[Video]

[lonered]

[So, Keith looks... harried. He's holding it together, but he's also very clearly tense. Now, Keith isn't exactly Mr. Carefree Happy-go-lucky at the best of times, but there is an added seriousness in his expression, even more intensity in the gaze that he fixes on the camera.

And, maybe most telling, he looks worried.]

Shiro is missing.

[He can't say gone. He can't. Not again. Even if he has been told how this place works, knows full well that people come and go. He knows that rationally, but rationality has never really been the ruling concept where Shiro is involved.]

I can't find him anywhere. I can't get him on the comms. He was next to me in bed last night, and then he wasn't. I didn't hear him get out of bed. He just vanished.

[He takes a breath. His voice is mostly level still, threatening to fracture at the edges.]

I know the Porters do things, but...

[He trails off and shakes his head, like he doesn't want to finish. Now, when it turns out that Shiro's port out was very temporary Keith will briefly wonder if he overreacted a bit, but since that hasn't happened yet, he thinks he's being very restrained. Nothing is on fire and he hasn't threatened anyone in the government yet. That's personal growth.]

There has to be someway to know for sure. To do something.

[His frustration bleeds through on the last word, down to the clenched fists that he forces open to reach out and turn off the video.]

Comments

text; un: Julian Delphiki | Bean

[justlittle]

If his name isn't in the imPort directory, then he's ported out.

He could come back. He might not. Hard to say this early.

text; un: Keith

[lonered]

It isn't there.

How long does it take to know? If he isn't back tomorrow, or the day after, what's the threshold before people don't come back?

text; un: Keith

[justlittle]

Your bog standard port out is usually 24 hours to 7 days. Any longer than a week, that's when you start worrying they won't come back.

text; name reads "Tadashi"

[tadeadshi]

[He remembers this guy. Oh man this is rough to see.]

If you sent a message and it bounced back, he was ported out. Sometimes they come back in a day, sometimes a week.

It doesn't make it easier, but give it a few days.

text; un: Keith

[lonered]

[He recognizes the name from the coffee shop.]

A few days. And there's no way to tell earlier?

Is there something that sets this off?

He was right next to me and I didn't even notice.

[continuousgroaning]

I wish I had a more helpful answer, but like the others said, if he's still in the directory, he'll be back

i know that doesn't help much, though, with the worry, because it's gonna be there until he comes back

[Because she caught the "in bed next to me" part. Oh. Her heart aches for them.]

[lonered]

No one's ever figured out the reasoning or explanationf or any of this?

But yeah. The worry. It doesn't go away that easy.

[And boy does he know that. That's the part that has him so keyed up so quickly about this. It's not the first time Shiro has just been gone. Not the second time either. And somehow it never gets easier, even when he tries to tell himself this time that if nothing else, Shiro has been sent back home -- especially since he knows the moment Shiro is going back to.]

voice

[despicableglee]

Oh, dear. Is it really so shocking that someone up and leaves you?

voice

[lonered]

Yes.

[VIDEO//PRIVATE]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

...Hey.

You doing okay, Keith?

I can do my best and answer any questions you might have.

[VIDEO//PRIVATE]

[lonered]

[Keith's first instinct always is to shrug off concern, to say everything is fine. But.]

I... I don't know.

[He admits, honestly.]

Thanks. I just, I can't believe there's nothing I can do but wait. There has to be something.

[He knows there isn't, but he hates it.]

text; un: dayspring

[timetravelandguns]

I'm sorry to hear that.

I am afraid he is not the only one. I have been checking numbers and names, and I think we have lost close to ten of our number.

text; un: Keith

[lonered]

That many? How many of you are here to begin with?

How long have they been gone? Have any come back?

[A small pause and then another text.]

Sorry for all the questions.

text; un: akechi

[cognitivism]

There is typically no rhyme or reason to when or why someone is ported out.

They don't always remember their time here if they do leave and return. I would try and keep positive that he will.

text; un: Keith

[lonered]

That's infuriating. It can't actually be random, can it?

