Ωaudio | slightly backdated

[sophos]

[Backdated a few days, to little over a week and a half after the turtle ceases making landfall and is once again swimming.]

[Audio. She thought about doing a text post, but it would be easier on her to avoid that, and she can keep her tone neutral enough and with a genuine simple curiosity, while not having to worry about keeping her expression the same kind of nonchalant.]

For all the hype, I expected to find more on the mainland. I'm curious what anyone else might have stumbled on? Did anyone find any signs of life? And I mean beyond the monsters out for blood.

Also – is anyone well practiced or studied in Feng Shui? I have a basic understanding, but it's something I'm recently curious about.

[She pauses.] One last thing. Unless someone has heard from Yelena lately, it's safe to say she's no longer here.

Comments

audio

[backwordscompatible]

[Hmm. Zatanna might not've been a bat officially, but even she was adept at picking up on subtle verbal cues. It might've been nothing. They had all seen the vast emptiness and destruction of what had clearly been a civilization. Asking if signs of life amidst such a horror wasn't too out there.]

[Still...she was curious.]


I heard some people had found little trinkets and stuff. You know, like teddy bears and laptops. Even jewelry.

audio

[sophos]

[Laptops indeed, and though unseen, she glances to hers, the one Damian found, sitting on the desk nearest the console.]

Seems like a lot of that stuff was from people's homes. Though it makes me wonder how it ended up on the mainland instead of here.

[This is the first mention of jewelry she's heard though.]

audio

[backwordscompatible]

[Exactly why she'd brought it up; to her knowledge, nobody had actually announced finding any jewelry. Not publicly.]

Maybe a few summoning wires got crossed when we were all brought here? I know I didn't have anything of my own from back home when I first woke up.

audio

[sophos]

I had a handful of things with me - but only stuff that had been on my person. I've been trying to figure out if I can confirm a reason.

Did you find anything of yours there?

audio

[backwordscompatible]

Well, there's your reason; if you had it with you at the time, it's not so surprising it came with you.

[To her, this was all magic transportation 101.]

No, I didn't.

audio

[sophos]

Well, yeah, but I meant confirm a mainland explanation, magical misfire or otherwise. I feel like some of the things that were found there seem unrelated to what someone might have had with them.

Technically, I didn't either. [Because someone else found it for her.]

audio

[backwordscompatible]

Probably depends on the person. We can't know everyone's story, right? What they might've been doing before.

[Which...would explain the Helmet showing up. Horrible as that thought was. It had been on her person, relatively speaking. Making it her fault. Again.]

"Technically"?

audio

[sophos]

And people could be lying.

[Annabeth gets a tiny grin, probably heard through her tone.]

Something of mine was found, but not by me. It's since been returned, thankfully.

audio

[backwordscompatible]

I'm sure they are. Either lying or keeping things.

[Even from the people close to them. But there were reasons. There were always reasons.]

Any idea why that particular whatever-it-is showed up?

audio

[sophos]

[She sighs a little] I wish I could say I would be surprised if some other things were found and said person kept them without offering on the network at first.

It was a laptop, that's not really a secret. But I have no idea. I'm more surprised it still works here.

audio

[backwordscompatible]

I guess technology's a little more teleportation-friendly than powers.

audio

[sophos]

It probably would have drained out on the mainland like everything else.

audio

[backwordscompatible]

Except everything on the mainland that drained out came right back when we returned here.

[Another test. Eva had explained the reason why this was so to her, and she wanted to see if this girl came to a similar conclusion.]

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[controlledvariable]

[She throws up a regular encryption rather than using Bruce's, because she doesn't want to seem too good at computers, but does want to keep the conversation private, because the question has made her curious]

I found a working radio tower, and the masoleum.

[she pauses, then adds:] I know a little about feng shui, are you wondering about anything in particular?

