(voice)

[hexrot]

—This is Jayce Talis. [ that's not going to mean anything, to anyone. this man's voice is rasping, dragging, in between sounded exhausted, heavy and ill. ] I'm a scientist. I researched . . . The Arcane, with my . . . With my partner, Viktor— most of my life.

[ frequent pauses are a must. he almost feels out of breath if he doesn't, and that puffs through the radio, ragged and sluggish. ]

All of us— seem to have a symbol. A rune, on our bodies. If you've been to the Shrine, then I'm sure . . . You have something else, now. Maybe a message. Please, if you could show it to me. I'll be . . . [ another hushed pause, ] Outside the Common Room. There's a truck, with . . . Butterflies, [ the irony in his voice is dry. ] That's— Where I'll be.

If it helps get us anywhere, I . . . Need, to crack it, I . . . [ i promised, he mutters, before swiftly adding, through a strain that's tight in his throat: ] That's all.

(action/flavor)

[ jayce is rebounding hard on his magic sepsis as his first symptom to becoming undead! so he is not visibly well for anyone who wants to come see him, but he is trying deathly hard with the symbols and trying to fight the clock with obsession. the iridescent pick up near one of the camp lights is a mess of papers in the front seats as much as the flatbed behind it, spread out and held in place with pebbles or stones, littered with those very symbols as well as formulas he's trying to link and complete like a map.

it's what keeps him from giving into sleep. ]

Comments

[hexrot]

Sounds familiar.

[ it's like that everywhere you go, looks like. only a change of interdimensional address. ]

Try not to blame yourself, though. [ he's just a kid, man. thats too much weight for young shoulders to hold up. he's going to take the other's hint though, and start waddling toward the convoy for its kitchen. ] Looks more like society failed you.

[undyingcrow]

[Akechi follows along. Truthfully, he's rather hungry himself, anyway.]

Society did fail me, but I could have swallowed my pride and asked for help. Not that it matters anymore, of course.

[What's done is done. He'll just have to live with his regrets.]

[hexrot]

[ mistakes always happen. one won't ever be the first or last. of course, jayce isn't going to the boy off. ]

It matters for next time.

[undyingcrow]

I suppose that's true.

[Heh... Funny how things turn out.]

I expected death, but lived instead. Now the only way is forward.

[He sounds tired, even breathing a small sigh. Here, at least, he has bigger mysteries to focus his attention on.]