networkinthenight | [Network] - WEEKLY BULLETIN

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[Network] - WEEKLY BULLETIN - open

WEEKLY BULLETIN

announcements
What do you get when you combine a Catholic and a spirit child? I don't know, it's not a joke, it's just an announcement that one of the spirits-- a baby, it looks like-- has been adopted.

What an awful week, though. Both the exploration group and the distraction group did so well, and honestly? It made a difference. You guys should be proud.

On a lighter note, autumn is just around the corner! Look for temp drops and gusty weather cropping up in the next week or so.

classifieds
None.

If you wish to submit an advertisement, please drop them by the post office.

obituaries
Capt. Ben Winters: at least he died as he lived: doing something worthwhile. Thank you, Winters.

Number Five: clever right to the end.

A whole host of people have gone missing since the party... We haven't found their bodies or their lanterns yet, but I think it's safe to assume they're probably gone. Here's the list: Melisandre, Yaeris, Gene Hicks, Ahven Sychantus, Scott Ryder, Nathan Drake, Brienne of Tarth, Raylen Givens, John Constantine, Chloe Frazier, Irwin Wade, Elisha Harper, Dick Grayson, Aragorn, Rafe Adler, Billy Russo, Ben Hargreeves, Kyna Midha, Washington, Sam Drake, Daniel Riordan, Replica Riku Dawn, Eleven, Shadow Moon

[Worthy of note: this bulletin comes to you not via a newspaper, but by the network, now that Robin's connected with you guys once more!]

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It's not Replica. His name was Dawn.

[Rosinante had, naturally, expected physical paper this week as with all prior weeks. When he finds there's no paper copy and asks the postmaster about it, at least the spirit has the good sense to gesture at his tablet.

Robin's style is familiar now to him and her words to Winters and Five are kind, but he can't help but feel bitter anyway. And then he scrolls through the list of names that feels like it will never end.

So if you, too, have come looking for a newspaper, you can find him sitting on the ground with his back against the post office building, tablet resting open on one knee and cigarette in hand as he stares in stunned silence. Linger long enough and he'll ask:]

Seen the latest bulletin yet?

[ It's a good thing Riku never found out who announced Kairi's death or what was said when her corpse was found, because he'd have a less sympathetic reaction to Robin. He came here to follow up on a tip - that there might be some records here about what's been going on.

He finds a welcome and familiar face, instead; Riku's on the mend from injuries taken during the mission at the lighthouse, the haggard and exhausted look hasn't waned, but a lot of that has to do with the toll grief and sleeplessness has had on him.

His hands curl at his sides into fists. He nods once: ]

I know for sure one of them isn't coming back.

...Did you know any of them?

[what a coincidence, he came looking for the news and discovered the same thing. Well, except for ignoring the Postmaster, which will probably bite him in the ass later.]

...no.

[seeing that the commander has his tablet out, Cao Pi catches on very quickly and retrieves his own from the makeshift pouch he's taken to wearing in order to carry all the cumbersome shit this world has loaded on them. Ah, there it...wow. Damn.

Ah.

The obituaries are a true testament to the grand success of those who choose to partake in a certain mission.

[Kairi, he has to assume. The one Riku had been looking for; who he'd promised he'd keep an eye out for also. But he never had seen her in all that chaos. Poor Riku, losing someone he was so close to.

He nods slowly at the question as he thumbs the tablet screen up and down, looking the list over again, then reaches into his shirt and withdraws the sailboat pendant.]

Melisandre gave me this on my birthday. Wade, he was one of the medics, and shared a room with me and Mary. Helped me look after her.

[Gene was a good man. Washington was a fellow Marine, even if from a different world. He and Kyna had been sweet to each other and it made him smile, knowing there could be love in a place like this. Many of the others he'd spoken to at least once also. Not one name on that list was a person he wanted to see gone.

Reminds him of some of the lists at home after some of the battles. He must have ended up on a list like this also, as if this wasn't sobering enough, so that calls for another long, slow draw of tobacco.]

[For a moment, he doesn't reply. Lets Cao Pi read it over and absorb the information for himself. He's still a little numb also; a little unsure of what to even say.]

I spent time looking for quite a few of these people. I didn't realize just how many had gone missing. I was trying to put together a list of those who were accounted for, but...

[With everyone scattered, it was too hard to know who had simply gone off to hide and who had truly been lost. Maybe even now, some of these people will still return, but the possibility feels more remote with each passing day.]

[he can't decide whether it's good or bad that he didn't know...well, any of these people. He might have spoken to one on the network, but otherwise, it's a mystery. No feelings here, aside from a general unsettled air that so many people could be gone all at once.]

Do we know if they were present at the party, or with any of the groups that went out? I should feel more comfortable if I knew whether the rampage of the spirits had anything to do with it.

