✘ Round 4 | [Audio]

[glacius]

[It's time for someone who rarely accesses the network to rear his head again, driven to desperation as the days have ticked by and he's failed to find even a trace of one of his closest friends. That being said when Glacius speaks there's an uncharacteristic urgency tinting his voice, worry bubbling just underneath the surface.] Kate Galloway. Has--has anyone seen or heard from her recently?

[Realizing that in his haste to get to the point he's left out some details, he dials it back a bit:] She's, ah, a human woman. Brightly-colored hair. Worked at the clinic, primarily. I... haven't seen a trace of her ever since the masquerade and...

... Please. [His voice finally wavers noticeably, resignation clashing up against his innate tendency to hope again hope. This can't be how it goes.] I need someone to tell me she's still here.

Comments

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[leashed]

I can attempt to locate her for you. I am skilled in tracking- though I would require one of her possessions and information on where she was last seen.

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[glacius]

I have come into a number of her possessions. [Which he told himself he was just holding onto for her until she returned, but...

Glacius doesn't want to finish that thought, but the gnawing knowledge that this might be all he has left of Kate makes him extremely protective and wary.] How do I know I can trust you with one of them? I cannot allow anyone to steal or damage them.

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[unknowable]

I've been at the clinic quite a bit, and I haven't seen her.

I'm sorry.

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[glacius]

[A harsh string of clicks can be heard from the other side of the feed. Electronic interference or a curse in the being's native tongue? It might be hard to tell normally, but the context should make it fairly clear.] She wouldn't just leave her duties. Not unless something has happened.

[Whether she's injured and stranded somewhere or something even worse, the alien knows one thing:] I must try to find her.

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[iustitiae]

She's been really good for this place.

[with the clinic and everything. but he's pretty sure if no one has seen her around she's probably gone.]

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[glacius]

She was. [Glacius replies, fighting to keep himself together and... having only marginal success. That not just traces of sadness are showing through his normal reserved front, but that he's actually openly readable right now... really is saying something about how good she'd been not just for Hadriel, but for the alien himself.]

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[hotspurred]

[Henry speaks with a tone of finality.]

She has not turned up for her archery lessons. 'Tis unlike her. Nor can her phone be reached.

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[glacius]

[Glacius responds with another burst of harsh, upset clicking. You people are telling him the exact opposite of what he asked!!] I... I do not want this to be so. And yet...

private audio

[unfollowing]

[She does a little investigating before answering Glacius, setting the message to private so they can both be as vulnerable as they need.

Emily's voice is gentle when she speaks.] I'm sorry, Glacius. She's not here anymore. I checked the network-- she's gone from there too. That's-- that means she's home again.

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[glacius]

[There's a very long pause. When Glacius finally does speak, his voice is hushed from its utter despondence.] ... I know.

[voice]

[synthedick]

[Given his tendency to skim the contact list on the network to see who is and isn't still with them, Nick had a feeling Kate was sent home. What he didn't realize was just how close Miss Galloway was with the city's iciest alien.]

I'm sorry, Glacius. I'll keep an eye on the network and let you know if she pops up again, all right?

[voice]

[glacius]

I appreciate that. I mean... it's better that she isn't here. She's free of the gods torments now. And yet...[Glacius trails off, sounding more than a bit lost.]

[Voice]

[drabsolutelynot]

I'm afraid it looks as though she is gone.

[He's taken aback by the news, Kate will now be the first of the people he had really spoken to to go]

I am...I am very sorry.

[Voice]

[glacius]

As am I. She will be missed by many.

Audio

[knifecollecting]

[Jo hesitates to reply because the alien is obviously affected and she doesn't know how to calm him down, but...]

Like the others say, I think she's gone. I haven't seen her.

Audio

[glacius]

[That the alien is obviously anything is a true testament to just how much Kate meant to him.] Nor have I. I just cannot... believe this. [He's seen it happen to others, and he and Kate had even touched on the possibility before, but there was nothing like it actually happening. There's so much he needs to do now, and yet he is having a hard time galvanizing himself when his mind feels fogged over with this loss.]

[Audio]

[so_dark_a_road]

I have not seen her, either. I was beginning to wonder. I will search. But. . .

[ This is not good news, if those she is closest to do not know where she is. Not good news at all. For her friends, and for Curufin, who counts her as a friend, though he hasn't known her long. His mood suddenly takes a nose dive. ]

Damn. I know she wanted to go home. But if she did, I am sorry for all those who will miss her. [ Especially for Glacius, who seems to care deeply for her. ]

[Audio]

[glacius]

I know that too. And I wanted her to be free, I did. Just... I always thought that it was... something we were going to earn together. Having her torn away like this... [It makes him feel as though something important has been taken away from him.. probably because it has.]

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[hasitsthorns]

[ She's not, Rose almost says. Almost. For as jaded and bitter as she is after being a veteran of worlds like these and how quickly they take people, she isn't cruel. Of course, it seems... convenient that both Faith and Kate had disappeared on the same day.

She's happy for them, of course, that they'll have each other when they return. She tries to focus on that instead of the sting behind left behind again brings. ]

Not... for a week, maybe. I wish I could tell you that she's still here, but I'm sorry. I can't.

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[glacius]

I... understand. It was a distant, unrealistic hope and I knew it, but... I just... [Don't feel ready to accept it yet, somehow.]

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[unitas]

[ Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Sharon scrolls through her contacts list, twice, thrice, and then she's done because Kate's not there—neither was Faith. The woman who helped her fight back is gone and it hurts. ]

I wish I could. [ pause and then: ] She might come back, though, the next time the Door opens.

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[glacius]

I suppose there is that hope. Though... it feels like a paltry one, and one I am not sure I should even wish for. She's... better off in her own world than she is here. As much as I am going to miss her... I feel like it would be selfish of me to hope for her to return to this place of torment. [And yet... a part of himself just can't help it.]

voice;

[closerift]

[ It clutches at her chest, knowing that another friend has come and gone. Cecily tightens her jar, stricken, before she eventually responds. ]

... Has anyone found her yet?

voice;

[glacius]

No. I will not give up, but... I fear the worst.

[edibles]

I haven't seen her at the clinic in a little bit. It's not like her.

[glacius]

No. It isn't. I was hoping... but... each answer only makes it more and more clear that what I had feared has already come to pass.