2019-09-21 - Coping With Illiteracy

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : If you're not returning my texts because you kissed Thorne, it's okay. I just want to know you're well.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ((A phone call from Isabella's number.))

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((Alexander answers. By the cadence of his breath, he's walking.)) "Hello, Isabella. Are you well?"

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ((By the blowing wind, it sounds like Isabella is outside - the distant sound of the high tide against the coast and rocks is audible.)) "Hello? Alexander? Was that you? You normally text me at night, I didn't know you were texting me through the day. Sorry, I'm...in a bit of a situation. I'm not quite sure how to explain this. What did you text me about?"

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((Alexander's voice is a little worried.)) "What sort of situation? Are you on the boat? It's not important. I just was saying that if you weren't returning my texts because you kissed Thorne, there was no need to worry about it."

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "It's-- wait. What?" ((Isabella pauses.)) "...I'm not sure how to take that since if you kissed anyone else, I'd probably break a few things, but I think the important takeaway here is that I didn't kiss him. What makes you think I kissed him?"

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((There's a long silence.)) "Oh. Thorne was probably teasing, then. Because I teased him about whether he had to kiss the Archivist. That makes sense. ((A pause, then a thread of puzzlement.)) Why would you break things, Isabella?

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "Well...." ((Thump-thump-thump of sneakers against wood)) "...I mean, you're not too far off the mark. They didn't snog." ((Did she just say snog?)) "But the Archivist had a wedding veil on and there was a chandelier and candles this time around. If I didn't know any better, he might've wanted me there as a witness to their wedding. Not quite sure if he didn't come away from that room single, though. Look, it's the Veil. The rules aren't the same there. You can always start calling him Mr. Archivist the next time you see him." ((Seagulls, her familiar steps, down the planks and the disengaging of a lock.))

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "As for breaking things...it's probably likely? I nearly crushed my coffee cup when Bennie told me she slept with you." ((What???))

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((There's a long pause, and some typing.)) "I seem to have upset the Captain, and I'm not sure how. I think I made an incorrect conclusion. But now I haven't made any conclusion at all, because I didn't see anything." ((He refocuses on their own conversation, as the sound of cars passing by can be heard.)) "Oh. But we didn't have sex. And I didn't ask her to sleep with me. She just sort of did. I'm sorry for upsetting you, though."

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "What do you mean you upset the Captain?" ((Isabella sounds confused, but also somewhat curious - the sounds of a door sliding open and shoes getting kicked off. Soft footsteps and the clink of something ceramic against granite.)) "What incorrect conclusion? You don't have too many of those." ((She pauses to hear him out, and then she laughs.)) "Oh, no. I mean, she clarified almost immediately, but she led in with that while I was trying to purchase something and it caught me offguard, you didn't upset me." ((She sighs, and when she speaks up again, it's low and brimming with quiet affection.)) "Not everything bad is your fault, you know?"

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((Alexander's voice sounds uncertain, with long hesitations between words.)) "I don't think I can say. I don't actually know, and the parts I do know, I have agreed didn't happen, so I don't think I can talk about them. Because they didn't happen. So." ((He sighs.)) "I'll just chalk it up to being bad at people." ((He takes a deep breath, lets it out in a gust.)) "Still. I don't want you to be unhappy. You said you're in a situation. What is it?"

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "...Alexander...is this another...mental experiment?" ((There is a clear effort on the part of the young woman to phrase this very carefully.)) "The Captain's a complicated man, also. He's tightly controlled, but I'm sure you know better than I do that he is in no means passive despite it." ((There's a creak, the familiar sound of springs.)) "Anyway, if I'm ever unhappy, you would know it. Does that reassure you at all? As for the situation...um."

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((A frustrated noise.)) "I don't want to talk about that anymore." ((Another sigh.)) "You're in bed. And not unhappy. That makes me feel better. And the situation?"

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "I am. It was a long day." ((More creaking, the sound of a body rolling over.)) "...remember the first time we visited the Archivist? There were so many maps, so many books. Records as far as the eye can see, but we couldn't read any of them? It wasn't the case this time. It was only one book, but I could read it, Alexander. I couldn't...." ((She has the good grace to sound sheepish here.)) "...I couldn't help myself."

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((A long, long silence.)) "I'm not going to say you shouldn't have done that, because I think I would have, too. What happened?"

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "When Byron and I left..." ((Isabella takes a breath.)) "...Alexander, I can't read anything. Not anymore. Not a sign, or a flyer, or even my text messages. I--"

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((Low, murmured.)) "Good god."

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ((Her voice comes out in a rush.)) "I'm lucky to have voice commands programmed on my phone, and my biometric security information so I can unlock it without typing my password, but they're only for certain things and I can't...oh god, Alexander, what if this is permanent? My work...I can't...how am I going to get to where I need to be if I can't read?"

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((Alexander's voice immediately drops into a soothing rumble.)) "Isabella. We'll figure this out. For now, I'll come by, and if you need to work on your research, I'll read and type for you. It'll be a nice distraction from other things. We'll see how long it lasts. And we can ask one of the more...Veil expert people if it's likely to be permanent and if there's a cure. Eleanor Lake, maybe. She collects a lot of useful information. It'll be okay, Isabella. You don't have to deal with it on your own."

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "I just..." ((There's a pause, an audible effort not to panic is palpable through the receiver.)) "...I've been thinking about possible solutions. I still have my tape recorder, I use it for dictations sometimes. But I don't know how tenable that will be in the long term and...alright. Alright. I'm sorry." ((She pauses, and a dropped whispered, murmured.)) "Thank you."

