

[ and as far as this goes, no-one’s capable of being harder on peter than peter is on himself. has he failed before? sure. has he let people down? definitely. does he have a frankly hilarious and disproportionate amount of guilt knocking around? you betcha. but this isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time anyone’s attempted to use that guilt against him — and noob’s doing it blindly, so it’s easier to disconnect and acknowledge that it’s not as black and white as he’s trying to make it sound.

still: uuuuuuugh. just ugh. ]

But sure, I’ll run with you for a second. Maybe we failed. Maybe we messed up. Are you saying we should just give up?

[saibot]

Acting with caution is not the same as giving up. Being dead has no time limit, at least not normally. Rushing into action while knowing very little is a foolish plan.

[webshoots]

[ oh, right. acting with caution, that—

is actually a totally fair point. ]

You know there's a sliding scale, right? Such a thing as being too cautious? I'm not saying you're wrong.

[ just that sometimes you can wait for too long. in this case though? would it have been better to wait? was there more information they could have got before heading out to the lighthouse? maybe. maybe not.

—but at the same time, dwelling on maybes never did anyone any good. ]

Just that it's not always that simple.

But look, I appreciate the pep talk here, it's been great.

[saibot]

I never stated to take inaction. In life I was a master thief and assassin. No task is ever completed successfully by rushing in.