VIDEO 🙀

[hombrenuevo]

I can't believe this! Audio and video in one small device! This is so much better than our radios back home!

[ This kid is definitely excited over his new toy; it makes his Nicaraguan accent a little more pronounced. He's chipper despite the rough shape his face is in. Looks like someone clocked him across the forehead real good. ]

So this really is America? I have always wanted to come to the country where the infamous Big Foot lives! [ He looks around the sunny neighborhoods of Heropa. ] You know, it's a lot warmer than I imagined... Humid, too. Not as hot as Costa Rica, though. But you don't even have a rain forest! Where does it all come from?

video; cw for mentions of implied suicide

[brushoff]

[ this post is forward dated to the night of March 6. The video clicks on to Dorian, sitting on the floor of his apartment leaning up against his wall. He looks...well, absolutely awful. His eyes are rimmed red and his hair's all over the place, but he's managed to pull himself together in order to make the broadcast. ]

So, the mirages are my fault. Sorry? [ He laughs, though it's more of a tired laugh than anything actually jovial. ] I thought I could change myself, erase some actions of the past. Instead, in typical fashion, I seem to have made everything worse. [ he laughs again, though this time there's a bit of actual humor in that laugh. ] I am Dorian Gray, all my faults included, and there's nothing I can do about that.

I know how to fix it though. Don't worry if I vanish for a few days, that's part of the fixing aspect. And...I really am sorry I caused this in the first place. [ He's sorry if only because surprise, guess who's ALSO been dealing with guilt mirages for the past few days and who's been taking it really badly. Dorian looks up at someone offscreen. Before the camera clicks off, you can hear Dorian mutter ] Happy now, Toby?

( ooc: about an ic hour after this post goes up, the guilt mirages vanish, all at once. Dorian's corpsey body'll hang out in his apartment for another hour or so before getting ported out. FEEL FREE TO KEEP TAGGING THE MIRAGE LOG because trauma can always be backdated.

As a note, this will just get rid of the creepy guilt mirages, it will NOT get rid of the anachronistic mirages that are popping up throughout in-game as part of the overall March plot. great job Dorian, you solved about half of it. )

Text, then Voice; Anonymous I.D.

[fixthegame]

[An encoded text message goes out to the network. It hasn't been sent to anyone in particular, the encryption instead serving to screen out any unwanted eyes. However, the sufficiently adept or dedicated should be able to decode it.]

( 00111111 )

[Later, a voice message is sent out, openly accessible this time. The speaker might've come off as nonchalant if he didn't sound so flatly irritated. But more importantly... Does his voice sound familiar to you?]

This is problematic.

I don't feel presumptuous in saying I can't be the only one inconvenienced by this sudden relocation. From what I gather, people have been "settled"--that means stranded, kids--in this reality for years now. But me? I can't do "years." I've got stuff to do, people to see. And who do these people think is gonna feed my dog while I'm gone?

Okay, okay, I don't have a dog to feed. But I've been here about two hours, and this little field trip has gone on long enough. So why don't we help each other out? I don't know how many of you here are familiar with the technology required to move between alternate universes, but I am.

If you, or anyone you know, can get me these components-- [He attaches a long list full of terms like "quantum restabilizers" and "dimension-axial calibrators" topped off with a whole lot of cooling systems and power converters.] --then we'll be in business, and on our first step to returning home. Now, I'm not saying I can make this happen right away. Assembly alone will take a few weeks, and after that I'll need to make adjustments to account for any distinct properties specific to this universe. In the meantime, if anyone qualified would like to help out, let me know.

It's important that we cooperate on this. I won't be able to do everything by myself.

Text;

[shifting]

It looks like I've been gone for a week, so I'm sorry to anyone that troubled. Mostly my employees. Thank you, Maeve, for holding the fort down while I was gone.

But I'm back and I'm all right. Just thought I should give some sort of notice.

[he hadn't wanted to. He Ported in early this morning, and beyond a surprising interlude with a helpful hotel owner, Sam's spent the rest of this day's slow, winding hours at home. It took the most resilient sense of duty just to drag him from his bed. And honestly, typing still feels like too much effort.]

Sounds like I just missed some personal-ghost bullshit happening here though, so I'll count my blessings.

[one: one blessing. There, he's counted.]