Video Day 22 Jelly Event

[gentle_jim]

[There's a very worried young man on the screen that looks a lot like a twenty-something-year-old Jack, maskless and flesh and blood.]


"Angel? Angel baby... Answer me. It's daddy. Can you tell me where I am, sweetheart?"

Comments

[gentle_jim]

The Void what? I don't- That's not a place on- Where the frick...?

[John shakes his head, massaging his temples for a second before replying.]

You know me? [He squints, fairly sure he's never seen a hunk and a half like that around.]

[subcircuits]

Not like this, I don't.

[He takes a deep breath. Part of him wants to leave Jack to flounder, but-- he doesn't. really. like to hold grudges. And this younger, human Jack had sounded so worried...]

Listen. It's not easy to explain, but you're stuck here and your daughter isn't, and there's no way to connect out to an external network. I'm sorry.

[gentle_jim]

What's that supposed to mean? [There's an inkling of the aggressive, self-important tone there, but its dialed down so much lower.]

No way? No- nah, nah, nah- That's not p- possible. There's gotta be...something...

[He sounds desperate now, shoving a hand through his hair and shaking his head.]

You don't get it- I can't leave her alone. She needs me. She's just a little girl and she's got no one else!

[His expression is pleading.] How did you get here? Where are you from? Who's running this place? Please, anything-

[subcircuits]

There's an AI running the train that's pulling all of us here, but good luck getting through to it if it doesn't want to talk. Everyone on this train is from different realities-- different universes-- and we're all stuck here no matter who or what we have to get back home to.

You're not going to be able to get back to her. I'm sorry. If I could help you, I would. [And he does mean that sincerely, even if he and the AI Jack aren't on the best of terms right now.]

cw memory of animal death

[gentle_jim]

An AI...? I can talk to AIs, I deal with them all the time. Is there somewhere I can access it?

[He can't really bare to process the rest of what Dev's saying. If he accepts being trapped forever as reality he'll lose it completely. The image of a limp furry little body on his bed, darkened by the shadow of an old woman flashes unbidden through his head...

No... he was free of her. A new man. He had to be able to protect what was precious to him...

John presses his palms to his face and tries to remember how to breathe properly.]

Ngh...

[subcircuits]

That's the thing. It can't be accessed. The terminal you're using is about the only way to interact with it.

--Hey. [He can't help but be sympathetic, the big marshmallow man.] Deep breaths. I know it's a lot to deal with.

[gentle_jim]

No, you don't. You can't...

[Comes the reply after half a minute of shaky breathing.]

I almost lost her once. This wasn't supposed to happen... She's safe... I made sure she was safe.

[Why was the universe so hell bent on separating them?! What did he do to deserve that? John draws in a sharp breath through his teeth.]

Then I'll use this terminal. Or I'll blow up this fucking train. I don't care what I have to do. I will get out of here or die trying. If this is some kind of karma for a past life thing, whatever cosmic bullshit that rules the universe can shove that RIGHT back up it's own asshole! I'm going back home to my goddamn daughter!

[At some point during this he'd started pacing and he's out of frame when he finishes, a loud crash signalizing his assault on some unlucky piece of furniture elsewhere in the room.]

[subcircuits]

[Devero's heart goes out to the other man, it really does. How can it not, when he's so upset about being separated from his child? He hears so many horror stories from other folks on the train about parents abusing their children, taking advantage of them, hurting them, that in a way it's a relief to hear someone giving a shit about his kid.

But Jack's an adult, even if a slightly younger adult than usual, and this train is full of kids who need help. So though Devero's sympathetic, he's got to leave Jack to figure this out on his own.]

...Good luck, man. [He says it pretty soft into the ICP, maybe not even loud enough to be heard as Jack's moved away, and cuts the connection on his end.]