⊰ one | audio

[shootingshields]

[audio; a british woman’s voice, sounding firm and businesslike:] Quite unlikely, but if anyone of the “SSR” is here, this is Agent Thirteen, and we should speak immediately.

[Reconnaissance? Reconnaissance. And potential regrouping and collective meeting, even if she doesn't really expect familiarity; regardless of whether this is a land of the dead or something else entirely]

[She falls silent in a brief pause]

There were mutterings of gang wars and unrest, but the kedan I’ve spoken with weren’t very forthcoming about it all. Is there anything I should know in particular about it? I understand some sectors are more prone to gang violence than others. Anything shared will be appreciated.

Comments

[audio]

[usavatar]

[Steve hears her voice on the console from where he's sitting in Agent Barton's residence and the shock of it for a moment makes him wonder if he's imagining it, daydreaming her voice announcing organization and alias over a radio broadcast. A dream come true.

Another one.

Then she says kedan, sector, and he makes a strangled sound and throws himself to his feet, scrambling for the console and trying to make himself stop long enough to think of something to say.

Something to say.

Anything to say.

It's not entirely unlike staring down the phone as he reads through the summary of her service and general statistics - but now he's not trying to isolate himself. Now, there's no punishment or guilt or anger. Now his hands are shaking and it's like Bucky's face appearing on the screen a week ago, a voice he'd know anywhere and in any time, matter-of-fact.

Young.]

Ag- [He stops and takes a slow breath. Steady, Rogers. Steady.] Agent Thirteen, this is... It's me.

[audio]

[shootingshields]

[Peggy prides herself on her ability to keep calm, the personification of the propaganda poster she'd seen plastered all over at home.]

[But the audio, the voice on the other end -- her stomach drops. She stares at her console, feels her limbs tense. Her hand ball into a fist and she raises it to her mouth, pressing her fingers against her lips.]

[A trick? Voice alteration. A million other possibilities.]

[His voice, last heard with an abrupt cut-off that still replayed over and over in her mind. His voice, she knows it is, because she knows him and it absolutely is.]

Captain?

[Dead -- maybe she really did die, of something unexpected.]

[audio; encrypted 65%]

[usavatar]

[He remembers himself long enough to protect their communications, at least a little. Beyond that he's sitting at the console with dead air stretching between them.

In the end he manages two familiar words.]

I'm here.

→ text; anonymous; encrypted 80%

[controlledvariable]

[Steph has no idea what the SSR is, but the "Agent" says a lot, as does Peggy's tone. It's not too tricky to pick people in the armed forces, and anything with a S in it usually means Special. Which could make Peggy a potential ally, someone who knows what the hell they're doing. Because as much as Steph isn't, well, Bruce, she's slightly concerned with how blase some other people have been on the network, like all the kids being open about the fact they're superheroes.

Unfortuantely, she can't say much as Steph Brown, because Steph wouldn't pay attention to this sort of thing, but Batgirl does. For one of the very few times in her life, she puts in the effort to use capitals and proper punctuation, to distinguish this from her normal typing style.]

Fire, Earth and Metal sectors have had the highest unrest regarding the new arrivals and aren't considered safe. Gang violence seems restricted to those areas. That might be related.

There was an attempted execution of two new arrivals by the Kedan, the official police force was quick to respond, but excessive force may have been used and they haven't made any official statement about what happened. It's put everyone on edge, which may make return hostilities more likely.

text; encrypted 80%

[shootingshields]

[She reads it over, carefully filing it all away.]

It sounds more like they are related.

Is the motivation behind the attempted executions known? I suspect it relates to their status as "new arrivals."

text; encrypted 80%

[controlledvariable]

I'm not 100% sure of the intended purpose. I've been hesitant to ask the people involved, since the executioners were killed in front of them and I don't want to force them to remember too much of that.

[especially with how Yue sounded, talking about it]

If I had to guess, I'd say it was an attempt to scare us into not making any trouble. Which was stupid, most people don't take kindly to being attacked.

audio; encrypted 75%

[whatfriendsdo]

No SSR that I've encountered, sorry. [It's half sincere.]

