001;

[washitaway]

[It takes him a while to figure out the console - a mechanical box of some sort, on the table in his little apartment? What newfangled technology is this now? Seems rather silly to Booker, being able to see people's faces through it. It's not any better than a telephone, and much less mobile.

It takes him a moment to realize the video feed is actually on and he can stop poking and banging at it - he frowns into the camera somewhat suspiciously, then.]

This seems like a nice enough place. I'm not looking for any trouble, but I need to find someone. A girl. Brown hair, blue eyes, a little on the small side. She answers to Elizabeth. It's important I find her.

If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'll be much obliged. If she's here.

[A brief look - of desperation, vulnerability, fear, even - crosses his face, and then he shakes it off.]

If you see her, tell her Booker's looking for her. [Then he flips off the feed abruptly.]

Comments

video;

[optout]

How old is she, exactly?

[ 'girl' can be anything from young adult to toddler, and it's harder to tell when you're pushing six million ]

video;

[washitaway]

[Booker has to think about that one for a moment - it was probably somewhere in the information his employer gave him originally, but it's been a while since he looked at it, and he doesn't have it on him anymore, anyway.]

Nineteen, maybe twenty? Though I'd say she looks and acts a mite younger. She's been very sheltered. [By 'sheltered', he means 'locked in a tower her whole life with nothing but books and a giant mechanical bird for company'.]

video;

[optout]

I see. [ Orion gives how the man needed a moment to come up with her approximate age and the comment of being sheltered some very serious consideration. Did she want to be found? ]

A few of us have worked within the Emperor's rules as a sort of stopgap foreign police force; I'll make sure word gets out.

video;

[washitaway]

[That makes him pause, his eyes narrowing a little. No offense, he's just leery of authority figures.]

Might wanna leave out the part about being bulls. She's no fugitive, just a girl in trouble that I'm responsible for.

video;

[optout]

[ Orion returns the leery stare in kind; he was given to suspicion when told half a story. ]

Bulls? [ Must be a 'humanism' ] I'll make special mention she not be considered such. Can I ask what sort of trouble? In the event she is here it would be helpful to know if any trouble might have followed her.

video;

[candystriped]

What makes you think your girlfriend is even here?

video;

[washitaway]

She's not - ['Girlfriend' isn't really a word where he's from (when he's from) but he's clever enough to figure out the implication there.] She's just a girl I'm responsible for.

And I don't know if she's here or not, that's what I'm trying to find out.

[If she's not here, then he needs to figure out where she is, and how to get to her. Goddamn tears.]

Re: video; I'm so sorry for her ;~;

[candystriped]

So you're a really shitty babysitter and you're advertising this for everyone?

video; I'm crying

[washitaway]

What? [He was not expecting to be trolled. He doesn't even know the term 'troll'!] She's not a baby.

Video:

[grigio]

Haven't seen anyone matching that description. If I do, I'll let you know.

I'm Julie.

Video:

[washitaway]

Thank you, miss.

[He hesitates a moment, then says what he said to Ellie:]

She likes books.

Re: Video:

[grigio]

[If it weren't for the dark hair comment, and the age she heard mentioned, she'd wonder if Ellie was who he meant.]

There are, so I hear, tons of bookstores around here. A lot of the books are in the local language. Think she'd try to read it anyway?

Video:

[washitaway]

[It's funny because Ellie does remind him a bit of Elizabeth - albeit a little younger and more prone to swearing.]

If she don't know it already, she'll probably set out to learn it. [Basically Booker is willing to attribute just about any kind of knowledge to Elizabeth until proven otherwise. Girl is smart. A lot smarter than him, when it comes to book learning anyway.]

[ video ]

[jondrette]

[Hello scruffy looking older gent. This is Eponine. She's younger than Elizabeth, and she may not be educated, but she can read. Actually, she's more likely to be your daughter than anything else, but whatever.

She's here.]

And if I find her, is there a reward, m'sieur?

[ video ]

[washitaway]

Uh. [A reward isn't outside the realm of possibility, of course, and it's something he would probably be asking for if the positions were reversed.

He just didn't quite expect such a young girl to approach him asking for money to help him find Elizabeth. He pats around his pockets for a moment, eventually finding a couple of silver eagles - which he showed up with.]

All I have is this, which I suspect isn't worth much of anything around here. Sorry.

[jondrette]

[She looks at it curiously.] What is it? It doesn't look like any coin I have ever seen.

[washitaway]

It's a silver eagle. I don't think it's good anywhere but Columbia - the place I was before I got here.

video;

[asouthron]

Can't say I've come across a girl by that description, but I'll keep an eye out for her if she wanders into our clinic.

Booker, right?

video;

[washitaway]

That's right.

[Clinic?] What sort of clinic are we talking about, here?

video;

[asouthron]

[ The fuck? What kind of question is that?! ]

The medical kind. I'm a doctor!

[ What kind of clinics are you going to, Booker? ]

video;

[washitaway]

[Hey you know what, where he comes from, 'clinic' could just be a nice word for a place where people disappear and are never heard from again because they all get lobotomized or become science experiments. He's pretty sure that's the kind of thing they were doing to Elizabeth back in Columbia!]

What sort of doctor? A doctor had Elizabeth, back where I come from. He was hurting her.

[solo_patria]

I can keep an eye out certainly. This is not exactly a good time for anyone to be without someone from their homeworlds if it can be helped.

[washitaway]

I - thanks.

She was in trouble, so I just want to know she's safe.

[solo_patria]

I can understand that, certainly.

[And Enjolras's thoughts here go to Eponine. No matter that they last parted rather badly, he would have the same concerns for her now, should something like this happen.]

Is it the sort of problem anyone here may be of assistance with?

[washitaway]

Probably not. If she's even here, she's not likely to trust anyone.

[He rubs at his temple, with a sigh.] It's best, if you find her, to tell her I'm here. And if she's hurt... try to keep her calm, and keep your distance.

[And if he finds anyone here has hurt her, they will of course die very painful deaths, but he doesn't see the point throwing that threat around. Booker doesn't threaten, he just does.]