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((There's a faint smile in his voice.)) "Of course you have been. I would expect no less. But, so far, things that have come over have been temporary. So let's plan, but don't despair. Think of it this way; you get me as your unpaid research assistant for a while. That's not so bad." ((Crunch of his shoes on gravel, a steady pace.)) "I'm coming over and we're going to not think about it until tomorrow. I trust we can manage that, if we put our mind and other body parts to it."

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : "I'd feel terrible, though, putting you to work without anything to show for it. Oxford will probably be happy to cut a check, and I've been looking for a research assistant anyway. If you're going to do it, you might as well get paid for it. And it won't be charity, I desperately need it. I..." ((She groans softly.)) "I was doing so well with it also. I was progressing so quickly." ((She pauses, for several long heartbeats, but when she speaks up again, she sounds like she's in better spirits.)) "Alright. Let's do that. Do you....want anything delivered if you're going to spend the night? Chinese? Thai? Pizza?"

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ((Alexander's pride is acting up; there's a long pause, and when he speaks, it's studiously neutral.)) "If you like. You don't have to." ((A pause.)) "And I picked up a pizza, but it's tiny. You might want to order something else. I'm going to hang up now so I can watch the road. But I'll be there soon, Isabella."

"Alright. Stay safe."

Her thumb caresses the red button on her phone's touchscreen, the 'End Call' notation filling her stare with a list of the names of the dead. Isabella rolls on her stomach and rests her cheek against the pillows, closing her eyes - just a few minutes, she thinks, before she calls the nearest Thai delivery place.

But her phone rings again, the soothing voice of a digital woman reaching her ears:

You have just received a text message from: Byron Thorne.

"Now what?" she murmurs, before she turns to her phone. "Call Byron."

(TXT to Isabella) Byron : Hey, Izzy, I had a question.

(TXT to Byron) Isabella : ((A phone call comes in through Isabella's number.))

(TXT to Isabella) Byron : (Nothing weird about receiving a call after you text someone, so Byron sounds pretty normal) "Hey, Izzy. we might need one of your drones or something to dive into the pond to find that ring. But... whoever is driving the thing can't even look at it."

(TXT to Byron) Isabella : "Uh. What? Explain."

(TXT to Isabella) Byron : "Magnolia and Kevin Walters, you might remember him from school, they were tasked by the Collector to find the ring. You know which one. If they don't, they end up like the people who "borrowed" the ring from the Collector, their corpses being part of the Collection."

(TXT to Byron) Isabella : "I never knew Kevin in high school, but I've met him a few times - the reporter for the Gazette, yeah? And...are you serious?! What's their deadline? And how did the task fall on them in the first place? Is it because Miss Jones rescued you and Lil?"

(TXT to Isabella) Byron : "Yes, the reporter. Kevin tells me that both he and Magnolia were pulled into a dream that was then not a dream. They were attacked by Mimi-- uh, treasure chests with mouths is the best way I can describe it. They are called in Mimics in Dungeons and Dragons... Anyway, they were then confronted by the boss Mimic, I will assume, and they got to see part of the Collector's Collection. There was an empty space where the jewel used to be and they were told that if they didn't want to end up like the thieves who borrowed the jewel in the first place, that they better find it."

(TXT to Byron) Isabella : ((Isabella groans audibly.)) "Great. Fantastic. I have one here in the houseboat, it's part of my kit given the nature of the research I was sent here to do in the first place, the contract regarding the missing ship? It's insured, but it's still a very expensive piece of equipment. You're right in the fact that whoever drives it is going to have to do it blind, though." ((There is a long and hesitant pause, before she continues.)) "Basically we need someone to operate it under the water, without looking at it, find it, fish it back out. I think there's a way to do that, but you're going to need someone like me or Easton."

(TXT to Isabella) Byron : "That's what I was hoping to hear. I mean, that you have the equipment that can carry this out." (A pause) "You or Easton? What can you do with the not seeing the the jewel issue?"

[FS3 Rolls] <FS3> Isabella rolls Glimmer Lore: Success (8 8 4 4 4 3 2 1)

(TXT to Byron) Isabella : "In my experience, movers are extremely spatially aware - this is innate. There was a time in my life when I can walk through an entire room blindfolded without bumping into anything. We can find objects that are lost, also, even if they're obscured, so long as we're within range. And if we know the object well enough, we can sense it when it moves, so long as it's inanimate. I already know what it looks like, I can probably find it blind so long as I'm within range of it - the bridge is probably the best bet because that's where it fell from, if I remember what Lilith said correctly. And then we can just pilot the drone there to fish it out."

(TXT to Isabella) Byron : "That sounds like great news then. For them. I don't know if there's a deadline, but I'll inquire about it when they get back. I'll go ahead and let them know that you might be able to help." (A pause) "We're all going to have our hands busy tomorrow. Lilith said it up so that the both of us, me and her, will be stationed in the interrogation room during the exorcism. All I gotta say is, I hope that this works."

(TXT to Byron) Isabella : ((Isabella sighs quietly.)) "Me, too, Ronnie. Alexander and I'll be together tonight and tomorrow but if anything goes wrong, let us know right away, alright? Keep each other safe, and keep me posted on Miss Jones and Mister Walters.

(TXT to Isabella) Byron : "Will do, Bella. Get some rest."