Camp: private conversations

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Respond here for a private conversation with Red! All comment threads are screened.

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[soylentprotag]

... What Mishibijw told us was that the god was holding souls in its mouth. Many of them.

[They hadn't had the chance to find out how many. But there's hope there, even in the jaws of death.]

I don't think it's taking the food, right now.

[It's perhaps grasping at straws, but coupled together with what Talcott has told them -- there's something there, he thinks.]

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[She is so confused right now.]

But...why? That's what it asked for. Why would it not eat them?

[soylentprotag]

I don't have that answer yet. The Mishibijw didn't, either. But I think we should find out.

[They're all just about as confused, and they don't have any of the benefit of context that Red does.

But perhaps that's a good thing, in a way.]

Maybe something changed, since it first asked.

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...maybe. It has been quite some time since we last spoke to it directly.

[soylentprotag]

Do you know how to talk to it...?

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Not personally, no. But maybe someone else...

[The gears are turning in her head now.]

[soylentprotag]

[That's promising, in a way. He can't help asking.]

Could there be a way... for us to talk to the god? We can only hear it, and the dead, but I don't think they can really hear us. Not all of the time.

[He's honestly not sure when the dead are present or when they can perceive things. But the connection... is like a bad satellite one, picking up and dropping again. Like passing through a bad magnetic field.

But if there's a more direct, two-way link then maybe they have a chance to learn more.]

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I'll see if I can find the files on it. They communicated once in the past, so records of that should still be around.

[soylentprotag]

... Thank you.

[The fact that she's willing to hear him out, despite her preconceptions and her likely greater knowledge of the situation at large. If they can at least go this far in working together -- if they can put together what knowledge they have, as a group and with Red where they can... maybe they can move forward somewhere.

It still trips him up, not being able to be honest all the way. He's used to being able to face a team without reservations, knowing that they all have each other's back out in the field. It's so much more complicated here.]

I don't know how risky it is to dig around like this. But if you can find anything...

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That sort of information should be free for me to access. Generally we get to look at any files related to the job we're on, and I would call that related to this.

[soylentprotag]

I hope so. That would make the answer quicker to get.

[They are running on a very limited schedule. Despite upcoming red tape wait times.]