voice

[darkov]

A-An-Andy? Anderson?

[nope. you know what is way too close to both Andy and Anderson on the contact list?

all.

HELLO: welcome to gremlin radio, complete with the ambiance of a man suffering in the distance. even muffled, it's the distinct sound of wheezing and occasional heaving, with a few incoherent pleadings for mercy.


Martin is anxious, obviously, because this is not really comfortable atmosphere.]

I...I-I think Rex is dying. Or just-- [MORE AMBIANCE.] Bad. Really bad.

Comments

voice.

[flightforfreedom]

[ Fuck.

He had no idea who this guy was, and he just happened to be on the network at the time. On a normal day he wouldn't have even notice this got posted, but he'd been checking in with everyone after coming back from Cali and--

Oh, fuck, Rex.]

Where are you? [ The words were a little too sharp, and he was already grabbing his carpet. ]

[darkov]

-?!

[that is neither Andy nor Anderson. this alone is cause for alarm -- so much alarm in fact, that he doesn't even think to realize he hecked up!!!]

Who are you? What, where's-- Andy? Where is she? Andy? Andy!

[video]

[curiosityvoyage]

—shitshitshit—hey, where are you?

[Dustin's already on his way out of the house, making a beeline for his trusty bike. He tosses gauze and band-aids into the basket and jams the comm on top of the handlebars, so he won't have to use his hands.]

[darkov]

Ah-?! Wh-!! [WHY IS THERE NOW SHAKYCAM FOOTAGE THIS IS NEITHER ANDERSON NOR ANDY WHY DOES NOTHING GO RIGHT WHEN IT MATTERS.]

Stop, stop it-- How do I-- [he drops the call.

then accidentally redials.

HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING OK.]

1/2

[killtime]

What?

2/2

[killtime]

What?!

video. private.

[functusofficio]

[ This is a child, and she doesn't want to frighten him further, but it takes a great deal of effort for Padme's voice to remain even. ]

We don't know each other, but I'm Padme. I'm - Rex and I are friends from his home world - our home world.

What's wrong with him? How can I help?

[darkov]

[a halting sound; Martin's going to start heaving himself if more strangers keep popping up on the screen.

at least she's not yelling, getting his nerves more frayed. but he's not in a mind to calm down, so--]

I, I don't know. Anderson needs to be here. She'd know. Or, or Andy. Where are they?

[Video]

[loyal_soldier]

[A face almost completely identical to Rex appears on the com. His hair isn't the same, but that's about the only difference.]

This is TK-622. What's his status? How did this happen?

[darkov]

Anders-- [he stops short, seeing the image on the screen and going cold.

is this a joke? what's this face? why is--??

his brain is squealing like a train's brakes sparking on the train tracks, so the rest of the reply is just Rex gagging in the distance.]

voice

[queenofseers]

[ Sorry for the millionith message of someone rushing over, Marty, but she's not going to rely on everyone else for this because oh god what is happening now. ]

Martin, I'll come over, but- what the fuck is going on?

[ Who cares that she swore in front of Rex's kid! This is too much! ]

[darkov]

[BRING AN ARMY PLEASE SAVE THIS DAD FIGURE.

she's not who he aimed to call, but he's going to take the tiniest bit of comfort that he knows her voice.]

I don't know, he's just-- [AMBIANCE.] He won't stop...

video;

[nextsymbol]

[This is Very Alarming and Izuku's not at all sure what's going on, but he remembers the advice he was given back during the license exam. Izuku takes one quick calming breath before he turns on his feed.]

It's going to be okay, I promise. Can you tell us where you are and what happened?

[darkov]

[his breath catches again, hoping against hope this flickering to a new face is one he knows, but. no. no, another stranger. Martin's head swirls with a wave of despair, despite the assurance.]

The house. Please-- I...I didn't mean any of this, I just wanted to find Anderson! Or Andy, they...they'll know if. If this is... normal? [he doesn't sound at all convinced that's so, accented by Rex.]

15 - 20 minutes later, video

[ct_7567]

[ Oh, look. Martin's posted to the network.

Oh no. Oh no. No, no, no, this can't be happening, this can't possibly have happened, those can't be the sounds coming out of him.

