001 [video]

[snifftest]

[He's got the run down, he's been taken to his new place, and now he's being left to absorb all the information. Which, really, seems more like something out of a really bizarre fever dream. This kind of stuff isn't the kind of thing that happens in real life, but it's not like he's in a position to argue what is and is not possible.]

Good evening. [The sun is setting and Mike briefly straightens up to press his fist to his heart. It's an odd salute, but it and the uniform he wears will definitely be familiar to some. He's not the first member of the Survey Corps to come through the Porter, but he doesn't know that yet.] My name is Mike Zacharius.

[He pauses, a grimace passing over his features. He certainly feels and looks like he might throw up at any minute, but luckily for everyone watching he's so-far managing to handle it.

Um. Right, he's doing a thing.]

I'm a member of the Survey Corps, so if anyone knows if there are any other members here, I'd appreciate the heads up. If there aren't...Anyone who could explain what's happening here would be fine.

[This is exactly why he doesn't really do rousing speeches outside of combat. How do you communicate with people? But, hopefully someone out there will take pity on him.]

Comments

video :

[alofts]

[ That list had been shakily passed to his hands by someone down the ranks in a different unit; he didn't remember their name, but as soon as he looked over the file he knew everyone one listed would be burned into his memory as one more name being thrown onto the pyre. Gelgar, Henning, Lynne- and Nanaba. Senior members tasked with escorting recruits placed under their stopgap command during the mystifying breech of Rose. All pronounced dead on the abandoned grounds of Castle Utgard.

Mike Zacharius had been listed as missing, and you learned early on in the Corps that it was a far crueler way to pronounce someones passing when they tinged it with impossible expectations one of your own would come miraculously stumbling out of the treeline. They never did.

Phone gripped tight in his hand, knuckles bloodless and bone white. Gunther swung in the trees like a lose branch; Eld and Oluo had their eyes fixed on the horizon as they lay splayed over the greenway, and Petra was looking up at him. ]

Mike? [ In a way, they had had been looking at him. Levi's eyes were wide and grey like the empty barrel of a gun. ]

video :

[snifftest]

[It's a relief to see Levi - really, it would have been a relief to see anyone from the Corps, anyone he knows is on an equal level as him, and it being someone he's known for years and someone he knows can be trusted only makes it better.

The look on Levi's face stops him cold, though. It's a look he recognizes and that he's seen hundreds of times before on dozens of different faces. It was the sort of look people gave what little they could salvage of those that fell in combat, and seeing it directed at him...It makes him wonder. Does Levi know? Does anyone know about what happened to him, about the titan that could talk and took his maneuver gear from him? Or does the look come from something else entirely?

He has so many questions that he doesn't know how to ask, and that he's not even sure if he should. He always knew that his mortality is fleeting, but it doesn't seem like something to question right now.]

Levi.

[A shake of his head, a soft sigh. He doesn't know how to proceed.]

I...How long have you been here?

[That's safe, that's better than asking do you know I'm just a corpse, but it still feels wrong when Levi is giving him a look like that.]

video :

[alofts]

A while.

[ The answer comes quick; his mouth faster than his head, and he almost hates himself for it. As if he had any right to be flippant at the exact moment where it was critical he at least try to pretend he was still human. One side of his mouth quirks downward and a thin brow flicks high an close to his hairline.

Mike was perceptive the same way a goshawk could see the field mouse make the slightest bend in the grass that gave it away, or how the bear knew to rouse every spring. It was instinctual and keen, and had been a permanence to his character that Levi knew without a shadow of a doubt that his sudden loss of self-possession did not go unnoticed. Of course he fucking noticed, Levi was close to swearing. Creating the pretense of being just short of a statue it was hard not to see he had just given Mike the whole fucking funeral march with one look alone. ]

I'm at [ 'Home' wasn't the right word; it lacked a certain contact between them. ] one of the government issued houses right now. If they brought you that way you're probably only down the street.

[ Levi went quiet for a moment, but even stone-faced as ever his eyes flickered as he deliberated over something. ]

Erwin is still at work, and I think he would also tell you that you should come here. Where we know it's secure so we can fill you in.

video;

[blondtactician]

[Armin is not well acquainted with the man in the video, but he recognizes him, and of course as a member of the Survey Corps he feels obligated to reply. It seems an odd non non sequitur, answering these sort of calls in modern clothes - this time a blue tank top printed with flowers - though his posture remains poised.]

Armin Arlert of the Survey Corps, sir. Erwin Smith, Hange Zoe and Levi are all present in Heropa currently, and seven others, from the 104th Training division, have also been brought here by the Porter.

video;

[snifftest]

I recognize you.

[Not that it's difficult. The 104th had been pretty remarkable as far as Corps recruits had gone, and Armin was no exception.

If though saying that might be kind of weird, but. Y'know, it's the truth.]

Nobody from any other squads?

[blondtactician]

[Perhaps Armin shouldn't be surprised Mike recognizes him, after all, he has a close relationship with Eren, who's very much of interest, and Mikasa, who is among the strongest humanity has to offer. Of course his own accomplishments aren't exactly without note, either. Still, he blinks a moment.]

