[Network] - WEEKLY BULLETIN - open

[inthenightmods]

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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Comments

[equinoctials]

[ 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..?

[callada]

[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.

[equinoctials]

[ 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.

[callada]

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.]

[equinoctials]

[ Riku expected a question like this would come up eventually, maybe even as soon as they returned to Beacon, but there were so many injured and lost. They had their hands full, perhaps now is the right time. ]

Necessary, if we trust everything Winters and Robin told us. At least, we need the Lighthouse.

It's key to all of it. The forest spirits, the resets...

[ His gaze drops, thoughtfully. ]

I feel a little bad for her, I guess. It's not good to be alone and isolated like that for so long. It messes with your heart and mind.

[ Her forced cheer, the occasional callousness. He doesn't doubt that her solitary duty has messed her up, but his response is sympathetic primarily due to his own lived experience. ]

What about you?

[callada]

[He nods along with this, seemingly in agreement. Yes, all right, it was necessary, in a sense. Necessary for them not only to hook the Keeper up to the network but also necessary for them to learn the problems associated with doing so. Necessary for them to understand some key elements of their situation here.

He considers his response as he works at his cigarette, and then decides not to answer straightaway.]

Should we trust what Robin told us? Because from my point of view, it doesn't all add up.

[equinoctials]

I believe her story about how the lighthouse keeper gets that duty. We saw firsthand the influence she has over the forest spirits.

I also don't doubt her that the lighthouse serves as her lantern.

[ Riku loosely curls a hand into a fist and taps a knuckle to his chin, thoughtfully. After a moment, he spreads his open palm and lets it drop. ]

There's a saying: trust but verify. Guess you could say I'm skeptical. For instance-

[ And here he hunkers down, taking up a spot next to Rosinante and setting his lantern down at his side. Once he's settled in, he continues. ]

It would be easier to manipulate people torn from their worlds if they're told they're dead, that there's nothing to get back to. If our captors posed as one of us. But even if I say that, it's not like I have any evidence.

[callada]

Captors, huh.

[That's a new one. He's quite happy to have been given an extra shot at life away from some of the things - and people - he left behind. He sees where the comparison comes from, though. Doesn't agree with it, but he sees it. And the rest of that paranoia is sound enough.]

I have no doubt she's manipulating us for one reason or another. One doesn't live through twenty years of massacring groups of people like ourselves without detaching from them.

[equinoctials]

[ Do any of them remember how they got on the ferry to begin with? Sounds like captivity to him. But then, he hasn't had any discussions about the phenomenon that actually brings them here.

He uses the word massacre, and Riku looks at him without alarm, but more like he's searching his face thoughtfully. ]

I can't imagine how lonely and afraid she's been in this endless darkness. Wondering if she'll be doomed to stay up in that lighthouse forever.

I feel bad for her. Except these same reasons are why I don't think trusting her is wise.

[callada]

Then we're on the same page.

[See, this sort of thing is why he wanted double the amount of cigarettes for the upcoming month. He's going through them just as quickly as he had on some of the worst days in the last few years. So much for peace after death. He breathes in smoke as if it's what's giving him the added days of life, and pauses a moment in thought.]

I think what we did will end up being necessary to sort out what's going on here. But we paid heavily for it. Had anything gone just slightly differently, it could have been you or me or both, instead of Winters and Five. We'd better use what we can from the Keeper well to make those losses worth it.

[equinoctials]

[ Riku wrinkles his nose a little at the acrid smoke, regretting his decision to sit next to him - nothing personal, but like with Gene, the company was good but the tobacco smoke doesn't agree with him.

He doesn't complain. ]

Yeah...

[ It's staggering to think that their chances of failure are so high, that they're existing on borrowed time. Another reset could sweep the board clean and replace them with newer, less damaged pieces. ]

Experience, age, none of the factors people thought would matter saved anyone.

[ Mary is the youngest and assumedly the least experienced of them all and she survived. ]

If I learn anything that doesn't get into the log book, I'll keep you in the loop. Can I count on you to do the same?

[callada]

Yeah, of course. If I find out anything that helps us all, I'm planning to make sure everyone finds out. There's no point keeping things to ourselves here.

[Yet. They may learn things they want to hide from individuals like Robin, meaning no network, no forest spirits listening in. But mostly he figures anything they can learn, she probably already knows, for now. And he can't really think of her as some sort of enemy, even after what she did. She isn't necessarily malicious, she probably does things for reasons that make sense to her, and they're operating without all the needed information.

Just have to wait and see. Good thing he has patience aplenty.]

[equinoctials]

Thanks.

[ Riku appreciates his sense of discretion. Being someone who absolutely has done some pretty terrible things (sometimes with some good intentions behind them), he's a little more at ease with the gray areas; being completely open and honest isn't objectively the right thing to do 100% of the time.

Riku pushes himself up to his feet, dusting himself off with a few pats. ]

I gotta go.

[ He's not really in any condition to go searching for the bodies of their missing friends, but he's going to anyway. He can't sit still, knowing Dawn might be out there somewhere, his end a constantly bleeding vacancy torn out of his own heart. ]

Be careful.