Martin Darkov, what did you do. Somebody, quick, shoot him. It would be a more dignified death than this. What pops up on the network is, eventually, a look of concentrated horror and embarrassment condensed into one Rex-sized package. He would look pale if he hadn't gone red from his neckline all the way up to his hairline, buzzcut still slick after he'd elected to shove his entire head underneath the sink. ]

Oh, for the love of - please, nobody else show up. I'm not dying any more than I usually am. I got sick. That's all.

literally thirty seconds after, action

[curiosityvoyage]

[There's a loud knock on the door. Dustin hasn't had the time to watch the video response, so he's very worried now. What if Rex is dying in there?! He can't just sit idly by! He has bandages, funky-looking band-aids and a plastic bag he quietly stole from some random grocery store, he can help!]

Is everyone still alive in there? [A beat.] I've got band-aids!

[killtime]

[ PROBABLY A LITTLE WHILE AFTER this thread idk what's gonna happen but GUESS WHO'S MAD AT ALL OF YOU FOR MAKING HER FUSS and therefore sulking on your porch with a cigarette while she checks the Network.

It's unnecessarily salty when she responds into her comm: ]

Thanks for the update, Captain Pukes-A-Lot.

[darkov]

[well.

ok.

so...so based on this and past experiences, doing nothing is deadly. but doing something just means...this. means Martin messes up again and bothers a great deal of people, including the one he's most worried about.

alright. that's...that's a little unreasonable, but he should just expect things to be like that.

now he's the one with the sour stomach, just out of shame and confusion and whatever else bad one can feel all at once. the process of completely purging all these things hasn't gotten into full gear yet, because he's still wired by the memory of worse times.]

Sorry.

[he's stayed seated on the floor by the washroom, out of the way for all the verifications and insistences and postings that yes, he's fine. that's good. hugging his knees keeps his limbs from quaking quite so hard, even while the stuff inside is roiling and agitated.]

[Video]

[loyal_soldier]

[And all is right with the galaxy once more, like he'd hoped. Good.]

Glad to hear it. [He was going to say 'glad to see you're still with us', but that probably wouldn't be tactful right now. Just smile a little bit and don't make a big deal out of it.]

Was it food?

video;

[notgood]

[And, fortunately, before he heads over on Martin's behalf, he sees this update.]

Sick enough to apparently seem like you're dying.

video;

[notgood]

[That moment when there's two people who use the name Anderson!!!

...And he's pretty sure the kid doesn't mean him, but still that's a very small kid who is very upset-]

Breathe first, okay?

[darkov]

[another stranger. Martin's messed this up so bad he can't even begin to deal with this.

breathe? sure, have an agitated huff.

pleading:] Please...I, I only wanted Anderson. Or Andy! I didn't want this!

walks in late with starbucks action like 2 hours after this post

[h2no]

[archie really hopes the spicy tonkatsu pork he made for rex and martin was enjoyed :)

he's coming over to visit - some sweet chilli sauce with him, he'd forgotten to drop it off with the meal - and... huh. why does the door look like it's been kicked open? weird. he pushes it open, carefully strolling inside to observe any damage. it looks like a herd of mamoswine have run through the place. he should probably just walk away and call one of them? but he doesn't.]

Rex? Yo, what the fuck happened here?

[he fiddles with the bottle of sauce a little as he surveys the damage. jeez.]

[ct_7567]

[ By this time, Rex is fairly certain that the worst of it is over, and has taken up occupation of the couch. He had been lying on it face-down but had quickly thought better of that idea and flipped onto his back, just so nobody else bursts in thinking that he's dead. It's a testament to how horrible he feels about the whole ordeal that he doesn't bother getting up, making himself look presentable, or otherwise sit at attention when Archie comes in. ]

Whatever it was that you made happened, [ Rex grumbles, though without any great heat. He's cognizant enough of how his body works to know that Archie had nothing to do with it. ] I had a bad reaction to it. Martin panicked and wound up telling the network he thought I was dying.

[ He gestures aimlessly at the ceiling. ]

Unfortunately, I'm still here.

Voice

[granddevil]

If he dies, the nanites will bring him back anyway.

[darkov]

[wow what.

no, really:] What? I, I don't get that. This...this isn't like that bad week? Right?

voice

[am_i_a_monster]

I have a healing power. Can Rex hear me? He needs to listen to my harpsichord music for it to work.

[darkov]

[this is belated, as the barrage of messages and actual people kicking the goddang doors in have kind of overwhelmed the moment.

sounding a bit absent, but trying:] Umh. I...I don't know. I--things are...fine? I think. That's...what I'm told...

voice;

[codeofiron]

[Brandon doesn't raise his voice, but he speaks with intensity all the same.]

What happened?

[One day he will actually check other comments first.]

[darkov]

[he has a bit of time to check if he wants, because Marty's response comes late, drained of a lot of the panic and urgency and left rather bleak:]

A mistake. Sorry.