[network] @ADMIN; Arrival [open]

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[lancingintherain]

[she feels the fur on her back prickle when he says he's in a new house, and she barely reads the rest of his message past that point. Instead, she immediately dictates a reply, glad that he can't hear the nervousness in her voice:]

Have you checked this new house yet? All of it — every room? And for the gods' sake, keep quiet, if you haven't.

[a new message, a moment later:]

You might not be alone.

[deus_ex_phs]

[The moment Kunsel reads her text, he stiffens, immediately on the alert. He doesn't respond, though. Not yet. He has priorities.

Priorities like clearing the house to make sure it's safe - making doubly sure, in fact. The tablet gets pocketed. He doesn't want even the light from its screen to catch attention.

It isn't until he's certain he's alone that he finally pulls it back out.]

I'm alone.

What were you worried about being in here with me? The monsters that "dreamsnhonor" brought up?

[lancingintherain]

[she can only handle a few moments of waiting before she starts pacing restlessly from one end of the room to the other, holding her tablet in both hands like an open prayer book. She swears under her breath. She grinds her sharp teeth. She starts to convince herself that he's dead.]

[she gasps and nearly drops the tablet when the screen finally lights up with a new message.]

Now you tell me!

Sorry. You were gone so long, I thought you'd come to harm.

And yes — the very same monsters. "dreamsnhonor" is a friend of mine. They're every bit as dangerous as he told you.

[deus_ex_phs]

[Kunsel winces but, well, can't quite bring himself to feel too guilty for leaving her waiting so long. She did ask him to check every room.]

Sorry. I didn't want to take any chances until I was certain. Should have checked to begin with after his warning.

[Really, he should have. He can only blame fatigue for not thinking of it sooner, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Not for a SOLDIER.]

You don't happen to have anything to add on how to fight these things, do you? It's late enough that I don't think I could make it to another house before dark.

[Not with the pace he's been setting.]

[lancingintherain]

[she pushes a hand through her hair and sighs as her heart rate settles back to normal.]

There's no way to fight them. None that we've found. Weapons go right through them; it's as if they're made of smoke.

The only thing to do is to run. They move quickly, but not enough to overtake you if you've got a head start.

[deus_ex_phs]

[That's okay. He's still having to take a moment to settle his own paranoia back down.]

If they're intangible, does that mean barriers are useless?

[He wants to know if his best chance of survival after running into one is to just keep running, ignoring houses.]

At least we have one advantage. I assume that if you can outpace them, eventually you can lose them.

[lancingintherain]

That's right. You can lose them — but don't bet on it.

But I didn't mean they're intangible. I should have said more. They're not: a blocked door stops them, and I haven't seen one go through a wall. You only can't hit them with anything, which is, if I'm honest, infuriating.

[deus_ex_phs]

Wow. I can imagine. I'm used to monsters I can at least fight somehow. Even the ones you don't want to tangle with at least still have some remote possibility of defeat.

I swear, this sounds worse than fighting a Malboro without any accessories equipped.

[Despite the fact that all of this is in text, Kunsel still releases a breath of relief.]

That's two defenses we have, then. Even better.

[lancingintherain]

Not as satisfying as a fair fight, but better than nothing.

[that first thing he wrote is giving her pause, though. This dude's fought a Malboro? Where the heck did he find a Malboro? Maybe they're just more common in his world. Like cats. Giant tentacled plant cats that can kill you.]

I'd almost rather take the Malboro — although I've never seen one of those except on playing cards.

[deus_ex_phs]

I'll take anything that'll at least keep me alive.

Someone made a deck of cards with monsters? Huh. That's interesting.

[Trust Kunsel to prick his ears up at minor information as much as anything big.]

I should see about getting a deck when I get back. Could be fun to play with.

"could be fun"... you've never played tetra master, have you, kunsel

[lancingintherain]

[the last thing she wants be is the one to break the news to him that people here are from different times and alternate worlds, so she tries to play off what he wrote casually. She's very glad that text, with no tone of voice, makes white lies more convincing.]

Well, there's a dream to keep you going.

[unfortunately, dry humor doesn't convey well through text, either. Eh, you win and you lose.]

Anyway. Find anything useful in your search?

No, he has not. And it's been too long since I played to remember if that's a good thing or not. XD

[deus_ex_phs]

[No, it's not easy to tell if that was serious or meant dryly, but neither way is a bad way to take it.]

Yeah, I guess so.

[And he'll just leave it at that.]

A few useful things. Some clothes and a pack of tissues. Some makeup I don't have any use for.

It's surprising how little there is. Even basic, useless things seem to be missing.