video;

[isnotokay]

[ When the video feed starts, it shows Annie in her uniform jacket with a distinctly flat expression that military sorts might recognize as a thousand-yard stare. The silence drags on unreasonably, though she doesn’t give any indication that she thinks it as such. (Hint: She doesn’t.) Finally, she speaks in a tone that's apathetic: ] Is natural gas available in this place? I need it to fill a certain type of canister.

[ Not that she needs it right now, but she lifts one of the canisters from her 3DMG to show it. There's a strategic value to this move by pretending she's lost that advantage. ]

Ah, I should ask after my squad, shouldn’t I? [ She says it almost as an afterthought. So she introduces herself bluntly: ] Annie Leonhart. Stohess District MP, under acting squad leader Marlowe Freudenberg.

[ Because apparently that should do the trick, right? Terse to a fault in such an unusual situation, she abruptly shuts off the feed. ]

Comments

video;

[crabmunicator]

[There is a grey horned teenager on screen. He also stares, letting the silence drag on about as long as she did, albeit with a look that says 'not amused' and 'face stuck this way as a child' rather than 'thousand lawn ring stare'. What use are a thousand lawn rings, anyway?]

[Finally he speaks.]

What's with the staring?

video;

[isnotokay]

[ Another strange looking person. Huh. It seems like most people weren't human here. ]

Someone could say the same to you, at this point.

video;

[crabmunicator]

[His eyelid twitches, and he states with careful, pointed intonation:]

It was on purpose. I was demonstrating to you how weird and unsettling it is. God, would it kill the arrivals here to use their respective organs designed to process thought, or would literal mass suicide be the result?

video;

[isnotokay]

If that's what you were doing, you failed.

[ She quirks an eyebrow at him only briefly. ]

You weren't unsettling at all.

video;

[crabmunicator]

[Cue one throaty growl of frustration.]

Then point for me! Of the two of us, somehow the actual fang-bearing alien is the less creepy one. Good job, me! Time for a pat on the back.

[He reaches over his shoulder to do just that, scowling into his screen all the while.]

The point remains: your staring was a waste of time for all involved. What was it for? Does your thought process resemble the boot-up time of ancient, creaking computers best left to scrap heaps and museums of quaint, bygone technology? Or is social awkwardness your personal calling card, and writhing tentacled horrors forbid you not take the opportunity to hand it out via visual non-expression to all comers? Because whatever it was meant to accomplish, it sure wasn't anything useful.

audio

[justlittle]

I've seen no evidence of anyone named Marlowe Freudenberg. If they're here, they haven't posted to the Network.

audio

[isnotokay]

Ah. Honestly, I expected that answer.

So you keep track of people that appear on this?

audio

[justlittle]

I try to. Why?

audio

[isnotokay]

The uniform jacket. Have you seen many people wearing it? Insignia doesn't matter-- no, it does. Blue and white wings.

[ She'd been wearing hers when she posted the video, though hers clearly had a green unicorn visible. ]

[friendstime]

You need gas? Uh, if you've got missing friends shouldn't you be worried about them too? They probably miss you.

[isnotokay]

Those people I mentioned were squadmates. I don't have friends.

[friendstime]

What? Everyone has friends! [Hey, don't write people off like that.]

You're a team, right? You have a connection.

[isnotokay]

No, you're wrong. In truth, we never liked each other at all.

[ Though she'd had something sort of like friends at one point, briefly, she thinks. ]

We were just doing our jobs.

video

[bolthead]

[That equipment sure does look familiar. So does the uniform. Hmm. He'll answer her question first though.]

Not readily; the last time someone found a large quantity of it was at auction elsewhere. [Speaking of that someone:] You could ask Armin Arlert though--he's the one that has it.

video

[isnotokay]

Ah... Armin's well prepared. [ She leans in slightly. ] Are you one of his allies here?

video

[bolthead]

[What an odd word choice. He blinks before slowly answering the question.]

He's an acquaintance of mine. [The tone with which he says it though seems imply ally over enemy though.] He's been showing me how the gear works.

video

[isnotokay]

[ Definitely an ally if he's doing that. There's a slight shift in her expression, something more intent than before. Curiosity, maybe. ]

In a situation with limited gas? That's careless.

[ Or a 'large' amount is significant enough that he's willing to waste it. ]

video;

[speaksreindeer]

[That's weird. People (that aren't reindeer) usually don't like the smell of natural gas, but if she's going to look for some, Kristoff supposes he could give the whole helping-people thing another shot. He comes onto the feed with a strange, almost strained expression, then waits. Sniffs. Yup, he's still pungent.]

Hey. I'm not trying to brag here, but if you want natural gas, I'm your guy.

[Seriously. Did you not catch that sniff test?]

video;

[isnotokay]

[ The flattest of flat looks. Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of joke that she's unfamiliar with.

Though she's not sure he's joking. That's definitely odd. ]

That answers one question. There are idiots in this world, too.

video;

[speaksreindeer]

[Wait, what? He was just trying to help you and you're calling him an idiot? Kristoff frowns and crosses his arms, brow furrowing at that.]

What's that supposed to mean? You're the one looking for natural gas. [He's just... so offended. See? Seeeee? This is why he doesn't help people!]

video;

[isnotokay]

You're serious. You're actually serious.

[ This is probably supposed to be a question, but the inflection doesn't make it seem like one at all. ]

video; because this totally isn't late whatsoever

[asoothingvoice]

[Bianca knows that look isn't healthy, much less on anyone that young.]

I don't think they're here, or if they are, they haven't said anything on the network yet.

[At least where she's seen. She uses it haphazardly at best.]

I'm Bianca. I help run one of the clinics here.

video; right on time by my standards!

[isnotokay]

A doctor. [ It's not really a question, more an observation or an acknowledgement. (And by the standards of education in her world, anyone that ran a clinic would easily be called one.) She nods shortly. ]

If he hasn't said anything, he's not here. The others either. Still, I appreciate the confirmation.

video;

[asoothingvoice]

You're welcome.

I'm a nurse, actually. I don't have the same level of skill that Dr. McCoy does. [Even if 'Dr. Reyes' has a nice ring to it. She hadn't planned on going to medical school to become a full doctor when she was younger; being a nurse was more than fine with her. Maybe Jaime or Milagro could be 'Dr. Reyes' instead.]

Do you need help with anything? I know arriving here is a big shock.

[The fact that Annie's clothing looks similar to Armin's didn't escape her.]

Re: video;

[isnotokay]

[ She seems to reach up as if to touch her face, hesitates, and then just brushes her bangs to the side instead. ]

No, I'm... I'm not injured. [ She shakes her head. Really, she sounds a little confused by the offer. ] I don't need any help.