NETWORK MESSAGE VERSION 2.0 ► VIDEO; CONSOLE

[bigdamnhiro]

[So it appears all the soul gemmed kedan have vanished. But nobody's sounded the alarm or told Hiro that, so have a kid on the network trying not to look as concerned as he feels.]

...Has anybody seen Deoreo? Kedan, Metalworker, about yay big, [And he holds a hand at level above his head; Deoreo's young, but a little older and bigger than Hiro.] been living in my house, sleeping in my brother's bed for a month? 'Cuz he left this morning and hasn't come back. Kinda late now.

[Not admitting he'd actually kinda warmed up to the guy, nope, though there's a nervous flick of his eyes away from the camera for a second.]

Dude, Deoreo, seriously? You missed deep fried sushi night. Lame.

Comments

audio only;

[denyamenti]

Is there actually any good sushi here?

[ Someone's maybe missing Ryou's usual palate. ]

[irishthor]

You sure he's not just spending the night away?

audio;

[skeletonenigma]

[This message gets left a day or two after the initial post.]

He's not the only one. It looks like all of the kedan with soul gems have vanished.

[Skulduggery's done a little investigating on his own. He can't be sure, especially since the Snakes play things close to their chests, but it's certainly where the evidence is pointing.]

[bigdamnhiro]

My Aunt makes a mean homemade roll, so if you count that, then yeah. Dunno about anywhere else. She'd probably share if you asked nicely.

[bigdamnhiro]

He didn't say anything about going anywhere overnight...

[Now you're making him think he's just being paranoid, but considering Tadashi got beat up on an otherwise uneventful morning just a few weeks ago...]

Maybe he just got held up.

[bigdamnhiro]

[At this point, it's been a couple of days, and Deoreo's nowhere to be found. It's obvious something's gone wrong. Still, hearing it confirmed is a quiet gutpunch.]

All of them, at the same time? And nobody knows what happened to them?

[skeletonenigma]

I don't know about at the same time, but that's certainly what it looks like.

[A beat.]

I'm sorry about your friend.

[Video]

[croissaunt]

[Cass is looking worried. Also this should be sometime after Skul's reply simply for simplicity's sake.]

I still haven't seen or heard from him....

[bigdamnhiro]

...You say that like they're already as good as dead.

[He knows the odds aren't good. He saw what happened to the turtles, he heard about the undead kedan showing up, he even saw the body of the woman who attacked Tadashi and Aqua, but still.]

[Video]

[bigdamnhiro]

Yeah, about that...I don't think he's coming back on his own. I think somebody took him, and all the other ones who had soul gems too.

[denyamenti]

... can she be bribed?

[ His attempts at being nice usually don't end well. ]

[bigdamnhiro]

If by "bribe" you mean "exchange money for food like a normal person" then...yes. She can be bribed.

...She kinda runs a café at home. Money for food is what she does.

[Dude, your social skills are worse than his.]

[denyamenti]

[ He's just checking, Hiro. ]

Does she do that here, as well?

[ He thought he'd made a note of all the Foreigner-run businesses, but it's possible he's missed this one. ]

[skeletonenigma]

[They might well be. But a disappearance doesn't mean there's no hope.

It just means there's the possibility something even worse happened.]

I'm looking into it. If I find anything, I'll let you know.

[Video]

[croissaunt]

[She covers her hand with her mouth, looking horrified.]

He's been kidnapped?!

[anewangle]

Maybe he just got caught up doing something and lost track of time.

[Because this is Tadashi, and if anyone is going to be persistently optimistic, it's Tadashi.]

[bigdamnhiro]

She's working on it. The ingredients are different here, so she pretty much has to reconstruct her recipe book. She'd probably be happy to have you taste-test stuff for her, though. Just sayin'.

And we actually did have deep-fried sushi tonight. It was awesome.

[Yeah, just gonna dangle that one there in front of you, dude.]

[bigdamnhiro]

[Thanks, that's reassuring

Huff.]

Okay then. Thanks.

[bigdamnhiro]

[Hiro flinches visibly. Gosh, Aunt Cass, saying it out loud makes it worse.]

—Yeah. Probably. Remember the people who attacked Tadashi? [And set those booby traps that messed him up real good for a while there, but let's not talk about that—] Those people, I think.

[bigdamnhiro]

[And then there's Hiro. Who is less optimistic.]

What if he didn't, though? People keep disappearing. Those guys that attacked you? Those were probably people who'd disappeared before. And then they came back messed up.

[denyamenti]

[ He looks like he's considering it, but in the way a cat considers a dash across water for food on the other side. ]

Perhaps.

[irishthor]

Maybe...

[A pause, because now he's feeling paranoid.]

Want to go look for him?

[bigdamnhiro]

[Hiro blinks. Forgive him if he's a little leery; he's lived in the big city and dabbled in its seedy underbelly, and even after just what's happened on the turtle in the last few months...]

...Maybe. Who're you, again?

[bigdamnhiro]

I promise my Aunt doesn't bite. Most of the time.

[Sometimes, maybe. If you mess with her nephews. But let's assume that's not the intent here.]

[croissaunt]

[Because it is worse.]

... This isn't right! Why would someone do such things?!

[And the same guys who attacked Tadashi? This isn't good. Not good at all. Oh, and thanks for reminding her about:]

You're not to leave the house unless you're with someone. They might go after you, too!

[Well, Hiro did try to go after them. If they're going to attack people randomly and kidnap others, why not attack someone that had tried to find out their plans?]