[ Riku would argue he's been richer. He's known the kind of love and forgiveness and belonging that visits precious few in all the worlds he's seen. Sora and Kairi have given him a gift that comes rarely to but the most lucky. Second and third chances, a place where he can be himself, somewhere his wandering heart can call home.

Dawn too, for reminding him that he didn't need to be what others expected him to be, of what a blessing it was to be born with one's own identity, of how hard the fight could be to gain one when none was available before. ]

...Back home, the only gift more lucky's been a star-shaped fruit.

[ Riku says softly, an understated respect for the gift Rosinante had been given. After a moment, Riku reluctantly pulls from his pocket a small wooden carving, made into the shape of a key. ]

From Gene.

[ He spirits it away into a pocket, and that empty hand alights onto Rosinante's shoulder. Given how the man towers over him when standing, it's a simpler matter now that he's crouched with his tablet, but the gesture means the same thing. Silent solidarity. ]

Mary's safe, right..?

Yes. When Winters was organizing who would help with which parts of our expedition, a number of these people were in lookout and defense groups. Nathan, Raylan, and Scott I know were supposed to be backing us up, and probably others. Melisandre was helping with the party. I saw them all not long before we headed to the lighthouse.

[He couldn't have saved them all. They had their roles to fill, and he had his. He'd had his hands full just trying to fight back when they came for Winters, and when he and Riku tried to drag Five out of their claws. So why does he feel so damn guilty that he couldn't look after everyone?]

...damn.

[it's actually pretty rare for him to swear, but that's an extremely important bit of info, there.]

If they do return, as you did...is there any indication of how long that would take? It's only been, hm, just shy of a week since the spirits finally calmed down and ceased their attacks.

[A star-shaped fruit, huh? What an odd coincidence that his own last gift to someone else hadn't been so different. Heart-shaped, and eternal.

The key carving is sweet. Gene had been so kind. It stings to think of what might have become of him. His mouth remains set in a bitter line as he observes it, and his head droops slightly when Riku touches his shoulder. He finds himself staring at some nondescript point on the ground, dwelling on memories rather than looking at the list. He had barely known these people, but he misses them all the same.]

Yeah. She's fine. Should be back at the Invincible right now.

[She's not going to take this list well. She loved some of these people too, and she already struggles with feeling abandoned even when surrounded by those who care about her.]

I wish we could have done more.

[ Island worlds and their fateful fruit, huh?

Gene had been kind in that way only those who have known hardship can be. He was sharp, shrewd, utilitarian and Riku had respected him for every ounce of it. He was taken from them too soon, though which of them could really call how soon was "too soon" for any of them, existing on borrowed time?

Kairi was gone "too soon" because... why? Because Sora and Riku weren't ready to let go?

Make no mistake, he aches for the missing pieces in his heart, but Riku realizes that none of this is his call to make. Mary, though... she's too young, he thinks, to know the difference. He remembers how desperately she had clung to him, hoping he wouldn't disappear once he saw what truths lie on her grave. ]

...Me too.

I was gone a few days, that one time. That's what they told me. I think Doctor Ingram mentioned people being gone about a week, sometimes. On the long end.

[So at least some of these people, had they died, should have returned by now. Probably most of them.]

Either their lanterns were destroyed, or they're still out there somewhere, I suppose. But going in blind to look for them would be suicide.

[By now they could have gone anywhere, and traces like footsteps would be nearly impossible to follow in the pitch-black forest. The forest spirits - perhaps they know more, but he doesn't feel comfortable trusting them with much of anything right now.]

Is there no way to use these to find them? [he waves his tablet idly] At the very least one would hope that if they were simply lost in the wood they would use these devices to message someone for help.

[didn't that happen once? he feels like he remembers something like that. Either way, he wouldn't recommend a search party either. Either the idiots got lost and need to use their tablets right or they're beyond the help of anyone still in Beacon.]

What do you think? About what we did, I mean. About the Keeper.

[They'd succeeded at the goal of hooking her up to the network, for sure. But is she even helpful? He's still of half a mind to storm back over there and pore over the contents of her lighthouse, whatever they might be. She has information she's withholding and her excuses about why she should keep doing that hadn't sat well with him. She claims to be able to hold off the forest spirits, to talk to them, but so far she's either proven herself a liar or incompetent if not both.

He doesn't allow the bitterness to seep into his voice as he asks, but he feels it. It's more important, though, to get Riku's opinion without betraying his own thoughts on the matter. Better to get an untainted reply.]

Winters told us when we went out there that at a certain range, the tablets wouldn't work. We did have to connect the Keeper with physical cables, remember? I wasn't able to test how far out I still had a connection.

[But he wishes he could have. He will next time he's out that far, in any direction. They need to know that in case they lose touch with anyone who goes out.]

[he had forgotten that, good point. so much for understanding technology from two millennia in the future]

Even presuming the distance from here to the lighthouse is barely out of range, that leaves an awful lot of forest which is unexplored and full of creatures bent on killing us. If they've fled out that far then they're on their own.