[Somehow that's more frightening.]

That I do know. When I showed up, people told me I was here before, but I have no memory of it.

But... positive. Yeah.

[He's not great at that.]

Video;

[pocketfulof]

Honestly? It's a grab bag of chance.

I've been gone and come back with nothing changing, other's have left and come back without remembering being here in the first place. If the Porter just took him, it'll be hard to know if it's permanent or not.

Sorry, I can't give you better news...

Video;

[lonered]

Yeah. I was one of the ones who was here before and don't remember anything about it.

[Which makes this... extra complicated? Everything about it is complicated.]

When you left and came back, what was it like? How long were you gone?

video;

[onlydoubts]

Ah... I'm sorry, there's not really an easy way to know for sure. [ Bodhi scratches his chin as he talks, this is not an easy subject. ] I'd used to say if he was gone longer than two weeks, it's not likely he'll come back - but my last port out was over a month long. And it's anyone's guess if he returns with memories intact.

Sorry, that might not be that much of a help.

Re: video;

[lonered]

It helps.

[Keith offers with a sigh.] He hasn't been gone long. But it helps knowing there's not some absolute ticking clock, I guess. That even if he isn't back tomorrow or the next day, he might still be...

Well. Maybe that's weird, rooting for someone to be re-kidnapped to a strange place. But... [He can't help it.]

[VIDEO]

[patchricide]

[It really isn't that difficult to confirm after Keith's post. Checking communications, looking at the directory...]

[The most disappointing part is how much of her own reaction is a familiar resignment. How it seems that this is, very simply, something that happens with their paladins from time to time.]

[How hard it was to hold their team together.]

Doing something is much easier in theory than in practice. It's been something of a pet project of time, but... I have so little to show for it.

[A thoughtful pause, before she adds,] But I'm sure you've heard by now how much value there is in being patient. The most common scenario is that it merely takes a day, no matter how long that day feels like.

Re: [VIDEO]

[lonered]

Patience.

[He can't help a tired, oh so very tired, laugh at that.] Yeah. I've heard that one before. Not my strong suit.

[Understatement. But he ducks his head.] I know you're right. And I should be able to wait a day. I just... I hate it.

[And then, quieter.] I know what he's going back to... that's what I can't get out of my head. [Shiro is going back to die, even if it winds up being temporary. It doesn't mean Keith likes it any better.]

[pidgewidgeon]

[ Normally Pidge would latch onto the 'in bed with me' part of Keith's post and immediately start teasing, but worry that Shiro was gone had her completely missing that part. Count yourself lucky Keith

Instead, she flipped through the 'comm trying to find Shiro as well before she responds. ]

Shit, shit, shit. I don't see him either. You said he was here last night?

[ Her voice was a bit frantic, because she did not want to lose a teammate again, but she tried to pull it together for the last question. ]

Maybe it's one of those 24 hour things that results in new abilities? Darin was gone for like a week before coming back.

[lonered]

[He'll count that small blessing. A curt nod.]

Yeah. He was here when I fell asleep. He was gone when I woke up.

[That's all he knows and it's both infuriating and terrifying. Keith can fall asleep anywhere when he needs to, but he sleeps light. Very light. Downright paranoid.]

Maybe. There's no way to tell though, right? Not until he comes back?

[Here's Keith somehow hoping Pidge -- smartest person he knows, after all -- will have some answer that he hasn't already heard.]

video;

[bifroster]

I wish there was a way to be sure too. I hate that we can only just stand around and wait.

[She is determined to find a way, make her own porter, but it doesn't help now when the project is months from being completed, even if it works.]

video;

[lonered]

[Keith nods in agreement, looking relieved to hear someone else say it. He knows the only thing he can do is be patient and wait to see, but it's driving him mad.]

It's... [Infuriating? Maddening? Fucking bullshit?] ...frustrating. Someone has to know something more than they're saying.

[Right? The government? Someone?]