Good rule of thumb if you don't want trouble, stick close to the Water Sector. I don't think they could pick a fight to save their lives.

audio; encrypted 75%

[shootingshields]

It's not particularly well known. I'm not surprised.

I've been told the Fire, Metal, and Earth are the most prone to violence.

video;

[trainwrecked]

[He hesitates. And then decides he's not going to hide from her, and might as well get the shock out.

... although he did catch the surprise on her voice when she heard Steve. Interesting.]

Yeah, on the SSR. And the gang war - mostly in Fire sector - started when the chief of police executed the head of the most powerful organization. Publicly. Which he did because the kedan had captured two of the non-kedan - two of the guests - and was planning to execute them.

Generally, Fire sector is not the safest place, right now.

How's it been, Agent Thirteen?

[he can be helpful, all right? Also Bucky is still not good with encryptions, so he doesn't know she's been briefed. Yet.]

video;

[shootingshields]

[There's a flash of surprise, but she masks it up carefully enough. Takes a deep breath.]

Sergeant Barnes. [First Steve, now Barnes. Maybe she really did die.]

Noted, and the quick debrief is appreciated. How -- how long have you been here?

[Another pause] I could ask the same of you, I suppose.

video;

[trainwrecked]

Agent.

Of course - and another thing that is less pertinent to the place itself and more to the arrivals. We seem to be coming from different times - I know somebody who is coming from the future enough to have... grandparents who were up and about during WWII. And different - alternate, I guess - versions of reality. It can be a bit confusing.

I've been here twenty-five days. Trying to learn as much as I can, mostly.

voice;

[arches]

<sub>( So whenever Steve books it out the door, Clint will reclaim his console and reply, since this is an interesting development and he is curious and all those good things.

But considering the amount of static in Steve and Peggy's conversation that he contributed to, this is a bit awkward. )</sub>

So. You just made his day.

voice;

[shootingshields]

[The same voice she heard before, with Steve.]

That's none of your concern.

[CAP MAY KNOW YOU BUT SHE SURE DON'T.]

[video]

[dadissues]

Basically the Fire Sector is pretty dangerous, that's where like, all the gangs are I think.

audio

[shootingshields]

Most of the gangs? Or all? I've been told other sectors have a gang presence as well.

Audio

[agentdork]

[ Hello sexy accent lady. ]

Water and Metal seem to be pretty chill, from what I can tell?

Audio

[shootingshields]

I've heard that of the Water Sector. It's coming across to be the safest of the five.

[video] 8]

[notpredictable]

Yes. Watch your wallet.

audio

[shootingshields]

[YOUR FACE IS BLUE. Which isn't very weird because of reasons named Red Skull but you know he was kind of the only person she's ever seen with a weird head and face color.]

Surprisingly, that's not my biggest concern.

[video]

[stickshift]

[After casually scrolling through other replies...]

Is there anything else you're still curious about?

[video]

[shootingshields]

I doubt I'll stop having questions. I think I have a better understanding of the gang situation -- is there anything about this place itself you think is important?

[video || anonymous]

[cowled]

[YEP YOU'RE GETTING PROFESSOR CRAIG how do you feel about that. You know the routine. Goatee, greying hair, glasses. Perfect disguise amirite.]

Agent Thirteen. I'm Professor Craig, a pleasure to meet you.

[His accent is also British, albeit faintly.]

Are you at liberty to say what 'SSR' stands for, exactly?

[video]

[shootingshields]

Likewise, as best it can be.

[There's a brief pause, but there really isn't a reason to avoid the name; the organization isn't a secret so much as what it does is one]

The Strategic Scientific Reserve.

audio; encrypted

[storm_warning]

That's because they don't want to admit they've got a few screws loose in their peace-and-love-for-all plan. Plenty of the kedan love us foreigners, apparently. It's the sour grapes you have to watch out for.

audio; encrypted

[shootingshields]

The sour grapes largely being the gangs, I take it? Though I imagine there's some of those feelings elsewhere, too, of course.