Not as of yet. As for our situation, I believe Erwin and Levi have been here the longest, though I have also made an effort to form an understanding. [Armin realizes he called Erwin by his first name instead of 'commander' just then, well, sooner or later Mike's going to find out everything.]

video; 1/2

[fieldresearch]

[Hange can't believe her eyes. Surely this was a trick. Surely someone was messing with her as some sort of cruel joke. It couldn't be. Mike was...

she gapes at the camera for a long time before barely managing a whisper]

... M.... Mike...?

video;

[fieldresearch]

[then, in typical Hange Zoë fashion;]

MIIIIIIKKKEEE!! MIKE MIKE MIKE MIKE!! MIKE!

Where are you?! Are you alright?! Are you hurt?! Ahhh, ANSWER ME!

video;

[snifftest]

[Holy shit.

Well.

It's not like it's an unexpected reaction, but it still manages to stop Mike in his tracks. Jesus. What is he supposed to do with a shrieking Hange?]

I'm fine.

[Which he is, surprisingly and luckily enough. Most people don't get to say that after running into titans.]

I'm...at my residence. Thirty-one.

[calm down hange please.]

[darwinatrix]

Survey Corps. What army?

[He doesn't look Amestrian, that salute and uniform are unfamiliar, and she doesn't know of any 'Survey Corps,' but it's possible they're a unit in the West or South of the country. Maybe they're from the same world, at least.

At least he's not Drachman, she can tell that much.]

[snifftest]

From the Walls.

[Because that's obviously an actual answer. But, really, he can't think of a better one to say. It's not like the Corps were like the Garrison or MP and had a set station or anything.

He raises an eyebrow at the women, who looks entirely unfamiliar, but it's not hard to assume that she's probably military as well. Maybe not his military, but he's not sure what kind of differences there could really be between worlds.]

I was close to Wall Rose before being brought here. Are you familiar with it?

[altercate]

You didn't read the packet?

[ derek's tone of voice implies that he doesn't think highly of said packet. ]

[snifftest]

I skimmed it. [He shrugs.] It didn't seem very helpful for my specific problems.

VOICE.

[soldiarity]

[ Oh. That's a familiar face. The last thing Reiner knew of Mike was that he'd disappeared, which under the circumstances they'd all met in Utgard could mean one thing only. Mike would be in the dark about a lot of things, but it's easy to assume not for very long. ]

Sir? [ All that aside, Reiner's voice is as firm and confident as it always is. ] Glad to see you're okay -- you must've really got lucky, turning up here!

[ Even if "okay" means in these particular, very unusual circumstances. ]

VOICE.

[snifftest]

[He recognizes the voice, but only vaguely. He's never been very good with voices alone, but there's a faint scent that comes with the sounds and it's a little disorienting.]

I think most of us are lucky, Braun.

[Because, you know, there's a slightly higher chance of survival here than back home.]

voice;

[futurefree]

You're here to play superhero.

[That's the gist of it, really.]

voice;

[snifftest]

What exactly about this makes us heroes?

[He doesn't see how anything expected from him makes him heroic, really. Survey Corps problems and all that.]

voice;

[malodorous]

What's a Survey Corps?

Well, I mean-- I get it. I can put two and two together, but... What are you surveying?

voice;

[snifftest]

The world outside the Walls, the actions of titans, things like that.

[There are people here could answer the question far better than he could, but unfortunately that's not who Kristoff's asking.]

1/2

[isaytheeneigh]

[Words don't come immediately. The diminished Survey Corps back home are hardly a secret, but it's stunning that there are so many here. More importantly, the fact that a part of the diminished corps is here is shocking.

It hadn't actually occurred to him that that could happen.

His jaw sets before he decides to speak.]

video.

[isaytheeneigh]

This is Jean Kirstein, also a part of the 104th training division. I believe the others will be able to fill you in on anything you need to know.

[His voice is even, because he doesn't know what else to say. No matter what he feels about certain aspects of the situations back home, this situation is so divorced from that that he can't hold to it at the moment.

In fact, it doesn't even occur to him.]

[Video]

[granddevil]

Didn't they tell you when you arrived? [ unless you weren't paying attention at all ]

[Video]

[snifftest]

They gave me some basics. I want more than that. [He also wasn't paying much attention, but nobody needs to know that.]

video

[huntergames]

[ Like the others, Sasha is stunned not only hear, but see Squad Leader Mike Zacharius over the network. Last she remembered, he had been listed as MIA and that often didn't bode well. She wonders if he was alright after the false alarm of Wall Rose's breach.

She stands at attention when answering, voice steady. ]

Sasha Blouse of the Survey Corps reporting in, sir.

[ A beat. ]

It's good to see you, Squad Leader.

video

[snifftest]

[It's reassuring to see members of the Corps he had essentially been in charge of here. It's nice to see that not everyone you lead is dead, after all.]

You can relax.

[He shrugs.]

I'm not a Squad Leader anymore so there's no reason to be so formal.

[But whether he means because he died or because they're not in the military here is the question.]