[She's not sure how to address Yelena's absence, she knows Annabeth and her were friends, and anything she could say feels a little trite]

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[sophos]

I found the mausoleum, too. The bodies didn't look like kedan. Saw a bunch of radio towers, but none of them worked. Interesting.

I understand the concepts, but not so much the details in terms of placement. I was wondering, given the Eastern influence here, if it might have had any bearing on where certain sectors or buildings are.

[Like the Emperor's palace, mostly, but everything else too after she thought about it.]

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[controlledvariable]

I don't think they were either, but I didn't stay to look. [Lying is a necessary evil, sometimes] Did find a working tower, even if there wasn't really anything for it to pick up.

[As for feng shui, Steph pauses for a momet, thinking] It's times like this I miss the internet. Um... I could probably take a stab at writing down what I remember, but it's probably not gonna be much.

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[sophos]

[She makes a monosyllabic thoughtful noise, flashing back to some of the things Eva told her about satellites and communication.] It wasn't a very welcoming place to stay, no.

[The internet comment nearly gets a facepalm out of her. She should try poking at the laptop - she'd gotten so used to not having it.] Any little thing might help. I'd appreciate that, though don't waste too much paper. Would you prefer typing it?

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[controlledvariable]

Most graves aren't, though the mausoleum seemed creepier than most. [Because of the state of the bodies and the fact they weren't kedan.]

I can type something up, I'll send it to your console when it's ready [She might ask Bruce for help.]

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[sophos]

It could have been intended that way. [Even if she's 99% sure how the bodies got there.]

That works. Thanks for the potential effort.

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[controlledvariable]

[Steph looks thoughtful at that] Why? [It's a genuine question, if Annabeth thinks it might've been meant to look creepy, what would be the purpose of that?]

No problem, I'll get something to you soon.

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[sophos]

A warning of some kind? If anyone were to find it. It's ominous enough. But maybe they didn't want anyone to stick around either.

Great. Thanks, again.

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[controlledvariable]

[Huh, that makes her pause, because it's not something she thought of.]

Ominous is one word for it. Do you think the Mausoleum might be dangerous, or whoever put it there might've just wanted to make sure no one messed with it?

[Either could be wrong, but she's mostly thinking outloud, now.

And she just gives a smile for the 'thanks']

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[sophos]

I think at the core it's meant to be a form of remembrance. [She says it with a quiet level of certainty.]

The metal walls were heavy duty. A kind of material I haven't seen on the turtle. Strong enough to keep things out. Durable.

Whether it was originally intended as a monument to the dead or as something else is another story. It's hard to say when we don't necessarily know the rituals for the dead on the mainland either. Is it normal? Are there more mausoleums out there? Or is this a one time thing? The cities were empty, and it seems like almost everyone was buried in this one, given the size and structural nature of how the cities were built, how many they seemed fit to hold.

All the bodies make it seem like everyone died the same way. So maybe that's a warning. Something that could happen again. Something not to forget. And simultaneously something that cannot be messed with, with a respect to the dead.

[.....oops she started thinking out loud herself. But man is it nice to vocalize some of her thoughts beyond her mind.]

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[controlledvariable]

[Steph listens without interrupting, her expression thoughtful, and a little impressed. She knows Annabeth is smart, but the amount of consideration she's put into the situation is still impressive, and Steph can't help thinking that she'd make a good Bat.

After a moment, she finds the words she wants to reply with]

I'm glad we saw it, even if it raises a lot of questions.

[Not glad that it's there, or glad that it happened, but considering everything that Annabeth's just said, Steph is grateful the were given that warning, if it's what it was.]

I wonder how many of the kedan know about it. [if the Emperor does.]

→ audio; encrypted 80%

[sophos]

Me, too. The whole thing was a worthwhile experience.

[There's the sound of her fingers tapping.] I've been asking around. They don't really talk about it.

[And she's been debating whether or not to bring it up to the Emperor, during the next audience. On one hand, it would be good to see what Eshai did or didn't say. On the other hand, it could be risky.]