[the cold way he says it suggests that he doesn't expect anyone has actually just. Run out into the woods until the tablets don't work. That would be too easy.]

If they don't return then we simply continue on. It is a shame, but... [shrug, what can you do?]

[It's true. Can't fault the guy.]

I agree. We know too little about the threats, and a rescue party would be risking too many people that we need to have here, able to defend this place. Exploration is still worthwhile, but we can't search for the missing forever. We can only hope we might come across them by chance, now, if they don't return on their own.

[It feels futile, given what he's seen. Jellyfish that swim in the air and produce horrifying, realistic hallucinations that drove his companions mad for far too long. Tall, slender monstrous creatures with the power to carve knife-like nails into flesh. There are more spirits than other races - already were but now they've lost a huge proportion of their number. It's time to recoup and make plans, not wander out in search of bodies.

It's the right answer, but it doesn't make him feel any better about what happened.]

[Cao Pi nods in agreement and then puts his tablet away, giving him a chance to do that thing where he has zero chance of making eye contact and sharing feelings with whoever he's talking to]

You have a kinder heart than I. Mourn if you must. All I can think about is the threat to have those same forest spirits obliterate us if we become useless to the Keeper. There is too much to be done and another ferry coming soon.

Many of those who went missing had skills we needed. It isn't all kindness.

[But they have fewer people to feed and watch over now, and that's easier. Makes them more vulnerable should something like it happen again, since another loss of that magnitude will put them in a dangerous position, but it isn't all bad. He knows that. He can see that, and he's trained to think in terms of practicality and effectiveness.

It just sucks to lose people who were not just doctors, not just fighters, but also people who others here relied on for their emotional health. That's all. He'll move forward as he always has but not everyone will find it easy.]

The spirits had no trouble diminishing our numbers. The previous resets were Robin's responsibility, and now I can see how she did it. We need to keep her appeased.

[She's not their friend, that's for sure.]

[that's fair, and he inclines his head in an acknowledging nod that lingers a moment longer than necessary. There are a handful of folks around that he expects are more worried about how everyone feels than about the practicalities, which is why he gravitates to this tall commander - someone who can do the feels but also has a firm grasp on reality. He's a good resource to have, and the closest thing to a tactician Zihuan has been able to find. Him and Ignis, maybe.

The idea of appeasing the lighthouse keeper makes him snort and his lips twist in disgust.]

You know who else needs to appeased in order to cajole them into not destroying everything? Gods.

[that word is spat out with all the venom he can muster. From that network message he's under no delusion that Robin is one, or even thinks she is, but the comparison has to be made. And scoffed at.]

[Gods. Isn't that the truth.]

It's distasteful. But we need to keep it in mind. Consider that last massacre a warning, because no matter what she claims she was trying to do, she's proven what she's actually capable of. We need an emergency plan if we hear the horn again.

[Some way to get everyone - or at least most everyone - to someplace they can defend. Are there spirits in the lake water itself? Can the creatures cross it? There must be a reason why she also hated the idea of any of them going out on the water, when the only weak reasoning she could come up with as to why they shouldn't was the risk of drowning. Same risk water always has and it never kept him up at night on a long sea voyage. So if they build enough boats or a large enough platform, maybe...]

[despite his father's miserable failure of a naval battle at Chi'bi, Cao Pi will be the first to advocate boats on the water. Hell yeah let's do it. Something unexpected is always his first go-to.]

You and I are of the same mind, commander. But it also seems to me that this unfortunate incident has exposed another glaring flaw in our existence: we can all talk about good ideas amongst ourselves all we want, but if no one steps up to lead the effort to bring them to fruition, we'll all be dead the next time the horn is sounded. [his icy eyes narrow] Winters took initiative, and in a sense it paid off even at the cost of his life. Those who've been here longest, with their experience, may or may not want to be the decision-makers. I don't doubt Ingram's intelligence but his cooperative spirit is...lacking. Master Rastus has his role already. As for the Keeper? I do not trust her at all.

[And Cao Pi, naturally, sounds like he might be volunteering. It's not all bad - the man clearly has leadership experience, to put it mildly. But he doesn't come across as likeable, which seems like an important factor when considering these people are not his national subjects. Sure, none of them are here by choice, but none of them are required to follow a leader they don't wish to, either.]

No, the Keeper is not our friend. And you're right about the others. But in this setting I might suggest multiple leaders. We're a small enough community to meet as a group and decide what our leadership should look like and what our plans should be for moving forward.

[But they do need an emergency plan, and it will have to be kept off the network. Away from the spirits' ears, too, if possible. Nothing can be kept completely secret but if the idea is to have not just an escape route or a defense position but also one that the Keeper and the spirits won't expect in case either turns on them, then they have to be careful.]

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@riku; text

outside the post office | open

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@subzero, text, open; i am so sorry

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