voice | nebula 28

[sirentologist]

[Apparently, Tannis' curiosity has overcome her revulsion for both other people and small talk. There might as well be a celebration because this is not going to happen again. Probably. But she's got all these people here, she might as well make use of the large sample size.]

I have a few questions and unfortunately they require answers from the larger population, thus I am subjecting myself to the mad throng of people I am constantly surrounded by.

If, say, someone you care for has gone missing, and, given a high probability that they are still alive and unable to communicate, how would you in your particular circumstances, whether in your world or otherwise, go about attempting to locate them?

Those who wish only for conversation need not reply.

Comments

[longforgottenpromise]

Erm... Hello. Um... [He's very quiet, sat in his cabin at the table and using the ICP there, a small jerboa cupped in his hands onscreen.]

I was in that exact situation... Before I came here I mean. Though if it is advice you are wanting I'm not sure how useful I'll be but I can answer any questions and try and help... If you want...

[sirentologist]

I do not need "advice," I am simply hoping to utilize the large number of people forced together here to find more potential actions that could possibly be taken to locate a...friend who vanished.

[longforgottenpromise]

Oh. My apologies. [He bowed his head.]

What had you tried so far, to find him?

[No use in telling her things she had already done.]

[sirentologist]

I have attempted to contact her directly with no response. We have also searched the areas she was last seen. I am attempting to piece together some sort of explanation, but our efforts thus far have not yielded much in the way of clues.

[longforgottenpromise]

Ah. Yes when we were looking for someone we tried to retrace their steps, where we knew they were last just like you. We also tried questioning those who might have seen him and tried to piece together his final moments...

[He pets Gyōkō quietly.] But we were helped slightly because the person we were looking for was well known, so people had reason to have noticed him.

[Not that it had gotten them very far... At first at least.]

[sirentologist]

As was...is Lilith. However, she appears to have vanished without a trace. If one excludes the brand on the moon.

[longforgottenpromise]

The brand on the moon?

[A literal brand? A literal moon?

He was keeping an open mind. Different worlds and all.]

[sirentologist]

I did not stutter.

[longforgottenpromise]

I sorry... I mean... I don't understand what you meant...

I'm sorry for her D:

[sirentologist]

She sealed Elpis and it ended up branded with her emblem, what is so difficult to understand?

don't be <3

[longforgottenpromise]

I apologise, we come from very different worlds. [It didn't matter if he understood or not, when it came to it.

He's trying to stay confident.]

Was sealing Elpis connected to her disappearance? Or did she vanish long after?

[sirentologist]

Well if I knew that, I would already have found her.

She vanished immediately after, so I suspect the two are related, however it is currently impossible to say.

[longforgottenpromise]

Not necessarily. Knowing what made someone disappear does not always mean being able to find them.

[He seems to have found his confidence. Or rather, his nerves are no longer showing, his face looks a lot more serious as he speaks through the screen.]

I suppose you have questioned anyone who was with her when she sealed Elpis?

[sirentologist]

She was alone. She left us on Pandora to watch her blaze of glorious selflessness, I suppose.

[longforgottenpromise]

Did you go to the place where she disappeared afterwards? What clues have you found so far?

[gathersnomoss]

Depends on the friend. And on whether they are unable to communicate with me, or unable to communicate with anyone.

Generally speaking, I don't have any magic or other special abilities designed to locate people, so I have to use actually talking to people and looking for rumors.

[sirentologist]

As of the last the last I've heard, no one has been able to either locate or speak with her.

As for which friend, there is only one that I care enough about to go through the effort of speaking to people.

[gathersnomoss]

Fine. But I would go about things differently if it was someone on the train versus at home, and if it was someone at home, a travelling sorceress would be different to track down than a friend with a fixed home.

But if you've explored mundane methods, you probably have covered everything I can suggest.

[sirentologist]

Three Sirens have thus far been unable to locate her.

Well, aren't you useless? Here I'd thought I might find something much more interesting.

[gathersnomoss]

You have met the people on this train, haven't you? I'm not going to presume expertise in actually sifting through information unless you lead with 'I'm actually used to tracking down people, but this one has me stumped'.

