(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

voice

[serialmurderbot]

You still need those images from the garage. Does your vehicle have a display surface?

[No callsign, no introduction - hopefully Jayce remembers "Eden"'s voice, because the reference to that conversation is the first and only hint that Murderbot bothers giving. Especially since it's already compiling the images, plucking up its clunky phone to go searching for the vehicle in question once it's done. No point sending them over a radio when there's no proper data network, they'll end up lossy as fuck.]

action

[undyingcrow]

[Akechi could have replied over the radio, but it seems more pertinent to make an in person appearance, and a truck with butterflies should be easy enough to identify.

Though Akechi's a bit disheveled from the fighting, he's tried his best to appear presentable, despite the wear and tear on his clothing mended only by haphazard stitching.

The crow talons jutting from tattered fingertips of leather gloves are already telling, though he sees little point in drawing attention to them, instead clearing his throat.]

I heard your message over the radio. You were interested in the 'souvenirs' from the shrines, correct?

[andnevermore]

[ The man on the radio sounds really unhealthy, but Blake is able to put two and two together: this must be the guy that Yang had mentioned looking for runes with. There's probably not many scientists that have studied the arcane and are looking for runes, right?

The truck with the butterflies isn't too hard to find. They're pretty noticeable, and it almost makes Blake start to feel grateful for her own lumbering campervan. At least it doesn't have glittery butterflies all over it. But the man she finds is not even remotely the kind of man she'd expected to have a glittery butterfly truck. He looks just as ill as he sounds, and Blake can't help but wonder if he's picked up some kind of... monster plague? Husk virus? ]

Hi. I got your message about the runes? I'm Blake, I'm a friend of Yang's.

[ Tentatively, Blake comes to a stop a short distance away from the flatbed, far enough away that she can't quite see what Jayce is working on. Even the bits she can see look like complete gibberish to her, though.

She rubs over her arm where the shrine message is hidden by her jacket, feline ears flat with wariness. ]

If you write down the messages everybody got, will you be sharing them with everyone?

not here

[thetatters]

[ John is eavesdropping on this entire conversation, sulking in the safety of his stupid truck, and judging everyone. He's spent enough time with tomes of forbidden knowledge to see where it gets you. It starts as well-intentioned gathering of evidence, but then you find yourself huddled in a cave full of viscera, or chanting Iä! Shub-Niggurath! while the world's fucking ending. Idiots. ]

voice

[killjoyprince]

I managed to take a few photos, though the quality could be better. [2011 phone quality. ] I've also copied what I've been able to.

[But anyway, she knows that name. Though the voice was...worse than it was last time.]

I thought you said you were fine.

action (post-Moon Warp)

[bufudine]

[Serph remembers Jayce. The one who had a promise to keep.

He'd sounded... not good. He'd already looked incredibly weary before, but. Well, delivering his message would let Serph check up on him anyway. Especially when Serph himself isn't in much condition to slip out into the night and hunt. Serph doesn't know what the hell butterflies are but he figures it shouldn't be that hard to find the man.

When Serph shows up, he is sporting 6 new wings in light blue feathers, each of them having 6 of their primary feathers tipped in the same bright orange streak that had been splashed across the front of his jacket. Said jacket is nowhere to be seen. In fact, he isn't wearing anything over his torso; the 6 wings makes that rather difficult. But it means it's easier to see the new mark and message burned into his right arm, as well as his semi-healed but very mangled left. It has the look of old wounds scarred over (even though they're recent), as well as stitches holding shut a gouge.

The other man looks intent on his work, so...]

Jayce. You wanted to see new marks and messages.

voice

[electrifyking]

"Yeah I... Guess we should start logging whatever we find. I think I saw some sort of database in the trucks that we can record in as well."

[He's trying not to sound too suspicious or begrudging. Not every scientist is under the Kirijo payroll and interested in destroying the world, after all. And to the best of his knowledge, all the ones that did are already dead.

Besides, the voice raises a bunch of valid points.]

"My symbol is still on the blurry side. Woke up to it on my left hand, still no idea what it's supposed to be. Maybe... Something with teeth?

I can help you out a lot more with the shrine stuff, though. I ended up getting burned, and the message said..."

[There's the sound of rummaging, as someone tries to get a good look at his arm.]

"The Second Tenant.. Shun Stasis???

Erm... 'Stasis is the ultimate punishment, reserved for the most unworthy. I shall resist it with all my strength, and mourn when even my enemies succumb to it.'

Whatever that's supposed to mean."

Action

[fists_of_funny]

If Jayce hadn't mentioned researching the Arcane, Yang would have had a harder time identifying him. He sounds like hell, much worse than he did during their fireside chat. Yang elects to go check on him once they reach their next stop. She finds the butterfly truck, but has to stop. Sure, the first night Jayce looked rough, but now...

Now he looks like death warmed over.

"Hey, Jayce? It's me." She holds her hand up in greeting. "Got the info you were asking about on the radio. You got a second to talk?" He does not look well. Did he catch something from the husks?

( voice )

[airskate]

The Arcane that you researched. What is it?

[ His tone is best described as 'extremely wary'. ]

voice

[thelastb1]

Uh-huh... [A robot voice responds, drenched in skepticism.]

And how do I know I can trust you, "Jayce"?

voice;

[justiceobjects]

Apollo Justice here. I'm glad someone's interested in keeping track of all this info, but... are you sure you're doing okay? You sound like you need a doctor more than a research project.