[network] @ADMIN; Arrival

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Comments

permatext unless otherwise noted

[exequies]

rectangles? what do they do?
ill remember that. speaking from experience?

[Yeah, Hange you sort of gave yourself away there...]

[imgonnatouchit]

[Err whoops.]

The rectangles are called "SD cards". [Audible air quotes.] They might contain programs, which give the tablet a new function, or they might contain recordings of text, audio, or video.

The one I found contained a song, but you probably don't want to hear it. [Not that they're gonna refuse him if he asks...

And how about let's just ignore the icicle incident. That sounds like a good idea.]

[exequies]

[Aversion to the question implies he was right.]

interesting. ill keep an eye out.
actually id love to take a listen to it if youre willing to share.

[Any new information is valuable information.]

you asked for it buddy

[imgonnatouchit]

Well... alright.

[Hange sends along a copy of the music box song.]

If you could, let me know the timeline of any symptoms you experience while listening to it. [Because that's not ominous at all.]

[exequies]

[It takes him a moment to download and open the damn thing, and when he does...

oh boy. Oh boy.

He's forced to stop after the dizziness really sets in and makes him want to puke.]

that is
a very interesting song
ive never heard one that made me physically ill before.

[imgonnatouchit]

Oh, so it did make you sick? Good to know it wasn't just me. I'm going to assume for now that it's simply a general effect of the recording. I'd of course have to test a wider audience to know for certain, but I'm not sure that it's a good idea in these conditions...

Do you recognize the tune of it? It wasn't one I was familiar with.

[exequies]

[At least he has the file now. It might turn out to be useful to have at some point... if he can also find some ear plugs.]

it may not be, no.

its a french nursery rhyme called ah! vous dirai je, maman. think its also the tune to the star and ba ba black sheep.
theyre all childrens songs.

[imgonnatouchit]

[Hange has no idea what "french" is, but that definitely sounds like gibberish. Another language maybe? People used to have those. Probably they still do, in other worlds.]

It would be nice to test it somehow- oh! Maybe if we capture more anomalies I can test it on them.

And it's a children's song? Interesting. [Only children- rich children- have music boxes, so that checks out.] Was that another language you were just speaking?

[exequies]

i didnt know they could be caught. arent they quite dangerous?

french, like i said. from france, you know? do they only speak english where youre from?

[This person sounds intelligent enough, so it's strange to think that they wouldn't recognize French. Even the word 'French'. And he has yet to run across anyone who's explicitly stated that they're from a different earth or not from earth at all.

Maybe they're an American.]

i'm not even going into the fandom theories on what their base language is...

[imgonnatouchit]

They are dangerous, yes. But we managed to trap some in a room using furniture. They've got one locked up in the entrance area, too. As far as I know, it's still in there, but ours vanished.

And... well. We only have the one language. I guess it's English, since I understand all of these people who speak English, but we don't have the place that English is named after where I'm from. And we don't have this "France", either.

[exequies]

[Hange, your world is weird. He's completely distracted from the anomalies by that revelation, for the time being.]

you dont have england or france? at all? well where the devil are you from then?

[imgonnatouchit]

No, we don't have either of those places... Where I'm from, the land behind the Walls is all there is. There are no more countries or anything like that. Just the Capitol inside Wall Sina, the underground, and the various cities.

Are you... from Earth? That seems to be where most of us are from.

[exequies]

[It sounds unbelievable, though the sincerity is there. Undertaker doubts that he's being lied to, and that means that Hange must be telling the truth.]

ive never heard of any of those places.

that obvious eh? well i guess it would be after all that.
ive been living in england for a while.

[imgonnatouchit]

Oh, England! That's the name of one of the people here. And I think some of the others have said that's where they're from. So, at least you won't be alone?

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if England is from England, but he does sound like the other people who say they are.

[exequies]

[It would be a very weird coincidence. Though the thought of someone named England with a British accent is just too good for him to pass up...]

oh really? do you know his name on these things off the top of your head?

[imgonnatouchit]

Er, not off the top of my head, but I could look it up.

[Hange takes a moment to poke around the archives.]

It's @SceptredIsle, I think. [Which Hange only knows to connect to his name because of his post after appearing on an obituary. They don't actually cross paths with him that much.]

[exequies]

got it

so you arent from earth then? i admit to never have thought about the possibility of other planets out there.

[imgonnatouchit]

I hadn't thought of it either. For us, the territory outside of the Walls was foreign enough, let alone other worlds. But, well, here we are...

To be honest with you, I'm not sure if we're from Earth. Our maps are too incomplete to tell if we're just in the middle of a much larger world, or if there isn't all that much to it.

[exequies]

[Undertaker's smart enough to not just ask why they haven't explored further, now that he has the information that he has.]

what happened? war?

[They did mention city walls.]

[imgonnatouchit]

Something like that. We were essentially trapped there by a common enemy that wiped out most of the human race. We call them Titans. They're giants, like people, but massive and disfigured. They eat human beings exclusively.

[And is that a hint of excitement in that tone of voice? Perhaps.]

[exequies]

[He notices, but he's more intrigued by the statement itself. For various reasons. It's a good thing he's using text and can mask his own voice, but his response might lack the usual horrified air none-the-less.]

my how troublesome. why is it only humans?

[imgonnatouchit]

Because... well, we don't know for sure, but it's probably because they were created as a weapon specifically to do just that.

[At least, that's the forerunning theory at the moment.]

[exequies]

[Created by whom? There's a lot of follow up questions he wants to ask, but now isn't really the time or place. He's going to file this information away for later, though.]

i wonder how anyone could create such a thing. though there are those anomalies here too right? they sound like they might be similar.

[imgonnatouchit]

We're not sure yet how they're created. [Even if they do know with what, and potentially by whom.]

And as for the anomalies, I'm working on a similar idea, yes. They've displayed behavior that seems to suggest they either are or were something else before, and we have yet to establish that they aren't being controlled by something, so... It seems likely they were created, and entirely possible that it was for the purpose of attacking us and hindering our progress.

[exequies]

do you trust this admin person?

[Because out of anyone, it seems most logical to assume that they're in control of them. He's also getting more and more of an impression that this is set up like some sort of giant puzzle. Restricted movements, enemy opponents, items and food that are spread just thin enough to keep them alive but not give them an unfair advantage.]