Though, we don't seem to have access to our homeworlds. It limits what spells could do. I don't know how to cast any of them myself, and they generally don't work on humans, but I know the basic theory, and 'not in this plane of existence' is a hard barrier.

I'm very sorry for her

[sirentologist]

No, why would I bother speaking to anyone for "fun?"

"Not in this plane of existence" could actually be interesting to look into...

Oh, this is probably karma for Zel's rudeness some time.

[gathersnomoss]

I don't have any other words for where we are now relative to our original worlds. And I do know that is a reliable way to block magic unless the magic is specifically designed to bypass it.

Most of the magic I know that does bypass that problem relies on some shared thread between where the target is and where you are. Which depends on how your world is organized. Or whatever is going on with the 'void' here, since it connects worlds.

Lol I am still sorry XD

[sirentologist]

Magic is a ridiculous concept, but I suppose the word will serve well enough to explain what we do not yet understand.

Other Sirens are currently unable to locate or communicate with Lilith after she sealed Elpis. Given that we do not currently fully understand the full extent of a Siren's abilities regarding the Vaults, it is entirely possible that she had ended up in a parallel dimension through some form of "magic."

Re: Lol I am still sorry XD

[gathersnomoss]

The universe has no obligation to not be ridiculous, trust me on that one.

Also, those of us not from your world have no idea what those last few sentences mean.

[sirentologist]

Clearly, as it is still full of ridiculous things. Like people.

Unless you are particularly inclined to try helping on Pandora once you are released, it doesn't need to make sense to anyone else.

[zombiemessiah]

Depends on whether it's someone I'm linked to. If I've exchanged some bodily fluid with them I can find the general area they're in. If I haven't I just look around, hope I hear them yell for help, and if I don't then they're probably dead.

But there's only two people I care about.

[sirentologist]

Fascinating, but ultimately not very useful for this particular situation.

I suppose now if you turn up in my general vicinity uninvited I will know why.

[zombiemessiah]

Fortunately you're also psychically very loud so I don't have to look very hard.

It's not the best method. I can get the general area but not much closer. And even then it's foggy. There aren't zombies here so it's a little more accurate than it would be in my world. Undead can throw me off.

[sirentologist]

Please do not shout again, I'm still having migraines.

How exactly would undead "throw you off?"

[zombiemessiah]

Ah, don't be a baby.

Because I'm psychically connected to all of them. Remember I told you about the zombies? Yeah, they give constant feedback. Here it's quiet.

[And that gets on his nerves.]

[sirentologist]

Pardon me if I'm not fond of screaming.

That sounds infinitely preferable. Although such a connection could have its uses.

[zombiemessiah]

It's comfortable white noise. The quiet here is too much like a leaky faucet at night. I hate it.

[sirentologist]

The things people find comforting will never cease to baffle me.

[yondu]

Put trackers on 'em beforehand.

[Look, if he's worried about it? That's what he's gonna do. Especially if you have a son prone to trouble.]

Or maybe get witnesses to tell ya where they mighta gone with whatever method of coercion suits your fancy.

[sirentologist]

Lilith objected strenuously whenever I attempted to either add or remove things from her person without her knowledge.

[It was only a lock of hair!

But honestly she's not even sure if a tracker would even work now.]

We all saw exactly where she went, and yet she was not there when we went to find her.

[yondu]

Was there anybody that coulda seen her leave? Around wherever it was?

To be honest I never asked Quill because I knew he'd say no an' then go and get himself near killed again.

[sirentologist]

Somehow, no. One would think sealing an entire moon would be quite noticeable, however there have been no reports of any useful information from Elpis.

I didn't ask either.

[yondu]

Have you lost her before?

[sirentologist]

No. She is typically quite difficult to lose. I suppose that must come with a name like "Firehawk."

[yondu]

Thermal scanners? That's my best guess.

Or a critter with a good sense of smell, dependin' on the atmosphere.

[sirentologist]

I cannot say for certain whether there is an atmosphere where she ended up. [Is she floating in space? Who even knows. It would be interesting if she was.]

Thermal scanners would only be effective once we are already relatively close.