two days after the event [video]

[blue_ice]

[ Kaiba looks tired and frustrated, as usual, but he's loud and clear here. ]

If anyone wants to review the 'rogue void train' message we received immediately before the ICPs crashed, I managed to transcribe a copy. You should all be able to read it now. And I know at least one other person has pictures of the screen if you'd rather read the source directly.

During the chaos, I told a few of you about a myth from my world called the Tower of Babel. As the story goes, once upon a time all the people of the world spoke the same language. They decided to work together on building a tower to the heavens to reach God. God was angered by their arrogance, so he cursed their tongues so that they could no longer understand each other. This stopped the tower project and they scattered across the world.

I'm telling you this because I've been wondering if it's relevant to the situation. Given the timing of the message, the near-immediate disabling of our translator, and the convenient disappearances of a few teammates I knew to be actively investigating, I'm more concerned than I was about what we're in for.

Comments

open to threadjacks re: asking for her photos.

[mtsilver_conquor]

I'm willing to share all pictures I have of it. Just ask for Eva Iden'no.

That said, it likely is and if they leave next platform, we'll know the answer for sure. [By the end, her voice is tight and angry.]

[blue_ice]

I care about them too.

[ He says it quietly, empathizing as best he can while still being reluctant to use the friend word. ]

If I disappear next, you'll know why.

[mtsilver_conquor]

If another of my friends vanishes because of this, I will teach the train itself why it's unwise to mess with those who've the company of a grass-fairy type. Not that Mashu's here.

[There's a tiny chuckle at the end, as if Eva's in on some private joke.]

The Fox willing, they've just vanished and aren't leaving.

< video. >

[adregem]

Damn. [ He sounds and looks incredibly displeased. ] How many were taken? Are any of them back now? [ He jots this down for his own personal musings. But Roland is concerned, and more than that, on heightened alert. He wasn't actively investigating as the rest were, but he was quietly taking note of whatever he could. Would the train consider him a person of interest...? ]

[blue_ice]

At least two. And no, names are in gold. Which always means disappearance, but could be temporary or permanent.

[adregem]

Let's hope it's not permanent. Unless that means they were taken home, but I doubt it in this case.

[ He seems to be reading something intently, with the way his eyes move from left to ride as he speaks, brows furrowed in thought. ]

Thanks for sharing your transcript. [ He sighs under his breath. ] "A void craft named after", huh...

Video

[aggressivelygood]

[Sven's face on the feed was stoic, the lack of light in his yellow eyes and the slight furrowing of his brow carrying a quiet worry. Any other day he would have been excited to hear more of Kaiba's story of towers and gods, but in context it only served as a poignant comparison.]

That is a harrowing tale given the circumstance. You may be right that something wants to keep us from finding the truth about why we're here. I'm striving to keep an open mind, but I'll confess that I'm worried.

[He hoped Nita was safe, wherever she might be...]

I made note of the characters in the alphabets used on the passenger list and in the Void-specific books from the library. Nita and I believed there are a few different alphabets being used that may or may not be part of the same language...I doubt it'll be of any practical use to us for now, since we have no way of decoding the language now that all text is translating itself to the reader again, and the list of characters might not even be complete, but I can put copies out there if anybody wants them for posterity.

[blue_ice]

We have a few other sets of notes on them, but anything we can compile might be worth having for the future. We should keep it in as many places as possible, so it's less likely to disappear.

Nita's one of the ones I'm worried about. She had extensive notes on everything, and shortly after a big event, she vanishes.

[aggressivelygood]

We were working together a little while before she disappeared...I pray that she's okay.

You might be right that her disappearance is intentional. From the things I've heard, people do vanish from the train and then return without observable reason as to when and why. It could be down to pure bullshit chance, but we shouldn't rule out the possibility. Does somebody still have her notes?

voice

[aluciner]

[People who are unaware of how super fucking ominous this message sounds: Ronan.]

Do you want it to... not translate? Temporarily.

[aggressivelygood]

Is there a way to achieve that? It's impossible to work on translations when every body of text reads like it's my own language.

[Video]

[maxwellsdaemon]

Or, y'know, could just be the cops throwing a jamming device at us to try and stop us? Looks like the consensus is we're a bunch of criminals. [Which amuses him SO MUCH, especially since he'd taken to calling them all Inmates.]

[Video]

[blue_ice]

It could be. Either way, it's not good news for us. They don't sound like they want to be convinced.

And I'm concerned that they're right---that we did agree to it, and our memories have been tampered with.

video;

[sizedoesntmatter]

[As much as Yugi would like to keep up his usual demeanor and try and be positive... He wasn't sure if he actually could at this moment. Considering the message the fact that a couple of people have disappeared it seems while investigating... It was really worrying.]

At this point even I am admittedly a little worried about what all this could mean.

video;

[blue_ice]

Let me know when you're free. I want to see you again.

[dredefulchilde]

The Tower of Babel was my first thought as well. Our captors had an interest in controlling our access to information and keeping us distracted.

[blue_ice]

That's what I think. We have to dig in to find out what they're trying to keep from us. Have you seen anything else unusual?

video;

[flatteries]

[ .. Convenient disappearances, huh. Inigo's checked the roster, and he's got an idea of at least one person Kaiba is talking about. ]

Do.. you really think those disappearances weren't random? [ He's trying to keep the worst of his worries under wraps - and pretty succesfully, at that - but it's still obvious that he seems at least vaguely concerned as he asks that. ]

video;

[blue_ice]

It's possible they were, but it's lining up too much for me to fully accept it as a coincidence.

But I come from a lifetime of necessary paranoia.

[nutkrusher]

Disappearances, huh? Shit.

[She pauses, thinking it over for a moment.]

A small part of me hoped that maybe these were the good guys. Come to un-kidnap us and send us home. Still could be, but...yeah.

[blue_ice]

Mm, it's still a possibility...but who knows which side is which? Neither seems to have our best interests in mind.

[so_dark_a_road]

There are currently ten names in gold on the roster. Two of them are my friends NIta and Webmind. I suspect the same thing as you seem to, that some of them might have been taken because they were investigating.

I do wonder if the train pulled the plug on the translator to keep us distracted. Or if the Ministry of Void Travel managed to do it, for the same reason? [ Small laugh. ] The Ministry seems to think we Void Warriors may be part of a CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION! Shame on us! [ He makes his face look criminal, for the sake of humor. ]

[blue_ice]

[ To Curufin's credit, he does chuckle, but it's dry and humorless. ]

Then how was it restored, and is this going to happen again? I'm really resenting the lack of tools to investigate with.

But I probably shouldn't get too loud about it.

[Video]

[faithfulson]

[ Luke sounds a little distant when he responds. ]

Communication means the spread of information; information that can be used against you. Cut off the ability to communicate, and the masses are easier to keep in line.

[ He let out a breath after a moment, his face scrunching up in annoyance. ]

...it's a tactic the Empire back home uses to maintain control over so many different worlds and cultures. Cut off the communication lines, and everything crumbles; makes it really easy to sweep up insurgents.

[Video]

[blue_ice]

And the sweeping might already be happening. The best we can do is spread information as widely as possible.